What is Steam (Steampowered.com)?

[james8547]

I bought an AMD 64 laptop and I got a coupon for a free copy of HL2, expiring on 12-31-05. So I'm trying to redeem it now.

Anyway, it says that I have to download "Steam." What is it exactly? Do I need to have it installed in order to play HL2? Or do I just need it to dl a copy of HL2?

According to their site, "Steam delivers Valve’s games to your desktop and connects you to a massive gaming community." Does this mean I have to get Steam in order to play HL2?

Any info would be great. Thanks.

[flawedreality5]

Steam is like a management program for all of Valve's games. I really dislike it but it's needed to play their games and Half Life 2 is worth it. In addition to a management program, it's a really good security device for Valve as the program basically has to authorize and decrypt the game even after you bought it, even in store, to prevent piracy. It also automatically updates games. I think it's more of a hassle than a helper but Valve is probably making just a few extra Benjamins off the program preventing piracy.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Ya, the program is a horrible waste of resources and I find it very intrusive.

[Force Flow]

It only uses about 5-8MB (MSN messenger uses 12-15MB), and I'm not sure what you mean by intrusive. If you mean the update box whever there's a new release or update, I don't see how it's a big deal.

Personally, I think the steam system is great! No need to hunt for patches and live links to them. That, and bug fixes come out pretty quit. It's all managed pretty much automatically.

[Nuclear Krusader]

It IS intrusive. Any program that installs in the systray without asking you if it's ok to do so every time Windows starts, is intrusive. And it doesn't provide an option to the user in the Options either. You have to remove it manually from the msconfig list. Which is no big deal for you and me, but does every gamer know that?

The whole concept of a program required to be run in the background in order to run a game is intrusive too. God only knows what data it's transferring from your computer to Valve's servers. Give me back my Far Cry. I can play it as games are meant to be played, by popping in the CD and clicking on an icon, and I don't have to be connected to the Internet to enjoy it.

[flawedreality5]

Totally agree. I thought it was spyware or something at first. I never heard of the program before when I bought Half Life 2. Half Life 2 is a terrific game but when I bought it, I was on 56k. I think it's rediculous how Steam has to decrypt the game files. I bought the game at like 7:30pm got home, and didn't start playing until 11pm because of the stupid updates. It's a horrible program.

[juppy]

Originally Posted by Nuclear Krusader I can play it as games are meant to be played, by popping in the CD and clicking on an icon, and I don't have to be connected to the Internet to enjoy it.

Did they change that option in Half-Life 2? Because I just got the original Half-Life to play about a month ago (I know, I'm behind time on that ) and yeah, I had to download the Steam interface and all the driver stuff, but afterwards I didn't absolutely HAVE TO connect to the internet to play the game. It brings up a box at first that says "Play in Offline Mode", and by doing that it plays fine without being connected to the internet. It wouldn't be much use for me to try and play over the internet anyway since I'm still on really slow dialup.

[Hi Ho]

I guess I'm in the minority here. I like Steam. If it was from a nonreputable company then I would definetely be suspicious. I trust Valve not to do anything malicious. It isn't a resource hog. It's taking up just under 1 MB of RAM right now. It keeps all of the Valve games up to date. I purchased basically all of the games Valve has ever made through steam and they all downloaded right off the net, no CD's required.

I hope I don't get shot for saying this, I wish I could get all of my games this way. I hate searching around the net for the correct patches to keep my games up to date. For example, when I reinstalled Splinter Cell: Pandora Tommorrow a couple weeks ago I had to update the game before I could play online. I went to the website and downloaded the three US patches, not knowing that my copy of the game, which came with my video card, is a European version. Installing the US patches rendered the game unusable. It wouldn't start. A Steam-like system would have prevented all of that.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Ya, well, auto-update programs do this too, and they don't sit in the systray all the time.

[whr2206]

Originally Posted by Hi Ho I guess I'm in the minority here. I like Steam. If it was from a nonreputable company then I would definetely be suspicious. I trust Valve not to do anything malicious. It isn't a resource hog. It's taking up just under 1 MB of RAM right now. It keeps all of the Valve games up to date. I purchased basically all of the games Valve has ever made through steam and they all downloaded right off the net, no CD's required. I hope I don't get shot for saying this, I wish I could get all of my games this way. I hate searching around the net for the correct patches to keep my games up to date. For example, when I reinstalled Splinter Cell: Pandora Tommorrow a couple weeks ago I had to update the game before I could play online. I went to the website and downloaded the three US patches, not knowing that my copy of the game, which came with my video card, is a European version. Installing the US patches rendered the game unusable. It wouldn't start. A Steam-like system would have prevented all of that.

I concur. I don't find Steam to be too intrusive. I like the fact that I don't have to go searching for a site to download the latest patch. The patch is downloaded automatically and installed. I have so many valve games and mods that steam makes things really convenient and easy. The only problem I have with steam is the friends list. It doesn't seem to work for me... but maybe thats because I didn't foward the right port or something. The only beef I have with valve is how they destroyed my Day of Defeat!! DoD 1.3 involves much more skill IMO... But I still play DoDS to support it in hopes that they will update it and make it fit for competitive play again.

I kind of feel bad for valve though. No matter what they do they always manage to get the competitive community completely ticked at them for their updates. I welcome most of the changes.. but most people just complain to no end. The only update that was received positively by the community was the one with de_nuke that didn't introduce too many new bugs. The latest update with the player models and the quickscope change seems to have made people upset. Personally I haven't noticed the difference in the Awp though....

[Amazin Caucasian]

Steam is nice, but Friends never works, maybe just for me. It is just too inconsistent for my liking

[Nuclear Krusader]

Yeah, and what if I DON'T want the new patch?

[Amazin Caucasian]

too bad so sad brother...

[als814]

I don't necessarily like it, but I think I like it more than I don't like it. MSconfig stopped it from starting up all the time, so pretty much, it is only open when I play. It doesn't really bother me, but I do understand how it could anger people that don't know of MSconfig.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Ayup. And the funny thing is, if Microsoft were the one doing this with Windows Update, everyone would be jumping out of their chairs crying out loud: "M$ is taking control of my PC!!"

[regans cortina]

Originally Posted by Nuclear Krusader Ayup. And the funny thing is, if Microsoft were the one doing this with Windows Update, everyone would be jumping out of their chairs crying out loud: "M$ is taking control of my PC!!"

Cant argue with that statement nuke !!!!!

[shady_72002]

Originally Posted by Nuclear Krusader Ya, well, auto-update programs do this too, and they don't sit in the systray all the time.

Exactly. Most newer games have auto-patchers, and I'm sick of being interfupted in the middle of Half-Life 2 or Counter-Strike with some stupid little pop-up telling me how hard the Steam team is working to make a more streamlined interface or some other crap.

[Blu_Munday]

Agreed with shady it's annoying to get update news then get back to css and find you're dead. Still, I'm all for steam - the problem is with the broken updates Valve provide, not the service itself.

Now they've started to add decent 3rd party stuff too - if you've got steam download the Rag Doll King Fu and Darwinia demos - both top games and Valve will probably be getting a bit more cash out of me for the full versions soon. Also, if you've got the original HL you can download loads of older games for free too.

I don't like it appearing at start up though - is it completely safe to remove it from startup in M$config?

[Nuclear Krusader]

Yes, it is. Just leave the shortcut on the desktop so you can start it manually. Close it when you're done playing; at least they still allow you to do that without rebooting.

[flawedreality5]

Originally Posted by Nuclear Krusader Yes, it is. Just leave the shortcut on the desktop so you can start it manually. Close it when you're done playing; at least they still allow you to do that without rebooting.

Exactly what they should do. And what if the average gamer doesn't know how to disable start up programs. These are the people that come to me complaining that their computer runs too slow and asks me to fix it because they don't know that Steam, iTunes, Quicktime, and others running at startup and use up all their ram. I don't care for those kinds of programs at all.

[Nuclear Krusader]

Indeed. Sure, Steam uses only 11 MB of memory, so why am I complaining???

And how many users have only Steam running in the background? Even systray savvy users as myself have at least three icons in the system tray and a handful of Windows and other apps services running in the background, which, before you hit that reply button to argue, CANNOT be turned off.

I have two separate Windows installations in the same machine: one for work, comms, et cetera; and one exclusive for gaming. My gaming install has been tweaked and optimised as much as it can be so games run smoothly and with no problems. Even with this installation on a diet there are a bunch of services that cannot be turned off and a couple of icons in the systray, not counting Steam.

Does the average gamer have an exclusive installation of Windows for games? No. Does the average gamer go to blackviper.com and follows the steps to optimise the OS and disable services he won't need? No. Does the average gamer have just two icons in the systray? No.

[Puma]

Originally Posted by Nuclear Krusader It IS intrusive. Any program that installs in the systray without asking you if it's ok to do so every time Windows starts, is intrusive. And it doesn't provide an option to the user in the Options either. You have to remove it manually from the msconfig list. Which is no big deal for you and me, but does every gamer know that?

Originally Posted by Blu_Munday I don't like it appearing at start up though - is it completely safe to remove it from startup in M$config?

Actually, Steam does have the option to stop running at startup. File->Settings->Interface-> checkbox at the bottom. So you can easily disable it (like most programs, IMs, ect). Also, go to Messages instead of interface to get rid of notifications. There might be other notification problems you have with it, but those are probably pretty rare (getting hit with a patch while playing for instance).


I gotta agree with the guys who like Steam... it has its flaws, but overall I like how consolidated it is. I don't need to get out and scratch my disk in and out of the drive whenever I want to play cause all the anti-piracy stuff is taken care of with Steam right there. It totally sucks if you don't have broadband, but the vast majority of people who bought HL2 do. I find that Steam offers enough options to disable auto-updates/messages, that if you know how to set it up, it's not obtrusive at all. I've never been bothered by it cause I just choose the settings I'm happy with (no run at startup, no notifications).