homepage Forums Technology Copy Protection & DRM I HATE Steam with a passion!

I never have but then again, I always keep pc games for much longer than a week even if I finished it that quickly. Even first person shooters I play through at least twice! All of the pc games I've ever sold to either a person or to a store (Electronics Boutique) happened at least several months after I bought the game and it was always sold at a steep discount.

Oh, right.

I forgot.

I read recently that you should never use an analogy when discussing something online, because instead of reading it and saying "I understand the point you're trying to make", everyone will just nitpick the details of your analogy.

My broader point was that this is the direction the industry is headed at the moment. But who knows, in five or ten years maybe it'll change again somehow.

That said, I don't know if you've come across this yet or not, but try this with regards to your Total War installs and see if this method works:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090307112733AA90Ctb

I would normally agree with you, but in my case I know myself and others who for some reason have zero problems getting offline games to work easily at full performance, yet Steam and similar solutions give us headache.

You could just set it to play in offline mode.

I did understand your point...the problem was that your point was too broad to apply. CD rom drives were something you could purchase once and have delivered anywhere in the world. Fast internet that is required for a 13gb patch...is not available for a large portion of gamers, no matter how much money they spend. You might think it's nitpicking, but if it doesn't apply to the topic I'm not going to apologize for calling you on it. It's easy for you to make these broad analogies because obviously, you are the privileged that has fast internet and can't sympathize in the slightest. If you want to know what it's like, find yourself a 56k modem...plug it in and pretend that's the only option you have. It might take you down from the high horse a tad.

The method you posted is if it's installing from steam instead of the discs. In this case, it installs from the disc for 2 mins...then realizes steam changed the format for all games and starts with the 13gb patch. Appreciate the attempt though.

Read my first post. Also, steam in offline mode isn't truly offline. I noticed in "offline" mode, I was still getting relevant ads and sale images on my steam page in offline mode. So as a test, I pulled my internet from the computer and those windows with all the sale images turned into broken gif icons. Obviously it's still connecting in offline mode. Also you have to be nostradomus and know when your internet will be down before hand, and set it to offline mode. If your internet goes down, and your steam was not set to offline mode beforehand, you can't use it or set it to offline mode and can't play your games until your internet comes back.

I've had far more difficulties with disc based games. And DVD drives only last a short while. The $25 every year or so adds up. Even my new replacement drive is having issues writing, so that means I will have to RMA it. Hopefully I am not charged $12 for shipping this time.

I'm sorry but your wrong and I just tested it to make sure. From a fresh boot I disconnected my Ethernet cable so no internet, started Steam and a box appeared saying it couldn't connect and gave me the option to try again or start in off line mode. Once started in off line mode any game I tried started fine.
Before trying this my Steam was always set to on line.

So the secret is if you want to avoid surprise updates unplug your internet before starting Steam.

On the contrary, my level of sympathy is extraordinary. I've told my wife, and not in a joking manner, that anytime we move for any reason broadband is a requirement for the area. But I'm a computer nerd in general and I work in the IT field. It's kinda my thing.

When I started PC gaming I didn't even have an internet connection (1996 - 1999).

If I found something online that I wanted to download, I did it at school. The computer labs didn't have CD burners, so once I downloaded the file, I used a file splitter to break it up into 1.44MB sized chunks so I could take it home on floppies. I would then reconstruct the file at home.

When I finally moved out on my own I was able to build my own glorious gaming PC; a 450Mhz PIII with a whopping 256MB of RAM, and a blazing fast 28.8 US Robotics modem.

I've "been there" in terms of slow (or no) internet. And I've never ridden a horse of any kind.



Have you given it a try already and it didn't work? That method is basically calling Steam from a command line, using the -install option.

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Command_Line_Options

-install %p - Install a product from a specified path (e.g. "D:" for the DVD-ROM drive if D: is one).

Basically you're telling Steam to install the software, but to use the specified drive as the source for the files instead of downloading it.

Ummm...no. Here's some examples from the steam forum to help you out.














I could post more but you get the point. Basically....you need to be online for offline mode to work properly.

Unfortunately Steam requires that any game installed has to connect to the internet at least once before you can play it offline, so when that happens your going to get the current update anyway.

Force10 is there any friend or relative with a fast connection that would let you visit with your PC.

Always someone ready to prove your wrong. I owned the games back then, I had a box, a cd and I could sell it anytime I wanted to anyone, try that with Steam.

Well all I know is when I first read your post before saying anything I started my other PC up and tried it and it works perfectly for me.
Maybe there is the possibility that it may not work for some but that could be down to any number of things but I'm sure its not the norm and most wont have a problem.

Offline mode requires a specific set of steps. If you follow it, it will work - and yes, it does require you to be online to start out with. I just tried it with my laptop and it works as written.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3160-agcb-2555

Using Offline Mode on a PC.

Please follow the instructions below to configure Offline Mode on your PC:

1. Start Steam online - make sure the Remember my password box on the login window is checked
2. Verify that all game files are completely updated - you can see the update status for a game under the Library section (when the game shows as 100% - Ready it is ready to be played in Offline Mode)
3. Launch the game you would like to play offline to verify that there are no further updates to download - shut down the game and return to Steam once you have confirmed that the game can be played
4. Go to Steam > Settings to ensure the Don't save account credentials on this computer option is not selected
5. From the main Steam window, go to the Steam menu and select Go Offline
6. Click Restart in Offline Mode to restart Steam in Offline Mode

The walkthrough I linked to for installing Total War Empire says as much - that after it installs from the DVD, a "small patch" would also be downloaded and installed.

I would imagine this would be preferable to a full game download, though.

This is incorrect

D'OH!

I understand...just realize not everyone has the same results. Maybe it does it by geographic location....who knows. All I know is that I have had many internet outages and have had the "Could not connect to the Steam Network. This could be a problem due to your Internet connection, or with the Steam network. Please visit www.steampowered.com for more info." message pop up when I try to start it in offline mode. Even having a message like that trigger while trying to start something in offline mode is daft.

Can't you just start up Shogun 2 and interrupt the update? I keep thinking that the 48 hours Force10 is referring to is the time it takes to download the update, not install it . . . or is the process combined? I could swear that it downloads and then, upon completion of the download, it updates.

That might be true for Empire but for Shogun it doesn't apply because they changed the entire format of the game. Keep in mind I had the game fully installed already from the dvd's and it was running fine. This "patch" is the problem. There is no way possible to install a game on steam with it completely offline. The second you start the install process...steam realizes you have the old format for the game and forces this 13gb update down your throat.

This deserves recognition!!! Apparently no other hardcore Rush fans are reading this post. I'm currently doing the Wayne's World "I'm not worthy" bow.