Civ 5/Steam:Offline Mode Question

Ddude97 said:
Thanks for the quick reply! :)
O well, nothing is perfect. The problem with steam is I'm against all this 3rd party stuff, I'm not trying to argue, I just don't like it.
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I certainly don't want to turn this into another debate on the matter, but Steam isn't the only third party component Civ 5 will be using.
 
Really? What else?
You're absolutely right, this doesn't need to be another debate, there are a couple of furios ones going on, espescially in the anti-steam petition thread.
 
Using third party components is a very common. DirectX is the obvious example, it provides the 3D graphics libraries for rendering things on screen. It is likely that the game with use other third party components for things like XML manipulation and script execution (depending on how things are designed).

Steamworks is used to provide network related functions, such as multiplayer, chat, friends lists and client updates/mods as well as DRM.
 
Actually, I think Direct X is owned by Microsoft (not sure don't eat me if I'm wrong)
It's not Steam I dislike, it's the idea behind Steam. Also, even if Direct X isn't owned by Microsoft, its not the same as Steam.
offtopic: I heard something about Direct X 11, who is this for (w7 only, w7 + vista or is XP included?
 
Steam is pretty much a safegaurd against piracy, it has to be the most user friendly DRM services out there.

All you need to do is set it so it saves your password and account name and you can login on offline mode. I did it all the time during school days.
 
The_J said:
DX11 is exclusivly for Windows 7.
But is has been said, that you'll be able to play Civ5 with DX9, which is supported by Windows XP.
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Works on Vista too.

tom2050 said:
So if Steam fails, then Civ 5 fails? It must if it is a core component... and Steam may not last forever, rendering the game Civ 5 unplayable if that happens in the year 2087.
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Valve has said they can unlock any game for non-activation gameplay if it ever stops being supported.

Don't worry, you don't have to reply with "Yeah but maybe they won't do that!". I have already predicted it.
 
I have Empire Total War through steam. I have not needed to connect to play since the first time, I needed a connection to download the game and validate the first time I played the game. Since then I keep Steam in Offline Mode and even though steam is running, it is running as an application on my computer and is not interfacing with the Web at all because I'm not online. If I play ETW I just need to keep Steam on, but I do not need an internet connection to play.

Maybe Civ V is different. But if it isn't, then all you need to do is connect at download/validation and then it's smooth sailing.
 
seasnake said:
I have Empire Total War through steam. I have not needed to connect to play since the first time, I needed a connection to download the game and validate the first time I played the game. Since then I keep Steam in Offline Mode and even though steam is running, it is running as an application on my computer and is not interfacing with the Web at all because I'm not online. If I play ETW I just need to keep Steam on, but I do not need an internet connection to play.

Maybe Civ V is different. But if it isn't, then all you need to do is connect at download/validation and then it's smooth sailing.
Click to expand...

Civ V won't be different. You can connect to Steam once to validate, and then leave it in Offline Mode forever (every game currently lets you do this unless you want to play online multiplayer).
 
I was in the antisteam crowd, but have begun to change my mind. Im just neutral at this point. I do have a steam question, that i already asked in another thread, but now i cant find it.

Question: Is steam going to be the only place to get update? I ask because like the op my computer doesnt have a hook up, but i have to drive 15 miles for mine and not go into the next room. It would be much easier to burn it or put it on a flash drive.

If the answer is no, would I be able to install the game at my moms, dl the update from steam, then put it on a disc or drive, and back to my house? Thanks!
 
Tylerryan79 said:
I was in the antisteam crowd, but have begun to change my mind. Im just neutral at this point. I do have a steam question, that i already asked in another thread, but now i cant find it.

Question: Is steam going to be the only place to get update? I ask because like the op my computer doesnt have a hook up, but i have to drive 15 miles for mine and not go into the next room. It would be much easier to burn it or put it on a flash drive.

If the answer is no, would I be able to install the game at my moms, dl the update from steam, then put it on a disc or drive, and back to my house? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Unfortunately mate, you might have problems getting updates without an internet connection. Although you could put an update on disk, I have the feeling that perhaps you may need to re-authenticate to use offline mode after applying the update.

Can you not use a dial up connection for re-authentication like this?

I don't think there's any way to avoid it - it's gonna be a bit of a pain keeping up to date without an internet connection at all.

Also, if you are able to, you should get portal for free while it's still on offer. This might be a pointless suggestion since you might not have the facilities to download it - but if you can it would give you a good idea as to what playing Civ 5 will be like on Steam.

The game is also absolutely excellent.
 
It was made very clear on the 2K forum that ALL updates and patches must be done from the computer the game is on, and currently at least, from inside the game.
I specifically asked about file transfers because I have only dial-up and have been told there will be an estimated 1 GB up-date required to be downloaded at activation before the game can be played.
This effectively makes the game useless to me, so I will not be buying it, even though I only play offline/solo. I cannot see getting a GB, about 3 DAYS of download uninterupted.
My experience with Cities XL (expensive coaster) is that the download restarts from the beginning each attempt as well.
Just not happening in my world.
 
nerd said:
It was made very clear on the 2K forum that ALL updates and patches must be done from the computer the game is on, and currently at least, from inside the game.
I specifically asked about file transfers because I have only dial-up and have been told there will be an estimated 1 GB up-date required to be downloaded at activation before the game can be played.
This effectively makes the game useless to me, so I will not be buying it, even though I only play offline/solo. I cannot see getting a GB, about 3 DAYS of download uninterupted.
My experience with Cities XL (expensive coaster) is that the download restarts from the beginning each attempt as well.
Just not happening in my world.
Click to expand...

I don't think this is technically true.

If you download the game on another PC and have it fully updated, you should be able to copy that data across to your other PC (essentially, back it up then restore it to a different PC).

Then when you boot up steam, it will only need to contact the verification server and check that all the files are correct - but it shouldn't have to download anything.

I know that this works since I've gone round to friends and brought backups of steam games on an external disk and just validated them against my steam account on their PC when I arrived without having to redownload.

I am also certain that there won't be a 1GB patch to download upon activation. This would significantly defy the point of providing a retail version of the game and I'm not aware of any other game that has done this when brand new.
 
nerd said:
It was made very clear on the 2K forum that ALL updates and patches must be done from the computer the game is on, and currently at least, from inside the game.
I specifically asked about file transfers because I have only dial-up and have been told there will be an estimated 1 GB up-date required to be downloaded at activation before the game can be played.
This effectively makes the game useless to me, so I will not be buying it, even though I only play offline/solo. I cannot see getting a GB, about 3 DAYS of download uninterupted.
My experience with Cities XL (expensive coaster) is that the download restarts from the beginning each attempt as well.
Just not happening in my world.
Click to expand...

Even on 56k, downloading a gig of data takes around 5 hours. Your internet connection is apparently approximately 15 times slower than 56k, might be time for an upgrade.
 
Donkeyman said:
Even on 56k, downloading a gig of data takes around 5 hours. Your internet connection is apparently approximately 15 times slower than 56k, might be time for an upgrade.
Click to expand...

Someone isn't doing his math correctly...

1 gigabyte or 8 gigabits of data is approximately 8000000000 bits. Divide by 56000 bits per second (ideally :mischief:) ~ 142858 seconds ~ 40 hours. I could be more exact, but I think you can get the point.
 
Rashiminos said:
Someone isn't doing his math correctly...

1 gigabyte or 8 gigabits of data is approximately 8000000000 bits. Divide by 56000 bits per second ~ 142858 seconds ~ 40 hours. I could be more exact, but I think you can get the point.
Click to expand...

It's also unfair to imply that you need an internet connection to play a modern game if it's single player. Besides a few KB transferred for activation, you can't expect someone to download any significant data on a dial up connection.

I used dial up back in the day and it is painful. Even without the fact that it probably ties up your only phone line and costs the earth.

5 min activation connection for a single player game isn't the end of the world, but a gig download is just plain silly.
 
Chalks said:
It's also unfair to imply that you need an internet connection to play a modern game if it's single player. Besides a few KB transferred for activation, you can't expect someone to download any significant data on a dial up connection.

5 min activation connection for a single player game isn't the end of the world, but a gig download is just plain silly.
Click to expand...

That's exactly the problem with STEAM, sir. I'm willing to bet money that ciV will need a large patch at some point. That's exactly when the dial-up players get hosed. (Darn terrible efficiency...)
 
Rashiminos said:
That's exactly the problem with STEAM, sir. I'm willing to bet money that ciV will need a large patch at some point. That's exactly when the dial-up players get hosed.
Click to expand...

I think that would be a pretty bad call by Firaxis.

Large patches mean content updates. Bug fixes will be small, either in the form of minor patches or fresh binaries - nothing beyond a few megs a pop.

If Firaxis choose to release free content updates, it would be pretty bad if they released it as a required patch. It wouldn't make any sense and this is exactly what the free DLC system would be for.

Time will tell, but I don't think groundless speculation like this helps.
 
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