Question about Steam

[HamTard]

I wouldn't worry too much about modding. Remember, one of the most modded games in history (Half Life 2) is on Steam.

A few games had issues with modding, but that's because there were multiple versions of the game released (retail, Steam, D2D) that were all patched differently.

Most Steam games are patched the same as retail now, so those issues are mostly gone. With a Steamworks game, they can ensure that everyone has the same base version of the game so it might make modding easier.

 

[The_J]

It seems unlikely that it would be bigger than 10GB. You're right, that is larger than the majority of extremely graphics heavy games. Battlefield bad company 2, for example, is 5.8GB on disk (and was compressed when it was downloaded so the download itself was even smaller).

I would expect Civ5 to be 4GB or less.

I doubt that. Civ4 + WL + BtS has around 4,2 GB on my hard drive (~ ; 9 GB with all mods, then minus all mods, plus included mods gives me nearly this number).
So up to 10 GB is not unprobable. I would say 8 GB.

 

[Maeztu]

Yes, Steam accepts PayPal, Mastercard, Visa, and I think American Express.

I have enough money in my paypal to pay for the BtS expansion. I earned it by playing Dungeons and Treasures (see signature) so I think I am going to buy the expansion with that money.

That is like having a legal copy of the game for free.

This completely change my point of view about Steam.

Next purchase will be Civ V

 

[Chalks]

I have enough money in my paypal to pay for the BtS expansion. I earned it by playing Dungeons and Treasures (see signature) so I think I am going to buy the expansion with that money.

That is like having a legal copy of the game for free.

This completely change my point of view about Steam.

Next purchase will be Civ V

Be careful - it didn't used to be the case but in order to buy BtS you need to have the steam version of the original Civ4.

The complete bundle: http://store.steampowered.com/sub/1618/ is probably a good idea even if you do find yourself buying vanilla 4 again.

I got BtS stand alone on Steam when it first came out - but then I think Firaxis thought "crap, people can get the expansion with out the first game" and made it so you couldn't order it stand alone any more. Although my stand alone copy still works fine (and I have the Civ 4 vanilla disks so it's not like I got out of buying it!)

 

[LDiCesare]

Steam still gives popups, always about new game releases and game deals.

This is really annoying. No way to turn that off? It's definitely out of question for me to get spammed by a program I'd install on my computer.

Also, can you install a game wherever you want with steam? Like not in Program Files? I have run in a few problems with games that weren't usable by anyone but the admin (!) if they were in Program Files but ran fine anywhere else.

Also, publishing directly through Steam means they don't have to share profits with a Publisher.

Except they give 30% to Valve, who therefore can be seen as their publisher.

Does anyone know if Valve's got a policy of exclusive content? I mean the Deluxe edition, or more precisely Babylonians: Can we reasonably expect this to be available from somewhere else later on or is it likely it will only ever be available at pre-release from Valve?

 

[HamTard]

I have enough money in my paypal to pay for the BtS expansion. I earned it by playing Dungeons and Treasures (see signature) so I think I am going to buy the expansion with that money.

That is like having a legal copy of the game for free.

This completely change my point of view about Steam.

Next purchase will be Civ V

Firaxis made it so you need the Steam version of Civ IV to play the Steam version of BTS. Right now Civ IV Complete is going for $10 on Steam (vanilla, warlords, bts, colonization) but the sale probably ends any hour now.

Steam usually has a weekend deal from Friday to Sunday, that actually ends around noon Monday. There is a deal every week.

 

[HamTard]

This is really annoying. No way to turn that off? It's definitely out of question for me to get spammed by a program I'd install on my computer.

Also, can you install a game wherever you want with steam? Like not in Program Files? I have run in a few problems with games that weren't usable by anyone but the admin (!) if they were in Program Files but ran fine anywhere else.


Except they give 30% to Valve, who therefore can be seen as their publisher.

Does anyone know if Valve's got a policy of exclusive content? I mean the Deluxe edition, or more precisely Babylonians: Can we reasonably expect this to be available from somewhere else later on or is it likely it will only ever be available at pre-release from Valve?

Steam games all install under the Steam Apps folder, on whatever partition you install Steam in.

Giving 30% to Valve isn't bad, that's roughly what retailers get, and they still cut out the publisher. Normally it's developer/publisher/retailer split, if you sell over Steam, you can cut out the publisher (but if you want to sell in stores, you need a publisher who will also force you to give them a cut of digital sales).

 

[Chalks]

This is really annoying. No way to turn that off? It's definitely out of question for me to get spammed by a program I'd install on my computer.

It only appears when you exit a steam game and there has been an update to the offers/new releases since it last displayed, not just randomly when you're doing something. You play 5 games over two days, you'll probably only see it once.

There is an option that appears to turn it off, but I've not tried using it.

 

[HamTard]

It only appears when you exit a steam game and there has been an update to the offers/new releases since it last displayed, not just randomly when you're doing something. You play 5 games over two days, you'll probably only see it once.

There is an option that appears to turn it off, but I've not tried using it.

Yes there is an option to turn off the pop-up. I choose to leave it on, because it's very informative. They announce new game releases, pre-order incentives, and sales. The sales in particular are nice to have pop-up, I've missed a few good sales because of having the pop-up off and not remembering to check the Steam news.

 

[Maeztu]

Be careful - it didn't used to be the case but in order to buy BtS you need to have the steam version of the original Civ4.

The complete bundle: http://store.steampowered.com/sub/1618/ is probably a good idea even if you do find yourself buying vanilla 4 again.

I got BtS stand alone on Steam when it first came out - but then I think Firaxis thought "crap, people can get the expansion with out the first game" and made it so you couldn't order it stand alone any more. Although my stand alone copy still works fine (and I have the Civ 4 vanilla disks so it's not like I got out of buying it!)

Thanks for the warning. I was going to buy the expansion only.

Still, I have more than 10 euros in my Paypal so I can afford buying it.

One question, though. Do I have to uninstall my version of CIV IV before buying and installing the complete pack on steam?

Thanks also HanTard for the warning.

 

[HamTard]

Thanks for the warning. I was going to buy the expansion only.

Still, I have more than 10 euros in my Paypal so I can afford buying it.

One question, though. Do I have to uninstall my version of CIV IV before buying and installing the complete pack on steam?

Thanks also HanTard for the warning.

If you're gonna buy Civ IV Complete, do it now before the sale ends. I think it ends very soon, possibly in an hour.

No you don't have to uninstall other versions of Civ IV before buying it, I had vanilla installed when I bought Civ IV Complete on Steam. I haven't installed the Steam versions yet, but I did uninstall vanilla just in case.

 

[krasny]

Don't forget you can play Steam games off line, once you have installed them.

Bit of a bummer for those without ANY internet connection, but they're only a tiny minority.

Also you won't need Steam to download the game. You just need it to register and patch it. For example I bought two Steam games (Napoleon: Total War and Dawn Of War 2) on silver discs, and they installed right off the disc, needing Steam only to register the games. Everything went smoothly.

What would be utterly crappy would be if CV required Games For Windows Live. That would be a deal breaker for me. Or even more messed up, a DRM scheme similar to the current Ubisoft pernicious shag of bite. Or just as messed up, a scheme that limits installs.

In short unless you have NO internet what so ever, don't worry about Steam. People on dial up can just buy the game from the store. Which I'm going to do anyway, because I'm a frequent reinstaller.

 

[Maeztu]

Thanks a lot .... I see it also comes with Civ IV colonization, whatever that is.

 

[HamTard]

Thanks a lot .... I see it also comes with Civ IV colonization, whatever that is.

did you get it for $10 in time?

Civ IV Colonization is a standalone expansion (doesn't require vanilla Civ IV) that's themed around European empires settling the New Wold and conflicting with the natives, and it's built on the Civ IV engine.

 

[eireksten]

It only appears when you exit a steam game and there has been an update to the offers/new releases since it last displayed, not just randomly when you're doing something. You play 5 games over two days, you'll probably only see it once.

There is an option that appears to turn it off, but I've not tried using it.

That option works fine for me. I haven't seen a single ad on Steam since I unchecked that box. I've also set my start page in Steam to the games library. This way I won't have to view the homepage of the store every time I start the Steam GUI (I usually just start the game directly, though).

 

[HamTard]

That option works fine for me. I haven't seen a single ad on Steam since I unchecked that box. I've also set my start page in Steam to the games library. This way I won't have to view the homepage of the store every time I start the Steam GUI (I usually just start the game directly, though).

If you right click the little Steam icon in the tray beside your clock, it lists games that you tagged as Favourites so you can launch from that without opening the Steam window.

 

[eireksten]

If you right click the little Steam icon in the tray beside your clock, it lists games that you tagged as Favourites so you can launch from that without opening the Steam window.

Yes, I know. I wrote I usually start games without opening Steam. You can also just click a shortcut on the desktop or start from the start menu, even if Steam isn't running.

Anyway, my point was that you won't necessarily get ads thrown at you even if you use Steam. You can disable them.

 

[Maeztu]

did you get it for $10 in time?

Civ IV Colonization is a standalone expansion (doesn't require vanilla Civ IV) that's themed around European empires settling the New Wold and conflicting with the natives, and it's built on the Civ IV engine.

Yes. but 10 euros, since i am in Europe.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[PieceOfMind]

You can refund pre-orders before a game is released. After release, you probably can't refund. Why wouldn't you be able to download the game?

As I said in previous posts, my internet connection is pretty shocking. I'm still in a battle with my ISP to get it fixed (have been for more than 2 months now).

Without giving you my life story, there is a small concern that the money I spend on the game will be wasted on something I am not able to download for perhaps several weeks after release. If this happened, buying the disc in the store would be the more pain-free route to take.

Firewall, router etc. is non-issue. It's the physical connection (the copper twisted pairs - infrastructure I have no control over) that is the possible cause of a possible problem. Sepcially, a bucketload of interference that shouldn't be there, increasing error rates and obliterating any decent bandwidth or connection reliability.

 

[Chalks]

Is your internet poor quality as in unreliable, or as in slow?

I suggest you may want to buy a physical copy of the game if downloading it may be a problem for you.