Re: Questions about Direct2Drive and Steam
- From: noman <no_m_an@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:29:07 -0800
On Fri, 25 Jan 2008 10:55:34 -0800 (PST), Richard Carpenter
<rumbledor@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
First let me ask that we just avoid any of the philosophical debates
about Steam.
I was just wondering what practical reasons there may be *not* to
purchase games via Direct2Drive and/or Steam. A few specific questions
I have are:
And my answers below are specifically about how Steam operates
1. Do the downloaded games run completely from the hard drive, or must
they be burned to disc to play them (for those that normally require
the disc to be in the drive, anyway)?
Steam games don't need CD/DVD checks. Even if you buy one in a retail
store, you can use the serial number in Steam and download the game
(or install it from store bought DVD) and then never have to insert
the disk again.
Some times, game publishers enforce the CD checks in addition to Steam
authentication. Bioshock was this way, when it first came out. It
really negates one of the biggest benefits of using Steam - you don't
have to put CD in drive.
2. Would there be any limitations on installing downloaded games on
other computers in my house? Surely I wouldn't have to download them
on each individual PC, would I?
You 'll have to download or install them on each individual PC.
Installing without a download can be done in three ways. You can just
copy the game folder from one PC to another. You can make backup using
a Steam menu option and then restore to another PC. You can just
directly install the game from a CD/DVD if you bought it in a store.
You can also install/copy the same game anywhere. The limitation is
that you can only play one particular game from one of those PCs. This
means, that every time Steam is run, you are logged on to one of the
Steam servers which does these kind of authentications.
Now, there is an offline mode, where you can play a Steam game without
an internet connection. It probably can be abused for playing multiple
instances of the same game.
3. Can I expect to be able to freely re-download a game I previously
purchased via Direct2Drive (or Steam) in the event of, for example,
hard drive failure?
Yes.
4. I understand that these are special versions of the retail games
and therefore require special versions of any subsequent patches. How
soon after the retail patches are released are the D2D/Steam versions
generally available?
I have only tried Valve games over Steam, where the retail and Steam
versions are same. So I can't comment here.
5. Is there any sort of additional overhead involved when playing
games purchased from D2D or Steam, such as some sort of requirement
that the download service client be running in the background?
Steam client runs in the background but it doesn't do much. It takes
hardly any system resources.
6. Anyone have any simple personal preferences that keep them from
purchasing games via dowload?
I have few. I don't like the fact that games over steam can't be
resold easily. I also don't like my offline game collections to be
dependant on an authentication server.
I have been using Steam since its beta days when trashing it without
knowing a single thing about it, was very popular. I found it be quite
a decent application from the start. However, for the reasons stated
above, if a game offered on Steam is available outside, then I never
go the Steam route.
--
Noman
.
- References:
- Questions about Direct2Drive and Steam
- From: Richard Carpenter
- Questions about Direct2Drive and Steam
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