A Steam-y question...

[George Geczy]

We are in discussions with Paradox right now about the Retail flavour of the Cold War release, and whether it should be more tightly integrated with Steam.

Benefits:
- Updates automatically get pushed out to players
- Easier integration with "Achievements" and Steams "Save Games in the Cloud" (save online) features

Drawbacks:
- Steam Account and Internet Connection are required once on the initial install of the game.


I should note that this applies only to the Retail (boxed, in-store) version. Digital Download versions will be specific to where you buy them from (ie DD from Steam requires Steam, DD from GamersGate will not).

Any thoughts / cheers / jeers ?

-- George.

[Eldin]

I dislike retail version games forcing me to use steam. I find the steam user interface lacking and I think the progam itself uses too much resources and takes too long to start up. Also when it comes to modding I can forsee many problems where steam could interfere with modified files when it auto updates the game version. It's a definitive thumbs down from me.
Btw, I think the current way to update the game is simple and very effective and I quite prefer it over steam auto updating my game.

[Ruges]

Personaly I am for it. 2-3 years ago I would have said no. But now the advantages far outweight the disadvantages. And there are misconceptions with steam.

For instance, everyone fells that if steam goes belly up, you will no longer get to play your game. Which is not true, Valve has stated that in the event of some kind of company shutdown, Steam would be reconfigured to disable authentication and allow you to play your games in offline mode. So there would be a few tittles that you would still have issues with, But that is not to say that the developer of the tittle would not offer a solution (do you really beleive that if Steam went under, that BG would not help its playerbase stay connected?) And who really thinks steam is going under at this point in time? Thats like saying Walmart is going to close all its doors.

Updates, You dont have to update your game. Under the library pane, tittles. If you right click one of your games and go to properties. Then select the updates tab. And you can select if you want it to update automaticaly, or for it not to. Also reguarding overwriting your moded data. Steam does not do that unless you want it to. With Auto updates on, it will only overwrite your files when a new patch comes out or you select verify integrity of game files. With Auto updates off it will only overwrite your moded files when you select very integrity of game files. Also reguarding this game, So far there are only 3 moded files that would get overwriten during a patch (if the moder did it right and used his own files instead of the originals). which you could then take out and reapply after manualy telling it to install the patch.

Steams a resource hog. Now this I have not seen. Granted I have a quad core, And since games are not consuming 100 percent of every core, steam has plenty of its own power. Not that it seems to need much. really I do not notice a performance hit at all. The only time I noticed it seemed to be a hog was on startup. There would be huge delays on when I told it to start and when it was ready to play. I found out a couple reason for this. I had allot of games on auto update. Take this off and you will notice an improment. Although the biggest improvment you will see is selecting the right region and connection speed for yourself. When you clcik on steam in the top left. then settings, then go over to the downloads and clouds, In this tab select your proper connection speed and region. I noticed a huge increase in speed when I changed it to my local city instead of one that was on the other coast. Also start steam when your computer starts, That way you dont have to notice it load.

There are allot of advantages to having it on steam. Lets face it, this is not a huge tittle. There are not going to be any TV comercials. We might see a few Magazine advertisments. But really it is going to be a hidden tittle. Steam offers a good place to advertise the game. And if sales get stale They can always put the game on sale to intice new buyers. Also more buyers of the game means more support for the players. (BG seems like the type of company that if a game sells well, better then anticipated, they will offer more and more content threw patches)

Never have to search for a patch, or see if your game is updated to the current patch. Steam does it for you.

Could be a huge boon for Multiplayer. If everyone is on steam, and joins the Cold War group. You can see who has the game and who is online and who plays it in multiplayer. So you can find people to play with easily. And again if you play with people you can add them to your friends list so you can see when they are online and you can ask them if they would like to play. And if the game does not have voice coms, nore does everyone have TS or Mumble, you can always use steam voice chat to comunicate.

You can easily transfer to new computers. And play on multiple (not at the same time thow, Well threw a LAN setup I have heard it is possible todo).

No discs needed, you will never loose your game from a lost or damaged disc.

No lost codes, you will never loose your game becouse you lost your passcode.

Stat tracking, you can see how many hours you have played each game to see if you are getting your value out of it.

Did I mention sales? Steam loves its sales. you can find games up to 80% off. and regularly at 50%.

My only question to BG is are you guys going to support it on Steam? I would be pretty pissed buying it on steam. And then having you guys not support the expansions (IE like you guys did with 2020 and GC). But other then that, I see no reason not to have it on steam. Peoples fears for wanting that hard disk is moot. Its akin to prefering to listen to your music on records instead of MP3, or other forms of digital media.

[sirveri]

Benefits:
- Updates automatically get pushed out to players
- Easier integration with "Achievements" and Steams "Save Games in the Cloud" (save online) features

Drawbacks:
- Steam Account and Internet Connection are required once on the initial install of the game.


I should note that this applies only to the Retail (boxed, in-store) version. Digital Download versions will be specific to where you buy them from (ie DD from Steam requires Steam, DD from GamersGate will not).

I'm not sure I 'get' it. So if I download from gamersgate I won't need steam? But if I buy a retail box from Amazon?... I guess I would need it in the retail box scenario.

I already have steam, it's better than what ubisoft is doing by far, so it wouldn't really bother me either way. It sounds like you're just using them for authentication instead of/in conjunction with a CD key. My guess is that it will annoy people who don't have steam, the people who don't have it on principal probably won't buy the game at all as a sort of steam boycott. But if you're downloading from GG or whatever and it's not required then that should provide an alternate outlet for that group.

[Theguvna]

Steam, I would seriously do it. Steam is now a much better system then it was. It won't take long for this game to download, if you have to wait a long time, do it over night play it in the morning. Except for downloading there is literally zero draw backs.

[Fistalis]

Digital Download versions will be specific to where you buy them from (ie DD from Steam requires Steam, DD from GamersGate will not).
Any thoughts / cheers / jeers ?

If you guys do like magicka did it will require steam on EVERY VERSION. even if you download it from a different Digital distributer. The D2D version, gamers gate version etc all still require steam.

.. As long as you offer a version that doesn't require steam I don't care either way.
If however you decide to go steamworks integrated and require steam on all versions ill forgo purchasing it and be done with your products .
(seriously.. make sure I can purchase a version that doesn't require steam.. or i'm gonna be pissed, don't force me into a contract with a 3rd party that I don't want to be party to in order to play your game)

I would prefer that the retail box doesn't REQUIRE steam personally because I prefer boxed versions. And seriosly if i wanted to deal with steam i would just buy it on steam. I buy the box version so I don't have to deal with digital stores. i have a physical copy I can reinstall regardless of a companies standing. (something all the m)$^$^ who make steam required on their games forget or don't care about.)
I can't stand steam personally, and really don't understand why publishers put a steam requirement on BOXED copies. Its like here have 3rd party store installed on your system whether you like it or not. Integrating with steam for the STEAM version makes sense. The rest just seems like coercion to get more people using steam.

(what really irritates me about this is it was just yesterday I was discussing the issue of steam becoming too dominating in the gaming market and said something to the effect of "as long as my battlegoats don't go the way of steamworks i'll be happy". So much for that thought..this thread pretty much ruined my day. Because I have this gut feeling that it'll end up like magicka and require steam no matter what version you buy)

[Theguvna]

It has so many more benefits then risks. And yes, you can do magic and make certain versions not do steam. Hell, if this was really a hot topic, you could take it up with Gabe Newell. Just Email him.

[Balthagor]

...If you guys do like magicka did it will require steam on EVERY VERSION...

This is true at release but I spoke with the Magicka guys in New York and thought they planned a non-steam version for some time after the inital release. I could have been mistaken though. You have to code each way separately and as I understood it they focused on the steam version for release.

Anyone know if there are games on Impulse that still require steam? I got the impression they where mutually exclusive in some way...

[tkobo]

If its the only way you can sell on steam, then yes.IE they are requiring your boxed versions be linked to steam as part of the deal for handling a digital version for you.

If your going to have a digital download steam version thru them either way ,then keep the boxed retail version separate.IE no.

[NitrousOxide]

I really don't like Steam, have avoided all games which require it. But if there is a Non-Steam version through Gamersgate or others which is released at the same time then i have no problems with it.

[Fistalis]

...If you guys do like magicka did it will require steam on EVERY VERSION...

This is true at release but I spoke with the Magicka guys in New York and thought they planned a non-steam version for some time after the inital release. I could have been mistaken though. You have to code each way separately and as I understood it they focused on the steam version for release.

Anyone know if there are games on Impulse that still require steam? I got the impression they where mutually exclusive in some way...

Impulse won't carry steamworks integrated games because they require you to install and run steam in order to play it. (which makes sense to me, why would you sell a game that requires your customers to make an account with your largest competitor). Impulse reactor however doesn't link you to impulse(its vendor neutral) and was made that way partially according to Brad because steam wouldn't carry a game if it was linked to impulse.

Pretty much to put it simply.
Neither store will carry a copy of the game that requires you to make an account with a competing store.
Using steamworks API requires your consumer to use the steam client.
Using Impulse reactors API does not require your customers to use the impulse client.

Its not that impulse won't carry games that are sold on steam.. they simply won't carry a version if it requires steam, and vice versa.

Its a mess i know but i hope I explained well. Its the steam/impulse relationship as I know it.
I could care less about all the added xtras one gets through using either API.. and would be happy with neither. But if given the option between the 2 will choose reactor anyday simply because it doesn't force me to run the impulse client to play my games. I don't like the thought of any 3rd party being the gate keeper to my games.

(funny you would bring up impulse cause it was on stardocks forums I was discussing steam, hence all the useless knowledge of the difference between the 2)

[SGTscuba]

don't forget that you can play some (maybe all) steam games in offline mode. As long as you guys don't go for that Ubisoft thing where you have to have the internet perma on in order to play your games, even if you never play online.

In my opinion, as long as i can play it even if i don't have an internet connection (although I don't mind if I have to connect to steam on first install in order to get it validated) then I am fine with steam integration. It may also make online play a lot easier because you can invite friends to games rather then having to use himachi and gameranger.

[bommel]

I think its a good idea.. used steam for like 8 years off and on because of counter-strike. The steam gaming community is big, so more players will get the game. Which means more people to play with and with steams friends feature it would be easier to keep playing with the same people. Even though steam does have its dumb moments with updates completely preventing games from working,(this may just be with counter-strike T_T) it does not happen often. I think it would be a good decision.

[Hundane]

I dont use Steam so I really dont know much about it.

I would hate to have to rely on a computer connection to play a computer game. Some say you can play in offline mode.

I would hate to not have a back-up copy of my game if Steam were to go belly-up. Some say that it would never happen and if it did that Steam would make your games available.

Less pain to get updates ? I havent seen any pain in getting updates on this game. The other games I have I havnt had problems getting updates either. Other games /Shrug I wouldnt know.

Loss codes ? Well I could lose all my game codes but I do keep my codes in mutiple areas so its unlikely and it should be for others as well.

Lost discs ? Yes this has happened to me, fortunately those games really werent that big of a loss. Now, Im not a real big Gamer nut that has an extensive library of games either so I can see where having a library of games on account with some company off site would be handy and could even be needed by those that have a ton of games.

Nifty stuff like tracking the amount of time you play and best games and stuff like is not things I would need either. Again, I know alot of people are into those things.

MP- I wish I had the time to play MP games. Theres some good ones that have gotten together on these forums. I think Steam will allow even more players to get together to play the game. IMO the game really needs to get more MP friendly for this to really take off but that just my opinion.

I do see alot of potential of using Steam, I think it would open the game up to more customers. More customers = more $$$ for the Devs to invest in making more SR games and expansions.

If I have to buy SR-Cold War thru Steam I guess I will but if I have the option not to I will choose that other option. I rather have a box version or have a digital download that I can copy to a disc here at the house.

[Theguvna]

Stop reading this crap off the internet if you strongly dislike, go use steam it has way more benefits then risks. Also, meme reply
Misguided, Misguided people everywhere. George, for the love of god do it. I can see lots of complaints, but if they don't like it, then **** em, they weren't fans of your franchise. Also, yes I can agree that it was crappy, but that hasn't cropped up in the last three god damned years.