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[Doom_Bringer]

Valve's Doug Lombardi confirms assets for the long-delayed shooter will be loaded onto the developer's Steam download service next week.

Two days after Gabe Newell obliquely mentioned it on the Half-Life 2 Fallout forums, next week's preloading of Half-Life assets has been officially confirmed. "Yes, we plan to start preloading next week," PR director Doug Lombardi told GameSpot.

Valve will only preload textures, audio, and "other stuff that doesn't change," according to Newell. However, the fact that the developer is moving finished Half-Life 2 assets to its Steam download service means the long-delayed shooter must be near gold status. The confirmation lends further credence to rumors that Half-Life 2 will complete its final debug next week and will be submitted to VU Games for approval shortly thereafter.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/08/12/news_6104695.html

sweet

 

[Mrbob]

Bye bye steam. It's gonna get crushed with people trying to get this game.

 

[MrPing1000]

Gaming nirvana fast approaches!!

 

[Kon Tiki]

hehehehe. I got my server.

 

[Takuan]

reeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!

 

[shibbs]

Good. Got my radeon 9800 pro card today. They said it would be bundled with a HL2 coupon so i was all exited. And ofcourse... it didnt come with a coupon. I called, they said they will try to send me a coupon anyways but i doubt that will happen. :/

 

[Evenball]

I should be done with Doom3 by then (I progress so slowly...)

 

[akascream]

Bye bye steam. It's gonna get crushed with people trying to get this game.

Which is why it's smart to let people start downloading art assets now, though I dunno how professional.

"I bought my ATI 9800Pro, I have my free HL2 certificate and I have my art assets downloaded. In another year or so, I should be able to play the game!"

 

[Thaedolus]

So where do I go to buy HL2 so I can download it when it's ready?

EDIT

Download via Steam. Don't be banning me again bishop

 

[Eric-GCA]

I hope this means that HL2 is nearly complete, I've been anticipating it much more after playing through Doom 3. Its very amazing how no one's seen anything new on this game in so long. But I guess there wasn't much media on Doom 3 until it was released either.

Come on Valve, get it ready!

 

[nubbe]

How large is HL2 expected to be?
4gigs? Will take a long time to download either way...

 

[shibbs]

I thought about that. Why would anyone download HL2 through steam, wouldnt that take ages?

 

[Thaedolus]

I thought about that. Why would anyone download HL2 through steam, wouldnt that take ages?

I would. It probably would get to me faster than a copy shipped to a store would. Don't underestimate broadband and peer to peer networks

 

[EviLore]

Steam seems to have had some of its kinks worked out since the atrocious launch, probably thanks in part to the Bit Torrent creator being on the team. Of course, load isn't an issue right now, but will be pretty soon...


I'll be buying a boxed copy.

 

[mattx5]

Steam seems to download pretty fast, I re-installed it the other day on my new comp, and it took no more than 5 minutes to download Counterstrike.

Of course, with a few thousand people all downloading at the same time, I'm sure it would slow down just a bit

 

[Littleberu]

Steam seems to download pretty fast, I re-installed it the other day on my new comp, and it took no more than 5 minutes to download Counterstrike.

Of course, with a few thousand people all downloading at the same time, I'm sure it would slow down just a bit

Maybe not. You know P2P? I think they'll use this.

 

[Drexon]

Ok, so what exactly is it that's happening tomorrow? Is CS:S coming out, or just some textures and sounds? I got CSCZ with my Radeon 9800 Pro today, and I've started playing a little CS online (I suck, first time) in preparation for CS:S, does this mean I can download this, whatever it is, tomorrow?

 

[epmode]

only the beta is being made available. only one map, and i don't think it'll have any of valve's vaunted anti-cheat measures. it'll preload later today, but won't go live until wednesday.

 

[Zilch]

When exactly is the pre-load going to start?

I'm an ATI voucher holder and I've got nothing so far.

 

[epmode]

When exactly is the pre-load going to start?

when it happens, i'm sure you'll read about it here.

I'm an ATI voucher holder and I've got nothing so far.

this is probably obvious, but make sure you enter the cd key into steam.

 

[Thaedolus]

Dammit, where can I buy an HL2 CD key so I can get it when it's loaded into Steam?

 

[Stryder]

Well it's been announced that the CS:Source beta for those who are elegible to receive it has started pre-loading over at www.steampowered.com, has anybody's steam starting loading anything?

 

[Nester]

Well it's been announced that the CS:Source beta for those who are elegible to receive it has started pre-loading over at www.steampowered.com, has anybody's steam starting loading anything?

I'll have to load up steam when I get home tonight so I have it ready for release. I only play CS on Thursday nights at a LAN, so it'd be nice to have it preloaded before I go over there this Thursday.

 

[-=DoAvl=-]

woo hoo!! preloading now!! yay!

 

[Zilch]

Yeah, preloading now.

Steam is shit-slow...

 

[Stryder]

Did you have to do anything for it to start pre-loading? like add it to your list of games or something, or did it just start pre-loading itself?

 

[Zilch]

I exited and reloaded Steam. A news box came up telling me that the preload was starting.

 

[Stryder]

Oh yeah.. sweet

 

[SKluck]

Game comes out in less than a month, why have we still not recieved solid details concerning the collector's edition, actual box art, anything?

 

[Azwethinkweiz]

I never got a voucher. Did you guys get yours in the mail or was it an email? I'm wondering if I used an email address that's no longer active.

 

[ZombieSupaStar]

 

[crawlingpeter]

http://www.zombiesupastar.com/css.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]
I saw the same thing tonite. Took about 20 minutes to finishing preloading. I'm excited for Wednesday. :D

 

[MrPing1000]

hmmph my cs:cz better come today

 

[nubbe]

I’m kind of sceptical about Steams ability to handle HL2 launch :|

 

[-=DoAvl=-]

dang! when they said the 18th... they meant not the 18th in Australia. So it would be the 19th. How long is it till the 18th in the states?

 

[Badabing]

I downloaded my CS: S in 20 minutes.

 

[Burger]

This is what Gabe Newell had to say about the Steam Network.

Right now we have about 60 Steam content servers running around the world. They are throttled to 100 Mbps, but can handle ~800 Mbps if necessary.

In terms of network bandwidth, we're currently running at 4 Gbps, and will boost to 7 Gbps when we start pre-loading. We have the option of increasing that to 14 Gbps with a phone call (admittedly a really expensive phone call).

Since Half-Life 2 is ~2 GB (or 16 Gb) over the wire, we can serve up about a person/second with a complete copy of the game. These are idealized numbers - the real capacity planning numbers are quite a bit lower.

So pre-loading is a good thing, being able to play before you have a complete copy of the game is a good thing, and having buckets and buckets of bandwidth is a good thing. It's interesting that videogames in addition to being a larger aggregate audience than almost any TV show (and a lot of countries total Internet traffic) are also now becoming one of the largest consumers of bandwidth on the net.

 

[Eric-GCA]

So, I'm kind of curious, whats the advantage of getting Half Life 2 via Steam rather than simply just buying a copy at the store when it is released?

 

[epmode]

the benefits to the consumer aren't that great. the biggest plus is that you can get the game the instant it's released..

it's better for valve, as they get much more revenue per sale by avoiding traditional distribution costs. if they were smart, they would give a discout on all steam purchases, but i don't think vivendi would like that.

 

[SKluck]

No "insert disc 1 to play" shit.

I wonder if I can steam-stream HL2, and still buy it in the store and not have to actually ever use the discs.

 

[ImNotLikeThem]

No "insert disc 1 to play" shit.

I wonder if I can steam-stream HL2, and still buy it in the store and not have to actually ever use the discs.

I'm pretty sure it's set up so that as soon as you put a valid CD-key into steam, you are permanently tied to the key and therefore can download it whenever you want, even if you have a CD version. I may be wrong, but thats how I interpreted it.

 

[Stryder]

dang! when they said the 18th... they meant not the 18th in Australia. So it would be the 19th. How long is it till the 18th in the states?

I think us Aussies can expect to be playing at ~1pm on the 19th, our time.

 

[crawlingpeter]

I'm pretty sure it's set up so that as soon as you put a valid CD-key into steam, you are permanently tied to the key and therefore can download it whenever you want, even if you have a CD version. I may be wrong, but thats how I interpreted it.

If that's the case, then I'm definitely buying the boxed version.

 

[-=DoAvl=-]

I think us Aussies can expect to be playing at ~1pm on the 19th, our time.

crap.

i hate living in the future... hehehe

 

[Burger]

I'm pretty sure it's set up so that as soon as you put a valid CD-key into steam, you are permanently tied to the key and therefore can download it whenever you want, even if you have a CD version. I may be wrong, but thats how I interpreted it.

Thats correct. It works the same way as half life 1, your cd key is proof you own HL and as a flow on effect, you own Opposing Force, Counterstrike, Day of Defeat etc etc.

Anywhere in the world if you log on to steam with your account, you can play 'your' games.

You cannot buy HL2 online over steam and recieve a boxed copy I don't believe, could be wrong about that. (ATI voucher holders get to choose).

 

[FriScho]

 

[zooL]

Stupid DDoS-Attackers. >:O

 

[MrPing1000]

/camps


They better not decide to wait until 6pm eastern time etc. People in the UK want to play today its already 10 to 1!