• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

STEAM 2013 Announcements & Updates VIII - Don't ask when the sales are starting.

Status
Not open for further replies.

Jag

Member
Family Sharing is the best thing ever

Funny I was just going to ask a question about Family Sharing because I can't figure out how the hell it works.

I have access to Family Sharing, I'm using the Steam Beta and I authorized my device through Settings. Now I want my son (who has his own Steam account) to be able to play my Steam games on his PC (not mine).

Does he have to log out of his Steam account, log into mine and play from there? Will I be locked out of Steam while he does this? I don't see the difference from just sharing a single account.
 
Funny I was just going to ask a question about Family Sharing because I can't figure out how the hell it works.

I have access to Family Sharing, I'm using the Steam Beta and I authorized my device through Settings. Now I want my son (who has his own Steam account) to be able to play my Steam games on his PC (not mine).

Does he have to log out of his Steam account, log into mine and play from there? Will I be locked out of Steam while he does this? I don't see the difference from just sharing a single account.

You have to log into your Steam account on his PC to authorize the PC first, then he can log into his account his PC and have access to all your games.
 

Arthea

Member
In what way am I really using it? Other than it is there?

I press the Windows key, type what I need, then press enter. Simple as that, never have to use the Metro screen.

I also got it free from my school, the only facts that are generally ignored is that 8 is a pretty solid OS but people look past that due to some inane mutterings about Metro.

You see, I agree that people can be hateful and whine with little to no reasons, but not in this case. You either have to be later adopted or extremely lucky (not to encounter bugs and games that don't run on it) or have patience of an angel that most people don't have.
Not going to bore you with what I think about it again, but I can't even update the damn thing... again, and it happens third time in a half of year or so. The time I spent making this OS work would be enough to finish Civ5 (><)
If I wouldn't be as lazy as I am I would have gone back to win7 long ago. But I still keep myself telling: some more updates and it'll get better. It is somewhat better already, but not enough.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
You have to log into your Steam account on his PC to authorize the PC first, then he can log into his account his PC and have access to all your games.

I'll also add that concurrent game access is not permitted, so if your son is playing a game and then you yourself load one up, he'll be given a few minutes' notice before being booted back to Steam. It's possible to get around this with single-player titles by using Offline Mode, but, for what it's worth, not all games support offline achievements.
 

TheD

The Detective
*Windows 8.1 waves*

Still has the start screen.

In what way am I really using it? Other than it is there?

I press the Windows key, type what I need, then press enter. Simple as that, never have to use the Metro screen.

I also got it free from my school, the only facts that are generally ignored is that 8 is a pretty solid OS but people look past that due to some inane mutterings about Metro.

Opening it up and typing stuff into a search box is still using it!
It still takes you out of the desktop!
Not everything be can be taken care of well by just searching (like non unique name files or files you do not know the name of that programs put into their start menu directory) and the start screen is only one part of metro and the stupid changes they made to Win8!

The facts that are ignored about Win8 are that lots of people do not like the changes to the UI, instead we get inane mutterings about faster boot speed and being a "solid OS"!

Not really. I mean, I never see the metro start screen for more than a few milliseconds. You hit start on your keyboard, type the first few letters of what you want to start, then hit 'Enter'. Not hard. Also, you can do a lot of system stuff by hitting Win+X. If you are using a mouse to launch programs in Windows 7 or 8, you're doing it wrong.

EDIT: beaten.

As above.

Is it really going out of your way to modify your OS? I don't think so. I modify windows 7 all the time. In fact, I think there were a lot of stupid decisions made on windows 7 but thankfully regedit is easy to handle and there is plenty of info out there to make modifying it easy.

How long does it take to mod windows 8? the time it takes to download and install work already done for you? How is that really going out of your way... or how is that any worse than modding windows 7?

The fact that you need third party programs does count as going out of your way.
And that is not the point!
The point is that
1. I heavily question how well UI modifications work in Windows based on programs I have tried in the past and 2. By buying Win8 you are still supporting what MS did to the OS.
 

denx

Member
Ugh, I have exactly 15 dollars in my Steam account and Starbound is tempting me. *_*

edit: holy shit, 49k current players on Starbound, and the number is rising.
 

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Ugh, I have exactly 15 dollars in my Steam account and Starbound is tempting me. *_*

edit: holy shit, 49k concurrent players on Starbound, and the number is rising.

Take the $15 price as a sign. ;)
 

Card Boy

Banned
Ugh, I have exactly 15 dollars in my Steam account and Starbound is tempting me. *_*

edit: holy shit, 49k concurrent players on Starbound, and the number is rising.

Don't pay to beta test something. Wait till it gets a full release and let other people beta test it.
 

nexen

Member
I'm not enjoying The Bureau - XCOM Shootah as much as I thought I would. The 60s vibe is well done, but the shootbang isn't satisfying so far.
So. Anyone knows what the newest Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet Update is for? Finally removing GFWL?
word on the street is yes.
 

jediyoshi

Member
Still has the start screen.

What is 'all that crap'? What's the actual flow of how you use either start screen? You hit the thing, type in what you're looking for and go, then you're back in the desktop mode.

Sounds to me like you just have an issue with Windows in general and how start menus have always been. Either that or you're not aware of how the new start menu behaves. Or you're complaining because it looks a bit different and change is evil.
 
Still has the start screen.

Opening it up and typing stuff into a search box is still using it!
It still takes you out of the desktop!
Not everything be can be taken care of well by just searching (like non unique name files or files you do not know the name of that programs put into their start menu directory) and the start screen is only one part of metro and the stupid changes they made to Win8!

The facts that are ignored about Win8 are that lots of people do not like the changes to the UI, instead we get inane mutterings about faster boot speed and being a "solid OS"!

As above.

The fact that you need third party programs does count as going out of your way.
And that is not the point!
The point is that
1. I heavily question how well UI modifications work in Windows based on programs I have tried in the past and 2. By buying Win8 you are still supporting what MS did to the OS.
i agree with you, as in metro is really something idiotic, but the argument about performance is true though. Used it for some weeks, but hated some stuff that made me go back to W7:
1:taskbar font color doesn't change if you use a darker theme, and gets unreadable.
2: for some stupid reason, microsoft decided that now they should compress jpeg wallpapers, making them look horrible. now you have to use PNG wallpapers, and converting wallpapers to it triple their sizes, most of the time :/
 

Lain

Member
Not sure if it has been mentioned already, but Darkout Steam Keys have been added to Groupees Build a Greenlight Bundle 2.

Edit: lol it's been mentioned already and on this page to boot! Sorry ><
 

Acccent

Member
I'm glad there are now people who manage to go past the wall of ignorance and denial that Win8 initially met. It's possible to admit that it's, overall, a good OS (better than 7), while still criticizing MS' policies in several fields. I had a 360, a WinPhone, and Win7; I'll switch to PS4 and either Android or iOS, but I'm glad I'm using Win8, despite all of its flaws, because the usability and general experiences far outweigh them...

Unrelatedly: do we have info on the impact of IndieGameStand on GreenLight votes? Seems like it can be a pretty big help...
 

RS4-

Member
8.1 has been slower for me compared to 7; few other minor things as well.

- Boot time (when I actually have to restart)
- Opening apps; for whatever reason there's a delay instead of something immediate. Winamp is one example.
- File explorer > __ drive; randomly takes a while to populate. I don't know why it happens, but it does.
- UAC related stuff.
 
8.1 has been slower for me compared to 7; few other minor things as well.

- Boot time (when I actually have to restart)
- Opening apps; for whatever reason there's a delay instead of something immediate. Winamp is one example.
- File explorer > __ drive; randomly takes a while to populate. I don't know why it happens, but it does.
- UAC related stuff.
It's slower in those ways compared to 8, which is worse for me because 8 was faster than 7. I also keep running into the minor thing with installers not elevating properly so I have to right-click and run them as admin.
 

Turfster

Member
8.1 has been slower for me compared to 7; few other minor things as well.

- Boot time (when I actually have to restart)

What? My Win7 box takes a minute to boot to the login screen, the Win8.1 box is there in 8 seconds. (Both have SSDs and comparable CPUs)
 

Grief.exe

Member

Inside information is either early next week or the week after.

It's slower in those ways compared to 8, which is worse for me because 8 was faster than 7. I keep running into the minor thing with installers not elevating properly so I have to right-click and run them as admin.

That is so strange.
 

Arthea

Member
I'm glad there are now people who manage to go past the wall of ignorance and denial that Win8 initially met. It's possible to admit that it's, overall, a good OS (better than 7), while still criticizing MS' policies in several fields. I had a 360, a WinPhone, and Win7; I'll switch to PS4 and either Android or iOS, but I'm glad I'm using Win8, despite all of its flaws, because the usability and general experiences far outweigh them...

Unrelatedly: do we have info on the impact of IndieGameStand on GreenLight votes? Seems like it can be a pretty big help...

I'm in other camp, inspite of it being slightly faster and loading much faster then older win, I would like people (myself included and it's too late for that) not to buy it, that most of interface and policies used creating this OS can go away and be forgotten as not working. We can have faster OS without all this bullshit that comes with win8. Requiring win system to come out without bugs next time, would be totally unrealistic, so I'm skipping that. (><)

What is 'all that crap'? What's the actual flow of how you use either start screen? You hit the thing, type in what you're looking for and go, then you're back in the desktop mode.

Sounds to me like you just have an issue with Windows in general and how start menus have always been. Either that or you're not aware of how the new start menu behaves. Or you're complaining because it looks a bit different and change is evil.

Or you are sitting on your high horse so high that can't see how it was for those that had it at the start as clean install not upgrade over 7, just a thought. ;)
And win 8 is evil! There is no denying that. (><)
 

RS4-

Member
It's slower in those ways compared to 8, which is worse for me because 8 was faster than 7. I keep running into the minor thing with installers not elevating properly so I have to right-click and run them as admin.

I've disabled UAC completely, or as much as possible, even through regedit; I still get the thing with installers where it asks me if I'm sure. Not to mention uhh, default pdf and image viewer is disabled? Not that I mind since I use diff programs, but it did surprise me.

What? My Win7 box takes a minute to boot to the login screen, the Win8.1 box is there in 8 seconds. (Both have SSDs and comparable CPUs)

I have no idea, this was a fresh install as well. Win7 boots up in 10-15. 8.1 takes about twice that. Same SSD.

Anyway, I don't think I'll pick up any games until Christmas sale unless a really nice daily pops up.
 
I've disabled UAC completely, or as much as possible, even through regedit; I still get the thing with installers where it asks me if I'm sure. Not to mention uhh, default pdf and image viewer is disabled? Not that I mind since I use diff programs, but it did surprise me.

I have no idea, this was a fresh install as well. Win7 boots up in 10-15. 8.1 takes about twice that. Same SSD.

Anyway, I don't think I'll pick up any games until Christmas sale unless a really nice daily pops up.
I don't even get prompts for some things, they'll just try to run and then error out about not being able to run with the permissions they have. Stuff that would ask if I wanted to run before (and run with admin privileges) just. . . do what they want now. On a slow-ass 5400 RPM HDD my boot time more than doubled after upgrading to 8.1, a cold boot/restart takes over a minute to get to the log-in screen now. I wanted to chalk it up to this being an upgrade install, but I'm not so sure.

I love the OS, it's just getting there that is annoying. I want the overall speed of Win8 back :mad:

Edit: I might do a fresh install over Christmas break and see if that fixes things. I almost always put my laptop to sleep rather than shut it down though, so the boot time doesn't really affect me too badly.
 

Anteater

Member
What? My Win7 box takes a minute to boot to the login screen, the Win8.1 box is there in 8 seconds. (Both have SSDs and comparable CPUs)

Mine boots about the same speed on ssd, maybe like 2 or 3 seconds faster at most on win8, but from after bios finished loading to login screen on win7 it only takes like 10 seconds =X
 
8.1 has been slower for me compared to 7; few other minor things as well.

- Boot time (when I actually have to restart)
- Opening apps; for whatever reason there's a delay instead of something immediate. Winamp is one example.
- File explorer > __ drive; randomly takes a while to populate. I don't know why it happens, but it does.
- UAC related stuff.
Do you use an SSD? I don't have any of those problems.
 

Colin.

Member
What? My Win7 box takes a minute to boot to the login screen, the Win8.1 box is there in 8 seconds. (Both have SSDs and comparable CPUs)

Within around 15 seconds, my PC running Win7 is ready to go. My SSD is a Samsung 840, and cpu is a 4670k.
 
In my experience, Windows 8's backend is more stable and much faster, but the user interface nullifies most of that speed and optimization. I'm not a power-user of Windows like I am for OSX or Linux - I only use it for games. The interface is punishing for users like me. The sideways interface is confusing and poorly mapped, and the abstraction of multiple interfaces (metro vs desktop) is a distinction that is both uncommunicative and entirely unnecessary for most users and really only furthers Microsoft's agenda. And the workflow of the two is totally off (like using metro apps at default for video, pictures, etc). 8.1 broke a few things for me so I ditched it.

It's not a binary good or bad release, it's a lot of steps backward and a few steps forward, but in the end it's irrelevant to me outside of continuing to support Steam. Once SteamOS comes out, I'll probably use that most of my gaming time anyway. I won't buy games on Steam if they don't have Linux versions nowadays.
 

drizzle

Axel Hertz
There's absolutely nothing wrong with Windows 8. When my secondary computer was working (I need a new 775 CPU), it was running Windows 8 and it was great.

I didn't install Windows 8 on my main computer simply because I'm too lazy to do it.
 

derExperte

Member
Mine boots about the same speed on ssd, maybe like 2 or 3 seconds faster at most on win8, but from after bios finished loading to login screen on win7 it only takes like 10 seconds =X

Are we talking about clicking restart (then it boots like W7) or shutting down and then powering up (then W8 uses it's new quick boot function (not to be confused with the sleep mode) if everything works correctly)? First way is usually slightly faster than in W7 because W8 loads fewer services and stuff. But quick boot is where it's at, so much quicker here than W7 ever was despite a fast SSD. And my new notebook throws me to the desktop in less than 5 seconds. Including BIOS.
 

Arthea

Member
There's absolutely nothing wrong with Windows 8. When my secondary computer was working (I need a new 775 CPU), it was running Windows 8 and it was great.

I didn't install Windows 8 on my main computer simply because I'm too lazy to do it.

Can you, please, tell that to my win8? which insists on encountering the same bug (update related) over and over again, I think it doesn't know that there is nothing wrong with it.
 

Anteater

Member
Are we talking about clicking restart (then it boots like W7) or shutting down and then powering up (then W8 uses it's new quick boot function (not to be confused with the sleep mode) if everything works correctly)? First way is usually slightly faster than in W7 because W8 loads fewer services and stuff. But quick boot is where it's at, so much quicker here than W7 ever was despite a fast SSD. And my new notebook throws me to the desktop in less than 5 seconds. Including BIOS.

shutting down and booting up, I do remember w8 being really fast (i don't have it installed anymore so it could be much quicker than I remember), but I'm currently on w7 and it only takes like 8-10 seconds, the bios takes long though :(
 

JBourne

maybe tomorrow it rains
Use this for the Humble stuff: https://www.humblebundle.com/gift?key=


ModBot said:
Instructions for participants:
I am giving away 7 Steam keys. To enter this giveaway, send a PM to ModBot with any subject line. In the body, copy and paste the entire line below that corresponds to the key you want (if you include more than one game, you will be blocked from entering).

Rules for this Giveaway:
- If the key is already taken you will not receive a reply. Replies may take a minute or two:


Overlord -- MB-8EC741600E6E5F50 - Taken by MarcoZombieCannon
Sanctum 2 -- MB-2500765664F547C3 - Taken by webrunner
Clive Barker's Jericho -- MB-1F9563C14106AAC5 - Taken by alr1ght
Orcs Must Die 2 -- MB-88C5E78C71C018BB - Taken by DeadlyVirus
Serious Sam 3 -- MB-3DDA8DF912BFB98B - Taken by user237
Overlord 2 -- MB-81C7F47861DE6622 - Taken by derExperte
Magicka -- MB-790FE878615DE5EA - Taken by poopninjamvc3mk
 

derExperte

Member
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom