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STEAM- Announcements & Updates 2011 Edition

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A

ashbash159

Member
markot said:
>_<

Why did they get rid of the home and refresh buttons on the steam store page thingy?
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You can add the whole address bar in the settings. This includes the home and refresh buttons. I had to add it back after it was gone.
 
C

ClovingWestbrook

Banned
I am very tempted to buy Homefront JUST to show my support for a company that is putting effort into the PC version since Crytek raised their middle finger to that same community. Ugh.
 
C

Campster

Do you like my tight white sweater? STOP STARING
INDIGO_CYCLOPS said:
What's the deal with Dinner Date?
Click to expand...

As a sucker for games that aren't about shooting dudes in the head I hopped on this for $4.50. The verdict is I'm torn.

The game borders on pretentious, but only just barely so. It doesn't feel nearly as ridiculous or troll-bait worthy as some of Tale of Tales' stuff like The Graveyard of The Path. It tries to essentially be a game-based character study. And for the most part it succeeds there - it's easy to empathize with this poor late 20's Brit who has anxieties about women, work, and his circle of friends. The writing was good enough that despite the game being about sitting alone in a room for 20 minutes I was emotionally engaged the entire time. The attention to detail also really makes the world come to life, too - from the sound production to the little graphical touches. This is the first game I've played in a long time whose world feels "lived in" and not a set piece for some dumbass shootout.

All of that praise said, I'm still not convinced this was really utilizing games as a medium in any meaningful way. The player can guide the focus of Julian's mind which can trigger different responses, but you're not really driving a narrative in any real sense. Focus on one thing, and Julian will spin his yarn about what it makes him think of, switch to something else and his mind will switch gears. Indeed, your only interaction is switching the gears in Julian's mind, so there are periods where you actually end up doing very little but listening. This is partially intentional, of course - most of the game's meat is delivered through the voiceover work. But I can't help but think there was a missed opportunity to systemize some way to influence Julian's future. We get a laundry list of his problems but no real hint of a resolution. Again, it's a character piece, and that's somewhat to be expected. But the game ultimately says "This is Julian, his fears and desires and concerns. The end."

If you have $4.50 to spend on a game that is short (we're talking 25 minutes per play through) and flawed but potentially emotionally engaging and definitely a break from punching dudes in the groin bits, I say give it a try.
 
I

iavi

Member
Campster said:
As a sucker for games that aren't about shooting dudes in the head I hopped on this for $4.50. The verdict is I'm torn.

The game borders on pretentious, but only just barely so. It doesn't feel nearly as ridiculous or troll-bait worthy as some of Tale of Tales' stuff like The Graveyard of The Path. It tries to essentially be a game-based character study. And for the most part it succeeds there - it's easy to empathize with this poor late 20's Brit who has anxieties about women, work, and his circle of friends. The writing was good enough that despite the game being about sitting alone in a room for 20 minutes I was emotionally engaged the entire time. The attention to detail also really makes the world come to life, too - from the sound production to the little graphical touches. This is the first game I've played in a long time whose world feels "lived in" and not a set piece for some dumbass shootout.

All of that praise said, I'm still not convinced this was really utilizing games as a medium in any meaningful way. The player can guide the focus of Julian's mind which can trigger different responses, but you're not really driving a narrative in any real sense. Focus on one thing, and Julian will spin his yarn about what it makes him think of, switch to something else and his mind will switch gears. Indeed, your only interaction is switching the gears in Julian's mind, so there are periods where you actually end up doing very little but listening. This is partially intentional, of course - most of the game's meat is delivered through the voiceover work. But I can't help but think there was a missed opportunity to systemize some way to influence Julian's future. We get a laundry list of his problems but no real hint of a resolution. Again, it's a character piece, and that's somewhat to be expected. But the game ultimately says "This is Julian, his fears and desires and concerns. The end."

If you have $4.50 to spend on a game that is short (we're talking 25 minutes per play through) and flawed but potentially emotionally engaging and definitely a break from punching dudes in the groin bits, I say give it a try.
Click to expand...


You just sold a copy. Congrats!

And I'm more than disappointed that it sounds like there's no real sense of closure, but such a premise, at such the price, sounds to good to ignore.
 
Dice

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
Big screen mode? *looks it up*

This is my first time hearing of this. Does this mean it will use bigger fonts and whatnot? I have a large monitor and sit back from my computer. Steam has the tiniest fonts of anything on my computer right now and has no way to enlarge them like every other program, so I have to lean in to navigate it.
 
Z

Zzoram

Member
Dice said:
Big screen mode? *looks it up*

This is my first time hearing of this. Does this mean it will use bigger fonts and whatnot? I have a large monitor and sit back from my computer. Steam has the tiniest fonts of anything on my computer right now and has no way to enlarge them like every other program, so I have to lean in to navigate it.
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It will be controller compatible and yes have larger fonts and stuff meant for sitting far from a TV.
 
E

Exuro

Member
Miri said:
When do their GDC talks start? I imagine that it'll be during that presentation.
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Only sessions I see from Valve(themself) on the GDC website are

"Forensic Debugging: How to Autopsy, Repair, and Reanimate a Release-built Game"
Elan Ruskin (Valve Corporation)
Wed 1:30PM

"Biofeedback in Gameplay: How Valve Measures Physiology to Enhance Gaming Experience"
Mike Ambinder (Valve Software)
Thurs 10:30AM

Not sure if there are other sessions they're having, but if it were to be revealed I assume the second one would be it.
 
T

ThaiGrocer

Member
Exuro said:
Only sessions I see from Valve(themself) on the GDC website are

"Forensic Debugging: How to Autopsy, Repair, and Reanimate a Release-built Game"
Elan Ruskin (Valve Corporation)
Wed 1:30PM

"Biofeedback in Gameplay: How Valve Measures Physiology to Enhance Gaming Experience"
Mike Ambinder (Valve Software)
Thurs 10:30AM
Click to expand...
Hopefully there will be whitepapers for these at Valve's website... I also hope that the first one is referring to the fixes they're going to put into L4D2. It would be wonderful to see what their process is in detail.

edit: The talk will be debugging in general with novel techniques (not a case study), according to the website. good stuff!
 
C

crimsonheadGCN

Banned
Cross-posting this from the other thread about Big Picture mode. The Steamworkis site was updated with some more information:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=423007&page=3

http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/thebigpicture.php
http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/SteamworksBrochure2011.pdf

They’ve got the big screen,
now give them the big picture.
It’s time to come out of the den and explore a few more rooms of the house.

Heading to the living room—or anywhere there’s a big screen—is Steam’s soon-to-be-released big-picture mode, offering simple, easy-to-read navigation designed specifically for TV. With full controller support, big-picture mode will let gamers kick back and enjoy their favorite games on the biggest screen in the house.

Steam’s big-picture mode doesn’t require any additional development from you. Just ensure your game works well with a controller, and we’ll take care of the rest. And don’t worry, keyboard and mouse aren’t going anywhere—users will be able to switch between input devices at any time.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
poppabk

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Just ensure your game works well with a controller, and we’ll take care of the rest.
Click to expand...
Sounds interesting. Wonder if inclusion in big picture mode will somehow require controller support, or if they are going to have a 'big picture ready' label on games.
 
S

Stallion Free

Cock Encumbered
zombieshavebrains said:
Well with the big picture mode coming you know they'll apply it to HL2. So another HL2 playthrough...here i come.
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HL2 has pretty much flawless pad support already. Just enter exec 360blahblah (it will auto show as an option) and it sets it to controller settings complete with the slight hud changes. Big picture is just changing the Steam interface around all games (optionally).
 
poppabk

poppabk

Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Stallion Free said:
HL2 has pretty much flawless pad support already. Just enter exec 360blahblah (it will auto show as an option) and it sets it to controller settings complete with the slight hud changes. Big picture is just changing the Steam interface around all games (optionally).
Click to expand...
It does sound like they may require controller support for inclusion as a 'big picture' compatible title.
 
G

Gui_PT

Member
Hey everyone, sorry to bother but I have a problem.

I'm trying to create an account but I keep getting this

Your account creation request failed, please try again later.
Click to expand...

I know I'm doing everything right. Anyone know what's going on?
 
C

crimsonheadGCN

Banned
A new Account security measure seems to be ready for implementation soon. It's called Steam Guard with Intel Identity Protection:

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1777798

http://ipt.intel.com/welcome.aspx

Identity theft is a growing global concern for consumers and businesses. To combat this, Intel now offers Intel® Identity Protection Technology for hardware-based, two-factor authentication.

Intel® IPT is a powerful, additional layer of security that links your PC to the online account, VPN or application that you select, decreasing the ability of thieves to access account information from non-associated computers. It does this with two-factor authentication embedded directly into the chipsets that work with select 2nd generation Intel® Core™ Processor-based PCs. (See disclaimer at bottom of page.)

When you access your online account on sites protected by the Intel IPT ecosystem, two-factor authentication requires more than just something you know (one-factor) like username and password, but proof of something you have. That proof in Intel IPT enabled PCs is a six digit number that changes every 30 seconds and can only be computed on the PC and by the site you have an account with, and have selected from the Intel IPT ecosystem . Only when these numbers match is access granted to the account. Because it changes every 30 seconds, the code is difficult for thieves to hack.
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wolfmat

wolfmat

Confirmed Asshole
Pretty cool, but then, I wouldn't be able to, for instance, play games with my account on a friend's PC unless I registered it with the service. Which sort of makes Steam a little less useful.

Edit: Would be better if it was dongle-based (although that brings along a whole other dimension of implementation and security problems).
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
One minor note about the Steam client. I don't know if anyone remembers, but I have griped, probably multiple times, about how each time you start Steam and scroll through your games list, there is a second or two of jerkiness/lag while it loads the tiny icons. It may have only been an issue with the list view and icons turned on.

Anyway, it seems that now you can scroll through your list smoothly, as the icons load in in the background. They're still not preloaded/cached but the user interface is smooth now, so that little detail makes me happy. :)
 
graywolf323

graywolf323

Member
I don't think I would have ever reached it if it wasn't for everyone adding me during that treasure chest contest back before Christmas lol

gotta start deleting people who haven't been on in over a year...
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
$40 is a rather good price point for DS2. if you dug 1, it's got a lot of content for you - way longer, i thought. gets a bit repetitive, but it's got some replay value, especially with that hardcore mode or whatever.

ill likely hold out till the holidays sale or beyond before ill need a replay, but yeah, if you want more actiony survival horror, don't sleep on it.
 
S

Starwolf_UK

Member
Gui_PT said:
Hey everyone, sorry to bother but I have a problem.

I'm trying to create an account but I keep getting this

I know I'm doing everything right. Anyone know what's going on?
Click to expand...
Are you making the account through the client or through the site? Try using the other one. I remember when I tried to make an account through the site it claimed every name was taken and I mean everything, even the suggested ones with 7 digits after...worked fine in client.
 
G

Gui_PT

Member
Starwolf_UK said:
Are you making the account through the client or through the site? Try using the other one. I remember when I tried to make an account through the site it claimed every name was taken and I mean everything, even the suggested ones with 7 digits after...worked fine in client.
Click to expand...


Thank you. Will definitely try that.
 
V

Volcynika

Member
Bought Dead Space 2. Glad waiting just a short time paid off.

Did anyone prefer either control method over the other? (controller vs KB/M)
 
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