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STEAM announcements & updates 2012 Thread - Summer sales usually last week of June

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louiedog

Member
Linux support? Great!

I have a netbook that I use when traveling. Lubuntu gives me better battery than Win 7/8 and I only boot into Win 8 for Netflix and Steam. Assuming the developers send in the Linux versions for Steamplay, I already have a pretty sizable library of games from Humble Bundles.
 

Nabs

Member
Awesome. I still haven't played Dustforce (but I'm pretty sure I bought it). It looks so great, though I think I've heard it's really difficult?

It's tough at first, especially if you don't understand the scoring system. It gets easier as you play.
 
Odd. I just tested it by deleting shortcuts.vdf, loading Steam (no categories/shortcuts), closing Steam, restoring the file, and then reloading Steam (categories/shortcuts returned) -- worked perfectly.

It's possible and, indeed, likely, that I simply did it wrong. I'll try it again.
 

morningbus

Serious Sam is a wicked gahbidge series for chowdaheads.
Thats really cool.

But linux support is one of those things where I always sort of have to wonder if it's actually worth someones time to implement, since I'm assuming it's not easy.

Most of the hardest work was already done with the Mac ports. I'm surprised it has taken this long honestly, but so is the nature of Valve.

Cool, and it's funny that this has happened after phoronix appearing to be shady, and people saying the hints of a Steam client for Linux way back were fake/false alarms/would never happen. Or something. I just seem to recall people doubting it would happen.

I think that although some Linux people might avoid Steam due to the DRM, this would add a new market of some size (and a decent budget) for games and Steam. I suppose it MIGHT even bring some new attention to improved Linux graphics drivers which would be awesome. Did something similar to that happen once Steam started pushing the Mac version?

Yeah, Steam coming to Mac really improved gaming on the platform. I believe it was only a matter of a few months before vastly improved graphics drivers were released.

I'm excited about what this means for Linux as a platform. The userbase is small, but passionate, and ready to throw some money around. Even the simple fact that most of us already have games that have linux builds that would presumably be included in an updated Steamplay is pretty huge.
 
Most of the hardest work was already done with the Mac ports. I'm surprised it has taken this long honestly, but so is the nature of Valve.

On a technical level I have absolutely no knowledge of how anything linux works. So if mac gets you most of the way there...

But wherever there is a mostly untapped pool it can only be good for the provider, and assuming the people want the product, good for the customer as well.
 
Cool, and it's funny that this has happened after phoronix appearing to be shady, and people saying the hints of a Steam client for Linux way back were fake/false alarms/would never happen. Or something. I just seem to recall people doubting it would happen.

I think that although some Linux people might avoid Steam due to the DRM, this would add a new market of some size (and a decent budget) for games and Steam. I suppose it MIGHT even bring some new attention to improved Linux graphics drivers which would be awesome. Did something similar to that happen once Steam started pushing the Mac version?

Yes, to an extent. Most notably Apple pushed out a Mac Graphics Update which I believe was a first of its kind shortly after steam appeared on the platform.

Since then, they've actually started caring about implementing newer versions of OpenGL into their OS (Lion) since prior to steam releasing, they were using a relatively ancient version.
 
I'm using Game Save Manager + SkyDrive to backup my save files, and I have no idea what I'm doing.

I just generated a backup file but I'm not sure how it works. Can I edit this file to include other games? or do I have to make another one in order the backup the rest of the games?

I still have to backup a lot of Steam games apparently.
 

Gav47

Member
I just generated a backup file but I'm not sure how it works. Can I edit this file to include other games? or do I have to make another one in order the backup the rest of the games?

I still have to backup a lot of Steam games apparently.
You'll have to make a new one, i couldn't find a way to update my file. Try to delete multiple save that you may have for games e.g. I had 150 Skyrim saves that came to over 500mb, both of the Witcher games have huge game saves and you should look at any games that are using over 10mb of data for saves most games use only 1mb or less for saves.
 
You'll have to make a new one, i couldn't find a way to update my file. Try to delete multiple save that you may have for games e.g. I had 150 Skyrim saves that came to over 500mb, both of the Witcher games have huge game saves and you should look at any games that are using over 10mb of data for saves most games use only 1mb or less for saves.

Thanks. Somehow I thought this would be easier.

I'm thinking about making multiple backups. It's going to take more time, but I'll probably be easier for me to administrate.
 

Ledsen

Member
I'm using Game Save Manager + SkyDrive to backup my save files, and I have no idea what I'm doing.

I just generated a backup file but I'm not sure how it works. Can I edit this file to include other games? or do I have to make another one in order the backup the rest of the games?

I still have to backup a lot of Steam games apparently.

You can make it so each game gets its own file, which is the best IMO. Then put it so it doesn't put the date on the filename, and each time you Backup all the old files will be replaced by the new ones. Very simple, one-click backup.
 

DrFurbs

Member
I've never played any of the Dead space games and both are less then £7 right now. May be pick them up for being so cheap - I have a nice set of 5.1 headphones too on my Ps3 (never used).
 

louiedog

Member
Today's deal is Time Gentlemen, Please! and Ben There, Dan That! Special Edition at 80% off. That's a buck. If you don't have these games I recommend them.
 

HoosTrax

Member
Today's deal is Time Gentlemen, Please! and Ben There, Dan That! Special Edition at 80% off. That's a buck. If you don't have these games I recommend them.
Is it a classic-style point-and-click? Or does it have annoyingly awkward combat sequences like Gemini Rue?
 

epmode

Member
I'm using Game Save Manager + SkyDrive to backup my save files, and I have no idea what I'm doing.

I just generated a backup file but I'm not sure how it works. Can I edit this file to include other games? or do I have to make another one in order the backup the rest of the games?

I still have to backup a lot of Steam games apparently.
It's possible to configure Game Save Manager so that it creates a seperate archive file for each game instead of a single large file. This makes Dropbox/whatever support SO MUCH BETTER that I have a hard time understanding why this isn't the default behavior.

edit: Oh god, so late.
 

plc268

Member
It's possible to configure Game Save Manager so that it creates a seperate archive file for each game instead of a single large file. This makes Dropbox/whatever support SO MUCH BETTER that I have a hard time understanding why this isn't the default behavior.

edit: Oh god, so late.

yep

Qy3pM.png


so my dropbox looks like this:

 

drizzle

Axel Hertz
It's possible to configure Game Save Manager so that it creates a seperate archive file for each game instead of a single large file. This makes Dropbox/whatever support SO MUCH BETTER that I have a hard time understanding why this isn't the default behavior.

edit: Oh god, so late.

I also like to use the "CRC check" option, that checks every save for changes. If it's changed, it re-uploads it. If it's the same CRC (a game you haven't played since the last backup), it doesn't replace the same file.

I also don't understand why isn't that the default option.
 

Haunted

Member
The Pillared Hallway on floor 9. The hint's wording was poor in my opinion.
Floor 9 had the worst puzzles.

I actually figured out the clue, but couldn't get it to work correctly. I eventually watched a youtube video, which seemed to be doing the same thing I was. I'm still not sure exactly what I was messing up on it, but I eventually got past it.
Haha, same exact story here. Tried it exactly like I thought it should go like 10 times, always failed then it suddenly worked.

Essentially, you want to back up shortcuts.vdf in Steam\userdata\[user id number]\config:

vMk77.jpg
Thanks, I'll try that. You'd hope they had fixed this by now since it's such a well known issue, though.
 

allansm

Member
in Brazil government wants to tax steam games, because Steam is hurting physical stores...

The government doesn't want to tax anything, at least not yet. It's just one guy suggesting a tax. There's still a long way to be able to tax anything. Also, Steam has no representation in Brazil, when we buy on steam we import games. Importation taxes when buying digital goods on the internet are difficult to implement in Brazil. So, if I were you, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
CPU TYPE:
AMD A8-3520M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics
CPU SPEED:
1.62 GHz
SYSTEM MEMORY:
5.48 GB
VIDEO CARD MODEL:
AMD Radeon(TM) HD 6620G
VIDEO CARD MEMORY:
3.95 GB
VIDEO CARD DRIVER:
aticfx32.dll
DESKTOP RESOLUTION:
1366x768

Could anyone guess how well my laptop will run Dead Space 2?
 
A new patent was filed by Valve. It seems to be a patent for Steam, but there are some things that Steam currently doesn't do:

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20120095816

Rentals

[0030] A customer may purchase content on a rental basis. For example, the customer may walk into a store, such as BlockBuster Video, Hollywood Video, or some other store, and purchase a certain amount of time for renting particular content. The store may give the customer a key using any of the methods discussed above, e.g. through a coupon, encoding a key on a receipt or smart card, etc.

Read more: http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20120095816#ixzz1t4nCUzUz

Pre-Paid Usage

[0032] A customer may purchase a pre-paid subscription to content. For example, a user may purchase a card containing a predetermined amount of usage based on the fee paid. The user may also pre-pay on the Internet while accessing a site associated with the vendor of the content and participating in a pre-paid plan. The card, or other item associated with the pre-paid content may be recharged.

Read more: http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20120095816#ixzz1t4nK9Dne
 

Blizzard

Banned
Valve becoming pay-per-use with a subscription, all games revoked, Onlive-style rental streaming is the only option in the future! </panic mode on>

(if they implement rental streaming for iPads or smartbooks or something that could be big for certain markets I suppose?)
 

drizzle

Axel Hertz
Valve becoming pay-per-use with a subscription, all games revoked, Onlive-style rental streaming is the only option in the future! </panic mode on>

(if they implement rental streaming for iPads or smartbooks or something that could be big for certain markets I suppose?)

How much would you pay, yearly, for access to all games on Steam, either downloading them or streaming them, no strings attached, the moment you stop paying you lose access to all games, but as long as you pay you have access to all the games? And you can keep your saves.

Would you pay 60 bucks a month? (the price of ONE game)? That's more money than I spend on Steam monthly.

It would be a though decision.

Edit: It's probably "time cards" for MMOs
 
Also, it seems like Valve will offer other types of software:

[0018] FIG. 4 shows components used in a system for granting access to a system and content. In one embodiment of the invention, a customer gets a coupon that includes a special offer key allowing the customer to play a selected game or set of games for a period of time. Although the word "game" is used, the special offer key may provide access to other content or services such as an application suite, such as Microsoft® Office. Unless indicated otherwise, "game" is also intended to mean content and/or services. When logging on to a server, for example, the customer provides the key. The server checks the key with a database and determines what games the customer is entitled to access as well as what period of time those games are available.

[0019] After a customer uses a special offer key and is authenticated, the customer may have a series of selections to subscribe to. For example, the customer may subscribe to a particular genre of games, such as real time strategy, an application suite, such as Microsoft® Office, or a single game, such as Half-Life®. When a package of software applications is selected, information about the package may be displayed, such as applications included in the subscription. Before, during, and after selecting a package of applications to subscribe to, ads may be displayed on the selection screen. Pricing may be shown telling how much each subscription costs and/or how long the special offer key allows access to a subscription. The subscription follows a customer from computer to computer or other electronic device. When a customer logs on using a computer, the customer obtains a ticket that gives the computer access to one or more content servers that can provide access to files needed to execute the applications contained in the subscription.

Read more: http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20120095816#ixzz1t4ojhOkk

This reminds me that 3DMark Vantage was added to the registry recently. So was a number of other programs.
 

Blizzard

Banned
How much would you pay, yearly, for access to all games on Steam, either downloading them or streaming them, no strings attached, the moment you stop paying you lose access to all games, but as long as you pay you have access to all the games? And you can keep your saves.

Would you pay 60 bucks a month? (the price of ONE game)? That's more money than I spend on Steam monthly.

It would be a though decision.

Edit: It's probably "time cards" for MMOs
For me no, since I would like to be able to play completely offline without losing access. I know as-is it's not perfect, but I would prefer it over a situation like you describe. I hate most any sort of monthly fee.

There are a ton of developer tools in the registry. I'm interested to see what happens.
Interesting, like what?
 
It looks like either Lord of the Rings Online or Dungeons & Dragons Online is coming to Steam ValveTestApp206460 contains turbineinvoker.exe for the command line and the .exe is the Launcher for both LotRO and DDO.
 

Nabs

Member
For me no, since I would like to be able to play completely offline without losing access. I know as-is it's not perfect, but I would prefer it over a situation like you describe. I hate most any sort of monthly fee.


Interesting, like what?

I haven't been keeping track of names, but I've noticed audio, animation and modeling programs.

Hey guys, Reddit just got a Magicka robe. What the fuck. We deserve a Magicka robe.

Ok, maybe we don't... but I still want one.

Cannon Fodder 3 got added to the registry. Er.. checking Gamersgate now. It's 26 bucks and uses Starforce for protection.
 

PaulLFC

Member
Just bought an external hard drive to store my Steam games on, but I'm not sure what the best process for doing that is.

I hardly have any games installed to the C drive at the moment, so could I just reinstall Steam to the external HD and download games as normal through Steam and they would download to and play from the external HD with no problems?

Or am I better leaving Steam installed on the C drive, downloading individual games and then using Steam Mover to move them to the external HD?
Anyone? :)

I know how to use Steam Mover but since I have hardly any of my games installed right now I think it'd be easier to just reinstall Steam on the external drive and download and play all games to/from the external. Unless that wouldn't work?
 

Gav47

Member
You can make it so each game gets its own file, which is the best IMO. Then put it so it doesn't put the date on the filename, and each time you Backup all the old files will be replaced by the new ones. Very simple, one-click backup.

Great tip, thanks.


Anyone? :)

I know how to use Steam Mover but since I have hardly any of my games installed right now I think it'd be easier to just reinstall Steam on the external drive and download and play all games to/from the external. Unless that wouldn't work?
I have Steam installed on a secondary hard drive because my SSD is only 120gb, it was faster to just put everything on the HDD from the start. In your case it might be easier to keep Steam on your C drive and then move games across to the external HDD with Steam mover. Load times will be pretty poor over USB 2.0.
 
Hi PaulLFC - How about that Dalglish

I did the same thing about 2 years ago now. I can't remember all the steps, but I basically uninstalled all my Steam files on C and redownloaded the client and reinstalled everything on my external. I didn't bother copying over my steamapps stuff since I didn't really have that much installed at the time. It took about 10-15 minutes all said and done.
 

drizzle

Axel Hertz
Anyone? :)

I know how to use Steam Mover but since I have hardly any of my games installed right now I think it'd be easier to just reinstall Steam on the external drive and download and play all games to/from the external. Unless that wouldn't work?

What kind of Drive and what kind of connection does this external drive has?

If it's USB 2.0, it'll probably be slower to load all these assets through the usb 2.0 bandwidth.

Would that external drive always receive the same letter when plugged in? I don't think steam likes to be installed on drive M: (for instance) and loaded form drive O: later.

My Steam is installed on another drive (L:, in this case) which is a internal drive devoted to games. Aside from the things I listed above, I don't see any problem for you.

Also, you can just delete all the files from your Steam folder, except SteamApps, install Steam on another drive and move the SteamApps folder to the new installation: Bam, all your games are already there.
 

louiedog

Member
Anyone? :)

I know how to use Steam Mover but since I have hardly any of my games installed right now I think it'd be easier to just reinstall Steam on the external drive and download and play all games to/from the external. Unless that wouldn't work?

You can install Steam to the external drive and copy/paste your Steamapps folder there. You might take a performance hit running games off an external drive depending on the specs of the drive and the interface.
 

OatmealMu

Member
Does Dead Space not work natively with 360 pads? I can kind of get it to function, but down on the directional pad doesn't work among other things.
 

Vastag

Member
It looks like either Lord of the Rings Online or Dungeons & Dragons Online is coming to Steam ValveTestApp206460 contains turbineinvoker.exe for the command line and the .exe is the Launcher for both LotRO and DDO.

I see myself reinstalling DDO. Loved all the dungeon crawling.
 
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