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STEAM announcements & updates 2013 II - ITT we buy $1 games and complain about them

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S

sibarraz

Banned
I'm a bit new to the concept of the humble bundle, but I had a question, it is me or the bundles are getting more ''mainstream''

Not bitching about it, but I'm curious if at this time we could expect more interesting bundles in comparission on what they released some months ago (excluding the THQ bundle, and some others that included famous indie games)

At least the last 4 bundles had really hit the ball out of the park imo
 
D

Danj

Member
So I've just been told that apparently trading Steam Wallet money is now possible? When did that happen? Is it only in the beta client? How do I do it?
 
S

Syphon Filter

Member
Was reading on Titanfall and what exactly is ea partners? if this game can be on steam like some may think then can it be steamworks you mean? or on steam but with origin required?
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
Syphon Filter said:
Was reading on Titanfall and what exactly is ea partners? if this game can be on steam like some may think then can it be steamworks you mean? or on steam but with origin required?
Click to expand...

EA Partners is for when EA doesn't own the IP and/or the development studio is not owned by EA.

And they do not force the developers to publish exclusively through Origin, they allow them to self-publish to Steam.

See: Bulletstorm, Kingdoms of Amalur, Crysis, and some Valve games (Physical copies and DD through Origin).

It will probably have Steam features (achievements, cloud, etc), but it will not be Steamworks.
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Syphon Filter said:
Was reading on Titanfall and what exactly is ea partners? if this game can be on steam like some may think then can it be steamworks you mean? or on steam but with origin required?
Click to expand...

It's EA's co-publishing label (developer funds what it can and EA does the rest, hence the developer retaining ownership of its IP), though Valve in particular just uses it to access to EA's retail distribution network; development and marketing is entirely self-funded, with EA just pressing the discs and getting them to shelves.

Edit: D'oh, didn't refresh.
 
benjipwns

benjipwns

Banned
danielcw said:
Aren't the cloud & achievements only avaibale through Steamworks?
I thought it was part of the Steamworks API
Click to expand...
Yeah, but you don't have to use all functions of Steamworks. When most people ask if a game is Steamworks they usually mean the "can buy anywhere but activate on Steam" feature.

EDIT: Every game on Steam technically uses Steamworks because I believe the DRM is part of that API.
 
D

Deques

Member
New Amazon Indie Bundles (Stolen post from Reddit)

All bundles cost $9.99 each, all are Steam redeemables except for Blockland. A free copy of Maw will be credited towards to your account if you purchase any of the Indie bundles or games

The CAG Appreciation Bundle
  • Afterfall InSanity Extended Edition
  • Blockland
  • Mars: War Logs
  • Strike Suit Zero
  • Symphony

CAG Bundle 1
  • Afterfall InSanity Extended Edition
  • Mars: War Logs
  • Strike Suit Zero
  • Ticket to Ride
  • Triple Town

CAG Bundle 2
  • Afterfall InSanity Extended Edition
  • Galaxy on Fire 2 HD
  • Mars: War Logs
  • Strike Suit Zero
  • Triple Town

CAG Bundle 3
  • Blockland
  • Dead Pixel
  • Derrick the Deathfin
  • Tower Wars
  • Triple Town

CAG Bundle 4
  • Foreign Legion: Buckets of Blood
  • Garshasp: Temple of the Dragon
  • Primal Fears
  • Ticket to Ride
  • Tiny & Big in: Grandpa's Leftovers
 
Nabs

Nabs

Member
Fuck. I hit show key and now all my keys are visible. Noooo.

Damn, this deal is nuts. I hope the cards are still worth something in the morning.
 
D

danielcw

Member
benjipwns said:
When most people ask if a game is Steamworks they usually mean the "can buy anywhere but activate on Steam" feature.
Click to expand...

Yeah, and I wish that would stop, it is confusing imho.
Why do people need to fill sentences with "complex" words, when a simple "does it activate on steam" is better and more to the point.




benjipwns said:
EDIT: Every game on Steam technically uses Steamworks because I believe the DRM is part of that API.
Click to expand...

There are games on STeam, that don't have any DRM whatsoever and can be played without steam.
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
danielcw said:
Aren't the cloud & achievements only avaibale through Steamworks?
I thought it was part of the Steamworks API
Click to expand...

benjipwns said:
Yeah, but you don't have to use all functions of Steamworks. When most people ask if a game is Steamworks they usually mean the "can buy anywhere but activate on Steam" feature.

EDIT: Every game on Steam technically uses Steamworks because I believe the DRM is part of that API.
Click to expand...

Steamworks literally means that the game will activate on Steam, regardless of where it was purchased.

Steam features, as I call them, are separate from Steamworks but not mutually exclusive.
 
K

Knurek

Member
This is probably a stupid question, but is there any way to buy stuff on Amazon without a credit card?

I've been using PayPal elsewhere, Amazon has some alternative going on (Amazon Payments IIRC), but this still requires credit card unless I overlooked something...
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
10 hours in, beat my first Civilization V game lol

Its more fun to play the beginning than the end. By the end I had conquered so many cities, I spent more time micro-managing than anything else. I had the most fun when I was discovering new territory, ancient ruins, and expanding.
 
kutthoat5150

kutthoat5150

Member
Knurek said:
This is probably a stupid question, but is there any way to buy stuff on Amazon without a credit card?

I've been using PayPal elsewhere, Amazon has some alternative going on (Amazon Payments IIRC), but this still requires credit card unless I overlooked something...
Click to expand...

I don't think so, why don't you just apply for the Amazon store card and not the rewards one as you'd be more likely to get accepted if that's what your worried about. I think my dog could get accepted for that thing.
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Grief.exe said:
Steamworks literally means that the game will activate on Steam, regardless of where it was purchased.

Steam features, as I call them, are separate from Steamworks but not mutually exclusive.
Click to expand...

Cloud saves, achievements, player statistics, etc. are most certainly components of the Steamworks suite. Steam activation is actually separate, despite Valve also considering it a component of Steamworks, as it existed before Steamworks itself (Steamworks was opened up to third parties in early 2008 after debuting with The Orange Box; the first third-party game to be Steam-redeemable was 2005's Rag Doll Kung Fu, but, really, this distinction is just splitting hairs).
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
JaseC said:
Cloud saves, achievements, player statistics, etc. are most certainly components of the Steamworks suite. Steam activation is actually separate, despite Valve also considering it a component of Steamworks, as it existed before Steamworks itself (or perhaps more accurately, before Steamworks was opened up to third parties in early 2008; the first third-party game to be Steam-redeemable was 2005's Rag Doll Kung Fu).
Click to expand...

I guess maybe I need to adjust my definition, this was why I was originally labeling it as separate.

As your game grows you can change and add the Steamworks features you need and your customers want...

Start with something easy like Steam Cloud–saved games or achievements, then see where your game takes you.
Click to expand...

http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/outofthebox.php
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Grief.exe said:
I guess maybe I need to adjust my definition, this was why I was originally labeling it as separate.



http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/outofthebox.php
Click to expand...

Since developers can pick and choose which elements they want to implement, all "Steamworks" means at face value is that, as you said, the game will redeem on Steam, but this doesn't mean the other features are separate; they're just optional but require Steamworks integration to be implemented at all.

Edit: I should clarify that I'm referring to when third-party retailers label a game "Steamworks".
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
JaseC said:
Since developers can pick and choose which elements they want to implement, all "Steamworks" means at face value is that, as you said, the game will redeem on Steam, but this doesn't mean the other features are separate; they're just optional.
Click to expand...

What do you call a game that has Steamworks Features, but does not activate on Steam?

I've been calling it, Steamworks Features, but not Steamworks.
 
D

dhlt25

Member
damn. Very close call on that indie bundle, I was ready make purchase then force myself to go stare at my backlog for a bit and looking up review score for each of those games. I think the rush is gone now lol. I should really avoid these sale thread until the summer sales.
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Grief.exe said:
What do you call a game that has Steamworks Features, but does not activate on Steam?

I've been calling it, Steamworks Features, but not Steamworks.
Click to expand...

I just say the Steam version supports Steamworks whereas the retail version doesn't. An example of this would be Achtung Panzer 1943.
 
benjipwns

benjipwns

Banned
The Batman games have Steam achievements (Arkham City shipped with them), but there's also non-Steam versions (as well as the original Arkham Asylum version on Steam) that only have GFWL achievements. (And SecuROM.)
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
benjipwns said:
The Batman games have Steam achievements (Arkham City shipped with them), but there's also non-Steam versions (as well as the original Arkham Asylum version on Steam) that only have GFWL achievements. (And SecuROM.)
Click to expand...

Similarly, not all Bio2 keys redeem on Steam.
 
D

Dr Dogg

Member
JaseC said:
Similarly, not all Bio2 keys redeem on Steam.
Click to expand...

Tropico 3 came in 2 flavors at retail depending what region you were from. One GFW the other Steamworks. There used to be a pdf up on the Steamworks mini site outlining all the features you could implement and you could pick and chose what you wanted to do. Since Greenlight has come around it's not available (to the public at least) to see.
 
benjipwns

benjipwns

Banned
Borderlands 1 is another fairly popular game that later added Steam achievements and cloud support (which they announced as "adding Steamworks" as part of tests for Borderlands 2 so yay confusion) that has non-Steam versions.

NBA 2K is a semi-interesting case. 2K9 was retail only but required Steam. 2K10-12 had multiple DD versions to go with retail. 2K13 had a retail version and then DD was Steam required again. None of them have Steam achievements or cloud or any other Steam-related features.
 
Wok

Wok

Member
I want this hat.

N8stfoL.png
Click to expand...
 
K

Knurek

Member
kutthoat5150 said:
I don't think so, why don't you just apply for the Amazon store card and not the rewards one as you'd be more likely to get accepted if that's what your worried about. I think my dog could get accepted for that thing.
Click to expand...

Isn't that for US folks only though?
I'm from Europe, so I don't think this will help me in any way.
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Grief.exe said:
Good place to find all of the games that are Steamworks

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1712878

After all of the craziness surrounding E3, we still haven't heard whats to happen with Bioshock 1, Arkham Asylum, KOFXIII, and Halo Trilogy.
Click to expand...

The clock is ticking on this one; Microsoft is due to kill Halo 2's online support at the end of the month.

CheesecakeRecipe said:
Ah ha ha, did they just add that in? I guess I gotta reinstall TF2 to snag that.
Click to expand...

It was added 2-3 days ago and from the looks of it there isn't a single one on the market. You might be able to fetch a good price if you're quick.
 
K

KarmaCow

Member
JaseC said:
The clock is ticking on this one; Microsoft is due to kill Halo 2's online support at the end of the month.



It was added 2-3 days ago and from the looks of it there isn't a single one on the market. You might be able to fetch a good price if you're quick.
Click to expand...

I think that's because the had isn't tradeable yet.
 
C

CheesecakeRecipe

Stormy Grey
JaseC said:
It was added 2-3 days ago and from the looks of it there isn't a single one on the market. You might be able to fetch a good price if you're quick.
Click to expand...

Not tradeable right now, so I imagine it can't be marketable yet either which would explain why there's none up right now.

Also I'd maybe want to keep that hat in the off chance I ever have to jump out of a lot of windows in TF2.

I will probably never play TF2.
 
D

Dr Dogg

Member
JaseC said:
The clock is ticking on this one; Microsoft is due to kill Halo 2's online support at the end of the month.
Click to expand...

I thought it was already dead. Was tempted because of useless achievements but I'd rather but any effort into bugging Bungie for clarification on a Destiny PC port.
 
C

CheesecakeRecipe

Stormy Grey
Dr Dogg said:
I thought it was already dead. Was tempted because of useless achievements but I'd rather but any effort into bugging Bungie for clarification on a Destiny PC port.
Click to expand...

They were able to give it a stay of execution based on "Possibilities", the lead of which was seeing the game hit steam. At least that's what we figured.
 
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