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STEAM | April 2014 - Insert witty title here.

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E

EmergentFocus

Member
Dr Dogg said:
Well on a clean install, on a machine that doesn't even have the TAGES driver installed, Anno 1404 and Venice both started up fine and never once prompted me to input my CD key into TAGES or SolidShield. And in a very bizarre twist of fate will start up without Steam running.

Files are still there (TagesClient.exe and TagesClient.dat) but I assume the .dat is needed by the main game .exe to boot and has been modified. As stated above it neither 1404 or Venice called out to activate and authorise like they did before.

Oh and if you want to thank anyone, thank Jase. He did all the hard work like keeping tabs on the database, tell us it was on its way back and let us know that it did. Plus let us all know it had received a patch. I'm just the chump who bought it to find out. Cheers Jase now we can all play Anno 1404 in peace of mind that we won't have to faff about with Ubi support in the future.
Click to expand...

You should be able to delete both TagesClient.exe and TagesClient.dat without any ill effect. The retail patch removes the DAT; I always got rid of the EXE myself and had no trouble.

Also, while JaseC certainly deserves all credit for pestering Ubi (I'm sure he is on the Christmas card lists of many of the support agents by now...) I'd like to say a special thank you to YOU as well for all the testing you have done and for keeping us all informed.

Dr Dogg said:
And in a very bizarre twist of fate will start up without Steam running.
Click to expand...

SHHHHHHHHH!!
 
A

Aaron

Member
TheLetdown said:
That's how I felt about Volgarr the Viking. The only thing that kept me re-trying it was the hype and praise. I got to a point where I just didn't care enough.
Click to expand...
You can get good at Volgarr since the game is responsive and fair. You can never get good at Bloodrayne. It's just awkward and punishing. Everything about it is stiff and unwieldy, like playing a game with your fingers all in individual casts.
 
E

EmergentFocus

Member
Dr Dogg said:
Files are still there (TagesClient.exe and TagesClient.dat) but I assume the .dat is needed by the main game .exe to boot and has been modified. As stated above it neither 1404 or Venice called out to activate and authorise like they did before.
Click to expand...

Oh, one last thing (sorry!). Could you tell me if you have either dvm.dll or dvm_Addon.dll in your game directory? Thanks!
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
Aaron said:
You can get good at Volgarr since the game is responsive and fair. You can never get good at Bloodrayne. It's just awkward and punishing. Everything about it is stiff and unwieldy, like playing a game with your fingers all in individual casts.
Click to expand...

Why do these companies always have to test the waters with mediocre games?
 
L

Last Baron

Member
Xe599MJ.gif
 
F

fallout

Member
Aaron said:
You can get good at Volgarr since the game is responsive and fair.
Click to expand...
Nothing against Volgarr (haven't played it), but people do have upper skill limits. I've never been able to get past World 2 in Super Meat Boy, despite spending ~3 hours on the boss. I just had to accept that the game was beyond me.
 
A

aku:jiki

Member
fallout said:
Nothing against Volgarr (haven't played it), but people do have upper skill limits. I've never been able to get past World 2 in Super Meat Boy, despite spending ~3 hours on the boss. I just had to accept that the game was beyond me.
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Do what you gotta do, man, since it's just games... But I couldn't imagine ever feeling like that. I think I'd hate life if I ever felt like there were things I just cannot do.

Grief.exe said:
Why do these companies always have to test the waters with mediocre games?
Click to expand...
Nothing about Bloodrayne is mediocre. It's just up its own ass when it comes to playability. It desperately wants to be difficult and goes about it the wrong way.
 
D

Dr Dogg

Member
EmergentFocus said:
You should be able to delete both TagesClient.exe and TagesClient.dat without any ill effect. The retail patch removes the DAT; I always got rid of the EXE myself and had no trouble.

Also, while JaseC certainly deserves all credit for pestering Ubi (I'm sure he is on the Christmas card lists of many of the support agents by now...) I'd like to say a special thank you to YOU as well for all the testing you have done and for keeping us all informed.

SHHHHHHHHH!!
Click to expand...

What's really weird is that it's gone from one side of the coin to the other. Hey not that I'm complaining though.

EmergentFocus said:
Oh, one last thing (sorry!). Could you tell me if you have either dvm.dll or dvm_Addon.dll in your game directory? Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yep both are still there. Just for a further test seeing as I know 1404 and Venice have a fit if both those .dll's aren't there I deleted them and the 2 TAGES files and hey presto still launches and plays the game fine
even with Steam shut down, never boots it up before launching like other Steam DRM enabled games.
 
F

fallout

Member
aku:jiki said:
Do what you gotta do, man, since it's just games... But I couldn't imagine ever feeling like that.
Click to expand...
The problem was that after 3 hours on the same boss, I didn't feel like I was getting any better. Anytime that I made it a bit further, it felt like random chance, because the subsequent 50 attempts would have me dying within a few seconds. Like you say, it's just games ... but I think with anything, I need to feel some measure of progress, even if it's the smallest amount.

I think I'd hate life if I ever felt like there were things I just cannot do.
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Pfft. That's just a fact of life. :)
 
A

ArjanN

Member
Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising now seem to have all the Steam achievements that used to be the GFWL achievements.

61590.jpg


61579.jpg


etc.

So I'm guessing GFWL is likely to be gone from these games any day now.

Getting these MP achievements will be a bit weird though, as they have expanded on the multiplayer modes with Retribution, so it's kind of like going back to vanilla Street Fighter 4 after Arcade Edition is out.
 
E

EmergentFocus

Member
Dr Dogg said:
Yep both are still there. Just for a further test seeing as I know 1404 and Venice have a fit if both those .dll's aren't there I deleted them and the 2 TAGES files and hey presto still launches and plays the game fine
even with Steam shut down, never boots it up before launching like other Steam DRM enabled games.
Click to expand...

Holy crap! It looks as though they actually went and did it! Just think: if they had done all this properly the first time and issued a carefully-spun statement to accompany it they might have enjoyed some favourable publicity and gained some extra sales.

Thank you, Herr Doktor! It's off to the wishlist I go... :)
 
T

TheLetdown

Member
Aaron said:
You can get good at Volgarr since the game is responsive and fair. You can never get good at Bloodrayne. It's just awkward and punishing. Everything about it is stiff and unwieldy, like playing a game with your fingers all in individual casts.
Click to expand...

I think that was the issue with me. I never felt that my deaths were unfair, by any means, but the game felt unresponsive, to me.

Though, I fully accept that it could have been my own approach to the game. I came to it right after Risk of Rain, which always felt razor sharp with response to the controls. But RoR is also pretty frenetic, where Volgarr has this measured feel to it that just didn't jive with me.

But come to think of it, I had the exact same reaction to playing Demon's Souls when it came out. I came back to it after falling head over heels for Dark Souls a while later when it was released and now it's one of my favorite games. See you in a dozen months or so, Volgarr!
 
S

sheaaaa

Member
Help with Green Man Gaming - ordered Dark Souls II a couple months back from them, and still haven't received a key, though their site says pre-load now.

My digital orders doesn't show DSII, and strangely also doesn't show Goat Simulator, which I bought off them even later. Anyone know where I can get my key?
 
N

nexen

Member
fallout said:
The problem was that after 3 hours on the same boss, I didn't feel like I was getting any better. Anytime that I made it a bit further, it felt like random chance, because the subsequent 50 attempts would have me dying within a few seconds. Like you say, it's just games ... but I think with anything, I need to feel some measure of progress, even if it's the smallest amount.
Click to expand...

I felt myself getting better at Volgarr, but not fast enough to make it worthwhile. I love the art style and the idea of the game, but I have shit to do and many games to play that reward me more for less effort.

fallout said:
Pfft. That's just a fact of life. :)
Click to expand...
Yeah, really. Ahhh, what I wouldn't give to be young and "invincible" again.

ArjanN said:
Dawn of War II and Chaos Rising now seem to have all the Steam achievements that used to be the GFWL achievements.
So I'm guessing GFWL is likely to be gone from these games any day now.
Click to expand...

Oh good, one less dead game in my inventory.
 
G

Grief.exe

Member
sheaaaa said:
Help with Green Man Gaming - ordered Dark Souls II a couple months back from them, and still haven't received a key, though their site says pre-load now.

My digital orders doesn't show DSII, and strangely also doesn't show Goat Simulator, which I bought off them even later. Anyone know where I can get my key?
Click to expand...

Library > Games > Steam Games
 
E

Echoplx

Member
Anyone want a Wildstar beta key for this weekend? I signed up as soon as it was live and they decide to send me a key the weekend Dark Souls 2 releases, bastards.

I have an EU and US key, let me know if you want one.
 
S

sheaaaa

Member
sheaaaa said:
Tried that too, but again, seems to cut off around early Feb. Dark Souls II and Goat Simulator, purchases I made after that, don't show up.
Click to expand...

Found it by signing in to GMG using my Facebook account, instead of straight through my email address. No idea how or why I used this account to buy the game in the first place, but no harm done!
 
N

nexen

Member
aku:jiki said:
Bro, I'm 33. I just refuse to admit defeat. I feel like I can do anything and I can! Just have to put your mind to it and all that motivational shit.
Click to expand...
Tempted to continue this conversation thread, but it is a little too OT for my comfort. Let's just agree to disagree and all that wishy-washy, diplomatic shit ;)

edit: and weird - Playfire just randomly credited me for something I did 3 days ago.
 
A

ArjanN

Member
TheLetdown said:
I think that was the issue with me. I never felt that my deaths were unfair, by any means, but the game felt unresponsive, to me.

Though, I fully accept that it could have been my own approach to the game. I came to it right after Risk of Rain, which always felt razor sharp with response to the controls. But RoR is also pretty frenetic, where Volgarr has this measured feel to it that just didn't jive with me.

But come to think of it, I had the exact same reaction to playing Demon's Souls when it came out. I came back to it after falling head over heels for Dark Souls a while later when it was released and now it's one of my favorite games. See you in a dozen months or so, Volgarr!
Click to expand...

You are correct, Volgarr is measured and methodical, not unresponsive.

nexen said:
I felt myself getting better at Volgarr, but not fast enough to make it worthwhile. I love the art style and the idea of the game, but I have shit to do and many games to play that reward me more for less effort.
Click to expand...

I guess it might be too much for some people. but the fact that it's really challenging makes it way more rewarding for me.

The trend in modern games (AAA games anyway) is to reward you a lot for very little effort, which seems nice at first until you get bored because you're not being challenged at all and you realize the game is just coddling you with a false sense of accomplishment.
 
N

nexen

Member
ArjanN said:
I guess it might be too much for some people. but the fact that it's really challenging makes it way more rewarding for me.

The trend in modern games (AAA games anyway) is to reward you a lot for very little effort, which seems nice at first until you get bored because you're not being challenged at all and you realize the game is just coddling you with a false sense of accomplishment.
Click to expand...

I do understand the lure of a difficult challenge for its own sake, I've broken many controllers in my time. Volgarr just doesn't grab me like that. Very few of the new wave of difficult games do, I'm afraid. Dark Souls is the only exception that springs to mind.

edit: oh and some shooters will get me going this way. Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell I'll crank the difficulty up and go to town.
 
F

fallout

Member
ArjanN said:
I guess it might be too much for some people. but the fact that it's really challenging makes it way more rewarding for me.
Click to expand...
Just because something is too hard for me doesn't mean that I don't want to be challenged at all. I want to be challenged, but I also need to feel some sense of progression. When I was beating levels in Super Meat Boy, I never felt rewarded as I was certain that I was only beating them via luck and persistence.

The trend in modern games (AAA games anyway) is to reward you a lot for very little effort, which seems nice at first until you get bored because you're not being challenged at all and you realize the game is just coddling you with a false sense of accomplishment.
Click to expand...
This is a bit hyperbolic, don't you think? We've gone from "this is too hard for me" to "you want to be coddled". The sense of elitism in games when it comes to difficulty is really frustrating to deal with.
 
StAidan

StAidan

Member
aku:jiki said:
Bro, I'm 33. I just refuse to admit defeat. I feel like I can do anything and I can! Just have to put your mind to it and all that motivational shit.
Click to expand...

Heck, I'm 34 and better at games than I've ever been, but the reality is that no one can do whatever they want, no matter how positively they think. I know guys younger than me, who put way more time into gaming than I do, who rarely manage to finish games even on Easy Mode.

Regarding Volgarr specifically, I haven't played it yet, but I did pick it up on the sale a couple weeks ago, so I'll find out soon enough how difficult it is. I tend to be more of the type who enjoys hard games more.
 
F

fantomena

Member
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