News Valve releases Steamworks toolset for free

TreeDude:
Steam does have a backup functionality built in.

http://support.steampowered.com/cgi...F90ZXh0PWJhY2sgdXAgZ2FtZQ**&p_li=&p_topview=1

 

dont need an installable format, just copy/paste

 

This is new to me. I think I am going to try this.

So the question is if you back up a game can you install it and play it without needing an internet connection present? If so then valve could go under right now and I could still play my games.

 

nope you still need steam installed and online to activate your backups.

 

Such a shame you feel that way, or you would have been able to enjoy using steam for the past 4 and a half years like some of us have.

Yeah, steam will disappear at some point in time like almost everything does, by that time I don't think I'll be too worried about some ten year old games I've already deleted from my play list.

 

Very Cool

ATM though, im a bit dissapointed with steam, the prices are rediculous

Cod4 - $69.95 - £35
Play.com Price - £29.99

Bioshock - $54.95 - £27
Play.com Price - £24.99

Dont forget Steam also add's 17.5% onto the $ price
IE. Bioshock is apparently $64.57 inc vat which = £32.49
This means Steam is charging 30% more over a Retail game (Which comes with manual and disc)

What gives?

Edit:
Also, because steam charges in $ you may get screwed by your bank, in currency changes/conversion rate

 

Yeah I bought CoD4 retail, if it had been cheaper I would have bought it via steam.
However, I believe it is the publisher who sets the price not Valve.

 

> I don't think I'll be too worried about some ten year old games I've already deleted from my play list.

That's your problem. I still occasionally break out an Amiga for a game of Banshee.

 

like i said, copy and paste your steam directory and you dont need to unlock/reactivate or download anything
i've done this numerous times when doing reinstalls, just copy the steam folder somewhere else, reinstall and copy back, works flawlessly

 

Banshee

 

i am talking discounts of course, but i am considering up to 35% as acceptable ....... but there could be prizes for the top X uploaders or something like that.....

 

> like i said, copy and paste your steam directory and you dont need to unlock/reactivate or download anything

If you've changed hardware? Complete new machine?

> Banshee

Quite!

P

 

This is something I'd honestly never thought about before but I don't think it's going to affect my support for the Steam platform. Like another posted said, chances of me still being interested in the games I've got 5 years down the road are pretty slim and honestly, I can live without games. Steam is a great system. It had some shaky beginnings, but unlike most monolithic applications like MSN Messenger, it's gotten better with age. The new features are, for the most part, useful. If Valve goes under, SOMEONE will buy Steam off of them when they're liquidating their assets. Steam is too good to die.

 

I love Steam for what it does now. But yes, the torrent way of getting your official game would be so much faster. Alltho I can see the risks involved. I.E. You DL a copy and validate it, change some files and seed it again. Could be overcome with further re-validation. Or something along that line..

And yes a simple copy/paste works wonders when it comes to steam. I even managed to share my installed games with a friend in the sense that he'd only needed to validate the files via Steam after buying them online instead of having to download those same 30 Gb that I had anyways.

 

if you go to a popular torrent site you will notice that portal and TF2 are there.... and yes they work.
valve converting their software infrastructure to p2p would reduce their costs immensely, and today we have the technology to limit the use of users to a p2p networks and calculate the amount of data they upload and download..... couple that with the current steam system and you have a pure ownage network were money flows like a river and people are happy.

edit: at least that is what i think.....

 

Problem with Valve converting to p2p is that many people (inc me) would object to paying for bandwidth costs to allow a company to cut costs. I always use torrents (and seed for a while) for Linux ISOs etc but i don't see why i should use my capped bandwidth to help a company who is making a fair profit some more money.

 

speed would be greater, games would be cheaper and not everyone has crap internet like you guys in the UK.... and of course i said something about discounts on future purchases if you upload......
btw, blizzard has the update system for WOW as a p2p system iirc..... i don't see WOW junkies screaming foul.....

 

True many countries have better infrastructure than us, but also some have worse, one of the largest markets i does (the US). You make the assumptions games would be cheaper, i seriously doubt they would reduce there prices it would only lead to greater profit for them or at least lower overheads. So has blizzard reduced its prices?

 

i think the p2p system is from the beginning......

 

I think this is great for the small developers. I like the idea of steam, although I don't have a credit card so can't purchase yet.
Also some indie games are sold only through their own sites, so get very little notice. Steam on the other hand is very popular and the games would get more coverage, and its a trusted platform so you can trust them with your credit card details.