Steam order issues...

[Pyrostasis]

For those of us who ordered through steam... I just realized something. With the digital Release steam is basically DRM tech... so I have to have steam to play the game.

So... if I wanted to actually install the game on a usb thumbstick... thats basically not even an option for me is it, as Id have to have steam running to play correct? or is there a way to split the game from steam?

[Foddmeister]

I Always belived that When a program was bought through Steam, You needed the Steam interface to run it.

[xander]

For those of us who ordered through steam... I just realized something. With the digital Release steam is basically DRM tech... so I have to have steam to play the game.

So... if I wanted to actually install the game on a usb thumbstick... thats basically not even an option for me is it, as Id have to have steam running to play correct? or is there a way to split the game from steam?

If Defcon is anything like Darwinia, and I don't see any reason to believe that it is not, Steam is a delivery method only. Once you have it downloaded, you can move the files around all you want, play it from another drive, install it on another computer, &c.

xander

[Pyrostasis]

For those of us who ordered through steam... I just realized something. With the digital Release steam is basically DRM tech... so I have to have steam to play the game.

So... if I wanted to actually install the game on a usb thumbstick... thats basically not even an option for me is it, as Id have to have steam running to play correct? or is there a way to split the game from steam?

If Defcon is anything like Darwinia, and I don't see any reason to believe that it is not, Steam is a delivery method only. Once you have it downloaded, you can move the files around all you want, play it from another drive, install it on another computer, &c.

xander

If thats true Xander I LOVE YOU!

Have my babies?

[xander]

If thats true Xander I LOVE YOU!

Um... I love you, too?

Have my babies?

Sorry, I think that Wendryn would get jealous. I am already supposed to have her babies (or her mine, or something like that).

xander

[-Opaque-]

If thats true Xander I LOVE YOU!

Have my babies?

Hold the baby making for a second
I hate to disappoint you but if this game is anything like any other game I have used on Steam then you are not going to be able to play it on another computer unless it has Steam running on it. You could try extracting the game from the GCF file (a compressed file that the Steam stores all the games data in) and see if that would work but once again I highly doubt this. Steam is not just content delivery, it also controls authentication, I can almost certainly say that those who purchased it through Steam will not even receive a CD key as the game will just be tied to the account you bought it on, which you will need to log in to every time you want to play the game (and thus making a CD key redundant). You can set Steam to run in offline mode though, which will (as the name suggests) allow you to play games without having to be connected to the internet, however if you log out you will need to re-connect to the internet to log back in again and it also doesn’t enable you to run the game without Steam. You can however copy the GCF and external data (saved games, etc.) to another machine with steam on it, then log in there and play.

[xander]

If thats true Xander I LOVE YOU!

Have my babies?

Hold the baby making for a second :P
I hate to disappoint you but if this game is anything like any other game I have used on Steam then you are not going to be able to play it on another computer unless it has Steam running on it. You could try extracting the game from the GCF file (a compressed file that the Steam stores all the games data in) and see if that would work but once again I highly doubt this. Steam is not just content delivery, it also controls authentication, I can almost certainly say that those who purchased it through Steam will not even receive a CD key as the game will just be tied to the account you bought it on, which you will need to log in to every time you want to play the game (and thus making a CD key redundant). You can set Steam to run in offline mode though, which will (as the name suggests) allow you to play games without having to be connected to the internet, however if you log out you will need to re-connect to the internet to log back in again and it also doesn’t enable you to run the game without Steam. You can however copy the GCF and external data (saved games, etc.) to another machine with steam on it, then log in there and play.

I take it that you haven't played Darwinia or Uplink, then? Because both of those games can be played without Steam running, even if you have the Steam version.

xander

[Moleculor]

Xander, have you actually -done- that? Because I've tried running Steam's Uplink without Steam and it didn't run. Period. Complained about Steam missing.

[-Opaque-]

I take it that you haven't played Darwinia or Uplink, then? Because both of those games can be played without Steam running, even if you have the Steam version.

xander

This is correct, I am speaking with experience with the steam versions following: Half-Life 1, 2 & ep 1, Day of Defeat source and Rag Doll Kung-Fu. I find it rather odd that it doesn’t behave like that but if just behaves like the nomal boxed version then that's great in my books

[xander]

Xander, have you actually -done- that? Because I've tried running Steam's Uplink without Steam and it didn't run. Period. Complained about Steam missing.

I shouldn't have said anything about Uplink, because I do not know how that works. However, I know for a fact that you can grab the data files for Darwinia, apply the patch from IV's website, and play without Steam. I assumed that the same was true of Uplink.

xander

[-Opaque-]

I shouldn't have said anything about Uplink, because I do not know how that works. However, I know for a fact that you can grab the data files for Darwinia, apply the patch from IV's website, and play without Steam. I assumed that the same was true of Uplink.

xander

That’s interesting, so when you download it from Steam does the same install program from the boxed version come up and ask you where you want to install it and such? Or do you actually have to extract the GCF then apply the patch to the extracted files?
I can see how this would work, (I assume) the exe or some other important file(s) would have to be modified to work with Steam and when you apply the patch from IV you are replacing those files with the non-steam versions and viola, normal version.

[kameoosama]

you could always just install steam to a removable disk. together with defcon alone, it shouldn't add much room. or since steam allows you to freely download the game as many times as you want, you could always just install it on any computers you may be using. just remember to log off before you leave.

[-Opaque-]

you could always just install steam to a removable disk. together with defcon alone, it shouldn't add much room. or since steam allows you to freely download the game as many times as you want, you could always just install it on any computers you may be using. just remember to log off before you leave.

If it does turn out that you have to have Steam then these would be the best ways of doing it. If you are only using Steam for Defcon then you should be able too copy the whole Steam folder onto a USB stick and then just play it off there as Steam doesn’t have to be installed to run properly. If you want to install Steam on multiple computers you don't have to re-download it on every computer either, just copy the original GCF file to each machine and your good to go.

[xander]

I shouldn't have said anything about Uplink, because I do not know how that works. However, I know for a fact that you can grab the data files for Darwinia, apply the patch from IV's website, and play without Steam. I assumed that the same was true of Uplink.

xander

That’s interesting, so when you download it from Steam does the same install program from the boxed version come up and ask you where you want to install it and such? Or do you actually have to extract the GCF then apply the patch to the extracted files?
I can see how this would work, (I assume) the exe or some other important file(s) would have to be modified to work with Steam and when you apply the patch from IV you are replacing those files with the non-steam versions and viola, normal version.

I haven't a clue what a GCF file is. My understanding is that the Darwinia files that you get form Steam are identical to the files that you get off of the disk. The directory structure within is also identical. Thus, you simply have to copy your Darwinia data files to another location, apply the patch, and you are good to go. If it were any other way, getting mods to work would be a bitch. Why don't you try downloading the Darwinia demo and see what you get?

xander

[Luk0r]

Makes me pleased that I bought from IV's website. Steam is annoying in my opinion.