What Is Steam?

[JohnXDoe]

And what do I do with it? Or for those who have it, what do you do with it?

I downloaded the Half Life 2 demo a couple of days ago to play alongside the Quake 4 demo to help choose which game I might play next (it will be Half Life 2, but maybe both) and I was surprised to find the 751 MB download turned into a whopping 3.57 gigs installed, and I had this Steam thing along with what I believe is a "pre-loaded" HL2 game. All I have to do is buy the game, and I think it's already on my computer, WTF? I checked and don't see it. But 3.57 gigs? It's gotta be more then the demo and Steam.

Anyway, I have Half Life and will have HL2 soon. And I know Steam is some sort of online thing. Which I'm now interested in, having played online for the first time recently and think it's ok. Pretty cool, I suppose. So, should I keep this Steam thing? What can I do with it? What can it do for me? 3.57 gigs...Why?

Next thing is how is Quake 4? I've read the reviews, pro and con. Many of the negatives say it's a Doom3 rip off. Which playing the very first part of the demo, I disagree. From the look of the demo so far, they could of done a better job of making the game look different then D3, despite using the same game engine. But the game itself has very different gameplay it seems, and the weapons seem more accurate and sastisfying to use. So for those who have played Quake 4, how is it overall? Is it worth a purchase?

Thanks....

[Wow]

Steam is the network you play certain first person shooters on. To play them, you open Steam, go to My Games, and double click them. Buy/Install if needed.

[Lionheart1827]

Steam is the network you play certain first person shooters on. To play them, you open Steam, go to My Games, and double click them. Buy/Install if needed.

This pretty much sums it up.

Its quite a convenient system, but it used to be REALLY buggy back in the older version.

I havent had any problems with it lately.:thumb:

[Amit]

umm for the price of quake 4 (or for like $5-10 i forget) you get half life 2, counter strike source, day of defeat source, and the entire valve back catalogue and not to mention the huge free mod community for valve's games

[Wow]

Yep. Quake 4 sucks if you want to play online.

[JohnXDoe]

Alright. Cool guys. I guess I'll leave it installed and check it out a little further. It's an awful big program, though? I guess it has something to do with the Half Life 2 pre-load. At least I hope it does. Why would they pre-load it, though. Pressure to buy, maybe? But I didn't ask for it, and my HD space is at a premium except for my external.

I see what Eggos talking about. The entire Valve back catalogue for $80. Plus HL2. I'm not really familiar with all that stuff, so I'm gonna get HL2, Lost Coast, and SDK Source (don't know what those are) for $30. That sounds like a good deal considering HL2 is at least $39.99 whenever I see it at the stores. Even online. But I guess I don't get the discs for the game this way? I don't quite get it, but I'm going to go for it.

So far as Quake 4, I dunno yet. It seems fun. And I don't want it to play online. I just don't want a D3 look alike the entire game. And I don't want gameplay to slip into that style, either. I'm still playing Doom3 and don't think I'm in the mood to play another Doom right after I'm done.

[Lionheart1827]

Alright. Cool guys. I guess I'll leave it installed and check it out a little further. It's an awful big program, though? I guess it has something to do with the Half Life 2 pre-load. At least I hope it does. Why would they pre-load it, though. Pressure to buy, maybe? But I didn't ask for it, and my HD space is at a premium except for my external.

I see what Eggos talking about. The entire Valve back catalogue for $80. Plus HL2. I'm not really familiar with all that stuff, so I'm gonna get HL2, Lost Coast, and SDK Source (don't know what those are) for $30. That sounds like a good deal considering HL2 is at least $39.99 whenever I see it at the stores. Even online. But I guess I don't get the discs for the game this way? I don't quite get it, but I'm going to go for it.

So far as Quake 4, I dunno yet. It seems fun. And I don't want it to play online. I just don't want a D3 look alike the entire game. And I don't want gameplay to slip into that style, either. I'm still playing Doom3 and don't think I'm in the mood to play another Doom right after I'm done.

For the record, Half Life 2 is WAY better than Quake 4. HL2 is an unforgettable experience. Some of the scenes in that game are way awesome. Lost Coast is a free tech demo, but you need a video card that supports HDR because thats pretty much what the tech demo is about. SDK is Source Dedicated server, so you can run a HL2/Counterstrike Source server on your pc.

You wont regret getting HL2.:thumb:

[JohnXDoe]

Thanks for that info. And yeah, I didn't think to compare Quake 4 to HL2. From what I've seen and heard HL2 is immense. After playing Quake 4 right now I think I'm going to pick it up also, though. Seems like a good arcade style shooter. Moves fast, has some flash and excitement. And I get the whole thing and the Steam set up for $60. That's good enough for me. Plus Quake 4 runs and looks great on my computer. Which I expected being that it uses the D3 engine. But this isn't as dark, so all the colors and stuff are sort of cool. I think I'll like it.

[Trev]

This pretty much sums it up.

Its quite a convenient system, but it used to be REALLY buggy back in the older version.

I havent had any problems with it lately.:thumb:
123. It was so bad a while ago. They've finally fixed the friends system now, though.

Steam annoyed me for a while, but now I like it, it just makes my online gaming more convenient. You can turn off the preloading if you want, too.

[Terrorist Elimination Network]

ITT: the only retard who doesn't know what steam is

[JohnXDoe]

Good morning, Jake. Hope you had a nice Easter....

I knew what Steam was, sort of. Just not exactly what it is or what it's all about. So now I know. Maybe you'd like to tell me a little more, like how you've used it or what your impression of it is? I've really gone to playing strictly FPS's, so if it has something to offer that might interest me I may become more involved. But whatever the case I think I'm going to download this HL2 pack and see what that's all about.

[bradc1988]

I didn't know what Steam was until I bought a copy of HL a few months ago, I had always played CS via LAN.

[Terrorist Elimination Network]

Maybe you'd like to tell me a little more, like how you've used it or what your impression of it is?
Maybe or maybe not.

[JohnXDoe]

Ok. Well I'd like to hear it. I trust your judgement on things like this. I haven't got a lot of time to get into it this week 'cause I'm very busy, so I just want to know as much about it as possible from people on this board, whose knowledge and opinions I trust. I gotta get to work. Helping to install kitchen cabinets today. Pain in the arse....but it pays....

[Pop music sucks]

Oh god I remember it was so freakin' buggy.

and it's nice to see that Friends is finally back up

[Kif]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v140/cky2kendall/steamupdate.gif

I couldn't resist. Had it for a while now.

[Turtle Soup]

:lol:

[Ramsey]

I just wanted to clarify that Steam is absolutely not just for FPS's. It has a bunch of other games, but the majority are FPS's.



Anyways, think of Steam as an online Xbox Live Marketplace, but without the gamer points substituting for real money. Or better yet think of it like http://www.direct2drive.com - you download games on to your pc.

Steam used to be a pile of **** back when it first came out but they've been tweaking and perfecting it ever since and now its a fairly reliable service.

Another thing you want to watch out for is Half life 2 episodes. After you finish Half life 2 Valve is going to continue the story through episodes if you didn't know. That in itself is going to be worth having steam. Yet another thing is SiN episodes, which is a pretty good game from what I gather.

[Let's Chop Cats!]

I pre-ordered SiN last week, can't wait for it. Hopefully I'll have some cash around when Episode 1 pre-orders, in a couple weeks I believe.

Steam is probably the frontrunner in online distribution right now and probably the most lucrative.

[Ramsey]

I wouldn't say frontrunner. Microsofts system is proving to be fairly successful.

Sure Steam is ahead now, but Microsofts system is picking up "steam" lol

[Rrrrrrr]

quake 4 is worth a bittorrent or DC++ download but definitely not a purchase