Steam

[Sir Beane]

Okay here are some questions I haven't seen a specific answer to yet. We know (now) that Empire can run under Steam's offline mode, without an Internet connection after the initial install and authorization. So far, so good.

1) If I exit the game to the Windows desktop, does Steam exit RAM completely along with the game? Or does some part of it remain as a RAM-resident background process?

2) A related question: I've read that Steam won't launch the game if either Steam or the game isn't auto-updated to the current version. When and how does Steam check for those updates? Is it only at the point where you launch a Steam game, or is it a background resident process, checking at timed intervals or on boot-up?

3) Finally, if I uninstall Empire from my computer and it's the only Steam game I own, and I then uninstall Steam from my computer, how clean is the uninstall? Does it leave behind any hidden file or mess with the low-level file system like SecureROM does? I'm not looking for tech specifics, I just want to know if it's a clean uninstall.

1) I can't give you a 100% accurate answer on this, but another Orgah probably can. I do not think that Steam remains as a background process once you close it down however.

2) Steam searches for auto-updates everytime you connect to the internet and have steam running, in much the same way Windows update does. If Steam is running in offline mode it will not search for updates and will launch games just fine. Once Steam has found updates it will install them automatically (providing it is running). It isn't a background thing, it's part of the main program. The updating process is usually very quick, unless Steam has not been updated for a long time. It interferes very little with running games.

3) Steam does not leave hidden files and it doesn't mess with low-level system files. Steam is definitely not the same as SecureRom. It's a 100% clean uninstall.

[pevergreen]

Point 2) will create havoc if we have another 1.1 -> 1.2 thing like M2:TW.

E:TW needs to be manual patches, for modding etc.

[Belgolas]

Point 2) will create havoc if we have another 1.1 -> 1.2 thing like M2:TW.

E:TW needs to be manual patches, for modding etc.

That is one problem for not having a good internet connection.


You can still copy and paste the whole directory for ETW so you can keep it at a certain patch but then you need a no-cd.

[pevergreen]

Which we do not discuss here at the Guild.

[hoom]

Q1: Steam is a separate program & it stays resident in the taskbar.
You need to manually exit it from there (right click -> Exit), I do this but people who play lots of Steam games might leave it open.
Currently minimised to Taskbar its using 7-8MB of RAM, eg compare with Adobe Reader 9 with no pdf open & the ATI Catalyst Control Centre (ccc.exe) minimised to taskbar using nearly the same amount.
After the resident icon is closed down, Steam.exe disappears completely from taskmanager.

Q3: Steam games all install within the Steam folder on your PC (you can choose the location of this folder).
Other than shortcuts, I'm not aware of any files stored outside the Steam folder.
eg you can simply copy the Steam folder to a new PC, make a shortcut to & run steam.exe, enter your Steam username/pwd & your games will all be there.
Alternatively, if you have lost all your Steam content, you can download & install the Steam client (a few hundred KB) & as long as you remember your username & pwd, it'll download all the Steam content associated to your account.

[Polemists]

Okay first, and less important,

Has steam ever been used before with a games for windows game? Sometimes things don't mix well and sadly I do have vista.


Secondly and more important,

If I had a file

let's call it demo

how quickly can steam download it? :P

[Husar]

Okay first, and less important,

Has steam ever been used before with a games for windows game? Sometimes things don't mix well and sadly I do have vista.

Now you're trying really hard to find something you cannot like about Steam, aren't you?
To answer this, afaik games for windows is just some "Microsoft approved" kind of seal that says the game should run on Microsoft systems and isn't the buggiest piece of software ever released, or maybe MS just takes the money and then gives the seal.
Either way it should not interfere with Steam.
I do have vista as well and the only big difference I noticed is that it takes a while to load while it's almost instantly in XP. Once it is loaded however, I haven't found any problems except that you can buy games that do not run in Vista, but then you could buy them on a CD and they would still not run in Vista.

Secondly and more important,

If I had a file

let's call it demo

how quickly can steam download it? :P

That depends on your internet connection and how many other people are downloading it.
I have seen Steam download things really fast on a 16MBit connection but some HL2 patches seem to take quite a while, possibly because half the world downloads them simultaneously.
In other words, if you do not tell anyone when they release that demo, and hope noone else notices, your chances to get a fast download are higher, your fame as the bringer of good news however, will be lower(you can still tell them once your download is finished, but someone else may have done it already by then).

[Zenicetus]

1) I can't give you a 100% accurate answer on this, but another Orgah probably can. I do not think that Steam remains as a background process once you close it down however.

Okay, it would be nice to hear some official word from CA or the Steam folks about whether it's a resident process when the game isn't being played.

Point 2) will create havoc if we have another 1.1 -> 1.2 thing like M2:TW.

E:TW needs to be manual patches, for modding etc.

Yeah, roll-back to previous versions doesn't sound easy if the DRM demands the most recent version of the game. I can't be the only one who has been burned by an update that broke something. Is there a work-around for rolling back to a previous game version with Steam?

Q1: Steam is a separate program & it stays resident in the taskbar.
You need to manually exit it from there (right click -> Exit), I do this but people who play lots of Steam games might leave it open.
Currently minimised to Taskbar its using 7-8MB of RAM, eg compare with Adobe Reader 9 with no pdf open & the ATI Catalyst Control Centre (ccc.exe) minimised to taskbar using nearly the same amount.
After the resident icon is closed down, Steam.exe disappears completely from taskmanager.

I avoid programs that stay resident in the taskbar when I only need them to run one single program. It's one of the more annoying things about Quicktime updates. Is there an option for right-clicking the Steam icon in the taskbar and telling it not to load on every system boot? Do I have to do that every time Steam updates itself again, like Quicktime?

To be clear, I can live with Steam if the only thing it does is launch the Empire game, and it stays completely out of my way when I'm not running that one game. I don't think that's too much to ask. I have zero interest in being a part of some Steam online community, or buying dozens of games through the Steam portal. I just want to buy this one game -- Empire TW -- if they don't make me jump through too many obnoxious hoops.

[Jack Lusted]

Okay, it would be nice to hear some official word from CA or the Steam folks about whether it's a resident process when the game isn't being played.

Steam will remain running once you close down the game unless you exit it yourself. But it's easy to close down as it will be on the taskbar.

Is there an option for right-clicking the Steam icon in the taskbar and telling it not to load on every system boot? Do I have to do that every time Steam updates itself again, like Quicktime?

You can set Steam to not load on system start easily, and it remembers that setting every time it updates.

[Fisherking]

You can set Steam to not load on system start easily, and it remembers that setting every time it updates.

Wait just one moment here!

Just what does that mean?

Is it going to update its self every time it has a connection?

Gosh I hate programs that do things I haven’t told them to!!!

Particularly when it comes to patches!!! Most of the time I find my self being more satisfied with the original install than the stuff they have messed with and the unintended consequences there of…


Thanks for the prompt post though Mr. Jack Lusted!!!

[Polemists]

Quite true, I really hope that we are not going to be "REQUIRED" to patch Etw every time they fix a bush or a tree graphic.

I usually don't patch, usually the main game is enough for me.

So unless steam's update consisted of.....let's say




A DEMO


I see no point.

[Sir Beane]

Wait just one moment here!

Just what does that mean?

Is it going to update its self every time it has a connection?

Gosh I hate programs that do things I haven’t told them to!!!

Particularly when it comes to patches!!! Most of the time I find my self being more satisfied with the original install than the stuff they have messed with and the unintended consequences there of…


Thanks for the prompt post though Mr. Jack Lusted!!!

Steam will update itself every time it is open and it has an internet connection. You can, however, tell it not to. This isn't advised though because if you don't let Steam update itself for a while it will take ages to update when you finlly get around to it.

[Polemists]

This is one of the reasons no one likes updates anymore.

A long time ago updates used to be able to download on this thing that you youngins don't know about called

"Dial Up"

In the modern day world, that speed equates a horror movie.

Patches used to be small 20 mbs, 40 mbs, but then games weren't even gig's bit. Go look at how much space shogun takes up sometime.

Now though, since ETW will probably be around a few gigs of space, any patch that is semi major will be a 500 mb patch at least, and steam will probably want a 100 mb patch to go with it.

So if you have cable internet your fine, but otherwise your stuffed.

Of course we'd know how it's speed works, if we had

a Demo

[Sir Beane]

I think official figures say Empire is 10Gig on the hard drive.

It's hasn't been that long since I had a Dial-up connection. And let me tell you, I still have nightmares about it, the numbers, things downloading so slowly..... truly those were the dark times.

[pevergreen]

Then again, automatic updates can be beneficial.

Say MP testing requires unit x to be toned down. instead of waiting, make steam change a file, boom! Its balanced, and everyone online is automatically on the same version!