Here is what I do - fast and easy for XP:
1. Make sure that you visit "msconfig" and set Steam to not start with your PC
2. Disconnect from the internet
3. Hit the ETW icon
4. You will get a pop-up box asking you to retry your connection or start Steam in off-line mode
5. Select off-line mode and the game will load.
6. For updates - start the game through Steam with an active internet connection and it will automatically check.
"Après moi le déluge"
I am trying to download the game from Steam. It seems to be caught in a loop, constantly displaying "Download starting". When I clicked on "Launch", it states, "The game you are installing requires a drive with NTFS file system and cannot be installed on a FAT32 filesystem." Then there is a link explaining how to convert the HD.
I have used Steam for Half-Life 2 with no problems. Is this an "Empire" issue or a Steam issue? I could convert my HD, but it recommends to back up the files (of which I have no extra drive to do this).
Any suggestions?
Playing M2:TW and R:TW on an Intel Mac!
Places I have lived:
Places I have visited:
"The ingenuity of the device blinds us to its utter uselessness."
(anonymous British civil servant, circa 1940)
(www.3dflags.com)
I just read that its a FAT32 file error. Because the game tries to download files bigger than 4gb (animations/models pack) FAT 32 doesnt like it. From what I read, its a windows XP thing and you will have to reformat your hard drive.
So basically, you are right. You have to reformat to download those big files.
edit: for backup, you should be able to buy 8gb USB sticks for about $15, useful things to have anyway.
Last edited by pevergreen; 03-07-2009 at 16:51.
Can I reformat without backing up? They said I could, but recommend to back up. The drive is partitioned. It is a 500 GB, half of which I use for game files, the other is the backup for my Mac (I have Windows installed as a boot option on my iMac). The big issue here is the size of what I need to back up.
Playing M2:TW and R:TW on an Intel Mac!
Places I have lived:
Places I have visited:
"The ingenuity of the device blinds us to its utter uselessness."
(anonymous British civil servant, circa 1940)
(www.3dflags.com)
They suggest you back up because they don't want people complaining about loss of data. If you just have everything you want, its safe to reformat the partition.
So, yes it is safe and perfectly fine to reformat without backing up.
I've read through this thread and I'm afraid it bodes poorly for my ability to buy & play ETW.
Here's my situation:
I have 2 computers at home, one of which is a relatively old one that is used for internet and other mundane tasks. The other computer is relatively new and is used only for gaming -- it doesn't ever go online; we don't even have it hooked up to go online.
Our internet connection is dial-up, terribly slow, and the online computer won't be able to run ETW. It's not like we're somehow willfully refusing to upgrade to broadband; it simply isn't available where we live. So even if the gaming computer was hooked up to the internet, I highly doubt I'd be able to get into Steam and do what needs to be done there.
Is there, then, some way that I could use *another* computer to access the internet and Steam? Can I, for example, register the game via my wife's work computer (which has a broadband connection), then bring the game home, install it, and play on my gaming computer?
I'm afraid I know what the answer will be...
Hmm...
I think you could buy the boxed version, hook up your gaming computer to dial-up, and steam will be able to verify it. Then you can set it to offline mode, and disconnect your gaming computer forever. And play Empire. You simply need to have steam running, and offline mode needs no connection (obviously)
You won't be able to patch, but do you think you can manage to download them?
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
- Proud Horseman of the Presence
Thanks for the reply.
I assume getting later patches and the like would be no problem for me, provided they are released in the same way they've always been. I've been downloading patches and mods from my wife's work computer, then just zipping them over to the gaming computer.
Your approach sounds promising, but I'm worried about a couple of issues:
1) We got our gaming computer a year ago. To be honest, I'm not sure if it even *can* be connected to the internet, because I'm not sure if it even has a modem. Do new computers even come with modems these days? I get the feeling most computers aren't made with dial-up connections in mind.
2) Assuming it's possible to get it online, what exactly is involved with getting steam to verify everything? Do we need to download something, and if so, how big? With our dial-up connection, I worry that any downloading would take hours, and we'd lose the connection before the download was completed (this has happened several times to me -- hence my current practice of using my wife's better work connection).
You need to download steam, and that is it. I'm not sure how big of a file it is, but I suppose you could just download the setup on your wife's computer and whisk it over to the unconnected one.
As for verification, it shouldn't take too long, since all it does is check if your game is legit or not.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
- Proud Horseman of the Presence
Thanks for the Info, I know steam is a popular thing and some have been using for a long time.
Yet what happens if I uninstall Steam after installing the game? Will it uninstall the game too?
It is just that I like my solo games to be...well...solo and installed where I want them, it did not even give me a choice of where to install the game it installed it where steam was.
Duke Surak'nar
"Η ΤΑΝ Η ΕΠΙ ΤΑΣ"
From: Residing:
Traveled to: Over 70 Countries, most recent: and
~ Ask not what modding can do for you, rather ask what you can do for modding ~
~ Everyone dies, not everyone really fights ~
You cannot choose where you install your games. It must be in the steamapps folder for steam to let you play. I think uninstalling steam will also uninstall your games, but you can just move the game folders somewhere else and not need to download them again. You just can't play them
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
- Proud Horseman of the Presence
I did it with no problem. Here is a link on how to do it from Steam (in case anyone else has the same issue):
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...2509-ULZC-1733
Playing M2:TW and R:TW on an Intel Mac!
Places I have lived:
Places I have visited:
"The ingenuity of the device blinds us to its utter uselessness."
(anonymous British civil servant, circa 1940)
(www.3dflags.com)
Duke Surak'nar
"Η ΤΑΝ Η ΕΠΙ ΤΑΣ"
From: Residing:
Traveled to: Over 70 Countries, most recent: and
~ Ask not what modding can do for you, rather ask what you can do for modding ~
~ Everyone dies, not everyone really fights ~
I can't download the manual. Says it is corrupted.
??
Playing M2:TW and R:TW on an Intel Mac!
Places I have lived:
Places I have visited:
"The ingenuity of the device blinds us to its utter uselessness."
(anonymous British civil servant, circa 1940)
(www.3dflags.com)
I'm having problems with my STeam account. It's gone! It's almost like it evaporated!
(Grabbin' the coat)
HOW ABOUT 'DEM VIKINGS
-Martok
You can't login?
If you changed your name, the user ID is the one you first registered with.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
- Proud Horseman of the Presence
Did a right click on the game in the Steam list, selected "View Player Manual" and get the browser window open and get the error message, "File damaged".
Opened the Properties panel: cannot right click on player manual link.
Where else can you get the manual? I am surprised to not find it in the game folder, as many other games include this.
Playing M2:TW and R:TW on an Intel Mac!
Places I have lived:
Places I have visited:
"The ingenuity of the device blinds us to its utter uselessness."
(anonymous British civil servant, circa 1940)
(www.3dflags.com)
Playing M2:TW and R:TW on an Intel Mac!
Places I have lived:
Places I have visited:
"The ingenuity of the device blinds us to its utter uselessness."
(anonymous British civil servant, circa 1940)
(www.3dflags.com)
I have been having graphics issues with the game where some text gets scrambled. Now, during the original download, I had a problem with the HD not being the right format. I fixed that issue. So, I was wondering if it is possible to delete the game from the HD, and then download it again? Or will I lose everything? Steam seems to be very slow in contacting me about this problem.
Last edited by Gorm; 03-09-2009 at 18:42.
Playing M2:TW and R:TW on an Intel Mac!
Places I have lived:
Places I have visited:
"The ingenuity of the device blinds us to its utter uselessness."
(anonymous British civil servant, circa 1940)
(www.3dflags.com)
Playing M2:TW and R:TW on an Intel Mac!
Places I have lived:
Places I have visited:
"The ingenuity of the device blinds us to its utter uselessness."
(anonymous British civil servant, circa 1940)
(www.3dflags.com)
Erhm...
My steam just stopped working. Its not appearing in the toolbar, and when I click on the shortcut, nothing happens.
EDIT: Well, Steam is back, but now its telling me Empire is "currently unavailable".
Last edited by seireikhaan; 03-09-2009 at 21:37.
It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then, the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.
I hate Steam! I registered just to say this!
First I came here, looking for help, because I had installed the retail Special Forces version, but it wouldn't open. After having tried opening the game a couple of times, it started downloading. I don't know if this was a patch or the entire game, so looked on the web for help - it said to delete the game and try installing it again (Official Sega page: [I had an URL here, but I can't post it as this is my first post - it was the official Sega help site]). So I did. When it was done, it was the same problem all over again. It started downloading something, without telling me what it was - quite annoying! And it was so SLOW, around 30-50 KB/s when I'm normally at around 4-500 KB/s, I thought this to be strange as this was a game I had just payed for, not some free server where I was download some random stuff.
So I turned to the Sega page again - told me to restart the Download and tell Steam where I was located (I chose Scandinavia as this was most fitting). Now it's downloading at 30-250 KB/s, going up and down a lot, but is probably on an average of 50 KB/s. I still do now know if this is a patch (which I hope) or it's the entire game (which would totally me up).
I'm not good at computers at any rate, but I use it a lot and is probably better than the average computer user. When I have this much trouble with getting to play this game, I know that I'm not the only one (unless my version of the game is broken in some way). This is quite unacceptable for several reasons:
- Very slow downloading speed for a game that I have just payed for. I would expect to get top notch speed, when it's not a free server.
- A fairly high knowledge of computers and certain programmes is needed to install the game. I've never had any troubles installing a game before today.
- No information about what the Steam programme is doing - I have tried clicking on everything that seemed logical, and no info has been availble.
- (This is only a minor issue, but as I wanted more whine here you get it): When paying extra to get Special Forces edition, I would expect them to incode the data into the DVDs, so not having to download this. Especially with the slow download speed.
Of course I acknowledge the fact that I can be unlucky and have a bad version of the game, but I doubt it. I could also be a complete retard when it comes to Steam, and it might be so simple but I just fail to see it. Of course, I don't believe that as I see myself as fairly bright, but it could be.
Thank you for reading my rant, was nice letting the Steam (LOL GEDDIT!?) out. My download is now at 15 %. All in all I expect to spent around 10 hours installing this game. Not nice.
Last edited by Martok; 03-10-2009 at 10:17. Reason: swearing
Wow, you are quite impatient.
First, you should have at least read the rest of the thread, and changed your server to US- East Coast. That appparently makes it faster, but I don't know.
Second, 10 hours is short. Very short, in fact, when I waited 2 days to download Empire.
Steam is downloading files from the server and stuffing it into the steamapps folder. You can find it later and do whatever to the game, but you can't move it our without the consequence of not being ably to play. If you put it back in, then it will be fine.
You're using a lot of F-bombs, and the mods will be tempted to instagib you, so edit it out.
I don't see how you need a lot of knowledge of computers, you download steam, activate the download and thats it. Generally speaking, you should restart steam before starting the download to avoid sudden download stops, but thats only a matter of clicking "file" and "exit steam"
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
- Proud Horseman of the Presence
I realize I'm being terribly impatient here, but can anyone help me with what the problem is here with my Steam?
It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then, the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.
Have you tried a reboot?
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
- Proud Horseman of the Presence
try a reboot, or at worse, copy the steamapps folder and reinstall steam. You won't lose the game then.
As for Mr. Swearer, its quite possible it was the patch. So settle down please. Post reported.
Last edited by pevergreen; 03-10-2009 at 10:15.
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