Hello sjmxru
It's not entirely clear to me what the problem is.
1) If the game is already fully installed and now you friend wants to play while not connected on the internet, then he needs to know that, normally, with Steam, you always need an internet connection to start the game, even for playing in single player mode.
However, it is possible to play a Steam game while not being connected to the internet. In order to do so, you need to be online, log in to Steam normally and then switch to "offline mode" (you can do this by bringing up the main steam window, clicking on the "steam" tab, and then selecting "Go offline").
Once you've done this, you simply close Steam again. Then next time you start the game/steam, it should be in "offline mode" by default and then you can play without internet connection.
2) However, since you mention the 23 hrs thing, it's also possible, the game is updating (Steam automatically downloads patches) and Steam is looking for a server. If you feel it goes way too slow, he needs to see in which country he is located according to Steam; change your location and Steam will look at other (hopefully faster) servers to pick up the update.
3) A third option is that you bought the game on a DVD but that Steam still tries to download the game instead of installing it from the DVD. I know of several people who encountered that problem and I don't know if there's a solution (except waiting until the loooong download has finished (but it shouldn't be 23 hours... I downloaded and installed Deux Ex : HR recently in less than 3 hours)).
Bookmarks