Ns With Steam?
kwitcherbitchin
Join Date: 2002-12-19 Member: 11144Members
Join Date: 2002-12-19 Member: 11144Members
OK, I just read a post on the main page of <a href='http://www.planethalflife.com' target='_blank'>PHL</a> and was wondering if this is something that I need to worry about for Natural Selection in the near future.
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->The transition officially kicks off 11 am PDT on Wednesday, when the first non-Beta version of the Steam client is released. Just to clarify (since there's been a lot of confusion), Steam is free, and you should still be able to play HL through third-party server browsers. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Also:
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Half-Life Gets Steamed 111 Comments
9/6/2003 11:59 PST | Half-Life | by Fragmaster
This is probably something we should have recognized last week, but it appears that Valve will soon be replacing the WonID system of user authentication that Half-Life has used since the very beginning with Steam. Here's some quotes from Valve's Erik Johnson yanked from this Steam forum thread:
There will no longer be a WonID system, it will be replaced by the SteamID system.
When we convert the userbase to Steam, a single WonID will be valid for all of the products.
If you're purchased a product from us at retail, you're going to have access to all of our products via Steam.
No, you do not have to pay for Steam.
So sometime in the near future, Valve will be releasing an update to Half-Life that will require you to convert your old WonID CD-Key into a SteamID. We asked Mr. Johnson if this meant Steam would be required to play Half-Life online:
That is correct, you'll have to have Steam installed to play the most current version of Half-Life. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
From the sound of it, all Half-Life players will need to use Steam to continue playing Half-Life (and maybe its mods?). Does anybody know more about this subject than I do who wouldn't mind shedding some light on whether or not this will have any effect on playing NS?
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->The transition officially kicks off 11 am PDT on Wednesday, when the first non-Beta version of the Steam client is released. Just to clarify (since there's been a lot of confusion), Steam is free, and you should still be able to play HL through third-party server browsers. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Also:
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Half-Life Gets Steamed 111 Comments
9/6/2003 11:59 PST | Half-Life | by Fragmaster
This is probably something we should have recognized last week, but it appears that Valve will soon be replacing the WonID system of user authentication that Half-Life has used since the very beginning with Steam. Here's some quotes from Valve's Erik Johnson yanked from this Steam forum thread:
There will no longer be a WonID system, it will be replaced by the SteamID system.
When we convert the userbase to Steam, a single WonID will be valid for all of the products.
If you're purchased a product from us at retail, you're going to have access to all of our products via Steam.
No, you do not have to pay for Steam.
So sometime in the near future, Valve will be releasing an update to Half-Life that will require you to convert your old WonID CD-Key into a SteamID. We asked Mr. Johnson if this meant Steam would be required to play Half-Life online:
That is correct, you'll have to have Steam installed to play the most current version of Half-Life. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
From the sound of it, all Half-Life players will need to use Steam to continue playing Half-Life (and maybe its mods?). Does anybody know more about this subject than I do who wouldn't mind shedding some light on whether or not this will have any effect on playing NS?
Comments
They better fix the vac banning random people because you won't be able to play ANY games then.
Some people aren't lucky to have multiple keys.
Although, steam is fully released on Wednesday the won servers will not be closed the same day. There will be at least a week before this happens.
Basically what is happening is, valve are permanently closing won down. This means <b>no more authing with won.net nor wonids</b>.
Everyone, will now have to use steam to play any HL or HL2 mod. Once steam is fully released on Wednesday people will be able to register a new account (all old steam accounts will be deleted). To register a new account a user has to supply a unique email address and a valid cd key from any HL (or HL2) game/mod. If a user does not have an cd key they will be able to purchase and download any HL or HL2 game/mod e.g. HL,DOD,CS,HL2.
Once a user has an account they will have a steam id. This id is 100% different to your wonid as they will be handed out sequentially in the order that people register.
Naturally, once steam is released on Wednesday people are going to be registering like mad to get a low id or a cool one <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
People will then have from Wednesday until the date that won.net is shut down said to be between 1 and 2 weeks from official steam release to gain an account to play. If they don?t register before won.net is shut down they will not be able to play online until they do register with steam.
TBH I see this as a very good move by valve. For they are providing us the USER a lot of extra FREE cool stuff.
A much improved server browser (tbh it owns ase, gamespy imo)
A friends list with inbuilt messenger and buddy tracker. (This feature absolutely owns you can easily see where your friends are playing and even send them messages ingame)
Users can also download and free mod easily and super fast, no more hunting for fast download sites as steam is a content on demand based system.
Also, for the lazy/cheap people you can even buy new HL/HL2 games from steam.
Ok so what?s the <b>bad points</b>?
(Well and remember these points are from beta no-one knows if they have been sorted for final release.)
At the moment i see two bad points only. The first is that you have to be online to play multiplayer games e.g. you cant play LAN games without having an internet connection. We are hoping Steam has sorted this.
The second is the high requirements of a 1ghz cpu however, people on 500mhz says it runs fine so perhaps that isnt a problem
Bad points from a server operators pov is:
Every Ban recorded by either VAC,CD or manually will be worthless essentially giving cheaters,hackers,lamers a second chance. Also, steam atm has to be ran in order to run a dedicated server using extra resources. But perhaps the worst is in the beta you can only run one server per pc as you cant simply run hlds.exe <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo--> (i really hope this is fixed)
All in all, Steam seems to be a smart move by Valve and I just hope the NS team is aware and have a compatible version ready for when valve closes won.net (e.g. steam id support instead of won ids)
I hope that's sorted out.
As i said those requirements are for the beta and they do not seem to be true as laods of people use it fine on much lower spec pc's.
I believe thoguth those requriements are for the movies that was released via steam as they had to be decrypted using a lot of cpu. I expect the final version of steam to have a lower system requirement else valve will be shooting themselves in the foot.
That was the most well written and informative post I've seen in a while! Good job!
The bottom line seems to be that if you want to play HL online you need steam installed and a steam account. I've got no problems with this transition. Seems like a nifty change. I would love to have an unlimited buddy list. Damn ASE.
--Scythe--
That was the most well written and informative post I've seen in a while! Good job!
The bottom line seems to be that if you want to play HL online you need steam installed and a steam account. I've got no problems with this transition. Seems like a nifty change. I would love to have an unlimited buddy list. Damn ASE.
--Scythe-- <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Thanks for that <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
Blood_God : Yes i agree with you. However, i udnerstand valves thinking they want tor eset the wonid database completely. As techncailly they could just port your wonid to your steamid and keep the bans. However, theyw ant it reset because of the huge amount of wonids quite a lot of which are not used anymore and are taking up wonids that other people could be allocated. So while a pain, valve does have a good reason for doing it
What about all the false vac bans <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
They are removed aswell so that's a good thing.
i for one can't wait for this
an avid fan of starcraft and other blizzard games, it had always secretly been a dream of
mine to have thoes functionalies (friends list, chat rooms, messaging friends in game,
robust and almost crash free client) in half life
i looks like steam is going to deliver this, i cant wait to see if i can alt+tab out of the game
without losing sound or any other random **** up
i cant wait, and praise valve for the upgrade
if i can alt+tab out of the game
without losing sound or any other random **** up
<!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Nps at all and as for your question about alt tabbing, that bug was fixed a few weeks ago in Steam i believe so no more losing sound or having the mouse cursor appear etc <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> (Although i have heard of a bug with some radeon cards not sure if that was fixed though)
I hope I get like 666 or "elite" for my id now.
Really though, thanks for all the info, and the heads up. <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo-->
What happens in two weeks is that a new (possibly the last) major patch for HL games will be released, and it will include, as part of it, tools for converting all HL game installs over to Steam. That means that Steam will replace HL's current GUI/MP negotiation on your computer. It will essentially become the front end for your game.
All of this is utterly independant of whether you get HL2 or not (though it's certianly smart, because it means that everyone that still plays and updates HL will now have a program which includes all sorts of incentives and content to advertise HL2.
<img src='http://www.steampowered.com/img/triple_screenshot.gif' border='0' alt='user posted image'>
Here we can see on the left all the current games available on Steam. You simply add the games to My games and you instantly start downloading the latest version. If its a game that needs paying for you will need to supply payment info but for free mods like ns its just dl and be happy <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
The middle box is of the friends list. You can add new friends in one of three ways.
You can search for their email address, you can add people directly ingame or you can add people once they message you. The message system works a lot like version 5 of MSN where you can block people or allow them to see you. If one of your friends is playing they get the game icon next to their name and clicking on them allows you to message them ingame or gives you the option of joining them.
The last box is of the great new server browser. The built in filters work great allowing you to quickly find the server you need. Couple this with a auto-join system for when the server is full and a friends tab so you can see where all your friends are playing at once and you have a server browser that means ASE and Gamespy become useless <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/wink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink.gif'><!--endemo-->
For more information about Steam check here <a href='http://www.steampowered.com/index.php?area=features' target='_blank'>http://www.steampowered.com/index.php?area=features</a>
Also, if anyone wants to try steam out now then you can it is still in beta and so buggy but it does work fine for me <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
Come wednesday Valve will release a new installer which will either upgrade the ebta install or install a nice enw fresh version.
Nps at all and as for your question about alt tabbing, that bug was fixed a few weeks ago in Steam i believe so no more losing sound or having the mouse cursor appear etc <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> (Although i have heard of a bug with some radeon cards not sure if that was fixed though) <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
ATI came out with new 1.7 drivers to fix this.
BTW, that picture is obviously a VALVe only version until this Wednesday/CZ release..
And besides, all the people in the friends list are VALVe employees. LOL
This just goes to show how much better the NS community is. The PHL and other such forums have a million posts written by morons who read the first sentence of anything official, and then flame about something in the Topic name.
CONSTELATION members... what is with them? i have 80$ here, i wont send them until i know whats gona happen...
CONSTELATION members... what is with them? i have 80$ here, i wont send them until i know whats gona happen... <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
All it means is once steam goes final and won.net and wonids are remvoed vets,pts,constellationers will simply have to signup for a steam account get a steam id and then i would assume email the new id to flayra so he can add you.
Steam should not stop you signing up and supporting Flayra, getting a steam id will be easy and free as logn as you still got your hl (cs,dod) cd key.
I do pity Flayra though, as he will have to verify and update every single vet/pt/constellation id
edit: once you add a mod to half-life in steam it will show up in the games list under third party mods
One reason this is so good is that Flay said that NS2 would be impossible without some source of funding. Well, now Flay can charge a small fee for NS2 and other projects if he wants, and actually make the money off this game that he deserves. All without having to muck around with retailers and contracts.
i read that you can play chess checkers, card games and other stuff, how well are those working? are players rated like zone, or yahoo? <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
i read that you can play chess checkers, card games and other stuff, how well are those working? are players rated like zone, or yahoo? <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well this is where im annoyed.
Theres no ranking at all. To paly these games you load up your friend list right click on your friend and chosoe the game you wish to invite him to play.
There is no room you can go to to play random people you can only play with who you know so to speak. This is fine as i only like playing people i know but there are some serious bugs with chess in the beta. It gets stalemates completely wrong and sometiems a nice steam.exe ahs caused a general error when you promote a apwn in certain situations.
I really hope they have fixed those bugs <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif'><!--endemo-->
But for the most part the games work fine, look great with built in chat move history etc
As far as I know, you have to place it in the:
<b>...\SteamCache\<your account ID name>\Half-Life\</b>
folder, exactly as if it was your:
<b>...\Seirra\Half-Life\</b>
folder.
Then <a href='http://www.nothing.f9.co.uk/ns-steam.jpg' target='_blank'>this</a> pops up, as a third party game.
<b>EDIT:</b> Tested it. Currently NS doesn't seem to run very well with Steam, but it works great with some other third party mods (I believe I read somewhere that Sven Coop works fine, though maybe I dreamt it because I can't find the post anymore). VALVe have stated that they are working on fixing it so that it works perfectly with all mods, and they will work with the mod developers to make sure it does.
<!--QuoteBegin--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
After we reset the beta we'll work with any MOD developers to make sure everything works in Steam. There isn't any reason why they shouldn't.
Things are going to change a bit after we reset the account database and release a new version of Steam, so try again then and then let me know if it's still not working.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This was the direct quote from Erik Johnson on the Steam forums, after someone stated that their mod doesn't work on Steam properly.