Can someone explain Steam to me?

[Jader1973]

As per title, how does it work?

If I buy a game from Steam do I need to have their software installed on my computer in order to run it, or do I just download the game and off I go?

B17 Flying Fortress The Mighty 8th has been re-released and I'm tempted to get it, just not sure how the whole Steam thing works.

Thanks

[grumbledoak]

You register and install Steam, then you search, buy, and download through it. It's got sane sharing rules for stuff you've bought too. It's a platform in itself, though I run it on a PC. I like it.

Pretty sure it's free to try. What's the worst that could happen* ?

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* (I love that phrase).

[All that jazz]

Downloaded games from Steam = not able to sell them on Ebay (other outlets available) when you get bored of them. On the positive side, there are some really good indie games on Steam which would probably never see the light of day in proper shops.

[Derek Withers]

You download and install Steam on your PC. Through it you can buy and download games to your library. You have to have Steam running to play your games which requires your PC to be connected to the internet. Some games can be played in offline mode for about a week then Steam needs to connect to the internet again.

I have had an account for over 10 years now and I have about 65-70 games on it. When I build a new PC I just download Steam again and login and its all there. I could go around to my mates and login and play my games there as well if I wanted. You also can add "friends" to your friends list and chat to them. I bumped into a PHer on a Dayz server recently and we can message each other, you can even talk as well but we tend to use my Teamspeak server for that.

I love Steam and you can pick up some real bargains during their regular sales. As All that Jazz said you can get some games that you would never find anywhere else either.

[Jader1973]

Starting to make more sense now! Thanks.

For the games where you need to be online are they stored and therefore played online? Or is it simply a case of the server verifying a key of some sort?

And can you tell whether the game works offline or not before installing it?

Internet in Aus is very slow, so having to be online to play isn't ideal. I might be better finding a site where I can download a full version to my PC and play offline after that.

Edited by Jader1973 on Saturday 14th February 07:27

[grumbledoak]

You do download the games to your hard drive before you play them. And if the Kiwis can do it...

[Derek Withers]

Jader1973 said:

Starting to make more sense now! Thanks.

For the games where you need to be online are they stored and therefore played online? Or is it simply a case of the server verifying a key of some sort?

And can you tell whether the game works offline or not before installing it?

Internet in Aus is very slow, so having to be online to play isn't ideal. I might be better finding a site where I can download a full version to my PC and play offline after that.

Edited by Jader1973 on Saturday 14th February 07:27

Once you have downloaded the game to your hard drive it doesn't matter what your connection is like. Steam just needs to login by connecting to the internet, it will not affect a single player game.