i love half life 2. it's fucking awesome.

but steam is fucked. and just because steam work's for some of you out there, don't assume the rest of us are just "complaining". there's real fucking problem's with it.

there lucky half-life 2 IS as good as it is, or they wouldn't have a fan base left.

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"im not supposed to be here, im not supposed to be"

I'd also quite like to be able to buy HL Source for $15

I think they're working on that.

This was rather insanely stupid.

That's my biggest problem with Steam. It desparately needs an "advanced" mode where things like this can be set. A bunch more options. I'd like the option of an auto-exit when no Steam games are running any more. I'd like to be able to manually check for updates. I'd like Steam to tell me what it's updating and what it's downloading. I'd also quite like to be able to buy HL Source for $15

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We don't go to Ravenholm.

I never leave Steam running in the background. And I reboot all the time. That explains that.

Ditto.



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* Warhawk *
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Oh yeah, she's got her head in the guy's lap alright. Yahoo.

Maybe she's sleepy.

I'd never know when a new game type or patch was released because I let Steam run all the time and rarely reboot

I never leave Steam running in the background. And I reboot all the time. That explains that.

You cannot make anything fool-proof. The fools are too inventive

Okay, simple question: How long does it really take you guys to restart Steam?

Simple question, but completely irrelevant. If I didn't check Blue's News, I'd never know when a new game type or patch was released because I let Steam run all the time and rarely reboot. I've never had Steam tell me about an update (or even that Half-Life 2 was available when it came out) without me restarting it, which is annoying. It's like Valve designed Steam as an app you can just keep running, but then completely removed the functionality that makes running the app continuously worthwhile.

To answer your question though, it takes 2 seconds once I find out about the update.

its because the geniouses put the only update check at the start of the application

This was rather insanely stupid.

I believe it'll also check when you start a particular game, but it'd be nice if you could optionally set it to check at a particular time of day, or time range. Which is how most auto-updating tools work now.

they used to be able to download a patch, archive to CD and when the buggy game code shagged their computer they could re-install it up to a playable state

And you can do the same thing with Steam apps. Backup the directory (yes, you can backup just the changed bits too -- that's what incremental backups are for! Shock, I know.) and then just copy the entire thing from CD/DVD back to your drive if you feel the need to reinstall the OS.

without waiting 3 days (cause Steam is on its arse again)

And when was the last time Steam was down for anywhere close to that long?

4 hours (transit time)

Your own damn fault for not backing up then. And don't try to say "well I shouldn't have to back up" because you just said you'd be archiving the patch to CD. This is no different.

Don't like Steam? Fine. Don't use it. Don't play the games that use it. Vote with your pocketbook. But quit making inane, incorrect arguments that only show your own ignorance.

If they have issues, they used to be able to download a patch, archive to CD and when the buggy game code shagged their computer they could re-install it up to a playable state without waiting 3 days (cause Steam is on its arse again) and 4 hours (transit time) to get back up and running.

I'm afraid people who do that are in the minority - most will just live with it, resulting less consumer satisfaction, or return the game outright.

no, its because the geniouses put the only update check at the start of the application.

i'm re-playing thru HL:Source but still had to wait forever yesterday for steam to patch some other thing before i could play.

as for restarting to update - hm, maybe a Windows thing?
like the "you must reboot your system for the change to take effect" every time you update some app?

don't see why everyone bashes on Source and Valve.

because it's fun... at least more than experiencing severe stuttering and hard lockups in HL2!

"but why must we restart steam just to update Halflife 2?"...

Why must we run Steam(ing pile of...) to play HL2 to begin with ? If people dont have issues, they wont go looking for patches. If they have issues, they used to be able to download a patch, archive to CD and when the buggy game code shagged their computer they could re-install it up to a playable state without waiting 3 days (cause Steam is on its arse again) and 4 hours (transit time) to get back up and running.

Okay, simple question: How long does it really take you guys to restart Steam? It takes me all of TWO seconds. Is it really that difficult and take that long to right-click on the Steam icon and selecting exit and then going into the Start Menu to running Steam again?

May be Steam is applying changes to the executable, hence the restart requirement.

You cannot make anything fool-proof. The fools are too inventive

Steam does need work...I'm hoping Valve will be adding more fixes to it soon...

http://tds.nin.com/

Nighthawk,

At first, I was gonna post in defense of the way it is done considering a few things... but then I got to thinking and realized that you're right. If they don't have the capability to just update it automatically, they could at least have steam pop up a little window a la Windows Update that says that there are new updates. I understand restarting steam in order to patch it but why must we restart steam just to update Halflife 2?

I don't see why everyone bashes on Source and Valve. I recall Unreal Tournament 2004 having all thouse Speed Hack errors and a few show stopping glitches that were fixed quickly in patches.

It happens, get over it.

Why does Steam always have to be restarted whenever there is an update or patch? Doesn't this kind of defeat the purpose of what it was intended to do? What is the point of it if it doesn't automatically update things when they are available? It would be nice if when I got home from work, the patches would already be applied rather than me having to now wait to get them. Basically it is just a tool that launches games from one location. Gee, I have the Start Bar for that.

-Nighthawk

AMD 3200+ XP
ASUS A7N8X Deluxe MB
1 Gig PC2700
Sapphire Radeon x800XT Platinum Edition
Sound Blaster Audigy 2
200 Gig Maxtor HD
Sony 52x DVD
Plextor 8x/4x/40x DVD Burner

When there is no QA, everything gets released... it's that easy