Most Frequently Asked Questions
1. Steam's search tool is cumbersome and not very informative. Is there a website, other than Steam's, I can go to find out what's on sale?
There are two:
SteamGameSales.comDidimatic.com2. Can I register this __Insert Game Here__ on Steam?Here's a list of games you can register on Steam. You can always add a non-Steam game to your Steam games list, so that people can see you playing it.
3. If I buy a game pack that already includes a game I own, can I gift that game?
No, this was a one-time thing for people who already owned Half-Life 2 and bought the Orange Box. Additional copies you own are lost forever to the ether.
4. Why isn't __Insert Game Here__ available in my region?
Many Steam games might be unavailable in your country if you have the temerity to live outside of the United States.
This is not Steam's fault. Regional game availability is determined solely by the publisher, who should be the source of your ire. Gifting works regardless of region so you might find some helpful person in North America who can gift you the game.
Helpful StuffSteam Price Guide
Do you have the misfortune to live somewhere other than America? Steam hates you! Luckily,
this cool website with prices for Steam games all around the world is here to help, so you can know if you want to ask an American friend to buy the game for you or not.
AUSTRALIANS!!!!
You need this program.
It reconfigures your Windows IPSEC settings (run it as an admin) to block out all but the servers which don't count towards your download quota on Steam. Now supports a bunch of ISPs through a graphical interface.
Basically guarantees you won't add to your download quota with Steam.
150KB/s
Download TCPview:
TCPView
Then, use TCPview (run as admin if you're on Vista) to close all Steam TCP servers (this is important, NOT the UDP ones, just the TCP ones). Steam will then reconnect to a different server, which will hopefully get you a better speed. If you don't go faster in a couple of seconds, retry until you get a speed you like.
This shit totally needs to go into the OP, I've tipped this to so many people already.
Cool Community Add-Ons
Steam Signatures
With such a cool service, someone must have done some extra things to build on it. The forums have one such man, who made some super cool Steam signatures.
Suds is his name and killing is his game. Except for the killing. The signatures automatically use backgrounds for the games and the correct icon. Pretty neat, and they're 100% free!
Sample signature:
Avatarshttp://www.ddgamer.com/signatures.php. Select Avatar from the drop down list.
You need to delete your Avatar under:
Edit Avatar
Then add that URL in the
Avatar URL field in:
Edit Your Details
Also, the border changes colour based on if you're online, offline or in-game.
Steam Calculator
You can also use a script on
his Steam Calculator page to see how much your Steam account would be worth if you had taken advantage of some obscure, arcane combination of special deals that nobody could ever have taken advantage of. Or something sort of like that.
Posts
I will also reiterate: GO BUY FEAR 3 NOW
I hear Dungeon Siege 3 is a little problematic on PC, though. Had to pick between the two; think I made the right choice.
Tried TF2 for the first time... was fun, didnt really have any idea what I was doing, but got a few kills and achievements. Seems like it could get pretty addictive....I have too many games to play... therefore I NEED MORE!
xbox live | playstation network | steam | last.fm | flickr
Unfortunately, I don't have anything to play.
Summer sale can't come fast enough.
Let's hope there's no sale, so my baby can get the things she needs!
I actually quite liked the format of "jump kick an enemy in the face, steal his gun, empty a few rounds into the couple of guys standing behind him, throw gun away" as long as you could do it all without losing momentum. But of course as soon as you screwed up, the game ground to a halt and became about tedious attrition.
I do think you need some combat in there in order to make the game 1) commercially viable and 2) varied enough, but I can absolutely see them going with a pure martial arts focus this time - everything focusing on you building up enough momentum to barrel through enemies rather than stop and shoot. If they remove combat entirely, they need to introduce entirely new mechanics (like puzzle solving) that don't feel completely incongruous to the basic flow of the game.
I dunno, the only 'puzzles' you need is to add a bit more open ended variety to the levels and make it so you cant just shoot your way out. That way it becomes all about avoiding people, not getting shot, and finding creative paths past road blocks and other such things. Which could be a lot of fun if handled well.
There was never even the slightest need to fire a single bullet in Mirror's Edge, and often trying to do so would fuck you more than anything else.
I was so lost playing TF2 for the first time. In fact, last time I played after not playing for ages I was incredibly lost again because of the huge amount of new weapons.
It's really best to stick with one class in the beginning, I think. I still find the engineer a bit intimidating to play as, and I've had the same since their public beta.
And that reminds me: we should be getting the TF2 "Meet the Medic" video today!
Also, all this Mirror's Edge chat has made me realise that is kicking around in the backlog somewhere, completely untouched. Maybe, just maybe...
I don't know how many people are actually playing it these days, but there are always people willing to talk about it in the thread.
Your baby needs a copy of SpaceChem, Recettear and the whole King's Bounty series for only $5.
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
Yeah, stick with one class, and don't worry about stuff like alternate weapons, the default weapons for each class are all good (and usually still the preferred ones). Personally I still don't have most of the alt-weapons, and I can't say I really care about them either.
I'd suggest starting off as Heavy or Medic whilst you learn the maps and how the classes interact (fortunately, this is usually fast to pick up), but really, most classes are good for a beginner.
Save more complex classes like the Spy until you're a bit more familiar with the game.
Even after years of both TFC and TF2, I still suck as a spy. For some reason, no matter how many servers I join, the people I play against are never as dumb as the ones I see in the spy gameplay youtube videos. Hah.
Learning the maps seems to be the hardest part right now. Also am a little confused with all the weapons and stuff. I have a level 10 fire axe from a Rift order, and saw someone have the same axe but it said level 58? Do they level? Is this really a MMO in disguise?
EDIT: The levels are just a joke on MMO stats. Like the Heavy's Sandwich is called a "lvl 10 lunchbox item" IIRC. There's no weapon levelling here really.
There are different weapon variations that have different stats and occasionally different purposes (The demoman can actually be completely re-equipped to be a melee character of all things), but in general, learning the default stuff will give you most of what you need to know.
And yeah, learning the maps is probably the hardest part (especially on some of the more convoluted capture point maps), but in general, just follow the crowd.
The levels are kind of a joke. They don't mean anything.
What if I own it but haven't even tried playing it yet?
I think that means we win at Steam.
No, it has not fucked up game balance. You can still get everything through random drops, crafting and trading with other people.
I'm only at interval 3 in Fear 2, and I'm loving it so far. The pop-scares have already made me jump and squeal twice, and I've been playing survival horror games since the first resident evil. I'd even go as far as to say I've been unsettled more by fear 2 so far than I have been the whole of Amnesia.
It really hasn't.
Pretty much most of the alt weapons can be found or crafted anyway, but you're never going to be at a disadvantage just by using the default weapons as it is (2 cents etc.). Mostly they just provide altered ways of playing the classes.
I am genuinely surprised to hear that F3AR (Fathreeaarrr?) may actually be a good game. I don't think anyone was expecting that, especially after FEAR 2 dropped the ball a bit with the gameplay, and then the new game was passed to a different team.
Will have to look it up.
Seriously there are times where I just look at my backlog for 10 mins, then say fuck this and go watch TV.
When that happens, I tend to generate a random number to decide which Steam game in the list I should play. I match the number up with its corresponding title in the list. Then when I've found the game I should play, I throw away the random number and play some other game on my list because I now realise that's the one I actually wanted to play.
Works every time, seriously.
This intrigues me and will try this.
Quicker/easier just to make a backloggery account, add all your steam games, then use the fortune cookie option to randomly pick one for you. That way it shows you a name and everything.. which you can then safely ignore and go play something else. On the plus side, backloggery is good for writing yourself notes so you know where in a game you are.
Would be easier if I would just let myself in on the secret.