Playing HL2 in offline mode

[tomo13]

I have noticed that when playing valve games in off line mode that steam still takes up a lot of RAM.

Is there any way around this as I think I will need as much RAM as possible to play HL2 smoothly.

 

[BlackMesaDude]

dont buy it on steam, buy it in stores.

 

[Mountain Man]

Steam takes up a lot of RAM regardless (around 40MB seems to be average). Nobody knows why.

 

[KagePrototype]

dont buy it on steam, buy it in stores.

You have to use Steam regardless of the method of purchase. Buying it in stores doesn't make a difference.

 

[DirtyApe]

go into your F:\Steam\SteamApps\email here\counter-strike source
folder and there is an .exe in there for half life. i think that youll be able to play it without steam. this would be cool if it were true but i guess we will have to wait and find out.

 

[ShinRa]

If you don't have a gig of ram by now anyway, u should.

 

[ManicS2]

Simple question thats probably been answered but humour me and put my mind at rest...

Is it possible to buy HL2 and play it without EVER connecting to the Internet? Reason I'm asking is because I'm in a uni house with no phoneline.

 

[BlackMesaDude]

You have to use Steam regardless of the method of purchase. Buying it in stores doesn't make a difference.

Eh what are you talking about ? If i buy it in stores and wanna play HL2 SP because there is only that i dont need steam man.

 

[ShinRa]

Yes you do fen (im calling u fen forever, regardless of your new name that i despise). You need to register the key with steam, regardless of just sp or not.

 

[Skarsnik]

Simple question thats probably been answered but humour me and put my mind at rest...

Is it possible to buy HL2 and play it without EVER connecting to the Internet? Reason I'm asking is because I'm in a uni house with no phoneline.

If I remember right Valve recently stated that you need to connect to Steam at least once to register your CD-KEY, after that you can play in offline mode.

 

[Xrenity]

Eh what are you talking about ? If i buy it in stores and wanna play HL2 SP because there is only that i dont need steam man.

I guess you do need steam, man.

 

[ManicS2]

If I remember right Valve recently stated that you need to connect to Steam at least once to register your CD-KEY, after that you can play in offline mode.

Right thanks. Could there possibly be a solution for me then? Like register my CD-Key using a friends PC? Or am I stuck since it needs to be done on *my* PC?

HL2 was the SP game I looked to since I don't have net access and now this... I really am living in the dark ages.

 

[zer0kewl]

the diferents is if you lose connection with isp for weeks when logged out you can't play any steam game.
with retail you can

 

[ShinRa]

which is y some of us are buying both

 

[zul]

You need to register the CD-key from retail with steam at least once so it gets tied to your account, then you can play it offline. I assume you could do this from any computer, then just install the game at home. Dont take my word on that though - we'll have to wait till the 16th to see for sure how it all works.

 

[BlackMesaDude]

Yes ok register but i You dont have to stay online on steam to play hl2 if i buy it in the stores ? thats what im curious because CS Source takes too much RAM of my computer, register i will but i dont wanna have steam on while i play it.

 

[grumpycrab]

Right thanks. Could there possibly be a solution for me then? Like register my CD-Key using a friends PC? Or am I stuck since it needs to be done on *my* PC?

HL2 was the SP game I looked to since I don't have net access and now this... I really am living in the dark ages.

Ho,ho,ho - isn't this going to be fun. Wait 'til you see Vivendi's installation manual on this

What you need to do:-

1. take your PC to a friend with internet access. Trust me this is the best way!
2. install HL2 and enter CD-key (part of the install will be to install Steam -if not already present- and then create a Steam account for yourself - this is free)(*1)
3. steam will verify your CD-key with your steam account.
4. Exit Steam
5. Disconnect internet
6. Start Steam again. When it says there's no internet it'll prompt to RETRY or run OFFLINE. Select OFFLINE.
7. You can now play HL2 without the internet! Hoorah!

(*1) Prey that Steam doesn't copy all the HL2 CD/DVD content to the Steam cache - this may take a while.

Good luck
--
Grumps

 

[Crash Happy]

Why on earth would installing it and registering it one pc mean you can just install it on another? The cds/dvd can't remember that you've reg'd.
You might be able to figure out the file/files that tell HL2 and steam that it's been done and transfer those, thus negating the need to go online. I don't know.

 

[Gray Fox]

If you have retail you don't need to have an internet connection, but steam will be installed anyway from the hl2 cd.
You can play offline without registering the key in you have the cd or dvd in you're drive, if you wanna play hl2 in steams offline mode without the cd in you're drive, them you'll have to register it atleast once via internet.

My only question is then can you on one computer register, then go offline and play in steam offline mode, and then register it on another computer and play there in offline mode, cause in that case you'll be ablr to play with one account on multiple pc's, cause the first computer is offline steam does not know that someone is playing hl2 on that computer.