Steam to being sending 'the game' to hard drives a week before it ships

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i hope ur right, i don't fancy forkin out 30 quid to have ppl download it for free :/ selfish i know ;)
 
They will probably send most of the content out, but save the exe and some critical game code until September 30th, so there is no way for it to be hacked.

And how could you forget this info SCF?
 
It will lessen the strain on the servers if HL2 is sent to you a week before to avoid the rush.

But I guess this means if there is no preloading on September 23rd, HL2 isn't coming out the 30th? :eek:
 
hmmm still seeying spitcodfry, with a GOLDEN crowbar in his hands, damn man you lucky bastard. thnx for the info you brought us though..:D

btw... a golden crowbar?.... picture...? gabe? isn't that a ****ing sign?

hmmm this halflife shit is driving me crazy....
 
"hmmm this halflife shit is driving me crazy"
its doin the same to most of us ;)
 
I dont post much, but i've been sitting here at work for the past month reading all these posts on this forum along with other forums and i'm so pumped about HL2 and i cant wait any longer.

and spitcodfry, i loved reading about your trip. But you seem to have forgotten a lot of the details and it's finally coming back to you as you read posts on the board here. It's all good info. Thanks for sharing.
 
i only read to page 4 but for ppl thinking they will dl it to all users they will not....

they will add a page to steam asking if you want to pre order hl2/cs:cz or buy hl + other things.. then when they ready they will start to dl it to ppl that have pre ordered..
 
Originally posted by spitcodfry
Well unless the Steam guys were talking to me in pig latin there really wasn't much room for a misunderstanding. "We're going to begin sending the game to people's computer's about a week before they can play it." What part of that could I misinterpret?
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well, obviously i wasnt there, so who knows how it could have happened. in the example you gave, maybe they where talking about tha half-life 2 tab in the games page of the steam client. that way people can start entering the info needed to order hl2 once its released.

dont take it personaly, i just dont see the point in sending people such a large file, when you dont even know if they want it (or can afford it). bandwidth costs money, and valve isnt in the business to lose money. and i also cant swallow the fact that they would have a completed game that they can send to people, but not let them play it. im sorry, it just doesnt make sense.

what DOES make sense though, is a forum full of eager fans (myself included) who are so anxious for news about a release that they'll beleive whatever story comes along, so long as its good news. ive always been one of those people that beleives that if something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.
 
My apologies if this has been posted before, which it probably has.
But how do we notify steam to download the game to our hard-drive, will an option to download it be added on steam in a few days time?
 
Just a note about steam. Could Valve not change the encryption data and rates every 10 hours or so. Steam certainly could be used and be essential to block out hackers--much like MMORPGS and their system[besides being server-side]
 
Originally posted by femur
dont take it personaly, i just dont see the point in sending people such a large file, when you dont even know if they want it (or can afford it).
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That's just the thing. I asked them that question, and they told me that they would be informing users in advance of the upload. I'm sure it's going to be similar to the setting under the games running from Steam currently, which has a box specifying whether or not you want to keep the game updated. My guess is they'll add a Half-Life 2 section, with the automatic update disabled until you give them credit card info.
 
Originally posted by femur
well, obviously i wasnt there, so who knows how it could have happened. in the example you gave, maybe they where talking about tha half-life 2 tab in the games page of the steam client. that way people can start entering the info needed to order hl2 once its released.

dont take it personaly, i just dont see the point in sending people such a large file, when you dont even know if they want it (or can afford it). bandwidth costs money, and valve isnt in the business to lose money. and i also cant swallow the fact that they would have a completed game that they can send to people, but not let them play it. im sorry, it just doesnt make sense.

what DOES make sense though, is a forum full of eager fans (myself included) who are so anxious for news about a release that they'll beleive whatever story comes along, so long as its good news. ive always been one of those people that beleives that if something sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.
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You sign up THEN you get it sent.

What don't you understand?
 
If it's really true what spitdocfry told us in the first posting, then I highly doubt a September 30th release. Why? In it's current state Steam is still unstable and buggy, apart from all the bandwith issues. And I also doubt Vavle will be able to fix all the issues regarding Steam during one weekend until Sept. 22nd (if they work on weeksends at all). It'd be a high risk to preload HL2 while the Steam client is not fully functional and bandwith is very low. Downloads might be broken and some other things Valve did not take into consideration.

:x
 
What Vavle is probably going to do is ask for some sort of payment option and then you're probably going to start the pre-load. That way Valve isn't wasting Steam bandwith on people who aren't even going to buy the game. This makes sense, to only send it to those who are going to buy and decrypt the game through Steam on the 30th, because why should Valve send a $50 product to each and every Steam user. We aren't just dealing with trying to crack the encryption before the 30th, we are dealing with preventing a crack coming out forever. If every Steam user had hl2 on their computer and a crack was produced, Valve would be screwed. I bet that Valve has or will take every step required so that something of this nature will not happen.

Even with the option of being able to play hl2 at 12:01 I'd rather buy it in a store. I'm not really involved with anyother video games besides hl and its mods, so I think it would be kind of fun to camp out or something to get the game. I've been talking to a lot of people in my year about hl2 and stuff and a lot of people are excited. 15% of the people in my grade play hl. It's really big at my school and like so many highschoolers started playing that they started a guild. I think it would be sweet to all camp out to get the the game. The day it gets released, one of the guys in my grade is going to have a LAN party. Mind you, these guys aren't like the nerdy type (Me neither).

I'd like to start off that I'm about the least person to be a "conspirator" but this has been passing through my mind. It seems some what odd that Valve has created this new software distribution software and that it seems as though Valve is really cutting it close to the release date. The fact that time between Valve not declaring hl2 gold and the release date getting smaller all the time, is really pressuring Publishers to accually get hl2 pressed and national/Globally distributed in the proper quantities and time. If the release date stays the same and the publishers have an insufficient demand, Valve could rake in a gold mine from all the Steam purchases.

Personally, I really like Valve and Steam and think they are doing a good job. I don't know why Steam got so buggy when it was publicly released. I beta'ed for it and almost never had problems. I haven't had the chance to try out the public release, so I can't compare.
 
i don't know if to think this is bad news...... as i can only think we will not be seeing hl 2 till mid October.

my reason for this is steam is not ready for the numbers of ppl that will be dl this and login on to play cs/hl/dod. and ever day steam is not getting fixed it slowing down as more ppl are getting it... i think its going to take 2 weeks to fix maybe 3 then 1 week before they will send out hl 2 so we looking at 1 more month till hl2....

i wish it will come out on the 30th but i am at the point i don't see it anywhere before mid octcober..... i think i am going to cry. :)
 
ok, really, femur, read the posts on the previous pages, its already been dicussed. The aformentioned credit card purchase will take place, THEN one week before release, those who have paid will start receiving HL2 preload files.
I will say that they will receive ALL files because encryption is NOT a problem.
Reason: This will be the steam version of hl2, and thus immediately require steam and an inet connection to the steam verification system to confirm when its playable and to whom, fear not, VALVe aren't stupid.
 
basically im gona take th e first opertunity to get HL2 if that means getting the bastard off steam, then thats what im gona do.

Ii really cant see why they are doing this, other than to show off and make a name for themselves as pioneers of this soon-to-be (perhaps) new craze.
 
i take it they are sending it a week before to free up some bandwidth?
 
Thanks for the info. I think I will buy from Steam and then go pick up my Pre-order from Ebgames..Hehe, can't believe you forgot that! Anyways, good job!
 
Originally posted by TheSlug
Ii really cant see why they are doing this, other than to show off and make a name for themselves as pioneers of this soon-to-be (perhaps) new craze.
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What are you talking about? "Cant see why they are doing this"? Do you understand how the internet works?

Instead of 20,000 people trying to download 2 Gigs of HL2 all at once on the release date and getting pissed because it's not fast enough, the 2 Gigs will be pre-downloaded to people who 'preorder' HL2 via Steam. Then on release date, bam, no waiting, no bandwidth hassles, the whole game is ready for you. What's difficult to understand about that?
 
Is there anything *else you forgot, or are you just tauting us? :) Come on now, any shred of info will be appreciated!
 
Originally posted by Goombatommy
Yea, but hes talking about foreign countries like Korea and England might have a SLIGHT delay on store shelves. The basic point tho is that it will be shipped off to retailers and try to be in stores in the US by 9/30.
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Games here in England normally come out on Fridays, so that could be what he means.
 
I can't even use Steam, it's been broken for the past 2 days. Apparently "the Steam network is currently not running, or my internet connection is down."
 
Originally posted by rob.derosa
You sign up THEN you get it sent.

What don't you understand?
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well, what i dont understand is WHY they would do it this way. ok , fine, you sign up, then they send it to you. so how is that any different than what they would do if it was released on the 30th ?

what doesnt make any sense is the idea that it will sit on your HD encrypted for a week before you can play it. what the hell is the point of that ? all of a sudden the busines world is going to put on the fair face and say:

"now, now, its not fair if Timmy over there gets to play a day before Jimmy over there, so what we'll do is have a nice orderly release over time, and Timmy can just wait till Jimmy gets his copy before anyone plays anything."

i dont think so.
 
Originally posted by femur
well, what i dont understand is WHY they would do it this way. ok , fine, you sign up, then they send it to you. so how is that any different than what they would do if it was released on the 30th ?

what doesnt make any sense is the idea that it will sit on your HD encrypted for a week before you can play it. what the hell is the point of that ? all of a sudden the busines world is going to put on the fair face and say:

"now, now, its not fair if Timmy over there gets to play a day before Jimmy over there, so what we'll do is have a nice orderly release over time, and Timmy can just wait till Jimmy gets his copy before anyone plays anything."

i dont think so.
Click to expand...

What's the point of it you ask? So when the 30th rolls around, a million gazillion people won't be trying to download and play it all at once, which will freeze up the content servers and no one will get to play. This way people who choose to purchase retail will be able to get it the same day Steam users get it, because it will be enabled for play the same day. It wouldn't be fair for them to allow subscribers to play it a week in advance, when the majority of their consumer base revolves around retail-purchase copies. Valve has not poured millions into Steam for nothing. They know how to distribute it in the least strainful process on the content servers. If you don't understand this, then you probably never will.
 
well, what i dont understand is WHY they would do it this way. ok , fine, you sign up, then they send it to you. so how is that any different than what they would do if it was released on the 30th ?
Click to expand...

are u serious? or are u just being stupid?
 
o well i just dont trust anything from online... i want to see it in my hands, in case i wanna install it on several PC's as well.
 
Originally posted by MaDMaXX
ok, really, femur, read the posts on the previous pages, its already been dicussed. The aformentioned credit card purchase will take place, THEN one week before release, those who have paid will start receiving HL2 preload files.
I will say that they will receive ALL files because encryption is NOT a problem.
Reason: This will be the steam version of hl2, and thus immediately require steam and an inet connection to the steam verification system to confirm when its playable and to whom, fear not, VALVe aren't stupid.
Click to expand...

ok really madmax, read them yourself and you'll see that there's little more than vacous specualtion. im not saying its not technically possible, im just saying there's no reason for it. of course people can pre-order, of course they can encrypt downloaded material, of course valve arent stupid, that's not the point. point is .... WHY ?

sell something and deliver it today but not give access to it for a week ? un-heard of, and not-put-up-withable. ha ,new word for me !
 
Originally posted by femur
ok really madmax, read them yourself and you'll see that there's little more than vacous specualtion. im not saying its not technically possible, im just saying there's no reason for it. of course people can pre-order, of course they can encrypt downloaded material, of course valve arent stupid, that's not the point. point is .... WHY ?

sell something and deliver it today but not give access to it for a week ? un-heard of, and not-put-up-withable. ha ,new word for me !
Click to expand...

I think you should visit Valve sometime and tell them how to run their business. They could learn a lot from you.
 
it will probably only download to your hard drive after you pay for it...
 
Originally posted by spitcodfry
What's the point of it you ask? So when the 30th rolls around, a million gazillion people won't be trying to download and play it all at once, which will freeze up the content servers and no one will get to play. This way people who choose to purchase retail will be able to get it the same day Steam users get it, because it will be enabled for play the same day. It wouldn't be fair for them to allow subscribers to play it a week in advance, when the majority of their consumer base revolves around retail-purchase copies. Valve has not poured millions into Steam for nothing. They know how to distribute it in the least strainful process on the content servers. If you don't understand this, then you probably never will.
Click to expand...

*shakes his head*

gee mister, whats a server ?

ok, fine, you win, i give up. the valve fairy wil show up on my pc in the next week or so with a lovely little encrypted package just for me, with a nice little note saying " do not open 'till xmas, err... sept 30th" and with that, the men in suits will give me a kiss on the forehead and send me off to bed so i can dream of lollipop lanes and sunshine wishes.

please. the only thing that valve has said on the matter is that it will be available to download on the same day as its available in retail outlets. not a week before as an encrypted download available to play at the same time as retail release. your projections of what their server strain will be is not a valid argument for such an unprecedented business move. unless of course you forgot to mention that you where in their IT department where someone was looking over server load data on their pc.

edit: and arent those same "million gazillion people" going to want to "pre-load" it too ?
 
I will probably do the same thing that spit is going to do. If it's possible for me to get HL2 right away the second, or hour it is released, then dammit I will buy it from Steam.
Then when the retail is released, I will buy that one and cancel my subscription or whatever.
I am too impatient to wait when I know others are playing a game I need!
 
Originally posted by SaiboT
I will probably do the same thing that spit is going to do. If it's possible for me to get HL2 right away the second, or hour it is released, then dammit I will buy it from Steam.
Then when the retail is released, I will buy that one and cancel my subscription or whatever.
I am too impatient to wait when I know others are playing a game I need!
Click to expand...

Me too. I'm definately willing to shell out ten bucks to play HL2 before it's released in stores. If looks like it won't come down to that for folks here in the states though.
 
Originally posted by femur
*shakes his head*

gee mister, whats a server ?

ok, fine, you win, i give up. the valve fairy wil show up on my pc in the next week or so with a lovely little encrypted package just for me, with a nice little note saying " do not open 'till xmas, err... sept 30th" and with that, the men in suits will give me a kiss on the forehead and send me off to bed so i can dream of lollipop lanes and sunshine wishes.

please. the only thing that valve has said on the matter is that it will be available to download on the same day as its available in retail outlets. not a week before as an encrypted download available to play at the same time as retail release. your projections of what their server strain will be is not a valid argument for such an unprecedented business move. unless of course you forgot to mention that you where in their IT department where someone was looking over server load data on their pc.
Click to expand...

You really are thick, aren't you? People at Valve told me this numb nuts! Gabe Newell, the CEO of the company that is making Half-Life 2, and that also makes Steam, told me this! How clearer does it need to be? Why in the blue hell would he make up such a thing? People who worked on Steam were standing in front of me telling me this!

"Hey Gabe, that rabid fan is coming over to the offices this morning, isn't he?"

"Sure is."

"I think it would be funny if we told him a bunch of lies about how we distribute Half-Life 2 so he could go spam it all over the internet to confuse the masses!"

"Totally dudes! Let's fill this guy chock full of bullshit ideas till he bursts!"
 
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