The new guy needs some encouragment

[the_wolf27]

Hey everyone,

I just bought the dvd edition of HL2 that comes with Counterstrike source, Deathmatch etc and when I install the game I find that I can't actually play it. I must admit I have no idea whats going on. I thought I could just install the game and start playing right away but theres this STEAM program that starts up and has to download updates and all this shit. Can someone shed some light on whats going on here and what I have to do just to play the game.

Thanks

 

[AJ Rimmer]

Steam is VALVe's distribution program, and is necessary to play any games made by VALVe. If you check the box, it says "Internet connection required". That's steam, it needs to connect and verify your copy of HL2, to stop pirate copies. The updates can be avoided, but I'd let it run for a few hours or whatever if I was you. If you don't have internet at all, that's too bad.

 

[boglito]

Hey everyone,

I just bought the dvd edition of HL2 that comes with Counterstrike source, Deathmatch etc and when I install the game I find that I can't actually play it. I must admit I have no idea whats going on. I thought I could just install the game and start playing right away but theres this STEAM program that starts up and has to download updates and all this shit. Can someone shed some light on whats going on here and what I have to do just to play the game.

Thanks

Hi, new guy, and welcome.

Yes, as you have noticed HL2 comes equipped with STEAM, which is a program that works as an online store, as a deterrent for software piracy, and as a way to connect to multiplayer games. You must use steam to play your games, and steam will insist to update your games before you play them. Since there has been numerous updates since release that should prove to be a pretty hefty download for you. It is all automatic, though.

If you have internet, and steam is able to use it, you should just have to launch steam and make yourself a new account. Register your games with the key you have received (somewhere in your box) and the games should appear in your "my games" list in steam. If you try to play any of the games you will notice that they are being updated (hopefully) and that might take a while.

If you have further problems, please reply with more detail.
If you do not have internet you have trouble. I think it can be solved but I don't know how.

.bog.

ps. I didn't buy the dvd-version myself (downloaded via steam) so there may be factual errors in my reply.
pps. www.steampowered.com is the official website for all valve games, and they have both a support section in their forum, and an online help system that can offer more extensive support than people here can. If you give it time.

[edit]
darn you judas, darn you to heck
[/edit]

 

[Asuka]

Dont get scared off tho. Steam is for the better in every respect. It helps stop piracy, a lot of updates very often and more contect on the fly. Plus it runs great and its like a game organizer. Hope you have net and welcome to the community.

 

[Icewolf717]

Dont get scared off tho. Steam is for the better in every respect. It helps stop piracy, a lot of updates very often and more contect on the fly. Plus it runs great and its like a game organizer. Hope you have net and welcome to the community.

Yes, steam makes everyones life alot easier. Also yeah, if you remember awhile back, I sent you a friends request for Xbox 360, im Blueguyver

 

[Asuka]

Yes, steam makes everyones life alot easier. Also yeah, if you remember awhile back, I sent you a friends request for Xbox 360, im Blueguyver

Oh thats you! Havnt been on 360 for a while, focusing on few pc games right now.

 

[Asknoone]

Hey there,

Thanks everyone for explaining steam to me. I ended up letting the update run until halflife 2 was ready to play and man was it worth it. What a sweet game it is and I must say the graphics really are to die for. I thought I wouldn't be able to run it too well but with all the display options turned up full it stil ran like a charm.

Now I have another issue that I need help with.

I have a Toshiba Satellite Pro Duo Laptop, 1.8 Ghs, 1 gig of ram, 100gig of hard drive space and my graphics card is a 512mb Geforce Go 7300. Now as sweet as the game runs on my machine for some reason it crashes every so often. Its random though, somestimes I might play it for an hour without crashing and others 10 minutes. Is there anything I can do to stop this. I'v tried looking for driver updates for my card but cant find any. I though maybe it was direct x but I have the latest version (ithink). Then I found out on the steam site that alot of nvidia cards apparently have this problem with HL2 and they had something to install to fix the prob but its not compatible with my system.

Can anyone help me so I can enjoy the wonder that is HL2 without crashing.

Thanks

Can anyone help him?

 

[Barney Fife]

[Edit]
Is there a way you can find and post your PC Spec?

What I do know is that: Laptops aren't best when it comes to PC games and all. Some laptops do play some games and handle better than others Some laptops don't.
It all comes down to one factor.
Heat! Heat is the number one enemy to laptops, some play as long as 1-2hrs before they can’t take it any longer and they come down crashing or slow down to point where game becomes unplayable, some play only 10-20 minutes. The better the Laptop case is designed (As far as ventilation is concerned, and the quality of the cooling fans) the longer the game goes on.





Also plugging in the power cord and use the house current, rather than using the battery is a must.
Setting up your laptop power scheme in the power management to “Desktop” or “Always On" so you can use the maximum CPU power available is a must.
Updating Windows and its drivers is always a must.
Updating Hardware drivers is also a must. (Sound and Video)

Right-click desktop, properties, screen saver, On the bottom click “Power” in the power schemes select either “always on” or "Desktop" and choose “Never” in all three dropdowns and press apply, OK, OK.........Remember this will drain your battery like 10 litter V64 Diablo, so undo power scheme after you have finished with games.


Good Luck.

 

[$kelet0r]

Barney speaks the truth - as a laptop user myself having the laptop on a cold hard surface like wood as opposed to plastic or cloth is the difference between being able to play and not
Also make sure there is nothing obstructing the fans and if they are really noisy try raising the laptop on make shift stilts (place books of equal size under the corners so that loads of air is able to circulate

Now just to be on the safe side lets assume it is not an issue related to the above
1. Free up as much RAM as possible before playing - ideally boot before going to play Steam games
2. Validate your files by clicking the My Games tab, right-click on the game and select Properties from the menu. Select the Local files tab and click the Verify integrity of game cache button and let it get to work

 

[the_wolf27]

Thanks guys will give all that a go

 

[Zaffino]

hope it works , so you can enjoy the great game.

 

[the_wolf27]

oh yeah and whats with the NAmes under each userID, like headcrab and scanner etc??