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Steam download games vs Disc based games...

M

marwan

Banned
i'm in the process of buying Fallout 3 on the PC, and i was wondering if downloading it from Steam would make the game load faster since it'll run off the HDD. Also it saves me the hassle of swapping discs.

the same games for Half Life 2, but i have them on disc so i can't comment on that.

what do you guys recommend?

i have an Intel Core 2 Extreme 3Ghz, so i want it to kick ass when loading up games! :)
 
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but don't all games load off the HDD? I mean, that's the point of installation right?
 
marwan said:
i'm in the process of buying Fallout 3 on the PC, and i was wondering if downloading it from Steam would make the game load faster since it'll run off the HDD. Also it saves me the hassle of swapping discs.

the same games for Half Life 2, but i have them on disc so i can't comment on that.

what do you guys recommend?

i have an Intel Core 2 Extreme 3Ghz, so i want it to kick ass when loading up games! :)
Click to expand...
If you have Half Life 2 on PC, you can download Steam and put in the CD key there. That'll allow you to download the Steam version and play without the disc. Not sure if it's faster, though.
 
I say if you don't mind not having a box and actual disc then go the Steam route. I love digital downloads and prefer that way of installation. Other people must have the box. Its up to you.

Pretty sure though in the end the performance is the same. Both run off the HDD.
 
JSnake said:
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but don't all games load off the HDD? I mean, that's the point of installation right?
Click to expand...


i thought they installed to buffer, kindd like how the PS3 works....no?
 
marwan said:
i thought they installed to buffer, kindd like how the PS3 works....no?
Click to expand...
No... most stuff is installed on the HDD. Some games also use the disc to load in some tiny bits of other stuff, but installing on the PC is never really used to just buffer.
 
PC games have been doing Full game installs for ages, you just put the disc in for verification, pretty much. So just buy Fallout 3 where you can get it for less money
 
Thomper said:
If you have Half Life 2 on PC, you can download Steam and put in the CD key there. That'll allow you to download the Steam version and play without the disc. Not sure if it's faster, though.
Click to expand...


i didn't know that, cool thanks!

that should make use of my 750GB HDD :)

btw, is there any benefit to adding none steam games to steam menu? besides having it listed in "My Games" menus, are there other advantages?
 
All modern PC games run directly from the HDD. If they require a disc to work, it's copy protection.

Older PC gamers had partial installs that would put the most used data on a hard drive, and then keep big but rarely used files, like FMV, on the disc.
 
marwan said:
i thought they installed to buffer, kindd like how the PS3 works....no?
Click to expand...

Copying data from the BluRay isn't as quick as nabbing it from the harddrive, so you install big chunks of content data to reduce load times.

Very few (basically no) PC games load content from the disk anymore after the initial installation. At this point it's all DRM.
 
marwan said:
i didn't know that, cool thanks!

that should make use of my 750GB HDD :)

btw, is there any benefit to adding none steam games to steam menu? besides having it listed in "My Games" menus, are there other advantages?
Click to expand...
You can access your Friend list and chat while in game. It doesn't work with all games that you add, and it doesn't work properly with some others.
 
I pressed "Download Fallout 3", and when I came back it had downloaded, installed, updated with the latest patches and was ready to play.

If this is the future of game distribution, count me in.
 
Steam version!

Only slightly related - Does anyone know if there's likely to be problems using mods with the Steam version of Fallout 3?
I assume it's fine, but as Oblivion was never on Steam it's hard to tell. Thanks.
 
Joseph Merrick said:
fallout 3 doesn't require the disc in the drive to run btw. so boxed one is definitely better than the one tied down to steam
Click to expand...

I would argue that buying the access rights to download from a server as much as you want is definitely better than being tied down to a little plastic disk.
 
Bethesda said they won't guarantee mods will work on Steam. If that is important to you (and it should) then get it on disc. I love Steam and try to get everything on it but I canceled my preorder because of it.
 
Vaporak said:
I would argue that buying the access rights to download from a server as much as you want is definitely better than being tied down to a little plastic disk.
Click to expand...
say what? just backup your disc on your hdd if you want. wtf? I've started getting downloads over discs myself, but steam drm is a piece of shit. if it was available on gamersgate I'd suggest this over the disc one (y)
 
Joseph Merrick said:
say what? just backup your disc on your hdd if you want. wtf? I've started getting downloads over discs myself, but steam drm is a piece of shit. if it was available on gamersgate I'd suggest this over the disc one (y)
Click to expand...
what the hell is wrong with steam's DRM
 
Joseph Merrick said:
say what? just backup your disc on your hdd if you want. wtf? I've started getting downloads over discs myself, but steam drm is a piece of shit. if it was available on gamersgate I'd suggest this over the disc one (y)
Click to expand...
...
 
Joseph Merrick said:
say what? just backup your disc on your hdd if you want. wtf? I've started getting downloads over discs myself, but steam drm is a piece of shit. if it was available on gamersgate I'd suggest this over the disc one (y)
Click to expand...

You may not like Steams DRM, but it still gives the consumer more legal rights than a retail disk purchase does. I don't particularly like the DRM either, especially when there's 3rd party DRM on top of what steam already provides. But, it's the kind of DRM I can live with since it grants more rights than I previously had.
 
Guled said:
what the hell is wrong with steam's DRM
Click to expand...
Right, forcing you to login before you download a game is sooooo horrible.

Oh wait, it's not. You can even play your installed games when you're not connected to the internet. Steam makes your games portable. It's actually a feature.
 
SapientWolf said:
Right, forcing you to login before you download a game is sooooo horrible.

Oh wait, it's not. You can even play your installed games when you're not connected to the internet. Steam makes your games portable. It's actually a feature.
Click to expand...
pff. it's a fucking hassle. have you ever downloaded a game from stardock impulse or gamersgate?
 
Fallout 3 is 49.99 on steam. I could probably find a retail copy for the same or less. And I will get a nice box and manual. I think games from Steam should cost $5 to $10 less because there is no physical medium to produce, ship, and stock. The game prices on steam do drop after a while. So for older games it may be more cost effective to buy it from Steam.
 
SapientWolf said:
Right, forcing you to login before you download a game is sooooo horrible.

Oh wait, it's not. You can even play your installed games when you're not connected to the internet. Steam makes your games portable. It's actually a feature.
Click to expand...

After just upgrading to Vista and as a result having to reinstall everything, you better believe that I wish every one of my games was on Steam. It makes life so easy, its a right pain to find the discs/product keys for everything else, then have to install games one at a time and waste time patching them after that. Yer, Steam is a Godsend in my eyes.

Joseph Merrick said:
pff. it's a fucking hassle. have you ever downloaded a game from stardock impulse or gamersgate?
Click to expand...

Honestly, Steam brings so much to a gaming PC, that I'd have it installed even if I didn't own any Steam games. Its a great piece of software that uses close to zero resources.
 
brain_stew said:
Honestly, Steam brings so much to a gaming PC, that I'd have it installed even if I didn't own any Steam games. Its a great piece of software that uses close to zero resources.
Click to expand...
true, they've incentivised it well. but it would be nice if they had an option for a clean game install without steam sticking out like a tumour aswell.

Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
So you make fun of another poster because you can't give a coherent response? Nice... *rollseyes*
Click to expand...
did I make fun of you? get back to me when you've read the conversation that preceded the quote you responded to and I'll have a coherent response.
 
Joseph Merrick said:
true, they've incentivised it well. but it would be nice if they had an option for a clean game install without steam sticking out like a tumour aswell.


did I make fun of you? get back to me when you've read the conversation that preceded the quote you responded to and I'll have a coherent response.
Click to expand...

You can pick up 4GB of RAM for less than $50 these days, does it really hurt to give up ~40MB of that to a program that offers your average PC gamer a heck of a ot of useful features?
 
I don't understand the hate for needing to run Steam in the background in order to play Steam games. It makes sense, and it gives me updates of when my friends log on.
 
Performance should really be any different.

The only problem with buying a game like Fallout 3 off Steam is using mods, unofficial patches, etc. for non-Valve games can "sometimes" be a pain.

I assume Bethesda is going to release the construction kit for it at some point. If they do and you want user created content it's usually much easier to have the the non-Steam version. D2D and other user-installed versions usually don't cause you to have to jump through so many hoops.
 
Joseph Merrick said:
uh. you need to have steam running. what isn't wrong with that?
Click to expand...
what is wrong with it? steam is awesome and non intrusive. If it bothers you then something must be wrong with you
 
KRS7 said:
Fallout 3 is 49.99 on steam. I could probably find a retail copy for the same or less. And I will get a nice box and manual. I think games from Steam should cost $5 to $10 less because there is no physical medium to produce, ship, and stock. The game prices on steam do drop after a while. So for older games it may be more cost effective to buy it from Steam.
Click to expand...
This is a good point, but for PC games where there isn't a big used game market, I would much rather have the convenience of being able to install/reinstall from any computer at anytime. No digging through boxes for DVDs and flipping through manuals to find key codes.

Running a small program that is actually pretty nifty since the community update is a fair trade off for me. My only complaint is that I can't choose a HDD when I want to install.
 
Steam:

+ never lose or scratch your disk
+ 1 click install (including download)
+ hardcopy backup
+ automatic patching
+ cheaper (sometimes atleast)
+ easy repair of corrupt files
+ community features

- slower install (needs to download)
- eats a bit of your ram
- no hardcopy manual (unless you print your own)
- loose your username and password, and you're fucked (I guess they have some recover features though)

... no right or wrong. You gotta chose what best suits your needs.
 
There are about 4 games I can count that I would have bought for PC if they were available on Steam. In fact, a game that's not featured on steam is a good way to get me to ignore it.
 
Steam's great. They even seem to allow multiple computers. I normally have everything on my computer, but installed some stuff on my laptop to take it with me while I'm away and set it to offline mode. :D
 
Thomper said:
If you have Half Life 2 on PC, you can download Steam and put in the CD key there. That'll allow you to download the Steam version and play without the disc. Not sure if it's faster, though.
Click to expand...
As a note, with Half-Life 2 on PC, you don't have a choice. The disk(s) are just an alternative to downloading it. Either way you still have to play it through Steam, from your hard drive, and it's the exact same thing in the end.
 
PixelJunkie said:
The only problem with buying a game like Fallout 3 off Steam is using mods, unofficial patches, etc. for non-Valve games can "sometimes" be a pain.

I assume Bethesda is going to release the construction kit for it at some point. If they do and you want user created content it's usually much easier to have the the non-Steam version. D2D and other user-installed versions usually don't cause you to have to jump through so many hoops.
Click to expand...
This.

I'm one of the biggest Steam whores around but I still bought Fallout at retail. Especially considering that some Oblivion mods STILL don't work with a (non-hacked) digital download installation.
 
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