As far as Steam keys go, I can confirm that they are separate. Not sure about Desura keys though.

Originally Posted by marsilies Separate Steam keys, although like all Indie Royales, it has one Desura key for all items. I've only ever seen the Humble Indie Bundle do a group steam key, and even then the bonuses may be separate keys. Indie Gala, Groupees, Bundle In A Box, IndieFort, etc have all been individual keys. Is there some bundle I'm missing out on?

This is correct.

Originally Posted by aronater As far as Steam keys go, I can confirm that they are separate. Not sure about Desura keys though.

One key that will also give anyone who knows it access to the bundle key page.

I Just noticed that the note under Conquest of Elysium 3 states that it is available for Desura as well as steam & direct download. But I don't have it on my desura account. And there is no desura key (which would only be the unified key anyway) listed under the game on the bundle key page. There's also this from their twitter feed.

Winter Bundle incl. old school turn based fantasy strategy game, Conquest of Elysium 3 (Windows, Mac & Linux +Steam!)

Obviously the store page description is a mistake. I'm surprised that it's lasted this long.

EDIT: It turns out that I hadn't redeemed my desura key yet, That's why the game wasn't showing up in my desura account. It is part of the desura half of the bundle, but there is a trick to playing it through Desura. See posts below.

Originally Posted by The End I Just noticed that the note under Conquest of Elysium 3 it states that it is available for Desura as well steam & Direct download, but I don't have it on my desura account. And there is no desura key (which would only be the unified key anyway) listed under the game on the bundle key page. There's also this from their twitter feed. Obviously the store page description is a mistake. I'm surprised that it's lasted this long.

So you got me curious and what I found was odd.

TL;DR You can get it added to Desura by choosing play through the store page and then going through the motions like you are going to activate it through Steam.

What I did is go to the Desura web page for Conquest of Elysium while I was logged in. Instead of a buy button I get a gift button (implying I already own it). When I choose play it calls the client and adds and entry for the game and does not say it's the demo version.

It downloads data but when you go install it gives you a key telling you it needs to be registered through Steam (it's the same key you get from Indie Royale's page). Then it brings up the Steam activate menu. If you enter the key it says you already own it, obviously.

Then you can run the game, enter in your key (again, this time in the game itself) then you can play.

It will stay in your Desura client list but if Steam isn't already running it won't call the Steam client if you run it from Desura (or for that matter straight from the exe).

Hope that makes some semblance of sense because the whole thing is kind of confusing and the Desura store page even notes that you get a Steam key for it when you buy it there, yet it's technically not Steamworks and you can even run the game straight from the exe without needing to launch Steam at all once it is activated.

Well that seems needlessly complicated. Is that how it's supposed to work? Or do you think you found some sort of glitch that you accidentally exploited?

Originally Posted by The End Well that seems needlessly complicated. Is that how it's supposed to work? Or do you think you found some sort of glitch that you accidentally exploited?

I think it's supposed to? The Desura page mentions "includes a free Steam key" and the game seems to require it be activated through Steam no matter what, at least for Windows anyhow.

On the store page under "purchased downloads" while I am logged in it also shows downloads for Linux and Mac versions of the game.

Originally Posted by Motoki On the store page under "purchased downloads" while I am logged in it also shows downloads for Linux and Mac versions of the game.

What I'm seeing on my Desura page for the game are downloads for all platforms:

Conquest of Elysium 3 57.39mb Windows coe3_installer.exe (3.16)
Conquest of Elysium 3 67.78mb Linux coe3_linux.2.tgz (3.16)
Conquest of Elysium 3 67.78mb Linux64 coe3_linux.3.tgz (3.16)
Conquest of Elysium 3 69.21mb Mac coe3_osx.zip (3.16)

I downloaded the Linux version, started it up, it asked for a key, I entered the "CD key"
I have on my Game Keys page (https://secure.desura.com/cart/cdkeys), which is the same
as the Steam key, and that was it.

Originally Posted by The End Well that seems needlessly complicated. Is that how it's supposed to work? Or do you think you found some sort of glitch that you accidentally exploited?

I'm not sure what y'all's issue is with it, but when I put in my Winter bundle key, it was added to my Desura list. Maybe it makes a difference depending on whether you use the client or not? I input a bunch of keys from various bundles a few days ago using the website.

Originally Posted by warreni I'm not sure what y'all's issue is with it, but when I put in my Winter bundle key, it was added to my Desura list. Maybe it makes a difference depending on whether you use the client or not? I input a bunch of keys from various bundles a few days ago using the website.

I just realized that I hadn't redeemed my Desura key yet. I thought I was logged in when I bought the bundle, but I guess not. So that explains why I didn't see the game in my desura games list before. Once I redeemed the Desura key, CoE3 (along with the other games) showed up on my games list.

Though Motoki is right. If you try to launch the game through Desura, you get prompted to enter the key in steam. When I was prompted, I just clicked that steam key window away (because I like to hold on to my steam keys until I'm good & ready to play). So it doesn't really matter if you activate the game on steam. Once I clicked away that steam key window, I was prompted enter a game key within CoE3. The key that you need to use is the same key that you would use to register the game on Steam.

So I guess that key is actually multi-purpose. You use it to register the game for play outside of steam, and you also use it to register it on steam. I would guess that if I tried to download the game from the direct download link and tried to launch a game, I'd probably have to use that key for that as well.

Kinda weird that it works like that.

Originally Posted by The End So I guess that key is actually multi-purpose. You use it to register the game for play outside of steam, and you also use it to register it on steam. I would guess that if I tried to download the game from the direct download link and tried to launch a game, I'd probably have to use that key for that as well. Kinda weird that it works like that.

Since their key is in a non-standard format I think that what they did was to have Valve add their existing keys to Steam to have it register there as well. I know some other developers have done this in the past like Arcen did with the AI War game expansion and A Valley Without Wind.

If that's the case I know those Arcen games also had issues for some people where when they went to add their keys to Steam they were already registered. Apparently there was a keygen floating around and people were using it to randomly generate legitimate existing keys and then in some cases register those on Steam.

I don't really understand the logistics of why a developer generated key would be less secure than a standard Valve format one and Conquest of Elysium is an obscure and somewhat graphically crude game that I doubt anyone would go out of their way to make a keygen for it, but just putting that out there.

Those holding onto keys might not want to do that just in case.

So does all this mean that if I give or trade away the Steam key for Elysium (which I've already done), I won't be able to activate the game - or the whole bundle for that matter - on Desura?

thanks everyone. i just wanted to make sure cause like most others here, i want Conquest of Elysium 3 but have most of the other games and i'd like to at least be able to give em away.

Originally Posted by aronater So does all this mean that if I give or trade away the Steam key for Elysium (which I've already done), I won't be able to activate the game - or the whole bundle for that matter - on Desura?

That's not how I'm reading Motoki's remarks. You should be able to activate the bundle on Desura using the bundle key with no problem, but you may not be able to play the game on Desura (because the game asks for a key, putatively the same key as the listed Steam key upon launch) if you've given away your Steam key because they may use the same key. However, this does, in some sense, depend critically on whether the game is programmed to "call home" to check on duplicate keys--if like most applications it's just checking the format of the key to see whether it is a valid key, I'm not sure it would make a difference.

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No it needs the Steam key for Desura. When I went to install it from Desura it actually called up Steam for activation before it would install though once it is installed and activated the game exe itself does not call Steam.

Sorry the whole thing is a bit confusing and hard to explain well. Basically though don't give away your Steam key if you want to keep it on Desura.

Basically, Keep the unified Desura key because it's tied to your account. Keep the Conquest of Elysium key if you want that game on Desura and/or Steam because it calls up Steam for activation. You can give away the individual Steam keys for the other games though.

Thanks for the replies. I guess it's not a big deal because I'm not that interested in the game anyways, (hence the reason I traded it ) thanks again.

Originally Posted by Motoki No it needs the Steam key for Desura. When I went to install it from Desura it actually called up Steam for activation before it would install though once it is installed and activated the game exe itself does not call Steam. Sorry the whole thing is a bit confusing and hard to explain well. Basically though don't give away your Steam key if you want to keep it on Desura. Basically, Keep the unified Desura key because it's tied to your account. Keep the Conquest of Elysium key if you want that game on Desura and/or Steam because it calls up Steam for activation. You can give away the individual Steam keys for the other games though.

I agree, keep the Desura key. But as far as the steam key that you use to activate the game on Desura, I see no reason why you couldn't just let somebody else use the key to get the game on steam and still be able to use that key to activate the game on desura. Well, I suppose doing so would probably technically be against the rules over at Indie Royale. But we've all given keys away before. So there probably aren't too many here who would have a problem with bending that rule a bit

I've already activated CoE3 on Desura without activating it on steam. At this point, I could use that key to also activate the game on steam, or I could give the game away to somebody if I wanted to.

I think the conquest of Elysium was easier than figuring out whether or not you can trade a Steam key for its simulation.

Originally Posted by The End I agree, keep the Desura key. But as far as the steam key that you use to activate the game on Desura, I see no reason why you couldn't just let somebody else use the key to get the game on steam and still be able to use that key to activate the game on desura. Well, I suppose doing so would probably technically be against the rules over at Indie Royale. But we've all given keys away before. So there probably aren't too many here who would have a problem with bending that rule a bit I've already activated CoE3 on Desura without activating it on steam. At this point, I could use that key to also activate the game on steam, or I could give the game away to somebody if I wanted to.

That's not true though for every game. I'm not sure about CoE3, but from what Motoki stated you CAN NOT trade away your CoE3 key if you actually want to play it.

Yes, it "unlocks" on Desura and shows on your game list, but it is unplayable without registering your key on Steam. Desura in this case serves almost just as a Steam launcher. So you can double click on CoE3 in Desura, but all it does is open the Steam version of the game. If you don't register your key on Steam you have nothing to play.


Desura and IR has done the same thing for other games. For example, Hard Reset shows on my Desura page, but when I click on it all it does is open my Steam version of Hard Reset. Had I not registered my Steam key from the bundle I wouldn't be able to play it at all.

That's not the case with all games. Most games have separate Desura and Steam versions, but some games are tied together and you can not separate them if you want to play them.

Originally Posted by CheapLikeAFox That's not true though for every game. I'm not sure about CoE3, but from what Motoki stated you CAN NOT trade away your CoE3 key if you actually want to play it. Yes, it "unlocks" on Desura and shows on your game list, but it is unplayable without registering your key on Steam. Desura in this case serves almost just as a Steam launcher. So you can double click on CoE3 in Desura, but all it does is open the Steam version of the game. If you don't register your key on Steam you have nothing to play.

How do you explain the fact that I just spent the past 10 minutes playing the game through Desura despite the fact that I have yet to register the game on Steam?

Check out my games list on steam. The game isn't there: http://steamcommunity.com/id/76561198024160490/games/