Advertisement

Register for free to remove this ad

Welcome to the new and improved Steam discussion thread! You may also like the Steam deal thread.

Steam is the most popular digital distribution service for PC games. I highly recommend you download the client and allow it to run whenever Windows starts.

Steam features

• Play from anywhere: Games you buy on Steam are permanently tied to your account. Download them again on other computers! *See DRM bullet point for exceptions
• DRM: Most Steam games only use Steam's DRM. If a game uses another form (such as Batman: Arkham Asylum), the store page will say 3rd-Party DRM.
• Play offline: Most Steam games can be played offline. When an internet connection isn't available, choose to start Steam in Offline Mode.
• Steam Achievements! Many games have exclusive Achievements that you and your friends can keep track of. Get a Steam card graphic for forum signatures here.
• Steam Cloud! Many games like Torchlight offer Cloud support. Your save file is hosted online and accessible from wherever you play the game, so no need to manually transfer it to other computers. Look for the Steam Cloud image on a game's store page.
• Automatic patching: Steam automatically downloads updates for your games whenever they are released. If you'd rather patch manually, click on that game's Properties/Update from the Library menu.
• Friends list: The Steam friends list is also an instant messenger. Text message friends, voice chat, and easily invite friends to most games. You can also see which friends own the same games as you and compare Achievements from the Library menu.
• Gifting games! You can buy games and then gift them to other people. Wishlists make this easy; maintain your own and view your friends' lists, too.
• Incredible sales! There is a sale virtually every weekend, Black Friday, during the holidays, and more.
• Steam Play: Purchase a game once and play it from both Windows and Mac! Look for the Steamplay icon on games' store pages.

CAG Steam Groups

By joining a CheapAssGamer Steam group, you'll be able to find CAGs to play with, participate in group events, and more. This is a list of all known CAG groups. If you start a new group, please PM me with details. Note that while most of these groups are public, the private groups require an invite to join.

• Alien Swarm
  
• Borderlands - Invite-only
  
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
  
• CAG Steam Community - The giant list of CAG Steam users. Invite-only
  
• Dogfighter
  
• Iron Grip: Warlord
  
• Killing Floor
  
• Lead and Gold
  
• Left 4 Dead 1 & 2 - Invite-only
  
• Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers
  
• Monday Night Combat
  
• Serious Sam HD 1 & 2
  
• Shadowrun
  
• Sol Survivor
  
• Star Trek Online - Invite-only
  
• Swords and Soldiers HD
  
• Team Fortress 2 - Invite-only - Discussion thread
  
• Worms Reloaded - Discussion thread

Group Buys - Last updated 02/06/11

Several multiplayer Steam games are available in 2-packs or 4-packs. These packs offer a discount over buying multiple copies of a game separately. We also maintain group buy trade threads for several games, so please use those threads if you're interested in setting up a group buy.

• BioShock 2 - Group buy thread
• Booster Trooper - Group buy thread
• Borderlands - Group buy thread
• DogFighter
• Iron Grip: Warlord
• Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West - Group buy thread
• Left 4 Dead - Group buy thread
• Left 4 Dead 2 - Group buy thread
• Madballs in Babo Invasion - Group buy thread
• Monday Night Combat
• Nation Red - Group buy thread
• Plain Sight
• Scourge Project: Episodes 1 & 2
• Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter - Group buy thread
• Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter - Group buy thread
• Sol Survivor - Group buy thread

FAQ

I bought a retail copy of a game. OR I bought a game from another downloadable games provider besides Steam. Can I download it from Steam without rebuying it?

You can do this for some games (especially those whose retail versions automatically use Steam). Most games don't support the feature though. See the full list here.

How do I add non-Steam games to my Steam library? Why would someone want to do that?

From the Library menu, choose Add a Game and then Add a Non-Steam Game. Select the game's executable file and you'll now be able to launch it directly from Steam. This is a good idea for two reasons. One, launching all of your games from the same place is convenient. Two, when you launch a Non-Steam Game from your Steam library, people on your friends list will be able to see what you're playing.

Why is X game more expensive on Steam than other retailers? Is buying from Steam not a good deal?

Steam generally offers games at their current MSRP. That means if Capcom wants to charge $30 for Street Fighter IV, that will be the regular Steam price. Yes, you might find the retail version on clearance at Target for less. But that's clearance, which you can't expect every other retailer to match. However, Steam has tons of sales which usually beat everywhere else's prices.

When are the big Steam sales?

During the big Steam sales, Steam sells multiple games (sometimes hundreds) at large discounts. There is always a sale on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) and an extended holiday sale (starting December 24 and lasting until the beginning of January). In 2010 there was also an extended summer sale. If you're not in a hurry to play a game and want the best possible price, it's a good idea to wait for these large sales.

Do all Steam games work with controllers?

Just about all PC games can be controlled with mouse and keyboard. But some people are more comfortable with controllers, AKA gamepads, and some games just play better that way. The Xbox 360 controller is the default gamepad for modern PC games. Many games support it, but not all. Most games with controller support have a Controller Enabled graphic on their store pages. If a game doesn't have that graphic and doesn't mention controller support in its text description, assume it doesn't work with controllers. There is a partial list here. If you'd like to use a controller with a game that doesn't natively support it, the XPadder app works very well.

Scroll down to post # 2 for the Upcoming Steam Games List!

Games coming soon to Steam - Last updated 02/06/2011
Here is a list of (games coming to Steam in the near future, many still unannounced. Thanks to CoffeeEdge for compiling it. There is no timeframe for these releases and there may be a few mistakes, but Coffee is usually right about upcoming releases.

• 007: Blood Stone
• 2 Fast Driver
• Agatha Christie: Dead Man's Folly
• Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile
• Agatha Christie: Peril at End House
• Age of Wonders II: The Wizard's Throne (see above)
• Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic (see above)
• Alternativa
• American McGee's Alice: The Madness Returns (god, what an awful subtitle. "Alice II" would suffice)
• America's Army: Special Forces ("Special Forces" is the name of America's Army 2. I'm guessing this will be available alongside the already-on-Steam America's Army 3.)
• Armada 2526
• Atom Zombie Smasher
• Aura 2
• Batman: Arkham City
• BIT.TRIP Series (Core, Void, Runner, Fate, and the unnamed sixth and final entry). Beat is now available!
• Buried in Time
• Chainz
• Cities in Motion
• City Bus
• Company of Heroes Online (the new free-to-play/freemium version of CoH)
• Days of Thunder
• Death Tank (port of the XBLA game; this is not yet publicly announced for PC)
• Descent: FreeSpace - The Great War
• Descent 3
• Detour (a strategy game, where the goal is to create a path for trucks to pass. Possibly like an RTS inspired by Blast Corps, conceptually).
• Dinner Date
• Dino D-Day: Episode 1
• The Dream Machine
• Duke Nukem Forever (should be obvious, I guess, but man, it's finally really happening!)
• Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale (I'm hoping this is decent, because I like the idea of a simpler co-op D&D game)
• Dwarfs ("arcade/strategy" game, being published by the excellent Tripwire. Free beta here)
• Edge (new PC version of the neat-looking iPhone puzzle game. Funfact: this is one of the games that that insane assclown Tim Langdell tried to sue for the use of the word "Edge," which he believes he has the exclusive rights to. He more or less literally makes his living from trying to bully companies who publish games with the word "Edge" in the title for royalties)
• Empire Earth
• Empire Earth II
• Empire Earth III
• Evochron series (not sure which games exactly)
• Faery: Legends of Avalon (also an RPG, also episodic, also from a Paris-based developer, and also with odd graphics, but unlike the above, this game looks to be very much based in the usual light fantasy RPG trappings. Coming in November, $15).
• Fate of the World - (global-scale eco-strategy game where you're tasked with doing something about some of the inevitable ecological doom our planet faces)
• F.E.A.R. 3
• Final Fantasy VII
• Final Fantasy VIII
• Final Fantasy XIV
• Fish Fillets 2 (lol what is this I don't even)
• Fractal (puzzle game from Cipher Prime, makers of Auditorium, which might also find it's way to Steam)
• Free Running
• Freespace 2
• GTR - FIA GT Racing Game
• Governor of Poker 2
• Greed Corp (hex-based strategy game, also on XBLA and PSN)
• Ground Control
• Ground Control II
• Happy Wars (awesome-sounding Fat Princess-esque game, with support for up to 128 players. Developed by Japanese studio ToyLogic, which was one of the developers involved behind-the-scenes on Smash Bros Brawl.)
• Hegemony Gold: Wars of Ancient Greece (this is the updated version of Hegemony: Philip of Macedon. This is a pretty incredible strategy game from one of my favorite independent developers, Longbow Digital. You will find no independent developer more dedicated than these guys. Strategy fans should try the demo of Philip of Macedon)
• Hoard (cool-looking game where you are a dragon and burninate villages and stuff)
• Hydrophobia (this will be the new "Pure" version of the game, which massively updates and improves on the original XBLA version. The original version was really rough and hard to recommend, but the Pure update makes it very much a worthwhile game, especially for the $10 pricetag)
• Ignite
• IL-2 Sturmovik: Cliffs of Dover (this was known as Storm of War: Battle of Britain until recently. Either way, it's the new sim from Maddox Games! This is going to be AMAZING.)
• Infernal Squad (I think this is the name of a game; I could be wrong)
• Insurgency: Modern Infantry Combat (Steamworks-enabled edition)
• Ion Assault
• Jamestown
• Kaptain Brawe (new point-n-click adventure)
• Limbo
• Lords of Magic: Special Edition
• Lords of the Realm: Royal Edition
• Lords of the Realm III
• Magicka (check out the trailer, it's a riot)
• Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes (this is the HD remake of the excellent DS game, that is also coming to XBLA and PSN; the PC version is not publicly announced yet)
• Natural Selection 2
• Need for Russia (haha what? apparently this is a racing game)
• Obsidian Conflict (this is a free Source Engine mod that is about to launch via Steam with Steamworks features)
• Overgrowth
• PAC-MAN (unknown what version of the game this will be)
• PAC-MAN Pizza Parlor (some casual game - definitely not the same as the above-mentioned game)
• Paradise Quest
• Pat and Mat
• Pound of Ground
• Pro Cycling Manager Season 2010
• Pulse
• Quarrel
• Rainbow Six (the original)
• Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear
• RISK Factions
• Rock of Ages (insanely brilliant-looking new game from the creators of Zeno Clash)
• SAW 2
• Steel Fury: Kharkov 1942
• Sword of Fargoal (another remake of a classic early '80s PC game)
• Tactical Intervention (new game from the creator of Counter-Strike)
• Samantha Swift and the Mystery from Atlantis
• Sonic 3 and Knuckles (Sega Genesis Classics)
• Toki (Golgoth Studio's phenomenal-looking remake of the old arcade platformer)
• Treasures of the Serengeti
• Tropico IV
• Universe Sandbox (not exactly a game, but a seriously kickass physics sandbox on a galactic scale. Check out some videos if you need convincing about how epic this thing is. You can crash galaxies into each other, for the lulz)
• Unknown game(s) from Mediatonic Games (might be Monsters Probably Stole My Princess)
• Unknown game(s) from Rockin Android (I've been waiting for these guys to finally get on Steam!)
• Women's Murder Club: Darker Shade of Grey
• Women's Murder Club: Death in Scarlet
• You Are Empty
• You Don't Know Jack
• Zeit² (space shooter with time travel).
• Zombie Pirates (what it sounds like)

DLC

• Civilization V
• Defense Grid: The Awakening - Untitled DLC #5 (could this FINALLY be the multiplayer mode?)
• Demolition Company
• R.U.S.E.
• Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter - The Lost Levels DLC (apparently these were levels cut from the original version of The First Encounter, back in 2001)
• Worms Reloaded DLC

I really want to see King's Bounty: The Legend on sale for $10. It seems strange they dropped the sequel down to $10 (75% off!) and kept The Legend at $20.

Awesome thread. I still think Steam needs Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II.

Maybe good things will come in 2010.

Good thread idea . I hope to see Fallout 3 GOTY, and the Splinter Cell games for the weekly deals.

And to further start the thread, i'll repost my purchases :P

I am not sure if this is a STEAM topic or a game maker topic but there were a lot of games back in the day that had 'play by email' feature.

Talking about turn based games.

I never did try the new board games out but I have some old games like Stratego, Risk, Chess and Monoploy that came with play by email. Were one person makes their move and the person getting the save file makes the next move.

I would also like more games from these sites offered on STEAM

http://www.strategyfirst.com/en/

and

http://www.reflexive.com/

Out side of that the sales they been having lately have been great!

Would anybody like a thread on here to meet up with other CAGS to play games on steam?

I thought about making one where we could all go and list the games we have and maybe have certain meet up nights or something?

Yay or Nay?

And by meet ups I mean playing online adding steam friends and all that jazz. Not physically in person of course.

Just get invited to the CAG Steam group and join up with folk there, IMO.

Originally Posted by Ryukahn Just get invited to the CAG Steam group and join up with folk there, IMO.

Yep, you can make events too so people can see what game you are playing.

I don't think we will ever Blizzard games on Steam. I could be wrong but I would highly doubt it. I would love to see Castle Crashers come on PC in general, but definitely onto Steam. On the second one, I really don't care if we see any real decent deals for a while. I've spent too much money.

Originally Posted by etcrane Anyone have recommendations on the best place to find mods for the Jedi Knight games? I'm trying to find the best dismemberment mod but it's been quite some time since I've had to find mods for these games and it's nice to finally have them all in one place.

Here is a good one for the Jedi Academy game: http://jediknight3.filefront.com/

EDIT: I hate these time traveling posts.

Anyone have recommendations on the best place to find mods for the Jedi Knight games? I'm trying to find the best dismemberment mod but it's been quite some time since I've had to find mods for these games and it's nice to finally have them all in one place.

Blizzard looks to be developing their own version of Steam in the form of Battle.net. You can already use your existing CD-Keys to attach games to your account and download digital copies. They're working on allowing you to friend people and see what (Blizzard) game they're playing. It'll pretty much be Steam, but only for Blizzard games.

To the OP, there is an online version of Catan that is actually really good. My friends and I play it pretty often. Go here to download the client and create an account.

Link to download client:
http://www.cms.playcatan.com/content...37/lang,en_US/

Link to create account:
http://www.cms.playcatan.com/compone...28/lang,en_US/

Originally Posted by trogoldito I really want to see King's Bounty: The Legend on sale for $10. It seems strange they dropped the sequel down to $10 (75% off!) and kept The Legend at $20.

That did seem strange and as someone that has never played the series I was dissapointed in it. I grabbed the sequel and have to jump straight into it before playing the original now!

I am not sure if this is a STEAM topic or a game maker topic but there were a lot of games back in the day that had 'play by email' feature.

Really anything steam related. If your looking to try and create a play by email steam game then ya post it here, see a steam deal post it here(as well as deal forums), looking for new steam friends post here. Anything at all related to steam. Hopefully this will both reduce the flood of steam topics on the PC board and also create more of a sense of community for those of us who do use steam a lot.

Would anybody like a thread on here to meet up with other CAGS to play games on steam? I thought about making one where we could all go and list the games we have and maybe have certain meet up nights or something? Yay or Nay? And by meet ups I mean playing online adding steam friends and all that jazz. Not physically in person of course.

As I said this seems a good place for it! Depending on the games your looking to play I might be interested! Off the top of my head more LfD2 friends are good and id be up for creating a charcter in borderlands or Everquest(its on sale for only $5 with all its Xpacks till tomorrow at 12)and playing them only with CAG steam friends.

Blizzard looks to be developing their own version of Steam in the form of Battle.net. You can already use your existing CD-Keys to attach games to your account and download digital copies. They're working on allowing you to friend people and see what (Blizzard) game they're playing. It'll pretty much be Steam, but only for Blizzard games.

Its smart of them to create a form of digital distrubtion just for their games....but at the same time they really need to sell them elsewhere though because many people wont go for multiple programs for buying their games. I know personally im slowing down on XBLA since Steam and PSN seems like more then enough.

MSI, thanks for starting this thread... Reposting the survey in case anyone wants to do it or was waiting til it was all over (and it's basically all over now!).

The Steam Holiday 2009 CAG Survey (Version 2.0--Final Version!)

1) What one Steam purchase you made during this sale are you the most pleased with? Why?

2) What one Steam purchase from this sale are you least pleased with? Why?

3) Are there any daily deals you regret not purchasing?

4) How much did you spend on this sale? (Estimates are fine.)

5) What will you do differently next year?

6) What game would you most like to see on Steam?

7) What would you pay for it?

8) Does this guy work for Steam, or what?

9) Where's his hair?

I think it's pretty hard to get into the current CAG Steam group, so it might not hurt to start a new one. I dunno.

I'm still going to keep harping that I want to see Fallout 3 GotY, Blood Bowl, Thief, Vampire: Bloodlines and some others as weekend of midweek deals. I'll be paying darn close attention this year.

I too am one of those folks who'd like to see more old games, but I'd be perfectly happy to see them on GoG as well, maybe even happier, because GoG makes SURE they work on current operating systems. Steam doesn't always do this.

About the play by e-mail stuff, we were trying to get a game of Civ IV PitBoss going, which is kind of like play by e-mail. Each participant signs into the server daily to perform their turn, and it all gets calculated at the end of the day. I thought this would be SUPER fun, but only me and the thread-started seemed interested.

MSI, thanks again for doing this. I'm really glad to have such a thread in existence, and I'm also really glad you're essentially running it instead of me! Muchos gracias! Hopefully we can all pitch in and help you out.

I actually got added to the CAG steam group within 30 minutes of posting in the forum. Good amount of people on there. I think someone went through and caught up on all the people wanted to join.

Great, another thread to leave up all day and randomly F5 whenever I'm bored :P

Anyway, I'm kind of surprised that no one was interested in doing a PitBoss game of Civ4, with a ton of people picking it up I thought we'd get a game going, but oh well.

Originally Posted by SEH To the OP, there is an online version of Catan that is actually really good. My friends and I play it pretty often. Go here to download the client and create an account. Link to download client: http://www.cms.playcatan.com/content...37/lang,en_US/ Link to create account: http://www.cms.playcatan.com/compone...28/lang,en_US/

Thanks, iv downloaded a few versions of catan, carc and other games in the past that have been decent and will look into those. I would still love to see these and other board games come to steam though! Another great example would be Ticket to Ride! Age of Wonders(think its their game)sells a version of TTR at their site, and you can even download the game for free if you register your physical copy of TTR with their site. So why not just get that game running on steam?

Jesse ill probably take your survey tomorrow! But for now its time to get off and go to bed!