Direct2Drive questions/concerns

[meesterjojo]

I've never heard of them until I saw this deal for Crysis Maximum ($20), which I'd like, a lot.

Problem is I really don't like Steam- to me it's annoying. And while on Steam I can play in 'offline mode' it's annoying that it has to validate and pollute my system each time I start a game.

So my question(s) is: how does D2D compare with Steam? The only information I can find on their website is ambiguous bits about their 2 different download managers, one which looks like Steam, the other which seems basic.

What are the differences between D2D and steam? Any info would be great. The fact that D2D seems to want to hide information makes me wary.

 

[SEH]

From past experience, it just downloads the game files to your PC. Its not an actual program like Steam that needs to be running in order to play your games.

I will say, their download speeds/servers are terrible though. I get roughly 1MB/s download from Steam. When I purchased Unreal 3 from D2D, it downloaded at 150KB/s. It took me like the entire weekend to download. That alone made me never want to purchase anything through them again.

 

[Logain8955]

I bought a few games from them during the $5 sale. SEH's right, it just d/ls stuff to your pc, then you install it like normal.

Some games though will require special D2D patches, as normal patches won't apply to it correctly.

Kind of a pain in the ass, but probably the best alternative to Steam/Impulse.