GIANTS Software - Forum

I am thinking about pre ordering FS17.

Recently I signed up for a STEAM account ... (to be able to buy "Arma3").

How should I go about it when it comes to FS17 ... STEAM or Not?
My "issue" ... I do not understand "STEAM" ...

When I bought "Arma3", it seemed to be the only way for me to get it, (through STEAM).
To play the game, I first have to open the "STEAM-client" and then start my game through that ... and this is kind of annoying to me!
I would like to have a minimum of "apps" running in the background, when playing a game.

Is there a positive side to STEAM, that I have yet to discover? ...
Please advice ...

Positive:
keeps your games up to date with the latest patches.
allows you to opt-in to some beta releases for games you own.
some games allow you to use your DVD key on steam.
a huge amount of games available that you may not otherwise get in traditional shops.

Negative:
due to IP geo location it can tie you in to always paying in your native currency.
sometimes release times for games can be quite late in the EU day, due to Valve being based on the west coast of the US.


BTW if you right click on the game like ARMA3 in your steam game library and select property's, on one of the pages you can create a desktop icon for ARMA3, then launch it like any game, so while steam will still start, it will start minimised to the taskbar/system tray.

Do NOT go with Steam!!! Just buy it on Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart, etc. or download it on Farming Simulator's website. I hate Steam , it's just so dumb (<-- my opinion).

b101uk wrote:Positive:
keeps your games up to date with the latest patches.
allows you to opt-in to some beta releases for games you own.
some games allow you to use your DVD key on steam.
a huge amount of games available that you may not otherwise get in traditional shops.

Negative:
due to IP geo location it can tie you in to always paying in your native currency.
sometimes release times for games can be quite late in the EU day, due to Valve being based on the west coast of the US.


BTW if you right click on the game like ARMA3 in your steam game library and select property's, on one of the pages you can create a desktop icon for ARMA3, then launch it like any game, so while steam will still start, it will start minimised to the taskbar/system tray.

Thanks ...
Some good input there ... and I apr the tip regarding the desktop icon!

JohnDeere318 wrote:Do NOT go with Steam!!! Just buy it on Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart, etc. or download it on Farming Simulator's website. I hate Steam , it's just so dumb (<-- my opinion).

OK ... relax ... I wont buy it through steam ... Happy? ...

While JohnDeere318 might have valid reason not to purchase via Steam (and I'm sure he does), I have just the opposite opinion. I love Steam. But that is just my opinion.

W1der wrote:

JohnDeere318 wrote:Do NOT go with Steam!!! Just buy it on Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart, etc. or download it on Farming Simulator's website. I hate Steam , it's just so dumb (<-- my opinion).

OK ... relax ... I wont buy it through steam ... Happy? ...

If you like Steam, I would go for it. I just don't like Steam very much. I shouldn't have said "hate"... "Hate" is a strong word, I should have said I don't like Steam much. If you get the Steam pre-order for Farming Simulator 17 you will get two bonus tractors and would be convenient if you already have a Steam account.

I guess my reasoning is that I love to purchase physical media, rather than downloading. I never stop thinking about "why didn't I just buy the physical copy of CD? (music purchases)". I bought two albums on iTunes and it didn't really feel right... I kept thinking "now I have to try and find the artwork and CD pictures and stuff. Great..." but I like iTunes because it is right there. I will probably just buy the two albums in the future. Waste of money right? I know, but that's just what I do for some odd reason. Plus, my internet is not that fast, I would rather spend the money on gas to go to the store 30-40 minutes away to buy Farming Simulator 17 for $35 and CD's (Two new albums coming out in September and one in November) that come out the same day I buy them.

JohnDeere318 wrote:

W1der wrote:

JohnDeere318 wrote:Do NOT go with Steam!!! Just buy it on Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart, etc. or download it on Farming Simulator's website. I hate Steam , it's just so dumb (<-- my opinion).

OK ... relax ... I wont buy it through steam ... Happy? ...

If you like Steam, I would go for it. I just don't like Steam very much. I shouldn't have said "hate"... "Hate" is a strong word, I should have said I don't like Steam much. If you get the Steam pre-order for Farming Simulator 17 you will get two bonus tractors and would be convenient if you already have a Steam account.

As I understand it, I will get the same "Bonus" if I order it through Giants web shop also ...
I do not care much about the Bonus "paint jobs" to be honest ...

JTaylor801 wrote:While JohnDeere318 might have valid reason not to purchase via Steam (and I'm sure he does), I have just the opposite opinion. I love Steam. But that is just my opinion.

A question ...

Will my Arma3 game work even if my internet connection is down ... or do I have to be able to connect to Steam to play it?

W1der wrote:

JTaylor801 wrote:While JohnDeere318 might have valid reason not to purchase via Steam (and I'm sure he does), I have just the opposite opinion. I love Steam. But that is just my opinion.

A question ...

Will my Arma3 game work even if my internet connection is down ... or do I have to be able to connect to Steam to play it?

I think you need to connect to the internet to use Steam. That is another reason why I don't like Steam. I love to be offline most of the time, I don't like everything being online. :smiley new: I could be wrong though! JTaylor801 would know more about it than I would.

W1der wrote:

JTaylor801 wrote:While JohnDeere318 might have valid reason not to purchase via Steam (and I'm sure he does), I have just the opposite opinion. I love Steam. But that is just my opinion.

A question ...

Will my Arma3 game work even if my internet connection is down ... or do I have to be able to connect to Steam to play it?

you can start steam in off-line mode preemptively (one of the menu tabs at the top has restart in off-line mode), else if you have no connection when you start steam it will ask if you want to start steam (thus games within steam) in off-line mode too. (BTW the MP elements of some games wont work if steam is in off-line mode)

also in addition to the above, some games are more integrated into steam than others, so some games can actually be run straight from the game.exe and wont automatically start steam, others if run from their game.exe will automatically start steam.

b101uk wrote:

W1der wrote:

JTaylor801 wrote:While JohnDeere318 might have valid reason not to purchase via Steam (and I'm sure he does), I have just the opposite opinion. I love Steam. But that is just my opinion.

A question ...

Will my Arma3 game work even if my internet connection is down ... or do I have to be able to connect to Steam to play it?

you can start steam in off-line mode preemptively (one of the menu tabs at the top has restart in off-line mode), else if you have no connection when you start steam it will ask if you want to start steam (thus games within steam) in off-line mode too. (BTW the MP elements of some games wont work if steam is in off-line mode)

Thanks for the input.

My brain is a bit over loaded at the moment ... actually been of from work, for a few months to "re boot", during the summer and been working only 50% for the past two months.
It is frustrating, not being able to learn "new things", as easy as I used to ...

Getting a PC and learning DCS (the Huey) + ARMA3, at the same time, was a bit to much I guess ...
I am hoping that FS17 is going to be a bit more "intuitive" ...

While I don't play Arma, the games I do play (FS15, ETS2, ATS) all work without an internet connection. I'll admit that was always something I wondered about and would have been reluctant to go the Steam route. But they do work fine if no internet connection is present.

JTaylor801 wrote:While I don't play Arma, the games I do play (FS15, ETS2, ATS) all work without an internet connection. I'll admit that was always something I wondered about and would have been reluctant to go the Steam route. But they do work fine if no internet connection is present.

I would assume that the Steam client will not steal "to much" of the computers resources ... but ... do we know how much?