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Game Forum / Action Games / Half Life / June 2006offline mode
I so love this software. Short on my dialup hours I decide to spend sometime in offline mode. Mostly I play RO online but in the last week had started both cs:s and dos:s since there are a lack of RO players so they should have been up todate... CS:S of course has bots so you can play offline... But not me of course This operation cannot be completed in offline mode. OK.. Lets try DOD:S This operation cannot be completed in offline mode. Well okay lets go through the game list one by one and see what we can play: CZ : Yes CZDS : Yes CS : This operation cannot be completed in offline mode CS:S : This operation cannot be completed in offline mode DOD : Yes DOD:S : This operation cannot be completed in offline mode DMC : Yes HL : Yes HL2 : Yes HL2DM : Yes HL2LC : Yes HLDM:S : Steam Validation rejected BS : Yes HL:S : Yes OF : Yes RO : This operation cannot be completed in offline mode Richocet : Yes TFC : Yes SO... steam won't let me play 28% of the games I've paid for. Why steam? Why! > I so love this software. Short on my dialup hours I decide to spend > sometime in offline mode. Mostly I play RO online but in the [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > SO... steam won't let me play 28% of the games I've paid for. > Why steam? Why! When was the last time you connected to Steam? did you let everything fully update when you were last connected?  SignatureBen Cottrell AKA Bench >> I so love this software. Short on my dialup hours I decide to spend >> sometime in offline mode. Mostly I play RO online but in the [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >> This operation cannot be completed in offline mode. >> OK.. Lets try DOD:S >> This operation cannot be completed in offline mode. >> Well okay lets go through the game list one by one and >> see what we can play: >> CS : This operation cannot be completed in offline mode >> CS:S : This operation cannot be completed in offline mode >> DOD:S : This operation cannot be completed in offline mode >> HLDM:S : Steam Validation rejected >> RO : This operation cannot be completed in offline mode >> SO... steam won't let me play 28% of the games I've paid for. >> Why steam? Why! > When was the last time you connected to Steam? did you let everything > fully update when you were last connected? As I said I mostly use it to play Red Orchestra online the last time having been on saturday/sunday. In fact I also ducked into both CS:S and DOD:S then because there was a lack of servers for RO. So it was 3 days since I had been connected. I find it pretty unacceptable that I can pick a random time to play offline and find so many games not working. I reconnected and started all 5 that didn't work last night whilst online and then after disconnecting I tried all 5 and this time 4 of them elected to work. HLDM:S still has that validation rejected message. >>> I so love this software. Short on my dialup hours I decide to spend >>> sometime in offline mode. Mostly I play RO online but in the [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > I tried all 5 and this time 4 of them elected to work. > HLDM:S still has that validation rejected message. There is something else going on in Steam than is readily apparent - sometimes it will refuse to start games in offline mode after working fine the day before. It must be checking something else on the system - it's as though it flags up when you have connected to the internet whilst still in offline mode. I love many aspects of Steam, but you are really screwed if you have net connection problems. Valve are quite happy to take your money, without feeling any responsibility towards making sure you can play games you paid for. > There is something else going on in Steam than is readily apparent - > sometimes it will refuse to start games in offline mode after working fine > the day before. > > It must be checking something else on the system - it's as though it flags > up when you have connected to the internet whilst still in offline mode. This happened to me once - just once. Even though it was showing 100% ready, I was still getting the "can not complete in offline mode" message. I went online, started Steam, went offline, and everything's been OK since. > I love many aspects of Steam, but you are really screwed if you have net > connection problems. Valve are quite happy to take your money, without > feeling any responsibility towards making sure you can play games you paid > for. I'm more forgiving of Valve, considering what they went through prior to the release of HL2. I find it mildly amusing that Steam-bashers berate the system _after_ they buy HL2 et al. You don't see many or any people saying "I'd love to play HL2, but I won't because of Steam". It's a bit like a Brit buying and driving a car in the US (or vice versa) and then complaining because they have to drive on the "wrong" side of the road. > I'm more forgiving of Valve, considering what they went through prior to > the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > and then complaining because they have to drive on the "wrong" side of the > road. It's more like a case of finding out how dire something is after the fact. <g> Even on 1 meg DSL, I find Steam takes ages to update when you install HL2 or whatever from disc. So I dread to think what it'd be like for someone on dial-up who just wants to play single-player... SignatureEvilBill - http://www.evilbill.org.uk > It's more like a case of finding out how dire something is after the fact. > <g> Yeah - but that's not unique to HL2 etc. I just bought SWAT4, Splinter Cell Pandora, and Lock On ACS. The first and last won't play unless all the graphics are turned way down (I have a fast PC but mid-range GPU), the second won't play at all (shaders unsupported). On the boxes for each, it doesn't say the minimum GPU requirements, just RAM, CPU and DirectX requirements. > "EvilBill" <quake2lives@gmail.com> wrote in message > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > On the boxes for each, it doesn't say the minimum GPU requirements, just > RAM, CPU and DirectX requirements. Well that bites. :( Can't say I've ever bought a game that doesn't state the GPU reqs - whoever overlooked that when designing the box covers needs to be taken out and shot. SignatureEvilBill - http://www.evilbill.org.uk >> It's more like a case of finding out how dire something is after the fact. >> <g> [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > On the boxes for each, it doesn't say the minimum GPU requirements, just > RAM, CPU and DirectX requirements. SWAT4 does state the GPU requirements, though in really tiny print. Also, I'm rather surprised you have to turn the graphics way down: they are nice but not particularly spectacular for their time. Having said that, I was getting a crash to desktop every time on the diamond heist map, until I upgraded my graphics card recently (I just completed it *finally* last night). I think it needed the texture memory, as I haven't changed any in-game settings and the performance doesn't seem to have increased noticeably. What graphics card do you have? In the case of Lock On, it is *notoriously* system intensive, to the point where even high-end PCs were incapable of running it playably when it first came out. The problem is compounded by the ridiculously low-end requirements stated on the box. As regards a graphics card, it says DX8.1 compatible and 32MB RAM (128MB recommended). No specific graphics chip mentioned, but let's face it, there are only two manufacturers :) They really had to be kidding with the 32MB card! My "recommended" 128MB card couldn't run it at more than a crawl. Now I have upgraded a bit, I must give it another go :) Don't have any experience of SC:Pandora Tomorrow, sorry. Isn't that the one *before* Chaos Theory? It shouldn't be any problem for a DX8 card, surely? -- Paul > >> It's more like a case of finding out how dire something is after the fact. > >> <g> [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > Don't have any experience of SC:Pandora Tomorrow, sorry. Isn't that the one > *before* Chaos Theory? It shouldn't be any problem for a DX8 card, surely? Matrox Parhelia AGP - great for multi-monitor video editing... Lousy for games. Pandora tomorrow requires a particular shader version which the Parhelia just doesn't have - and as the hardware isn't there, it won't ever get it either (it's not just a driver update). > Matrox Parhelia AGP Well, give the games a fighting chance! :) -- Paul (Still hoping for an AGHLPD SWAT4 Bash one of these days...) >I just bought SWAT4, Splinter Cell Pandora, and Lock On ACS. The first and >last won't play unless all the graphics are turned way down (I have a fast >PC but mid-range GPU), the second won't play at all (shaders unsupported). >On the boxes for each, it doesn't say the minimum GPU requirements, just >RAM, CPU and DirectX requirements. Have you applied the SWAT4 patch? The demo worked great for me, but the retail game was close to unplayable until I put the first patch on. I haven't tried the latest patch though, due to the adware. SignatureAndrew, contact via http://interpleb.googlepages.com Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards, please don't top post. Trim replies to quote only relevant text. Check groups.google.com before asking an obvious question. snip > Even on 1 meg DSL, I find Steam takes ages to update when you install HL2 > or whatever from disc. So I dread to think what it'd be like for someone > on dial-up who just wants to play single-player... Why install from disc then? Why don't you backup the files onto writable DVDs or a portable Hard drive. Then you just install steam and copy the file across to the location. Startup steam and it only has to update the recent things. This is what i did when I purchased a 2nd key for another computer so we could play at the same time. I simply copied the files across on the network and loaded up steam on the new machine signed in with new password a little bit of updating and it was ready to go. With Broadband ( I have 1.5mbs ASDL) I think steam is great, games are always up to date so you can play online, you don't have to hunt around the internet looking for patches. And you can buy most games cheaper than in the shops (i am in Australia) > snip > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > file across to the location. Startup steam and it only has to update the > recent things. It's simply the amount of time Steam takes downloading patches and updates. I don't have the disk space to keep HL2 (and the other Steam games) permanently on my hard drive, so I have to reinstall from the original DVD when I want to start playing for a while (I don't play it a great deal, unlike Diablo II which I play on a daily basis). And of course there's the inevitable need for reformats and so on... So every time, it takes longer and longer. Obviously a Steam-like system is an advantage for people who play multiplayer. But I really don't see why it should be necessary for those who only want to play SP. And people with dial-up are often people who can't afford portable HDs or second HDs and the like. I know; I used to have dial-up. For five long years. :( SignatureEvilBill - http://www.evilbill.org.uk >> snip >> [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > games) permanently on my hard drive, so I have to reinstall from the > original DVD when I want to start playing for a while I hear you but a decent size hard-drive is a definite necessity for games nowadays and long gone are the days when they cost over £1 per MB. It was the first thing I upgraded last time. I now have 320GB (2x160GB's) and I'll be buying another in a month or two (I download TV series and do a lot of graphics). > It's simply the amount of time Steam takes downloading patches and > updates. I don't have the disk space to keep HL2 (and the other Steam [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > of course there's the inevitable need for reformats and so on... So > every time, it takes longer and longer. Store your DVD in a safe place, you can choose different directions to save space on your HD 1) Delete everything in the SteamApps folder Steam will unpack from content files when needed 2) Like above bout also delete the content files Steam will download and unpack from content files when needed 3) Remove steam and games, install Steam and login to your account Steam will download and unpack from content files when needed Best thing is to backup your files :) - Peter > snip > > > Even on 1 meg DSL, I find Steam takes ages to update when you install HL2 > > or whatever from disc. So I dread to think what it'd be like for someone > > on dial-up who just wants to play single-player... > Why install from disc then? Why don't you backup the files onto writable > DVDs or a portable Hard drive. Then you just install steam and copy the file > across to the location. Startup steam and it only has to update the recent > things. Because when you buy HL2 on DVD, you get all the files that were current at the time the disc was pressed. By the time you install it, there is so much to update that it will take a while. And Steam won't let you play even in offline mode until you've validated the install once (and updated many megabytes in the process). > This is what i did when I purchased a 2nd key for another computer so we > could play at the same time. I simply copied the files across on the network > and loaded up steam on the new machine signed in with new password a little > bit of updating and it was ready to go. Similar to what I did - purchased HL2 online after installing without validating from a friend's DVD. The idea was that it would save a load of updating. It didn't. >> snip >> [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > validating from a friend's DVD. The idea was that it would save a load of > updating. It didn't. True. But you can back up now saving all that updating if you have to reinstall. >>> This is what i did when I purchased a 2nd key for another computer so we >>> could play at the same time. I simply copied the files across on the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >> validating from a friend's DVD. The idea was that it would save a load of >> updating. It didn't. > True. But you can back up now saving all that updating if you have to > reinstall. Definitely. I use 3 dvd-rw to backup regularly after updates and every few months burn off the most recently changed ones to a dvd-r after smacking them into a small box with winrar. Just the GCFs that is. >> I'm more forgiving of Valve, considering what they went through prior to >> the >> release of HL2. I find it mildly amusing that Steam-bashers berate the >> system _after_ they buy HL2 et al. You don't see many or any people saying >> "I'd love to play HL2, but I won't because of Steam". >> It's a bit like a Brit buying and driving a car in the US (or vice versa) >> and then complaining because they have to drive on the "wrong" side of the >> road. > It's more like a case of finding out how dire something is after the fact. > <g> > Even on 1 meg DSL, I find Steam takes ages to update when you install HL2 or > whatever from disc. So I dread to think what it'd be like for someone on > dial-up who just wants to play single-player... Some steam bashers were bashing it before hl2 when it ruined their hl/dod/cs experience (you know games that steam & steam t&cs were back-ratcheted onto). My biggest complaint is its simply not very good at what it does.. I chose a random time to use offline mode and it was broken for most of the multiplayer games!? How good is that? And as for a download manager.. its pathetic. It gives you almost no useful information on whats going on update wise and it can't even resume files! Want an example.. RO was patched and I started steam to get it into the starting process. I'm on dialup and want to do other stuff now so 10 minutes ago I told it to pause updating. Except it aint yet. Mind you... the bandwidth monitor reckons its downloading at 0kb.. Strange that the modem RD light is full on and tcpdump shows packets flying between me and steam1.games.internode.net. So there's the false information there and also the lack of resume. Steam can't resume a file.. it download individual files in a gcf and when you hit pause it finishes downloading the file it is downloading.. which can be as big as a 20 f.cking MB map.. Work out how long that takes to come down on 56k! Its pathetic.. if it was a patch zip/exe file I could use any number of downloaders to completely manage the download myself. When all else fails, reinstall. And if it still does it, you screwed. Have you tried contacting Valve |
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