Want to play on my PC only

cascade

Posts: 11   +0
I have owned Half Life 2 since it came out and played it many times on my PC. I got bored and reloaded it on my newer computer, about a year old, and tried to play the game. It takes me to the steam website to download and play, and I don't understand why. I have played this game many times on my old computer's hard drive with no problems.
I have also bought Duke Nukem Forever with the same results, I am not happy.

My internet service in West TN is DSL 1.21/1.24 Mbps on a good day, there is no other service available.
The steam help web site said do this and that to load it on the hard drive, it didn't work.
The problem is probably with me, not exactly high tech, I am a senior gamer (66), but can follow simple instructions, which may need repeating. I would appreciate any help out there.
And I am looking forward to the release of Serious Sam 3, I very much like the Serious Sam games!
 
Ever since Steam was released, you'll have to play any of those games on Steam.

Are you wanting a guide on how to play without steam? That would be illegal, but we can help you with running the games through steam.
 
mopar man
Thanks for your reply.
As I understand what you are saying, these games have to be played through Steam.
Am I actually playing through the internet or off of my hard drive?
Two days ago I downloaded DNF and it took me about 7-1/2 hours, but I am playing the game. Is it coming from my hard drive or the net? It seems to be running OK.

I guess I need to be upgraded on how games are being played these days.
Why do I buy the CD if I have to download it from steam?
 
Hello cascade,

Steam if you are not aware is a digital distribution software and DRM created by Valve and incorporated in most of their later games, which I believe was one of the Half Life 2 episodes. It's kind of a pain in the butt to deal with if you have unreliable internet, but unfortunately that's what PC gaming has evolved into too. Pretty much any game released today will require you to validate your game with some server online during the installation process and in some cases like Valve games require a separate program (in this case Steam).

Fortunately for you, Steam itself is a rather consumer friendly product compared to other means out there. And all you really need is an account set up with your games tied to it. If you have the disk you shouldn't have to download the actual game itself, however sometimes it bugs out and pulls the game down from a server anyway. Just make sure to stop that when it happens and listen to see if your CD drive is actually spinning up as it sometimes says it's downloading when it is just reading the disk or adding in patches that were released at a later date.

Once you have everything you want installed, turn on steams 'Offline Mode', which will allow you to play your games without having to sign in online every time you want to play (note: it can bug out sometimes).

Regarding your questions, no you will not be playing from the internet, but off your hard drive. The games themselves won't be played through Steam, but will require Steam to be running in the background when you are gaming. This is why offline mode is recommended if you have unreliable internet.

PS: Serious Sam 3 is looking pretty awesome, never tried any of the games in the series but I might have to check this out.
 
PC Games

Relic
Thanks For your reply and information. I was totally unaware of the connection of playing PC games tied to the Net. I have had a account with Steam since I bought Half Life2, but always loaded it directly to hard drive, and just played. Trying to play it again on my new computer is what got me confused, sometimes it doesn't take much.
I wasn't aware of "offline mode", so I will try to load Half Life2 again and see what happens.
I highly recommend all of Serious Sam games, it's mostly hard core combat with aliens, just you and them, also with some secrets to be found just to give you a break once in awhile.
Again,thanks for the information, I will try to learn how to make it work.
 
No problem cascade, it's likely that steam was different in the first versions that came out with Half-Life 2 but the subsequent updates do require you to be up-to-date and contact their servers to install any games initially. As I pointed out above, once you have everything downloaded (patched up) and installed it's best to go into Offline Mode so you won't have to deal with online issues in case your net gives you troubles. Which should feel more like how you used to play.
 
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