Problems with Steam

S

Samjham

Gawd
Joined
Feb 8, 2002
Messages
863
Yeah, I know. You're going to say I'm in the stone ages, but whatever. I haven't had time to game in a long time.

So, here's my problem. I finally bought HL2 and I've never used or even heard of Steam before until this. I don't have Internet at my house. Needless to say, I was quite disappointed when I got home and realized I couldn't install the game without an Internet connection.

So, I went to work and installed it on my Internet connection there, thinking that once I installed it I could go home and play single player off line. Well, that didn't work.

Do I need an Internet connection just to play single player? Or is there a way to play the game off line? I'm not looking for any illegal hacks or anything, just wondering if there is a legal way to play the game without internet, since I did pay for it after all.

Yeah, I know it was my fault for missing the internet connection requirement on the box. I figured that was for multiplayer only. Oops.
 
You'll need to connect the computer that you are playing it on at least once. Then you will be able to log in to Steam using cached credentials and play whenever you want. You can try burning your Steam folder on your work PC to DVD(s) and overwrite the Steam folder on your home box. Some people have had limited success with that. Otherwise, you'll need to connect it to the internet at least once. It would be best to do that over broadband, because the instant you connect, it will want to download *a lot* of updates.
 
Mark_Warner said:
You'll need to connect the computer that you are playing it on at least once. Then you will be able to log in to Steam using cached credentials and play whenever you want. You can try burning your Steam folder on your work PC to DVD(s) and overwrite the Steam folder on your home box. Some people have had limited success with that. Otherwise, you'll need to connect it to the internet at least once. It would be best to do that over broadband, because the instant you connect, it will want to download *a lot* of updates.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips. I should mention that the PC I am using to install the game is a laptop, so it makes it a little easier than copying files.

What I did over the weekend was take the laptop in to my business and used the wireless connection to install Steam and the game, but when I got home I couldn't get the game to load. I actually have the laptop here with me at work right now, so I can try installing it again, but I don't know if there's anything special I have to do to make it work offline when I get home (obviously I can't play it at work).
 
When I try to play without being connected to the internet (like when my cable modem is acting up), it tells me that the steam service could not be reached, and asks me if I want to run in offline mode.
 
Mark_Warner said:
When I try to play without being connected to the internet (like when my cable modem is acting up), it tells me that the steam service could not be reached, and asks me if I want to run in offline mode.
Click to expand...

Interesting. Maybe I didn't get everything installed like I thought. I will have to play around with it here, while I'm at work and see if I can get it to work when I disable my wireless connection. Thanks for the help.

ETA: What is Source SDK? It asks if I want to install this. All I really want is to play the HL2 singleplayer, so do I need this SDK thing?
 
SDK is if you want to make maps and stuff, its not necessary.
 
Thanks for the information guys.

I think I figured out what the problem was. Laugh it up ;)

It seems that before I was clicking on the DVD drive icon, then I'd get the start screen and click "Play HL2", but then nothing would happen.

I guess I didn't realize that I had to open STEAM and then go to it in the system tray and launch the game from there. When I did that it popped up a window to use offline mode, so I think it should work now.

Thanks again! :)
 
Glad you got it sorted out! If indeed you have.
I had the same problem when i first installed Steam. Now i can't even play CS: Source in offline mode, it almost loads a map then crashes to desktop- although this isn't the problem you're experiencing, anyway.
 
you don't need the disc in the drive to play anyways
 
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