Dohhh, Will someone explain "Steam" to me? No joke

[Maj Kong]

I keep hearing about "Steam" and even went to the website. Even after reading through the site I still do not really understand how Steam works. Exactly what does it do? The site encourages installing the Steam Engine and it appears to be free.....
Thanks in advance for a simple tutorial for a 19th Century mind.
Neal H

[falcon409]

Courtesy of Wikipedia"
Steam is an internet-based digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer, and social networking platform developed by Valve Corporation. Steam provides the user with installation and automatic updating of games on multiple computers, and community features such as friends lists and groups, cloud saving, and in-game voice and chat functionality. The software provides a freely available application programming interface (API) called Steamworks, which developers can use to integrate many of Steam's functions, including networking and matchmaking, in-game achievements, micro-transactions, and support for user-created content through Steam Workshop, into their products.

It appears to be a fancy "Catch Phrase" for a download site. . .an all-in-one site, so rather than buying a program from one place, installing a chat program from another, buying addons from still another. . .everything is integrated. At least that's my take on it.

[Daube]

I'll try to make a simple summary. Just wait a few minutes.

[Daube]

Ok, here we go.

The Steam website (http://http://store.steampowered.com/) is a mainly a big online shop to buy video games (and other software as well, but let's focus on the video games for now).
The Steam application is a basically a program that you install on your computer. That program will manage all of the games that you bought on Steam website. You need to create an account (just like a forum, or an online shop, for example) in order to use it.
Once Steam is installed on your computer, and you logged in with your user ID, Steam will show you the list of games that you bought, no matter if they are currently installed or not. Steam remembers everything you bought, no matter what computer you are using. It's like the Google Store, if you have an android phone, for example.

From the program, you see the list of games that you own. For each game, you can:
- install the game: that triggers the download of the files from the Steam website, and the installation itself. It's like a payware plane you bought from JustFlight or FlightSimStore. They know you bought it, and you can download it anytime. With Steam, it's just the same: Steam know you own that game, and with just a click or two, Steam will start to download it and after the download, it will install it on your computer, and it will also activate it if I'm not mistaken. After this, the game is ready to launch. Since my internet connection is quite slow, usually when I buy a new game, I just trigger the installation in the morning just before leaving for work. Steam acts as a download manager, so it goes smooth. When I come back home in the evening, the game is ready to launch

- uninstall the game: that will delete all of the game files from your computer. So if you don't use a game anymore, and you want to free up some space on your hardrive, you can unisntall it with just one click (well, two in fact), from Steam. Of course, the game will still be in your list of owned games, so you can reinstall it anytime.

- launch your game: you select the game, you click on launch, and the game starts. No magic.

- update the game: all games distributed via Steam get automatic updates. You don't need to download patches, this is all done in the background.

- download content/addon/mods: for some games, Steam offers the "Steam Workshop", which is a kind of centralized mod site. The cool thing is when you want to install a mod, you just click on it, and Steam will install it into your game automatically. I used that for Skyrim, for example

So that was about "using" Steam.
Now, for the online shop, it's also quite easy. There are two options which are almost identical:
- browse the online Steam shop from the Steam application
- browse the online Steam shop from a normal navigator (like Firefox or Chrome).
I STRONGLY recommend the second option, much easier, much faster, much everything.

When you go in the Steam online shop using a navigator, you should register first. (if you go via the Steam application, you are already identified, no need to login again).
You can search for games or you can just browse by categories or other selection criteria.
When you want to buy a game, you just click on it and then it's just like any online store: you press buy, you enter the information about your credit card, you validate and that's all, the game is yours and it appears in your game list in the Steam application.

Let me know if you need any additional details.

[Daube]

Just to be clear, there are way more features that this in Steam, but I just made a "minimum" description, just to explain what it is and how it is used.

[ce_zeta]

It's a great gaming platform...but not for flight simmers I think.

[EMatheson]

There is nothing "not for flight simmers" about it. The prevailing attitude in the FS community is sadly one that is ignorant and afraid of change. If people actually did some basic research instead of sticking their heads in the sand, there'd be a lot less negativity about this in the forums.

[JimmyRFR]

There is nothing "not for flight simmers" about it. The prevailing attitude in the FS community is sadly one that is ignorant and afraid of change. If people actually did some basic research instead of sticking their heads in the sand, there'd be a lot less negativity about this in the forums.

I'm a long time user of Steam and am very heavily invested into my Steam game library. While I have a bit of a "wait and see" attitude regarding the re-release of FSX on Steam, I think it provides a great benefit to games that can take advantage of it's positive attributes. The ability to centrally distribute updates and have them automatically applied, or the huge potential inherent to it's mod support system could really be a plus to a flight sim community with a future slight sim.

And indeed, I have DCS on Steam, and have wavered a few times about picking up XPlane on Steam as well.

I think a possible bit of the negativity comes from a segment of simulation users that associate Steam with 'games' and don't want to see their simulation time categorized as 'gaming'!

My sometimes negative opinion regarding FSX on Steam has more to do with the fact that my FSX installation is so heavily modified and cut up with symlinks, that I couldn't possibly see it functioning under Steam, which of course leads me to be perhaps overly cynical regarding it's usefulness.

The best thing that could happen with more flight sims on Steam is that flight simming becomes more 'mainstream', which really could only mean good things!

EDIT:

And of course a discussion of Steam gets off-topic... I apologize for bringing it further off topic, I believe the OP was asking for information about and not a debate about it's relative merits! Daube did a very excellent job of summing it up, above!

EDIT #2:

The origins of Steam as a distribution platform date back to Valve as a game creator. They created the platform to bring a central from of distribution to their users as well as to gain control of the publishing of their own products. It was a huge success, and of course has snowballed into something far, far larger than what Valve originally was. My point of this explanation is to encourage anyone who is unfamiliar with the Valve games to try them out. Half Life 2, for example, still stands out above the rest as the best video game I have ever played. And if you take issue with shooting bad guys, then Portal 2 involves none of that and is likely the 2nd best video game I've ever played. Perhaps followed by Portal 1!

[Cirrus N210MS]

steam is a great and powerfull Tool For games and players it has Built in chat Voice Multiplayer and other net things even takes screen shots for you


and you have alot of fun on there playing with friends!

if anyone would like to add me send me a friends request hotshotmike1001

[Odie]

Good information, folks, thanks for posting. I'm about to wade off into STEAM with the latest Tomb Raider game and the latest Wolfenstien game. I've had the Wolf game a while, just haven't had
time to get it onto the PC.

[Gibbage]

I think its really good in that #1, you WONT need to install from 3 CD's and apply 3 patches just to get flying on a new PC. Ugh. Installing FSX is like an all-day event! #2, it bring more people into simming. That's great for the community and us 3rd party add-on makers. #3, success could lead to further FSX development. If there is money to be made, there is always someone willing to make it. If Steam FSX sells well, im sure the new developer's will invest in it, and they have already stated as much.

From what I know, Steam FSX is just a repack with a few fixes. The developer will make improvements/enhancements if the market supports it. They also plan on making there own add-on's, and it seems that there is nothing blocking current 3rd party add-on's from working. They said all current FSX add-on's "should" work in the Steam version, but cant vouch for all of them given the scope and scale of the 3rd party market.

It all seems like good news. More simmers, further development, easier install. Being on Steam does not matter much, as I have been using it since they started in Half-Life 2 and have not had a single issue with them. Also Steam will provide there own multi-player client for better connecting. See your friend flying? Click on his name and join him! That's how it works on most Steam games, and it could be that simple. We will know December 18th.

[RyanJZ]

So if I understand correctly, Steam owns FSX now. Does this mean multiplayer will come back??

[Daube]

Well, not exactly: Steam "distributes" FSX, they don't own it. Dovetail games owns FSX. A bit like JustFlight distributes Carenado airplanes, see what I mean ?
However, this "distribution" comes with nice side-effects, and one of them could be the re-enabled multiplayer indeed.
But so far, I really don't have any idea about this.

[zswobbie1]

No, Dovetail is the company that owns Steam & Dovetail has the licence to re-distribute FSX through Steam, without any modifications. However, they have sorted out multiplayer! That is all!
More simmers.. yup.
I was actually thinking (I do sometimes) about how addons will work one you have FSX Steam. Most installers ask where you want the install..
Either FSX & sometimes even FS9.
Now, with the Steam Install of FSX, I wonder if a new directory/path will be created. FSX, at the moment, goes into 'Microsoft Games', if installed normally. Will FSX-Steam be installed into "Dovetail" or "Steam"? I wonder if the addons will find the directory?

Oh well, time will tell.
Just wondering, playing a bit of Devils Advocate, as I've moved on from FSX, bu it will be good to know.

[Daube]

No, Dovetail is the company that owns Steam

Are you sure about this ?

& Dovetail has the licence to re-distribute FSX through Steam, without any modifications. However, they have sorted out multiplayer! That is all!

Sorted multiplayer and improved Win8.1 compatibility, if I understood correctly. But yes, apart from these, the sim is still exactely the same. At least I hope.

More simmers.. yup.
I was actually thinking (I do sometimes) about how addons will work one you have FSX Steam. Most installers ask where you want the install..
Either FSX & sometimes even FS9.
Now, with the Steam Install of FSX, I wonder if a new directory/path will be created. FSX, at the moment, goes into 'Microsoft Games', if installed normally. Will FSX-Steam be installed into "Dovetail" or "Steam"? I wonder if the addons will find the directory?
Oh well, time will tell.
Just wondering, playing a bit of Devils Advocate, as I've moved on from FSX, bu it will be good to know.

Well, from what I saw with previous games that were adapted to Steam, normally the internal folder structure is unchanged. But again, I'm just hoping this
But it would be quite a huge load for Dovetail to alter the program to modify all of the folder structures, so that the program can still find the files it's looking for... So most likely, they haven't changed anything there.
The only difference will be the default location. Instead of c:\Program Files(x86)\Microsoft\Flight Simulation X\, it will be something like c:\SteamLibrary\SteamApps\common\Flight Simulator X\.

[Maj Kong]

Many thanks for all the informative replies. It is nice to finally know what it is and how it works.
Probably I will check out the games today and , at least, get a Steam account.
Much appreciated.
Neal H

[Daube]

While you check these games, keep something in mind: very often, there are some sales on Steam. Some games will get -50% or even more (can be up to -80% sometimes), especially during some periods where they do some "special sales". Of course, most of the time, the very interesting games will just get -10 or -20% or so. But sometimes, it's worth it to wait for a greater rate.
For example, the role-playing game "South Park" has been out for a few months already, but the price was a bit high for my taste. (like 50 dollars or more). And that game was never in the "sales", so the price kept high.
But recently (last week or two weeks ago I think), it finally happened: it got -66%, so I finally bought it.

Browse the category they call "offers" at the bottom of the main page (and on the right as well...). Sometimes, you can get some games at very interesting prices.
Granted, Steam is not always the place where you get the best prices. But it's the easiest for the lazy guys like myself :')

[KellyB]

There is nothing "not for flight simmers" about it. The prevailing attitude in the FS community is sadly one that is ignorant and afraid of change. If people actually did some basic research instead of sticking their heads in the sand, there'd be a lot less negativity about this in the forums.

Thanks for your thoughtful assessment, son. You probably have facebook and twitter accounts, too, don't you?

[Ferry_vO]

I think its really good in that #1, you WONT need to install from 3 CD's and apply 3 patches just to get flying on a new PC. Ugh. Installing FSX is like an all-day event!

Once add-on developers start selling their stuff at steam too, it will be even easier to buy, install and reinstall add-ons! Just pick the one you want to fly from the list and the download should start. Usually Steam has great download speeds, I Always see 5-10 mb/s on my system.

[Francois]

Thanks for your thoughtful assessment, son. You probably have facebook and twitter accounts, too, don't you?

Right on...... we're not ALL dinosaurs just because we have a brain that is just a tad skeptical ;-)

Hey, I use Steam extensively, and I am one of the first Facebook and Twitter users EVER...... but I agree with the majority of hardcore simmers: lets see what comes of it first! MSFS is NOT the regular run-off-the-mill GAME that all these others are, how wonderfully good they may be. We have all 'modded' (we used to say tweaked) our sims, put stuff in various places other than the default C:/Microsoft/Games folder (see, I can't even remember the exact original name)..... and indeed it might be a long shot believing add-on installers - ON STEAM ! - could figure out a non-Seam install to update!

I play various wargames and war shoot-em-ups on Steam, I play World of Tanks in multiplayer, and I LOVE Farmsimulator and Trainsimulator ...... but they are ALL different from FSX.... which I still run from my Betatester copy not needing the Microsoft license server ;-)

[JimmyRFR]

Now Steam, that I see a use for, but Facebook and Twitter?? Someone explain the usefulness of those!!



Kidding of course, but truthfully I get far more use out of Steam than I ever have Facebook or Twitter...

[EMatheson]

No, actually, I don't see the use in Facebook or Twitter either - while I see that they may have uses for some, they are not something I consider necessary. There's no reason my youth should have bearing on the validity of an observation on an attitude I've observed in a community I've been a part of for more than ten years now...

[Gibbage]

I would TOTALLY sell my add-on's on Steam, but I haven't yet seen a game do that on Steam (3rd party). I have seen 3rd party free mods on many games (I play Skyrim and use many mods) and those are VERY easy to share and install, but for me to sell on Steam for FSX? That's a big question, and one im not finding an answer for.

Once add-on developers start selling their stuff at steam too, it will be even easier to buy, install and reinstall add-ons! Just pick the one you want to fly from the list and the download should start. Usually Steam has great download speeds, I Always see 5-10 mb/s on my system.

[JimmyRFR]

I would TOTALLY sell my add-on's on Steam, but I haven't yet seen a game do that on Steam (3rd party). I have seen 3rd party free mods on many games (I play Skyrim and use many mods) and those are VERY easy to share and install, but for me to sell on Steam for FSX? That's a big question, and one im not finding an answer for.

Kevin, there are a few Aerosoft airports available on Steam for X-Plane. They show Aerosoft GmbH as the publisher, so it must be possible!

[TARPSBird]

Thanks everybody for the Steam info. I asked basically the same question as Maj Kong on the Newshawks page last week and only got a couple replies, should have posted here.