Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Steam Updates On Hardware Changes, Debugging Innovations

Posted by simoniker on from the failure-at-line-infinity dept.

Thanks to Planet Half-Life for reprinting a note from Gabe Newell discussing the latest changes and survey results regarding Valve's Steam 'content delivery system'. He compares the recently mentioned hardware survey to an earlier one, mentioning: "There's lots of interesting info, for example Windows 98/Windows ME users going from 62.8% down to 8.25%." Newell also discusses the code debugging innovations that Steam is now providing: "We've been able to increase the level and speed of our Steam upgrades by direct reporting of client bugs back through Steam. If a Steam client reports a problem, we can replicate it on our machines and jump directly to the line of code in our debugger", before ending by revealing that the much-delayed Counter-Strike: Condition Zero is now available for pre-order via Steam.

5 of 50 comments (clear)

  1. the use of steam by mandalayx · · Score: 5, Interesting

    One has to wonder why Valve seems to be spending so much time on Steam. I've seen previous comments speculating that the reason Valve is delaying HL2 is to work on getting Steam 100% correct.

    Yet even if that were true, it's hard to see how Steam would really increase the amount of people buying Valve games. Even though I was a hardcore HL1 player, I would not buy any game because of the Steam association. If anything it just seems like a cool market research tool and possibly some DRM in the future. But to spend a few years programming a cool market research/DRM tool?

    1. Re:the use of steam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      One has to wonder why Valve seems to be spending so much time on Steam

      One word: MONEY.

      They get control of the distribution channel and get themselves a bigger cut. The more copies of the game they can sell via direct download (as opposed to in stores), the more cash they get. Typical costs are something like:

      CD & box = $5
      Advertising costs = $5
      Retailer = $15 (shelf space == very expensive)
      Publisher = $10
      Developer = $15
      Total price = $50

      By selling directly they can eliminate both the publisher - and the retailer costs. Except that now they can change the price to $40 a downloadable copy. They not only sell the game for less - but they also make double the money on that copy:

      Bandwidth for distribution = $5 (say, 4 GB transfers over the course of the game's life if it's installed three or four times when the customer upgrades machines)
      Advertising costs = $5
      Retailer = $0 (no shelves)
      Publisher = $0
      Developer = $30
      Total price = $40

  2. Re:pre-order by jantheman · · Score: 5, Informative

    well....It (CS:Condition Zero) is already apparently on my computer already (via the steam 'trickle feed' update) - the 'gcf' (game cache file?) is there. Apparently all I have to do is wait for them to 'release' it officially, so delivery on time seems to be a moot point.

    hmmm...have I got time to attempt to hack it out...?

    --
    -- Mod me down. I am not a karma tart. ffs,gag
  3. Drop in Windows 98 users (partially) explained by StupidKatz · · Score: 5, Informative

    I recently changed my gaming PC's OS to Windows XP Pro. I'd previously used Windows 98SE. Why did I, a rabid hater of all things XP (updates, EUL"A"s, wizardry, etc.) give up on 98 for my gaming OS?

    DirectX 9 broke 98. I've been telling everyone within earshot that this was the way that MS was going to force the gamers off of 98 - via DirectX. All video files, under any format that I can find, (except real; I don't use it) are broken. They refuse to load. Breakdown of the issue here and here

    It isn't a critical problem at this point, but the second "solution" is so obscure that I wonder how anyone managed to find it. (The first involves re-running the directx installer, which will allow the system to play back videos fine until the subsequent reboot.) How likely is an official fix for this issue? That's what I thought. Too bad, though - Win98SE still had a year or two worth of gaming life left in it.

  4. Slightly OT: Steam and your hard drive by StupidKatz · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Who owns your hard drive? If you've installed Steam, read this, then answer the question again.

    Yeah, let's all give game developers on-demand access to our storage. Cheat detection notwithstanding, this is bad news; is it worth the cost? I like to think intelligent people agree: it isn't.