Slashdot Mirror
Half-Life 2 Preloading from Steam
Nos. writes "For those of us using Valve Software's Steam platform, we can now begin 'preloading' Half-Life 2. The article explains that this will download an encrypted version of the game that you can unlock when you purchase it. They only say that purchase options will be available soon."
It's been pre-Slashdotted. You get an error saying their servers are already too busy doing preloads and to try again in a few hours. If you want to see the in-steam announcement though, go here.
As long as the Sniper rifle still has the red dot, I'll be happy!
"Yup!"
"Boy, I can't wait til next year when we can play it"
... available in five, four, three, two....
As if we didn't have enough problems getting Steam and the patches - they don't /. on their servers too!
And anyone who actually plays with Steam knows what I'm talking about.
Striking fear in the authors of godawful fanfiction, I am here, appearing in darkness, Tuxedo Jack!
I felt my heart jump, just from the word soon. A tear came to my eye too, but that's because my eyes hurt from staring at a monitor too long.
RArr!
I wonder how long it will be till hackers find away to spoof half life 2's pre-loading authenticiation and users can play hl2 without actually buying it.
Now if i could only find that damn ati coupon thing, *looks at desk*, shakes head.
Interesting idea.
I can imagine myself appreciating this on the HL2 release date, being able to jump in and play immediately without making a trip to the store.
I stopped playing CS when Valve force-fed their DRM, buggy, memory-intensive heaping pile of poo they call "steam" onto their userbase.
With Doom 3 who needs them!
You just KNOW someone's gonna figure out how to crack this encryption within a couple days
Interesting...does anybody here remember the a vaguely-similar route taken with id for the Quake shareware release? An encypted version of that game (and essentially every past Id game) was on the shareware CD, and could be unlocked when purchased. And then along came QCrack.
Valve's distribution idea is interesting, but I hope for their sake that the security's very strong, requiring all sorts of authorizations and whatnots. If not, Doom III's slightly-premature leaking to the internet might seem like a far more ideal scenario than a Valve-aided distribution of compromised content.
I don't know. Even though I know I am going to buy this game, I prefer to have a "hard" copy on CD-ROM (this goes for audio CDs and DVDs, as well). Also, I don't like the idea of a system that pushes things onto my hard drive. If I want something, I'll pull it in myself, thank you very much. Pushing this onto hard drives is just asking for someone to break the encryption.
Well if you can 'pre-load' HL2, Wouldnt that suggest that it is totally done? Unless you are just downloading libraries and such. This sounds promising, But what on earth is Valve waiting for?
ItWasFree.com - Take the mystery
Preloading - Error
The Steam servers are currently too busy to handle any more preloads of Half-Life 2.
Please try again in a few hours
[OK]
How can we delay HL2 again?
Lets release it with a fancy encryption scheme, when someone cracks it, we'll pull the shame-shame bs, sue some 'hackers' and the push back will 'teach everyone a lesson'.
Give me a break
Steam is free. I use it to play the version of cstrike that came with my platnum Half Life pack I got a few years back.
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
I remember something along the lines of a shareware version of Quake being released that could be unlocked to be the full version. Naturally, a crack was found for it. I think timing is everything for Half-Life 2, as the time window to do this is small before a potential crack.
Also, if you can "preload" the game, does that mean the game is finished and there's a product availible in theory?
It would be cool if it didn't suck.
The download servers are already at max capacity, but I have a little hypothesis. Since Half-Life 2 is such an anticipated game, and since everyone and their cousins will be downloading it, Valve realized this will cost entirely too much in bandwidth, especialy on days like today. To compensate, they set a user/bandwidth limit.
What will happen is this. Currently, Steam acts as a peer to peer hub (remmeber Valve hiring Bram Cohen, Mr. Bit Torrent?). Anyone with a sizeable LAN Cafe will know this because empty chairs with a copy of Steam running kills their bandwidth. Once people have the preload completely downloaded, they will begin uploading it and add more bandwidth to the mix. The more people that have it, the more it becomes available. I get the feeling LAN Cafes get a little more sway in terms of firsties since they generally have better connections than Counter-Strike junkies at home.
Not that getting the pre-load at this point is a necessity. There will be waves of preloads with content. This first one just being some static art that won't be changed, like textures, voices, and some models.
Took a few weeks to crack it, then we had every ID product for free (tuff to download on a modem) for the cost of a 5$ demo cd.
Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley
So this will be the cause of the big internet blackout, not cyber-terrorist but gamers downloading HL2. :-D
I knew it when Valve delayed the preload.
... someone breaks the encryption or guesses the correct key? Since they will probably allow for seperate keys for each person who purchases a key, the number of valid keys should be fairly large.
Go not unto/. for advice, for you will be told both yea and nay (but have nothing to do with the question)
This sounds dangerous. It's only a matter of time before someone cracks the encryption rendering Valve the medium by which pirates obtain an illegal copy of the game.
We all know how [i]efficient[/i] Valve is in their security endeavors, ha.
Steam doesn't charge a monthly fee.
I just got it to start pre-loading despite failing during earlier attempts. I can't wait to start not playing it.
Steam is and always has been free.. plus it updates itself without me having to wait in one of those filefront.com download lines.
Winner of The Second Annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence.
everyone knows that in the first iteration of HL, the gimmick was that your flashlight's batteries drained and you had to let them recharge once in a while.
didnt you play it?
No, if you intended to have first post, you needed to actually beat the current first post, which they did not.
OK, this isn't on Half-Life 2, but it is on the concept of pre-loading / pre-releasing aspects of a game.
One thing I've never understood is why the publishers of highly anticipated role-playing games (I'm thinking Baldur's Gate and NeverWinter Nights here) don't pre-release the character generator.
By the time a specific release date has been set, the character formats should be firmly decided. Allowing players (or potential players!) to pre-create their characters is only going to create buzz and give people a reason to want to put those characters to use. It's a realizable benefit for the publisher without a significant financial cost.
But alas, I have never seen this happen.
- Neil Wehneman
My legal education, in nifty podcast format
How is it redundant if it is the second post?
steam IS free, you don't need even your cd, only your cd key. you can even download opposing force expansion for free (which was once a retail item)
problem is you need to connect (at least on the first time) to play/update it.
Marge, get me your address book, 4 beers, and my conversation hat.
...now what? It is pre-loading right now very slowly, but am going to be able to play it once it is downloaded since I already registered this key with Steam?
I'm tired of Valve. Half Life 2 was to be released september 30 2003. Valve was conviently hacked and their flagship product was revealed to be a fraud. The game was less than 15% complete as of their anounced release date of sept 30, 2003. Valve continues to publish little tidbits to remind us that they're alive. Tidbits such as pushing back the releaste date again and again. So preload their game. I hope its worth the amount of bullshit everyone has put up with from valve. It better be good Gabe, you lying fuck :)
I thought he was trying to be philosophical.
Because games like Diablo 2 makes such a huge profit for Blizzard right now.
Steam is irrelevant, you can play the games online without steam. FSCK STEAM and that whole type of system.
if you compare it to Id's Doom 3 roll out.
After all the hype I think it is better to be able to provide it to everybody at one time.
to cut out the middle man (bittorrent) and just download it direct. I'm guessing there will be a crack for it in less than a week or two after it's totally released.
About being able to play if you could crack the encryption of the GCF you should know that it doesn't contain the things necessary to play the game. According to Valve it only has textures, sounds and other art that won't be changing from now to the time the game is released. That being said, I hope it's not too long before that encryption is broken as I'm looking foward to a sneak peek of what the game could look like. :)
Does it come with the source? ;)
Because it's not the first post?
Maybe if they used that encryption before they wouldn't have got their source code stolen... ZING!
If they haven't fixed the ease in which their keys were cracked is this even worth it? I cannot play my game online because somebody generated the same key as mine using one of the freely available online key generators. What good is it if you go out and buy a game and then you can't play it because of a crappy encryption algorithm?
So I'll ask again... Have they improved this? I'll stick to Doom 3 and wait for the mods until they have...
If it's preloading, I'm going to assume HalfLife is going to be... what? Two gigs? More or less? What about the people who don't buy it, but have other Steam products? Wouldn't this just waste a full 2 gigs of space on their HD?
How many protection schemes do you remember that worked (never been cracked)? This could be potentially very dangerous for VALVe, I expect to see HL2 available for download before it hits the stores, just like D3, only this time it will be a <10mb crack, and much easier to obtain.
If you build it, nerds will come. Soylentnews.org
Valve should get the war for The Game Company That Managed To Torture Its Fans By Having Code Stolen, More Release Dates Than Jerry Seinfeld Had GirlFriends, Leaked The Plot, And Gave You A Game You Could Download But Not Play Until They Let You Award. Wonder what the award would look like...probaly a figure of Duke Nukem.
Has anybody *ever* been gotten away with distributing encrypted files without somebody cracking it?
It's like giving the entire geek world a good, hard puzzle with an irresistable payoff.
vk.
You know you've got software bloat when you have to preload the game before it even hits the shelves.
"I'm not impatient. I just hate waiting." - My Dad
The only reason Valve is getting away with this steam crap is because of Counter-Strike. They've made it so you MUST download Steam in order to play CS because they shutdown WON last month. Any other game in the world and the gamers would have said "fuck you Valve", but becuause it's CS we have to put up with it.
I don't want to run your crappy Stream POS in the background all the time. I don't want to be required to play the newest version all the time. I want to be able to play the game I BOUGHT on a LAN without authenticating over the net. I JUST WANT TO PLAY THE GODDAMN GAME I BOUGHT. But Valve can't let me do that, they have to push their crap on me. Valve, you can suck my dick you bitches.
Do you seriously think that nobody would be willing to publish the sequel to one of the best selling and top-rated games of all time?
John: Hi, Bob. I don't like making money. What should I do?
Bob: Whatever you do, don't distribute Half-Life 2!
Selling vaporware to the consumer, sounds profitable.
Box version, however, will have a CD key, but the first time it is used, it is attached to your Steam account, and nobody can use it with any other account.
http://ipod.fresh27.net/
"You get Wall-Hack yet?" "Yup!" "Boy, I can't wait til ESP Text comes out. Its just no fun without it."
Before the invention of eruptions, lava had to be carried down the mountain by hand and thrown on sleeping villagers.
Your "reverse psychology" will not work. They will not delay it regardless of what happens with pre-load.
While I had some interest in playing HL2, a) I know that when a game publisher says "maybe" [some date months away] that means "longer than I care to wait". b) The whole idea of "steam" kind of, well, steamed me. More intrusive software I have no use for.
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
No, Steam is not free. For those who do not have a Half-Life CD key or simply lost it, Steam is not free. (Lent original copy of Half-Life to friend about 3 years back, never got it back. Playing game with a downloaded copy, a CD key generator, and no-CD crack.)
The problem with a CD like Quake 1, or a copyprotection scheme like safedisc, is that the ability to decrypt the files must be included on it. They can convolute it all they like, it's gotta be on there to do any good. Well, seeing as it's on there, you can find it and use it. Good crackers can do this with less effort than the game industry would like to think.
However in this case, it's different. What they could do is generate an AES key, say 256-bit just for extra parinoia, and then encrypt the data with it. They then send out ONLY the encrypted data, not the key. The key (and utility to use it) doesn't get released until they actually sell it.
In that case, my friend, you are fucked. This is the same way SSH works. Only you and the remote server have the AES key. Someone else can log all your data, but without the key, it's worthless since the computing power does not exist to crack that in a lifetime (much, much, much longer actually). So if this is how they are doing it, they are secure.
Now, when they release the key it is concievable that people could pass it along to friends to decrypt copies that haven't been paid for but so what? The game will be copied anyhow, as all games are, it changes nothing really.
Remember: Encryption is the tactic of keeping everyone EXCEPT the keyholders out. Copyprotection fails since it must give the key to the end user on the disc to work, but intends to keep the end user out. This can succede since they withhold the key for everyone, until a particular date.
Never heard of it.
John Kerry is a Joke!
I know this is OT, but this has bugged me for YEARS.
:P (the fact that NWN characters can be ported- gear and all- between NWN expansions is a major bonus. It's things like this that have completely killed console rpgs for me.)
When the Playstation came out, I creamed my pants at the potential of memory cards- finally, a company could make an RPG.... and release "add-ons" or "expansion packs" that would be new games or side games but which would use your already existing character. Or a sequel to a game that was ACTUALLY a SEQUEL- picking up where you left off... exactly where you left off, levels, equipment, and everything. I figured games like this would be out within a year.
Boy, was I FUCKING WRONG. Aside from some in-game tricks in games like Metal Gear Solid, memory cards are basically just an itty hard drive that serves as a dumping ground for save data that doesn't overlap or play between games.
WHERE IS THE INNOVATION IN THAT?
Shit, if I knew I could move my NWN character into NWN2 (without, you know, creating a new one...), I'd spend a couple of weeks prior to release leveling like a bastard. And if the game's built right, it should be just as challenging at level 20 as it is at level 3.
Woo. Rant complete.
... that this isn't an indication of things to come. If you think about it, Steam's entire purpose is based off of bandwidth. Since we're all slashdotters, we're used to destroying a server to oblivion. Instead of the victim being some lowly tech page with a geeky story, this is Valve's bread & butter. It's pretty sad when they're already mired in demand over this pre-load, can you imagine opening day?
I stole the following link from bluesnews' forums, you may want to check it out as an alternative source of getting this HL2 load. Half Life 2 Cache Although, I have absolutely no idea how to inject this in to Steam, it may be an alternative for you bleeding edge gamers that have to have this NOW - even though you can't play it.
I'm torn between buying this at the store (If I can even get a copy) or getting the pre-load off of Steam (If they can even supply it). On top of all of this, I sure hope the actual servers they use for people activating CD keys on opening day is up to par. Otherwise, you're going to have a lot of pissed off gamers.
Supposed release date is September 2nd. I expect to see all of you there, or I will be confiscating geek status from you.
Is "Half-life 2" logically equivalent to "Full-life 1" ?
I have no problem with your religion until you decide it's reason to deprive others of the truth.
Valve has a way to deal with this.
o rt
/ en /s_cd_02.php
You walk through the 'Steam Troubleshooter' which is located here:
http://www.steampowered.com/index.php?area=supp
Specifically, you should end up on this page:
http://www.steampowered.com/troubleshooter/live
You will have to either mail in the key itself (the envelope it came in) or email a image of the CD, the keyflap, and a picture of your reciept.
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
1. There's actually CS1.5 for Steam out there. Google is your friend.
2. You no longer have to authenticate over the net to play Steam games anymore.
3. You don't have to update any of your games if you don't want either. Right click on the game and turn off automatic updating.
4. You are a fucking idiot, in case I forgot to mention it. Die.
Sorry guys, it was worth the karma burn.
The 'security module' is only downloaded on those servers that are running VAC. (Valve Anti-Cheat) I've joined hundreds of servers without having to download the VAC security module.
Cheaters? Find a server using CD (Cheating Death) and play on those...or just switch. Only about once a month at most do I encounter a server with a cheater. (I mostly play Natural Selection, however, YMMV)
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
much like a guiness with a twist cap, it's brilliant. think about it - everyone is going to try to get their hands on this. It'll be on bit torrent, ftp sites, everywhere. yeah it's a risk but the possible rewards are huge.
they will "release" it when everyone and their sister has downloaded a copy.
http://www.rustyrazorblade.com
So, after a few retries, i got my pre-load. BFD. All I have to show for it is less hard disk space and the increasingly-less-important question: HL2 has missed so many release dates, is anyone actually still waiting for it? Valve can suck it. They should give this game away. Thanks for the unlock code wimp! On another note, just killed the cyber-demon in D3...plz lets get the MODs rolling for that engine, cuz the game got old after level 2. I must be a jaded gamer. I'm swithing back to the Leisure Suit Larry series...
I have it loaded on my computer. I have the first two bits they are 0 and 1 now I am just waiting on them to allow me to unlock the rest. Waiting.... Waiting.... Anyone have a snickers?
... steam ware. Not much change, is it?
Because it's assumed that slashdot is horribly broken and unreliable. Stating the blindingly obvious is redundant.
I thought they meant beat as in S&M.
" Already on it.
I got the game to boot using a kernel debugger and a little trial and error. SoftICE revealed the installer makes a call to something in _vis.dll, which in turn checks to see if hl2_acf.nfo exists within the steam install directory.
Decompiled _vis.dll with DisC, replaced the function call to a new function that always returns true. Recompiled _vis with Visual C++, nogo, then tried with Borland and the game booted.
Posting a crack tonight."
Damn, Valve made a very nice decision it seems.
20 bucks says a hippie hands out crack for free at the door of Valve meetings.
Steam doesn't charge a monthly fee.
Yet.
0110100100100000011000010110110100100000011000100
the elusive second step:
1) collect underpants
2) sell vaporware
3) PROFIT!!!
almost reminds me of OQO and Duke Nukem Forever. The difference here is, soon, valve will be making money on THEIR vapor.
for a minute there, i lost myself...
The editors usually schedule stories in advance for Slash to publish later.
Someone scooped you. It happens.
how to invest, a novice's guide
Know how you feel. I just got the "No anonymous posting for you!" message for the first time ever today at work. I get drunk and AC Slashdot, sure, and sometimes I'm even kind of a jerk, but I don't recall ever having been off-topic. :-)
So instead of "loading" the level we're now... "prebuffering" ? Doesn't this sound familiar?
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
Well maybe you shouldn't have given your CD away? Dumb fuck!
Odd...sorry to hear that.
Maybe try creating a second account for posting articles, moderating, etc?
Link the two via journal or something? (Or maybe not, so as not to make a connection...)
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
just want to point out that having to re-encrypt the whole thing for each customer would take alot of resources.
more likely (for this type of scheme, not saying they did this), everything is encrypted with the same key, then that key is encrypted differently for each download
I really only have a response to 2. and 4. 2. Yes, you do. I had a LAN this summer and when the inet went out, no one could startup Steam to join the CS game. 4. Get your facts straight before you spaz out at someone. Aren't you supposed to be representing OwP as a member?
Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin'.
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Im downloading the preload right now, it is fairly fast out here (Los Angeles), and it is a 1043 meg file. Just letting you all know.
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch.
Valve is far far far from intelligent. The WON patches, source code leak, a release date that is overdue one year, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, content servers that authenticate, run the main website, and deliver content, and the Half-Life 2 plot leak (rumor) all point toward a company that has trouble keeping both of its brain cells in working order. It's far from a smart company. It's a very, very, very lucky company, who was fortunate enough to hit a goldmine of a game. A goldmine only kept alive with the mods that users produce.
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For those who do not have a Half-Life CD key or simply lost it, Steam is not free. (Lent original copy of Half-Life to friend about 3 years back, never got it back. Playing game with a downloaded copy, a CD key generator, and no-CD crack.)
You don't get it. Steam is free, Half-Life is not. Steam is just a content-delivery system. Half-Life is the content being delivered, or in your case, not delivered.
By the way, you're breaking the law. If you gave a friend your copy and didn't get it back, you don't have a copy anymore. Your friend owes you $35, but that doesn't give you the right to download and crack a copy. It just makes you a dumbass for loaning out the game.
Way back in I-don't-remember-when, I had heard so much about this "Counter-Strike" thing that I finally broke down and bought a $30 retail copy at GameStop. Loved it. I quickly relalized this was just a mod for the full game called Half-Life. Always wanted to play Half-Life, but it was never worth the extra $20-30 bucks to me to be able to play it. So I pirated my roommate's copy until I almost beat the game... Then there was a hard drive format, so no more HL.
Steam comes along and with my CS reg key, I at last get the full version of Half-Life LEGALLY, and quick and easy access to other popular mods, and a server Favorites list (don't remember if original CS allowed this. I used to write down the IP of a good server to play there) so I can find good games faster, and keep it updated VERY easily. I've installed older CS numerous times and version compatibility was a constant headache, even WITH the seemingly appropriate patches. With Steam, all that business is managed automatically. It's heaven. As for buggy or memory intensive, I encountered one bug so far (input lag playing havoc with my keyboard) and that lasted only a few days. And I don't know how little RAM you have, but steam barely scratches my 512mb, which I presume is common for todays FPS player.
As long as you didn't pirate the game(s), Steam is wonderful, IMHO
Each official copy of Half-Life that's sold is associated with a Unique Steam ID.
Valve has started banning accounts which cracked Steam to obtain the recently released CS:Source.
They could easily to the same to people who get Half-Life 2 in that way.
Will they do that for Duke-Nukem Forever also?
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Comment removed based on user account deletion
just want to point out that having to re-encrypt the whole thing for each customer would take alot of resources.
I disagree. AES-128 implementations are very fast now, and with the supposed download throttling (see earlier comments) there's ample time to encrypt on the fly, or even encrypt the package, record the hash, and send it on for that user.
I'm guessing these bittorrent downloaders may be in for a big surprise come purchase time.
Providing a download of the game, and online charging for the key to play it? Sounds like a nice way to stop the age-old practice of charging different amounts in different countries. Hopefully it'll catch on, and publishers will have to stop milking us Europeans... It was cheaper for me to import Unreal Tournament 2004 (special edition) from the U.S., including courier delivery, than to buy it in a shop, and even cheaper than ordering it over the net from a European provider.
Yo, it's to champ at the bit, not to chomp at it. They're synonyms, sure, but the proper word is champ.
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Sure it does.
If you're in their cyber café program.
$10/computer/month, a minimum of 12 month contract, with a minimum of 10 computers (iirc).
1. Get punkbuster, its the best online cheat protection ever. It is not perfect, but its better then the slowly updated valve cheat system.
2. The thing that bothers me the most is that there is no voting system in counterstrike. There should always be voting enabled (for kicking players off) and set to 70 percent of all players on the server for it to pass. That prevents cheaters from just ruining a single server just because there is no admin on.
Welll its actually downloading after getting the "check back in a couple of hours" message for a few minutes. I'm sorry but I just can't see why this is being done. This does not mean anything to me because I cannot play it. I have to wait for it to come out then buy it. A cd will install quicker than this. They must not be going to use cd's then, as I read in other posts. Man I know the demand for the game is bad, but it doesn't appease me if I got heavily encrypted game files on my computer. If the executable isn't included, only the probably vast amount of graphic libraries and such, then its secure imo, but if its the whole damn package, well something is going to happen lol
And I have already blocked all access to steam. Im not exactly popular, but the great thing is that nobody can complain without admitting that they are playing counter strike instead of studying. Grades have shown some improvment, however. Keep buying games that require internet activation. It makes keeping you hard at work studying like you are supposed to that much easier for me. Man, it was sooooo much harder for me when the games didnt tattle on dishonest boys and girls for me! Mommy and daddy are getting sooooo much more bang for their tuition buck!
There is a voting system, just type vote # in console to cast a vote against a player. Type listplayers to see which # corresponds to which player.
Don't try and crack a 256-bit encryption scheme, that's nye impossible in time... instead, just exploit outlook and read their email floating around about the encryption key / link / ssh login to the full working version. =) Hell it worked last time.
.exe's, assuming you didn't compile the ripped build from before.
Also something to consider... they may have posted some of the games standard anti-crack mesures to see what people would come up with, so they could patch it before you got the
Hey look no pointless curley braces or semicolons... just like Python
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has anyone taken into accound the massive bandwidth issues when they open the buy option on this cache?
/.ed with a billion gamers all wanting to play at once.
Valves swiss bank accound will be
I mean in the olden days u used to have a steady cash flow as the game is bough but now Vavles going to get one HUGE amount of money at once. Plus they dont have to pay to release the game boxed ans ship it.
Steam has 1,588,501 unique players per day right now lets just say they were all to Precache and buy HL2 all at once:
Valves bank account would be $95,310,060, instantly. Note the actual number will be less because nto everyone will preload nor buy the game.
First, with steam constantly calling home and needing to have a real valid Game Key, cracking the file, will only allow to use the version without the online features.
For that matter this is no more dangerous than if someone crack the CD once it will be available on stores and put it on Kazza.
The only thing that could happen is that the cracked version will be available before the legit one and then this is only a maybe. Plus it will create more hype and and free publicity on slashdot and other sites.
Yahh, hiii haaaaa! -Major Kong, from Dr. Strangelove
1: download encrypted data.
2: create ISO so all you friends have the same encrepted data.
3: Write Crack
4:Protif (or goto jail)
thank God the internet isn't a human right.
Steam!
Sure, I am in Brazil and payed in Reais (R$30=US$10) but there are options for you guys... I've heard of a store that sells JUST THE CD KEY for $10. Get the rest on Kazaa/eDonkey/whatever, and you are good to go.
Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all
I very often reformat my computer and if I purchase my copy of HL2 on Steam will I be able to make a backup or redownload the game after a format?
Otherwise, I'll just buy the physical version the old fashioned way.
"Here's a spoiler: You're will die alone."-Triumph the Insult Comic Dog
Its obviously not finished yet, so you'll probably just end up downloading it a couple times as they fix bugs, change the media, and recompile everything...
Its a waste of steam bandwidth and yours. I'd understand if it was gold, but its not.
Somehow this seems to be taking the fun out of the game play for me.
Trying to get some publicity now that Doom3 is out. Valve, just get the game out already.
------------ scottder
I wonder exactly how long it will take for someone to crack the encryption on it...
(from snpp.com)
Bart: Telegram for Lisa Simpson. [mimes opening an envelope]
Homer: [to Lisa] Don't listen! It's a trick.
Bart: Dear Lisa: Psych! Psych, psych, psych. Signed, Super-
psych.
Homer: [to Lisa] I think he's trying to psych you out.
Marge: Look, we're all trying to have dinner. So why don't we
just -- psych, psych, psych!
-- "Tennis the Menace"
Yoo con doo eet!
Aaah the gratified feeling of having HL2 on my HD! //Downloads/Games/HL2/ and smell it every single night till it gets released* - the geek way of doing things...go get drunk dude!
*open
I am so sick of forking over my hard earned dollars to companies (thieves?) like EB Games, so it's nice to see I can get a sorta immediate iTunesesque download for games and send the $$ directly to the developers. EB is evil because they rip off children, buying their used games at well below their Ebay value..
The preloading is a great idea, should balance out the bandwidth for when the game is 'released.' Hopefully the fact that we're preloading means it won't be much more of a wait.
www.lonseidman.com
Parent wasn't asking what ^H, just why some people think it's clever using it in a post.
I have a question?
I have downloaded Half-Life 5 times from the internet.
I also own 3 original copies.
Does this mean that I owe Value $35 x 2 = $70?
So despite me buying 3 copies of Half-Life they have still lost money on me..?
*I did use RIAA thought-patterns above*
But alas, I have never seen this happen.
I suppose you've never heard of Earth & Beyond then. Ironically, it is being shut down as of September 22nd (it's an MMORPG space sim).
This is such bunk - there isn't even a game yet and here we are discussing purchasing options? Gimmie a break! SHOW ME THE MONEYYYYYYYY! I LOVE BLACK PEOPLLLLLLEEEEEEE!
connecting to steam....
cerifying user account....
You are now not playing Counter strike 2
So let me get this straight: Valve is allowing you to grace your hard drive with a huge pile of useless encrypted bits that will lay there undisturbed until the still unknown release date of HL2, at which point you'll have to download still more shit (This isn't the whole game they're preloading), or just go buy the game on CD. What a joke. This sounds like just a big paper launch to combat the notion that HL2 is vaporware.
"The problem with internet quotations is that many are not genuine" -Abraham Lincoln
Half Life 2 Preload / Bullshit overload.
Am I the only one who doesn't care about Half Life at this point? Half Life and CS to me is the game that attracts all the hackers and lamers, while letting me play my other games in peace.
I wonder, even if the executable isnt shipped with the preload- could we use the leaked beta executable?
Cmon .. iv waited a extra year.. at least release the hl1 source for Porting!
Id software should buy valve so we could start seeing some more damn games for linux
iv had hl2 pre-orded for over a year now.. but since i have doom 3 and the linux binary's are coming soon.. maybe a combo of d3 and ut2004 will scratch my Linux Gaming itch..
i think its ironic.. valves source got leaked last year due to a windows expliot (so they say) and still won't even consider the alternitive os's..
Listen to ur consumers like IDsoftware does
Not to mention the ads.
I use steam to play natural selection and recently got spammed with a huge ad for some counterstrike knock-off popping up on my screen. yeah, valve that's gonna make me like you.
Inside the HL2 precache which is approx one gigabyte of size are around 8000 .VMT and .VTF files, a few text files and a creepy picture of the gman.
.GCF's with GCFSCrape and then double click on the cache. If you try to load the GCF via the load menu it wont work.
http://sa.nextwish.org/Hosted/gman.jpg
To extract the cache you will need a the GCF Scraper, available below or via google.
You will need to associate the
http://wap.nextwish.org/GCFScape.exe
I'm pretty sure Valve encrypted it to the point where even THEY don't know how to unencrypt it =P (like when I managed to pkzip my pkunzip file in ye olde DOS days of yore)
I think Amazon just changed the date on the pre-order nov 2005 (j/k)
e.
Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
© valve corporation. all rights reserved. valve, the valve logo, half-life, half-life logo, LAMBDA LOGO, and valve source are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of valve corporation.
since when did valve own the lambda symbol?
I may be a dummy, but how do I install this cache?
.gcf files in the SteamApps directory in Steam, but do I just move them there and restart Steam and poof, it says "hey, it's the HL2 preload!" ?
The torrent consists of:
base source shared materials.gcf (about 1GB)
base source shared.gcf (57.4MB)
I see other
I'd like to download Half-Life 2 now because servers will be even more swamped when Half-Life 2 is released to buy and download, and there won't be any shelved copies in a 100-mile radius.
What if your CD gets scratched or gets lost? No matter what computer you sit down on, no matter where you are in the world, if you install the Steam client and log into your account, you instantly have access to all your games and stats again.
Valve banned a bunch of accounts that were doing things like that. There's a pretty famous "owned" picture over on halflife2.net about it.
With it, you could have had access to Condition Zero, the Counterstrike beta, and other goodies for free.
I will get Half-Life 2 to see where the story goes, but I won't be paying for it.
Wow, you'll pirate the game illegally. You sure showed them.
If you were really so righteous, you just wouldn't play the game. You bitch about them then outright admit you'll still be playing their game. But hey, as long as you get to reap the benefits of their work without giving back, right?
Actually I talked to Bram a few weeks ago and he said that he doesn't work for VALVe anymore. Just thought you should know.
forward your ports! This will speed up bittorrent.
f ig .html
http://userpages.umbc.edu/~hamilton/btclientcon
Condition zero was $10 cheaper online.
...and my poor, unsuspecting wife is about to become a Half Life 2 widow (and a Doom3 widow, as I intend on picking up a copy of that next week). And all those personal and household projects will go on hold for who knows how long. And all those books will go unread. And I will forget the taste of bread, the touch of grass, and the sun will burn my eyes and skin. *gollum*
The point of a preload is to download unchanging assets now so that when the full game comes out, the servers aren't hit as hard.
It's to download unchanging assets now, so that when the full game is released on Steam, the servers aren't hit as hard because you already have the majority of static assets. You won't have to download as much.
I know it's extremely hip on Slashdot to bash Valve for some bizarre reason, but get real.
That's why the best thing going for CS right now is the No Steam Mod. Take steam authentication and automatic updates right out of the picture. Let's you play LAN games again w/o requiring an Internet connection. Google it yourself and see!
Also you don't even need to encrypt the whole package. Hefty encryption on a few key game files will keep you out of the game just as well as encrypting the graphics, models, and maps. Actually it seems to me like it would improve things since there would be less of a chance that you could compare a possible decryption to known media from the game (like the leaked beta)
Slashdot: Where anecdotes and generalizations can be freely substituted for facts, logic, or intelligence
Wow, you sound really steamed. Maybe you should release the valve on your anger.
I heard the makers of Duke Nukem Forever are going to do the same thing - only it will be distributed on 1.44 mb disks, in cereal boxes, and the boxes and disks won't be labled. THe entire set will be 1300 disks. The theory is that this way they can claim they finally released the game, without ever having to worry about anyone actually playing it.
www.voiceofthehive.com - Beekeeping and Honeybees for those who don't.
I was just saying that his friend owes him for the game that he lost, not that he owes Valve anything. Valve doesn't lose money when you download a copy, Valve loses potential sales when you give a copy to someone who might have bought the game.
Breaking copyright and then paying for it later doesn't justify the original infringement, by the way. If you've commited copyright infringement, paying Valve doesn't make that go away.
If the great-grandparent poster wanted to play the game, then he could lend it out, but he can't play it while it's not in his posession. That's copyright infringement. Shifting (moving the game to another computer or another location) is legal; keeping a copy is not. This has nothing to do with RIAA logic. It's how copyright law has always worked.
My question for you: what the heck are you doing with 3 purchased copies of HL? Did you get your WON ID banned a few times, or do you run LAN parties out of your house?
no media/box, no money from me, even if it was several bucks cheaper. "booyakasha"
sigs suck
You've got spyware or other crap on your machine. No one has ever legitimately reported Steam as popping up ads, or anything like that. If you click on the buy games button, then yes, you will see pictures of the various games you can buy. But it doesn't pop it up, and you have to go into that menu to see them.
Pull your head out of your ass, scan your machine for the common spyware/adware, and use a web browser that doesn't allow that shit to be autoinstalled.
not that the BBC has completely grasped the point though :o)
My other OS is also FreeBSD
I backed out of installing Steam when it told me that it was about to 'restructure' all my directories. Sorry, but I make halflife or unreal maps from time to time and I like my games directory structures laid out just the way they are, as I know them. Any program that has to permanently reorder the users data before it can begin working is not well written imo.
they know their demographics and virtually everyone they sell to has broadband a semi-decent computer (1 ghz+, maybe not up to your standards btu then my parents still use a p2 450) and at least a gf4, and you can look at the results yourself on steampowered.com
i hope i can sleep thanks for that
I already explained the reason. You just want to bash Valve. The reason these preloads happen (Half-Life 2 isn't the first to do this, you know) is to save load on the servers when the full game gets put on there. Hence these being unchanged assets.
I guess truth isn't as interesting as imagined controversy.
Sorry but I missed E3 or whatever Expo that was that featured HL2. Does anybody have that preview?
WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
The R&C series lets you use weapons that you earned in previous games.
You have a nice rant, but how many console RPG "expansion packs" have you seen come out? Do you think that maybe that's because the developers have looked at the market and decided it wouldn't be a money-maker?
someone who does not live with a significant other or have children who can walk off with CD's and key licenses or put them in another part of the house were you cannot find them. Unless, of course, you store the originals in a lock box somewhere and use backup copies for your everyday use?
Nothing like having a child get into your CD case and scratch a disk or break one while you are busy in the bathroom or taking a shower. Locks? Hah, they can break open the plastic of a CD case by throwing it onto the ground, all it takes is 15 seconds. There goes your whole CD collection, hope it didn't get smashed up too while you where blasting a dookie or washing yourself.
So unless you can afford a safe to put the CD's in, and live alone, you might want the ability to get a replacement CD or CD key.
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
If it won't work with WINE, it isn't worth buying now is it?
Write a WINE compatable version that removes copy protection after it is installed, and maybe we can talk about buying a copy. Better yet, write a Linux native version if you really cared about the rest of the market.
All the latest copy protection games will do for people like me is make me avoid buying them. I'd rather run them in WINE than on Windows. I am making my pollitical statement now!
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
What is HF2? Half-Full? Why did I type that?
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
Reference "PHB" at Dilbert.com for what a Classical Manager is like. ;)
;)
Anyway Classical Managers can only see the Windows market. Now Organizational Managers, can see the potential for other markets that the Classical Managers overlook, and how it can bring in money for their organization. Organizational Managers love OSS, alternatives, and other things that can potentially save their organization money.
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
does anyone have any news about the release of team fortress 2?
If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
By that logic I shouldn't be allowed to use my computer because my only copy of Windows got destroyed when my 9 year old cousin decided to play frisbee with it (Left it out on the desk after reinstalling it). I shouldn't be allowed to play Doom 1 because I lost the original disks years ago yet I still have it installed on my old computer (Lost the copy... 5 years ago? Still runs in DOS). Just because something is not in your immediate possession does not mean you are breaking copyright laws for using it. If you obeyed the law that way we'd have to arrest every person who listens to the radio but doesn't have a copy of the song, we'd have to arrest pretty much every SNES/NES/Genesis/Atari ROM owner because they don't own the cartrages anymore, etc etc. I seriously doubt every single Slashdot reader who uses Windows could suddenly whip out their copy/ies of Windows if the government was to come knocking at their doors.
You know, you are allowed to say "fuck" on these forums. Or does daddy have one of those keystroke monitors installed to make sure you're not typing any naughty words?
"Breaking copyright and then paying for it later doesn't justify the original infringement, by the way"
Sure it does. Just because Big Money says differently doesn't make me believe otherwise.
Learn to think for yourself, not what "The Man" tells you to think.
This preloading thing would be pretty cool if it gave priority to people who already own a Half-Life 2 key. I got one with my Radeon 9800XT but I see that Steam will let anyone download it. Wouldnt it make more sense to require a key to download something like this?
...forever!
Don't be taken in by this idiot--he has accounts under the names bonch and Overly Critical Guy. He has a history of astroturfing for Microsoft, bashing anything Open Source, using lies and half-truths to get modded up, karma whoring, and the usual trolling (under his bonch account, he got a troll posted to the front page of Slashdot).
All you have to do to check the veracity of this is to look at the posting history of his two old personnae (linked above) and his current one to figure it out.
Please do not mod this jerk up--every time you do the Slashdot S/N ratio goes down while bonch/Overly Critical Guy/rd_syringe just laughs at you.
This has been a public service announcement
Don't be taken in by this idiot--he has accounts under the names bonch and Overly Critical Guy. He has a history of astroturfing for Microsoft, bashing anything Open Source, using lies and half-truths to get modded up, karma whoring, and the usual trolling (under his bonch account, he got a troll posted to the front page of Slashdot).
All you have to do to check the veracity of this is to look at the posting history of his two old personnae (linked above) and his current one to figure it out.
Please do not mod this jerk up--every time you do the Slashdot S/N ratio goes down while bonch/Overly Critical Guy/rd_syringe just laughs at you.
This has been a public service announcement
Don't be taken in by this idiot--he has accounts under the names bonch and Overly Critical Guy. He has a history of astroturfing for Microsoft, bashing anything Open Source, using lies and half-truths to get modded up, karma whoring, and the usual trolling (under his bonch account, he got a troll posted to the front page of Slashdot).
All you have to do to check the veracity of this is to look at the posting history of his two old personnae (linked above) and his current one to figure it out.
Please do not mod this jerk up--every time you do the Slashdot S/N ratio goes down while bonch/Overly Critical Guy/rd_syringe just laughs at you.
This has been a public service announcement
Don't be taken in by this idiot--he has accounts under the names bonch and Overly Critical Guy. He has a history of astroturfing for Microsoft, bashing anything Open Source, using lies and half-truths to get modded up, karma whoring, and the usual trolling (under his bonch account, he got a troll posted to the front page of Slashdot).
All you have to do to check the veracity of this is to look at the posting history of his two old personnae (linked above) and his current one to figure it out.
Please do not mod this jerk up--every time you do the Slashdot S/N ratio goes down while bonch/Overly Critical Guy/rd_syringe just laughs at you.
This has been a public service announcement
Don't be taken in by this idiot--he has accounts under the names bonch and Overly Critical Guy. He has a history of astroturfing for Microsoft, bashing anything Open Source, using lies and half-truths to get modded up, karma whoring, and the usual trolling (under his bonch account, he got a troll posted to the front page of Slashdot).
All you have to do to check the veracity of this is to look at the posting history of his two old personnae (linked above) and his current one to figure it out.
Please do not mod this jerk up--every time you do the Slashdot S/N ratio goes down while bonch/Overly Critical Guy/rd_syringe just laughs at you.
This has been a public service announcement
Don't be taken in by this idiot--he has accounts under the names bonch and Overly Critical Guy. He has a history of astroturfing for Microsoft, bashing anything Open Source, using lies and half-truths to get modded up, karma whoring, and the usual trolling (under his bonch account, he got a troll posted to the front page of Slashdot).
All you have to do to check the veracity of this is to look at the posting history of his two old personnae (linked above) and his current one to figure it out.
Please do not mod this jerk up--every time you do the Slashdot S/N ratio goes down while bonch/Overly Critical Guy/rd_syringe just laughs at you.
This has been a public service announcement
Don't be taken in by this idiot--he has accounts under the names bonch and Overly Critical Guy. He has a history of astroturfing for Microsoft, bashing anything Open Source, using lies and half-truths to get modded up, karma whoring, and the usual trolling (under his bonch account, he got a troll posted to the front page of Slashdot).
All you have to do to check the veracity of this is to look at the posting history of his two old personnae (linked above) and his current one to figure it out.
Please do not mod this jerk up--every time you do the Slashdot S/N ratio goes down while bonch/Overly Critical Guy/rd_syringe just laughs at you.
This has been a public service announcement
Hurry it's gold! http://www.hl2fallout.com/forums/index.php?showtop ic=4221&hl=
Crack the preload and tell gabe and his windows kiddies to fuck off by getting the pirated stuff out there first!
Just like Id mainly makes stuff for other companies to license, Valve has come up with something really good to sell to other companies. I work at an games centre & these are two annoying scenerios we face: update for a game comes out or a new game is released & needs to be installed. With everything but Steam there is a hassle of getting copies, fighting with cdkeys & cd-checks & doing the actually installations on the 50+ game machines. Its a nightmare. With Steam & the CafeAdminServer from Valve it all just happens. Our pre-load of HL2 didn't start until about 12 hours ago. It went on during a very busy Saturday morning, no complaints, no lag, no problems. HL2 really did just magically appear on the machines. And when they patch it, it will just happen. You don't notice except that bugs are just suddenly fixed.
Steam was just ahead of its time.
I've experiments to run, there is research to be done on the people who are still alive.
If you've already created a steam account, then you dont need the card. That's one of the first things I did when I got my radeon 9600. When I created the account it asked for my key which gave me access to some certain number of games.
The key is stored in your account as far as I know. So as soon as HL2 is released you should be able to play it automatically (fingers crossed)
Joseph?
but when a child is 5 years old, they do tend to get into things even if you do discipline them. I use spankings, and some people tell me that spanking is wrong. When time-outs fail, I use spanking.
I had a telescope in the top shelf of my closet, I had it for 25 years. My nephews came over, aged 6 and 7. The 6 year-old somehow got the telescope and went outside and dropped it and broke it in half. There was four adults in the house watching the kids, and nobody saw the 6 year-old get out of the room he had a time-out in and grab the telescope. Yes he was disciplined for it.
Let me clue you into some Child Psychology, as you've obviously not read any. Children have impulses, and they act on them. It is not as if they can control those impulses yet, but we have to teach them how. A 3 year-old has such an impulse control problem that if a mother told her to calm down and not bang a spoon on the high-chair that the 3 year-old would hold her breath and turn blue trying to control the impulse to bang the spoon on the high-chair. In other words, they are ill-equiped to control their impulses like an adult would.
Thinking that a child can behave like an adult is unrealistic. You've obviously watched too many "Barney" shows where the children are well behaved and so much not like typical children because they were taught to act that way for the show.
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
Lost while in your posession is one thing.
"Lost" and probably still being used by the person you lent it to is another.
If the poster who started this subthread had kept his CD-KEY or his original installation, I wouldn't have a problem with that. But now he feels obligated to pirate a new copy instead of finding out where his copy went.
Fair use is fair use, and piracy is piracy. The "loan it out and don't get it back" situation is not fair use.
Oh, that's right: the continued annoying barrage of "in Soviet Russia..." and "imagine a beowulf cluster" jokes. Nerds are too predictable!
WON has been shutdown by VALVe, so unless you have the rumored patches for hlds that allow you to have sv_lan set to 1 without the IP check enabled; you're gonna be playing single player, on LAN, or on Steam.
Also: fuck valve, thanks for ruining CS, dicks.