Buy games from steam

Hemps

Hemps

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I want to buy a game from steam:

How do I go about it:

download steam - does this have to run on the pc where the game will be played.
Purchase a game - what payment methods are there, do they accept paypal?
Donwload the game - do I have to download the game to the pc where it will run?
Do they have local download sites?
 
Yes it will run on the PC where the game must be played.
Paypal, CreditCard is available
Yes, it gets downloaded onto the PC where steam is installed.

Apprently IS have a local mirror, as well as webafrica. But you might need INT bandwidth to authenticate to the steam servers
 
My home pc where I play games doesn't have permanent internet - but I can connect the 3G up.

Can I install steam on another pc where there is uncapped.

Purchase and download the game from the uncapped pc
Install steam on my home pc?
install the game on my home pc?
 
Hemps said:
My home pc where I play games doesn't have permanent internet - but I can connect the 3G up.

Can I install steam on another pc where there is uncapped.

Purchase and download the game from the uncapped pc
Install steam on my home pc?
install the game on my home pc?
Click to expand...

I guess the best thing is to download the games from the pc with uncapped, then do a backup through steam, then restore it to your home pc.
Just make sure you use the same account on both pc's, as steam links the game to your account.
 
Hemps said:
My home pc where I play games doesn't have permanent internet - but I can connect the 3G up.

Can I install steam on another pc where there is uncapped.

Purchase and download the game from the uncapped pc
Install steam on my home pc?
install the game on my home pc?
Click to expand...

Download and install steam from the uncapped PC, download the game on that same PC.
You will then need to copy the whole steam folder over to your Home PC. Steam will download a small bit of data and you will then be able to play the game.
 
Shot!

How big are these games roughly - I am looking at getting "Aliens vs Predator" latest one.
 
Yes, you have to run steam before you can play. Your steam account allows you to play on any PC if the game is installed there. Each player has a section on the PC where game configuration is stored, so there is some overlap.

Paypal or credit card and some other methods.

Yes, it runs from the PC, and not directly from steam.

I don't believe there are local sites. Some ISPs have special download locations for popular games. Many have maps and patches which can be downloaded without using cap (WebAfrica has this).

You could buy a game and add it to steam if it's in their catalogue. Many games have very big updates and an old disc won't be a great help.
 
Once you have made payment etc.

Are you then given a link to download a file, does it support resuming?
Do you download it through steam client?
 
Hemps said:
Shot!

How big are these games roughly - I am looking at getting "Aliens vs Predator" latest one.
Click to expand...

5GB-10GB per "block buster" game. You get the indie titles that are very small, but i'd wager AvP is about 10GB easily.

Also you can play games "offline" [without a connection to Steam] , you just need to have authenticated at least once on the specific pc with the game installed.

As for Local Steam Sites : Web Africa got one , and if you actually have WA as your ISP and tweak a few settings then you can download from their server for free [doesn't go off your cap] .

I believe IS also have a server.

Unfortunately Steam decides where to download from and will download from multiple servers at the same time, hence why Web Africa is not advertising their Steam-being-free thing simply because it's not guarenteed [unless you use 3rd party tools to force Steam to download from a specific server] . Either way, even with Afrihost , Steam downloads will mostly come from an IS local server and should get full local speeds [i mostly did] .

Once you have made payment etc.

Are you then given a link to download a file, does it support resuming?
Do you download it through steam client?
Click to expand...

Steam client handles all your downloads. The Steam client which you had to install basically becomes like a Library/Collection application [kinda like Windows Media Player] . You will have a special page with all your games purchased, and after you paid you go there and the new game will be added, you can then click to download+install. If a game got a serial key, you will also get the serial when you install/play for the first time.

Steam will update them automatically [you might want to turn this off if you're on a budget] . Once you got a lot of games on Steam, that's when Steam starts to shine . It will detect if you have the game installed on the specific PC and then you can choose to re-download+install if need be [or you can install from a backup ] .

I basically launch all my games from Steam these days, if i wonder where a game is, i look on my Steam Library whether it's installed or not and if there are any updates/patches for it.

Also Steam client resumes and all that, so you can pause etc.


Now that said, if you do not want to be locked to an application like that, there are other gaming sites like http://www.direct2drive.com and http://www.gamersgate.com which allow you to download the game and play without any connection back to their sites [basically like buying a DVD] . But overall, Steam got the best deals, the largest collection and once you "embrace" it , it works great.
 
Last edited:
Psycho Pitbull said:
I guess the best thing is to download the games from the pc with uncapped, then do a backup through steam, then restore it to your home pc.
Just make sure you use the same account on both pc's, as steam links the game to your account.
Click to expand...

You can download from one account and then install it elsewhere on someone elses account just fine with all games.
 
Hemps said:
Once you have made payment etc.

Are you then given a link to download a file, does it support resuming?
Do you download it through steam client?
Click to expand...

You download and install the Steam client. Once you login using the client, the game/s will automatically start downloading. Resuming is supported.
 
Hemps said:
Once you have made payment etc.

Are you then given a link to download a file, does it support resuming?
Do you download it through steam client?
Click to expand...
Straight to client. No download link.

I'd recommend finding someone with the same game. The game files themselves are perfectly portable i.e. you can copy them from a friend & put them on your PC. Assuming you've got the game registered on your steam account this will then get recognized as a legit game.

Note also that they've got some funky compression going. i.e. It shows it needs to download X gigs, but the actual traffic is much less, because the one is compressed while the other isnt.
 
They have Aliens vs Predator for $9.99 - not bad but it's a freakin 16gb+ download.

Overseas this must be the business - here it'll take me days.

Are there any cheap "websites" in SA that sell PC games?
 
There's a site called cybergames.co.za - they have been the cheapest R199 excl delivery
 
killadoob said:
Ummm how does that work? As long there is only one copy running or something?
Click to expand...

You can copy the game files to any PC and use them through Steam so long as it's on an account that owns said game.
 
You need to have your PC connect to the internet with that game "installed" at least once to play the steam game, so take your PC to the place you're going to download from and plug it onto the network there.

These games are massive, expect 4-12 GB worth of downloading.
The download size really makes steam more expensive than buying the game, unless you already are spending a lot of money on bandwidth and internet infrastructure.
 
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