Register UT3 Retail Key With Steam

[Kantham]

Aren't you the guy that deleted all of your local cache before restarting Steam?

I certainly don't remeber doing this, I remember clearing the registery file one day before it actually worked, Steam had the time to re-create another. If that ever matters?

Yes, silly Steam. I really don't care how it happened actually, the point is Steam downloaded the game silently, there was no indication Steam was actually downloading the whole 8 GB.

Oh and welcome to the forums.

 

[zarathustra]

Oops.

Yeah, I apologise. Looking back, that was some other nub. I don't really see the point of linking the directories tho' - just drag'n'drop (& check read status for the whole chunk). A quick verify & some redistributables (300-400mb iirc) & you're good to go.

Thank you for the welcome. As a complete nub to UT3, are there any servers I ought to be hanging out in for a good spanking?

 

[TheIronKnuckle]

fragbu and unrealgrrls server

 

[Dark Pulse]

fragbu and unrealgrrls server

He speaks from experience.

 

[[SD]JunGLe+=]

5 minutes to see the UT3 splashscreen, on Vista x64 every single time, Priceless....

Thank you for the welcome. As a complete nub to UT3, are there any servers I ought to be hanging out in for a good spanking?

Welcome !

Laggy good or even playing field good ?
"Laggy" = pugs since anticheats became taboo in UT world.
occasionally/almost even playing field = pubs

 

[Sir_Brizz]

I have Windows 7 64bit and it doesn't take me that long.

 

[[SD]JunGLe+=]

I have Windows 7 64bit and it doesn't take me that long.

Vista thinks the app has stalled and throws popup warnings at me half the time. What would you say are the "norm" in game launch times ?
Ive used the mklink command to create a junction successfully...had immediate success with the cache verification ...skipped the steam download on cue. I'm really trying to like Steam...

 

[zarathustra]

Keep trying. =]

Not to belabour the point (I won't mention it again), but what about trying the 'moving the folder' method? Couldn't get much worse, could it?

HTH

 

[[SD]JunGLe+=]

Hmmmm...when you cant get past a locked door...try the open one.... I shall try again...

 

[shoptroll]

I have Windows 7 64bit and it doesn't take me that long.

Same here. Maybe a minute or two tops.

 

[IronMonkey]

Maybe a minute or two tops.

Really?

I must add that to the list of reasons why I don't use Steam.

 

[Sir_Brizz]

Really?

I must add that to the list of reasons why I don't use Steam.

No, and what he's getting at is that launching the game through Steam doesn't take any longer than launching it through the regular old shortcut.

 

[hal]

IronMonkey, if you want to stop and start Steam each time you play a game, then you're missing out on some of the functionality of the app. Having said that, it takes maybe thirty seconds - tops - to launch Steam. And like Brizz says, it doesn't take any longer to launch the game executable through Steam than it would through any other shortcut.

Some people still seem to have a strange aversion to Steam and they typically fall into one of three categories: doesn't play online, hyper-fanatical about running apps in the background, never tried it/tried when it was first launched. If that's you, then okay, whatever. If not, then it's really worth a try.

 

[shoptroll]

No, and what he's getting at is that launching the game through Steam doesn't take any longer than launching it through the regular old shortcut.

Yeah should've elaborated on that. I figured it was kind of implied given my system specs in my sig...

 

[TheIronKnuckle]

Some people still seem to have a strange aversion to Steam and they typically fall into one of three categories: doesn't play online, hyper-fanatical about running apps in the background, never tried it/tried when it was first launched. If that's you, then okay, whatever. If not, then it's really worth a try.

You pretty much just summed me up!

I probably would be able to appreciate steam more, but valve pissed me off so much by making it necessary to be connected to the internet just to play an offline game. Offline mode does not work with valve developed games. i've been forced to use steam just to play portal, HL2, and the half life 2 episodes, but the fact that i always have to be connected to the internet is actually an issue, the phone in my house is used quite a lot and whenever it gets picked up the internet bombs out. That means no single player goodness for me, especially sicne the females of my family can talk for hours on the phone.

 

[[SD]JunGLe+=]

My question is :
For those running Steam smoothly, did you leave your original Documents\MyGames\UT3 files in place when going through the process of junctioning the original install files to the SteamApps\Common folder and verifying cache integrity?

 

[hal]

I didn't junction anything. I just dragged my UT3 folder (the install - not the My Documents UT3 folder) into Steam Apps, verified files through Steam, registered the key and it downloaded a few things that took maybe a minute.

 

[[SD]JunGLe+=]

I think I'm going to reinstall Steam from scratch, but first wish to play a little bit with just the original retail install. Will "rmdir directoryname" be the best way to delete my symbolic link in my SteamApps folder ? Or is a standard add/remove programs Steam uninstall sufficient to be able to launch my retail install again ?

 

[zarathustra]

Rhubarb

I didn't junction anything. I just dragged my UT3 folder (the install - not the My Documents UT3 folder) into Steam Apps, verified files through Steam, registered the key and it downloaded a few things that took maybe a minute.

hal, I've been trying to tell peeps that that's the most sensible (and easiest) way of doing it. One additional step some might need is to ensure that the directory structure is not set to 'read only'. Couldn't be easier...

I probably would be able to appreciate steam more, but valve pissed me off so much by making it necessary to be connected to the internet just to play an offline game. Offline mode does not work with valve developed games. i've been forced to use steam just to play portal, HL2, and the half life 2 episodes, but the fact that i always have to be connected to the internet is actually an issue, the phone in my house is used quite a lot and whenever it gets picked up the internet bombs out. That means no single player goodness for me, especially sicne the females of my family can talk for hours on the phone.

Two things:
1 - Of course you can play in offline mode in Steam games. Simply toggle the online/offline setting in your prefs (D'oh!).
2 - You sound like you're on some form of DSL. A simple filter attached to the line would ensure that you & your womenfolk can use the line simultaneously. Didn't your ISP supply you with a couple for free? I could be wrong though - you might still be on dial-up.

 

[TheIronKnuckle]

In response to point one: No, offline games still need to be played in online mode. But this only applies to valve games it seems (So that means HL2 and portal etc). Even though offline mode works for other games, steam has left a very bad taste in my mouth.