Register UT3 Retail Key With Steam

  • Two Factor Authentication is now available on BeyondUnreal Forums. To configure it, visit your Profile and look for the "Two Step Verification" option on the left side. We can send codes via email (may be slower) or you can set up any TOTP Authenticator app on your phone (Authy, Google Authenticator, etc) to deliver codes. It is highly recommended that you configure this to keep your account safe.

ne_skaju

lost and found
Jan 21, 2008
302
0
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Izvarino
Don't forget about awesome mod support, see Zombie Panic! Source, for example.
Steam is true NextGen, not bloomy lighting effects.
 

Rask

New Member
Aug 15, 2004
280
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Finland
www.rdegree.net
Not going through the hassle of moving directories and using command lines for achievements right now. Maybe when I have the time. Anyway, I keyed my UT3 to Steam. Will be ready if something changes. :)

Nice of Epic to take this direction, as I've only heard good things about Steam (except the random bitching about bugs and such) and these posts only enforce the message. :)
 

SkaarjMaster

enemy of time
Sep 1, 2000
4,870
8
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Sarasota, FL
Personally I find it a bit strange that an "offliner" would buy UT3 in the first place... but that's just me.

I resemble that remark.;)

It's good to hear that UT3 is supporting the Steam community (or vice versa), but I'm mostly offline these days and not interested in any of the Steam features. Although, after my new system build next month and the new patch and pack, I'll be making some time to play online.:)
 

JaFO

bugs are features too ...
Nov 5, 2000
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So what's so great about Steam? Others have tried explaining but there still seems to be some confusion, so I'll take a crack at it. Which ones are really "worth it" is of course subject to personal preferences, but here's my list:

  • Easy Purchase & Installation

  • Yeah ... except when you happen to buy the game before the 'official' releasedate.
    And then there's the time you need to wait before the game is 'validated'.
    Plug&Play ? Nothing beats a console.(period)

    [*]Great Sales - ...
    What's the big deal when the games sold through digital distribution should be much cheaper to buy by default ?
    Especially when it is a given that 'real' games have a margin of 50% ...

    [*]No CD's or Keys - Once you own something, you own it forever.
    until Valve decides that you were cheating or banned your account by accident.
    Good luck trying to play any of your games ...

    [*]Auto-Updates - Never worry about searching for patches...
    Do the words : "First Time Right" mean anything to you ?
    Besides ... how many patches did UT have and was it really that difficult to be notified of them ?
    Heck ... they've got in-game patch-announcements these days.

    [*]Friends List - Contact list of people you play with.
    I guess I should be asking 'what are friends and why would I want them?' ;)
    Seriously ... isn't MSN or Skype good enough ?
    I've never given a *beep* as far as game-statistics and other e-penises are concerned, so I'm not sure why it is interesting to see the stats of your friends.

    [*]Built-In IM & VOIP - One of the really nice things is that it has a "community" overlay available from in-game for any game that it supports (which is most games, even if they're not sold on Steam). You can fire up a chat window w/ friends from in-game, or use their excellent VOIP. Crystal clear and no increase in lag that I can see. You can even browse the web in-game.
    great ... yet another VoIP/IM-system to add to the dozen already available.
    Why can't people stick to just one instead ?

    [*]Community - It's easy to start your own Steam groups, or join existing ones. There's a ton of them for all kinds of things, or start one for just you and your friends. Get a homepage for it. Easily browse group game servers, and what group members are currently online. Get a feed of group updates and announcements. Get a prompt when a group "event" starts (like a scheduled game).
    I suppose no one has ever used an electronic agenda ? ;)

    [*]Achievements - I put these last for a reason. People like to hype them, but they're really just there for fun and bragging rights. It's not a reason to go Steam vs. retail. Although some Valve games do give you real in-game benefits from certain achievements (like unlocks in TF2). But they're still fun.
as do the console-versions ... same stuff
there's in-game unlocks as well, although few games advertise these as part of the 'public' achievements.

btw : if off-line were a real option for Steam-contaminated games then why do all such games list 'internet-connection' as a minimum requirement ?

Steam effectively loses any 'plug&play'-advantage as soon as you can not connect on-line.

// ---
What use is Steam if it succeeds in fragmenting the already tiny pc-community even further ?
Unless it does allow you to see 'non-Steam' friends playing etc ... which I doubt.
 

BioFlamingo

Flamingo with a biorifle
Jan 26, 2009
2
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I bought UT3 through Impulse. It cost 10 bucks more, but I don't have to log in to play it. I just get paranoid that if I can't get an internet connection I won't be able to play steam purchased games. I have a laptop so that is a very real concern. With Impulse it doesn't matter if you have internet or not once the game is on your computer. Plus you can still redownload the game whenever you do have internet and on any computer with Impulse.

No fancy stuff, just the ability to download whenever is all I need.

Unfortunately, if you get the game anywhere other than Impulse, you can't register it with them. But that doesn't matter to me because I got it directly from them.

Oh, and impulse notifies you of updates and gives you the option to install them too, but not automatically.
 
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Sir_Brizz

Administrator
Staff member
Feb 3, 2000
26,020
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I've never had trouble running Steam in offline mode.

Also, nice to see Jafo wasting exorbitant amounts of time whining about Steam yet again. :p
 

shoptroll

Active Member
Jan 21, 2004
2,226
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Personally I find it a bit strange that an "offliner" would buy UT3 in the first place... but that's just me.

Hasn't Epic stated that a significant number of UT players are actually offliners?
 

Wowbagger

Curing the infection...
May 20, 2000
667
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Sweden
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Yeah ... except when you happen to buy the game before the 'official' releasedate.
And then there's the time you need to wait before the game is 'validated'.
Plug&Play ? Nothing beats a console.(period)
Steam lets you pre-download the game so that every gamer in the whole world gets the game at the same time. I find this approach fair and theres a bigger chance that your favorite SP game experience will be spoilerfree.


What's the big deal when the games sold through digital distribution should be much cheaper to buy by default ?
Especially when it is a given that 'real' games have a margin of 50% ...

The big deal (atleast for me) is that i finally will have enough people online to play my favorite FPS game with.


until Valve decides that you were cheating or banned your account by accident.
Good luck trying to play any of your games ...

If you dont cheat i think the risk for getting banned is minimal and if it still happens im sure you just need to contact Valve to sort it out.



Do the words : "First Time Right" mean anything to you ?
Besides ... how many patches did UT have and was it really that difficult to be notified of them ?
Heck ... they've got in-game patch-announcements these days.

"First Time Right"? cmon, have you ever played a game that hasnt needed patches?
Even Console games are patched like mad these days.
And i prefer DLC as a way to encourage paying customers so in the future there might be more updates to games than we have now.



I guess I should be asking 'what are friends and why would I want them?' ;)
Seriously ... isn't MSN or Skype good enough ?
I've never given a *beep* as far as game-statistics and other e-penises are concerned, so I'm not sure why it is interesting to see the stats of your friends.

IMHO playing my favorite game with friends are the icing on the cake.



great ... yet another VoIP/IM-system to add to the dozen already available.
Why can't people stick to just one instead ?

Well, if everyone uses Steam we will "stick" to the same VoIP ;)



I suppose no one has ever used an electronic agenda ? ;)


as do the console-versions ... same stuff
there's in-game unlocks as well, although few games advertise these as part of the 'public' achievements.

btw : if off-line were a real option for Steam-contaminated games then why do all such games list 'internet-connection' as a minimum requirement ?

Steam effectively loses any 'plug&play'-advantage as soon as you can not connect on-line.

// ---
What use is Steam if it succeeds in fragmenting the already tiny pc-community even further ?
Unless it does allow you to see 'non-Steam' friends playing etc ... which I doubt.

I think Epic realised that the future is the way Valve is supporting their games and customers. Im not too happy about fragmenting an already suffering community like UT3 either but if this means a brighter future i guess its a must.


My responses are in Bold
 
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StalwartUK

Member
Feb 12, 2008
158
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16
England
If the UT3 expansion/whatever makes Steam mandatory then Epic might as well not bother. I prefer my games to come without an umbilical cord thank you.
 

StreetPreacher

New Member
Mar 10, 2001
99
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@JaFO:Adolf, is that you? (j/k... see prev. post)

Yeah ... except when you happen to buy the game before the 'official' releasedate. And then there's the time you need to wait before the game is 'validated'.
Actually, I would've listed this as a reason in FAVOR of Steam. Every time I've bought a game via Steam prior to release, it's been pre-loaded on my system. Once officially released/unlocked, it only takes a few minutes to validate and I'm playing LONG before anyone standing out in the cold in line at midnight. By the time I'm playing, they're probably still standing at the register. They still have to drive home, boot up, load CD's, etc.

What's the big deal when the games sold through digital distribution should be much cheaper to buy by default?
That there's what we call "free market." I think everyone was a bit disappointed when they saw that games were still the same price on Steam, but obviously it hasn't affected it's appeal. I'd say it's so for 2 reasons: First (and most importantly), it doesn't matter how much it costs them. All that matters is what the market will pay. And obviously people don't mind paying the same price for convenience and added features. Second is that publishers wouldn't sign up w/ Steam if they knew that the prices would be undercutting their other outlets and sabotaging their other deals.

until Valve decides that you were cheating or banned your account by accident. Good luck trying to play any of your games ...
Never heard of this happening. Steam bans are pretty rare, and you've got to do something pretty F'd up to get banned. If you scour enough boards I'm sure you'll find someone whining about being banned for no reason, but I guarantee you they were a "1337 h4Xor!!!" who just got caught. Just d/l the games and play them and you'll never have a problem.

Do the words : "First Time Right" mean anything to you? Besides ... how many patches did UT have and was it really that difficult to be notified of them ? Heck ... they've got in-game patch-announcements these days.
Name a single PC game worth playing that's never been patched. Just one. Doesn't happen. Is it "difficult" to patch? No, but it's one more thing I don't want to deal with. But with Steam you never even lift a finger; it's all automatic.

Edit: No, strike that. I just looked and I have 56 games through Steam. So if I want to keep them all up to date, that's 56 different websites I've gotta check, and 56 different downloads to patch each one in due time. F that - let Steam handle it for me.

Seriously ... isn't MSN or Skype good enough? great ... yet another VoIP/IM-system to add to the dozen already available. Why can't people stick to just one instead?
No, MSN and Skpe aren't good enough. Mainly b/c not all my gaming friends are on them (they ARE on Steam, however), and their status doesn't change in those clients when they jump into a game. MSN will never tell you "UserX is now online playing Left 4 Dead. Click here to join." And if I IM someone on any of those clients when they're playing, they'll never see it. I'd love for everyone to use the same client/service. Good luck with that.

btw : if off-line were a real option for Steam-contaminated games then why do all such games list 'internet-connection' as a minimum requirement? Steam effectively loses any 'plug&play'-advantage as soon as you can not connect on-line.
A connection is required for install and initial validation. After that you can go offline. And if you live in a world so devoid of Net access, how did you manage to post here? *scratches head*

What use is Steam if it succeeds in fragmenting the already tiny pc-community even further? Unless it does allow you to see 'non-Steam' friends playing etc ... which I doubt.
On the contrary, I think it's uniting the PC market as everyone is gravitating to this single framework for game distribution, multiplayer, and community. And yes, it does allow you to see 'non-Steam' friends. If they d/l the client and add non-Steam games to their games list, I'll see when they're online and it'll tell me when they're "Online, playing non-Steam game <game name>."

But hey, if you're so opposed to it, then don't use it. Problem solved.
 
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MeepZero

ph34r t3h m33p
Feb 4, 2003
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So I'm kinda confused here still.

Does this mean Epic is kicking Gamespy to the curb and replacing the backend with Steam? Or are we just registering our keys on steam here?
 

Sir_Brizz

Administrator
Staff member
Feb 3, 2000
26,020
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So I'm kinda confused here still.

Does this mean Epic is kicking Gamespy to the curb and replacing the backend with Steam? Or are we just registering our keys on steam here?
For now, the online subsystems in UT3 will continue to use Gamespy.
 

Hunter

BeyondUnreal Newsie
Aug 20, 2001
7,417
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...Behind You...
www.unrealfans.com
Yeah ... except when you happen to buy the game before the 'official' releasedate.
And then there's the time you need to wait before the game is 'validated'.
Plug&Play ? Nothing beats a console.(period)
PC's have always beaten consoles over anything, so what you have to install a game and on Steam it "validates" so do legal copies of console games. And you also have far more loading screens in console games.
What's the big deal when the games sold through digital distribution should be much cheaper to buy by default ?
Especially when it is a given that 'real' games have a margin of 50% ...

Wrong, real games have much smaller margins than 50%, a lot smaller. The £4 or so difference in the UK is purely to run the shop its being sold in.

Do the words : "First Time Right" mean anything to you ?
Besides ... how many patches did UT have and was it really that difficult to be notified of them ?
Heck ... they've got in-game patch-announcements these days.
Yeah but an in-game annoucement means you have to exit the game, apply the patch and go back in, why not just have it patched before you can go in?
I guess I should be asking 'what are friends and why would I want them?' ;)
Seriously ... isn't MSN or Skype good enough ?
I've never given a *beep* as far as game-statistics and other e-penises are concerned, so I'm not sure why it is interesting to see the stats of your friends.
does MSN or Skype show you the server your friend is playing in? Pop-up ingame and tell you about a message? allow you to join your friend on the same server?

btw : if off-line were a real option for Steam-contaminated games then why do all such games list 'internet-connection' as a minimum requirement ?
depends on the game, most require an internet connection for activation.

Steam effectively loses any 'plug&play'-advantage as soon as you can not connect on-line.
// ---
What use is Steam if it succeeds in fragmenting the already tiny pc-community even further ?
Unless it does allow you to see 'non-Steam' friends playing etc ... which I doubt.

How is steam fragmenting the community even more if it's brings multiple games together which equals bring multiple people together, just like Xbox Live?
 

StreetPreacher

New Member
Mar 10, 2001
99
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I bought UT3 through Impulse. It cost 10 bucks more, but I don't have to log in to play it. I just get paranoid that if I can't get an internet connection I won't be able to play steam purchased games.
Hate to break it to ya bud, but you spent an extra $10 for nothing. Steam does the exact same thing; lets you play w/o a connection and download & install on other systems just by logging on.

@StalwartUK:No, Steam is not mandatory for UT3.
 

KaiserWarrior

Flyin' High
Aug 5, 2008
800
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Yeah ... except when you happen to buy the game before the 'official' releasedate.
And then there's the time you need to wait before the game is 'validated'.
Plug&Play ? Nothing beats a console.(period)

So... when you buy the game before it's available, you can't play it until it's available. Yeah, that pretty much makes sense. Validation time is a shorter time than driving to the store to pick it up. Consoles don't have any real advantage here -- oh yeah, they also cost more. $60 for no reason whatsoever, because the exact same game costs $50 on a PC.


What's the big deal when the games sold through digital distribution should be much cheaper to buy by default ?
Especially when it is a given that 'real' games have a margin of 50% ...

The big deal is, in the case of Valve, supporting them directly and not any third-party publishers. And really, you're going to complain about paying the same price you pay everywhere else?

As an FYI, Valve does not charge you for bandwidth use on Steam. Consider, if you will, how large their pipeline has to be to serve up multi-megabit download speeds to every user with the appropriate connection, and what it costs to run that pipeline. Places like Filefront charge you for that kind of speed. You can certainly argue that it's built-in to the game price -- it most certainly is. But it keeps them no more expensive than retail, and in many cases cheaper.

And try finding some of the old classics they sell on the cheap in a retail store. You think you're going to find Psychonauts in your local Game$top?


until Valve decides that you were cheating or banned your account by accident.
Good luck trying to play any of your games ...

You might try actually using the service instead of complaining based on heresay. A VAC-Ban does not disable your account. It prevents you from playing multiplayer on VAC-Enabled servers, much like any other anti-cheating system. You can still play your games as much as you want, and play on non-VAC servers.


Do the words : "First Time Right" mean anything to you ?
Besides ... how many patches did UT have and was it really that difficult to be notified of them ?
Heck ... they've got in-game patch-announcements these days.

Every PC game ever made has had at least one patch. Steam streamlines patch delivery so you don't have to go hunting for it. And again -- multi-megabit pipeline at no cost. It is a superior system for delivering one of the necessary evils of the PC gaming world, patches.

Also recall that some of these patches are bonus content packs.


I guess I should be asking 'what are friends and why would I want them?' ;)
Seriously ... isn't MSN or Skype good enough ?
I've never given a *beep* as far as game-statistics and other e-penises are concerned, so I'm not sure why it is interesting to see the stats of your friends.

Some people do care, and for people that don't (like me), it doesn't affect them. Additionally, having in-game messaging/voip is more convenient than having to tab out, or manage a separate program. Some people prefer outside solutions (vent/ts), but again -- the option is there, and it doesn't affect you if you don't want it.


btw : if off-line were a real option for Steam-contaminated games then why do all such games list 'internet-connection' as a minimum requirement ?

For activation. And off-line mode works just fine after you've activated it once. If you don't have the 56K modem necessary to activate the game on steam once, I highly doubt you have the hardware or the money to be purchasing the game in the first place. There are alternatives to Steam, and the only games that absolutely require Steam are valve games and a very small handful of others. The kind of people that buy Steam-required games are the kind of people that meet the internet connection requirement for Steam.

In fact, you're posting on an internet forum. Looks to me like you have internet access to activate your game once, and then set it to offline mode.
 

EggSuckingLeech

New Member
Jul 27, 2004
58
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0
I would like to move my files from the current default location to under my Steam folder. Has someone actually tried this and does it work if I simply move:

c:/program files/Unreal Tournament 3 to
c:/steam/steam apps/common

and then I add the game into Steam and let it do its thing? Thanks.