Does Bulletstorm PC Use GFWL?

  • 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.

Sir_Brizz

Administrator
Staff member
Feb 3, 2000
26,020
83
48
Well, I specifically mentioned Steam because they had a huge push and tons of marketing when they put UT3 on Steam. It was a top seller for a couple of months as it went on sale and had free weekends for a while. I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that their sales at that time peaked and far surpassed their total previous sales.
 

Kyllian

if (Driver == Bot.Pawn); bGTFO=True;
Aug 24, 2002
3,575
0
36
45.64.294
kyllian.deviantart.com
While Steam is patching you can still use your computer. This isn't true of GFWL (and maybe not even Battle.net, I have no idea on that one). You launch the game, the game starts downloading an update and you are still stuck in the game. If it's a large patch, your computer is, essentially, out of commission for several minutes to several hours.
I mentioned earlier that you can window the game and the DL will still come down
You're not going to be able to do much that's resource-dependant, but you'll at least be able to surf the net
 

elmuerte

Master of Science
Jan 25, 2000
1,936
0
36
42
the Netherlands
elmuerte.com
While Steam is patching you can still use your computer.

Good luck trying to use your computer to play an other steam game. Even "background downloads" in steam pause when you start a game.

All these auto patching systems are a pain. When I want to play a game I want to play it now, not in 15 to 30 minutes. at least GFWL allowed me to ignore a patch for now, or at least, it did last time (not sure what game that was). But Steam is quite often in the way of a quick game :mad:


Anyway back on topic and more important issues, will this GFWL crap require activation and logging in? Or can I enjoy the (SP) game without depending on MS' slow services?
 
Last edited:

RoadKillGrill

Got Lead?
Dec 11, 2004
154
1
18
rahkogen.net
Good luck trying to use your computer to play an other steam game. Even "background downloads" in steam pause when you start a game.

All these auto patching systems are a pain. When I want to play a game I want to play it now, not in 15 to 30 minutes. at least GFWL allowed me to ignore a patch for now, or at least, it did last time (not sure what game that was). But Steam is quite often in the way of a quick game :mad:


Anyway back on topic and more important issues, will this GFWL crap require activation and logging in? Or can I enjoy the (SP) game without depending on MS' slow services?

SP only games on steam allow you to play even while dling, tho really patches takes only a few minutes typically. Steams DL servers are wicked fast 90% of the time.

Auto updates can be turned off on steam per game via properties ( no global option but good enough).

Except for Fallout3 all GFWL games I've played require one good login to activate and you need to be logged in to make game saves. It occasionally loses saves and game activation is tired to the system and not to the account. Its very stupid as reformat and reinstall will require putting in the key and all that junk in again.
 

Capt.Toilet

Good news everyone!
Feb 16, 2004
5,826
3
38
41
Ottawa, KS
All these auto patching systems are a pain. When I want to play a game I want to play it now, not in 15 to 30 minutes. at least GFWL allowed me to ignore a patch for now, or at least, it did last time (not sure what game that was). But Steam is quite often in the way of a quick game :mad:

Do what Roadkill says about the patching or just pop it in offline mode. Seriously it is really annoying when people don't do research before nagging.
 

Sir_Brizz

Administrator
Staff member
Feb 3, 2000
26,020
83
48
Usually on Steam I just alt-esc out of my game and hit resume then go back and play the game. Putting GFWL games into windowed mode isn't much of a solution. There is no possible way to play another game while a GFWL game is patching.
 

elmuerte

Master of Science
Jan 25, 2000
1,936
0
36
42
the Netherlands
elmuerte.com
SP only games on steam allow you to play even while dling, tho really patches takes only a few minutes typically. Steams DL servers are wicked fast 90% of the time.

That's probably only a few games that allow that, because I've never been able to play a game while something for it was being downloaden.

Auto updates can be turned off on steam per game via properties ( no global option but good enough).

Have you even tried that option? As soon as Steam knows about an update for the game it prevents you from playing it. Even when in offline mode it doesn't allow you to play an outdated game.

Or maybe that has changed since I switched ISPs last year. With an unreliable ISP you'll get to experience how **** Steam is. (GFWL is probably just a ****, but I didn't play any GFWL games during that period).

Do what Roadkill says about the patching or just pop it in offline mode. Seriously it is really annoying when people don't do research before nagging.

Oh boohoo. That sure has stopped anyone from nagging about Gamespy, GFWL, or Impulse. And for your information, I knew about that option, and as I mentioned above, it works like Ubisoft DRM (i.e. like utter crap).
 
Last edited:

Northrawn

New Member
Feb 21, 2009
571
0
0
A friend of mine installed GFWL for a game he wanted to play and wasn't able to launch it for one or two days because it couldn't connect to the web.

We tried it all from port forwarding, reading through forums, etc...

Then it turned out that the localized, translated version of GFWL had one dialog window that was too small (and not resizeable) for the text and the last sentence or so was cut off. It simply wasn't displayed and so he didn't get the info what to do to go online to activate the game.

Sounds like a typical Microsoft product to me. And EPIC shouldn't have gone that way.
 

RoadKillGrill

Got Lead?
Dec 11, 2004
154
1
18
rahkogen.net
Have you even tried that option? As soon as Steam knows about an update for the game it prevents you from playing it. Even when in offline mode it doesn't allow you to play an outdated game.

You got me there, I never tried the feature thought I assume that the game will stop working if you select no updates AFTER it started downloading already as it has started updating files.

Then I started thinking about it and realized that with the exception of TF2 and Killing Floor ( both pretty much multiplier only games) I don't have many games that update often. Both those take minutes to update on my connection and dl at my advertised speed usually. During that time I'm usually browsing checking websites or already talking to a friend on steam trying to figure out the "hard" questions like what game you want to play right now and what server ;p.

Multiplayer games skipping a patch is not an option, usually if you want to play online you need the newest patch. There is the halfway state immediately after a new patch where servers need to update for clients can connect but this is only a few hours max.

Single player games do not patch often, usually 1-3 in its lifetime max. Day one patch on release day is normal these days :-/
 

shoptroll

Active Member
Jan 21, 2004
2,226
2
38
40
Good luck trying to use your computer to play an other steam game. Even "background downloads" in steam pause when you start a game.

I don't get the issue here. If it's not downloading a patch for a game you're currently trying to play is there a reason to be annoyed it paused a download?

All these auto patching systems are a pain. When I want to play a game I want to play it now, not in 15 to 30 minutes. at least GFWL allowed me to ignore a patch for now, or at least, it did last time (not sure what game that was). But Steam is quite often in the way of a quick game :mad:

On the flip side, I leave my computer online to run Folding@Home and seed OCRemix and Eclipse torrents while I'm at work. The fact that Steam will automatically pull in updates for my installed games without me being there means I don't have to wait 15-30 minutes to play my games when I get home. GFWL doesn't do this.
 

Kyllian

if (Driver == Bot.Pawn); bGTFO=True;
Aug 24, 2002
3,575
0
36
45.64.294
kyllian.deviantart.com
I kinda like how Steam pauses updates while you're in a game and resumes once you exit and most times the updates download so fast I don't even really notice it working in the background
 

GreatEmerald

Khnumhotep
Jan 20, 2008
4,042
1
0
Lithuania
But really, no DRM is the best solution all around. Elemental has no DRM, it had a terrible launch and now its sales are skyrocketing because the developers are actually doing things to improve the game. Plus the consumers don't get restrictive DRMs and such. And to top it all off pirating it is not even worth it to begin with because retail consumers get support, DLCs (for free, as it was always supposed to be) and extra items which are simply unobtainable otherwise. And then you have the freedom to do whatever you like - place it in Steam, use it on Impulse, use it with XFire, use a patching tool, download the patches yourself, reinstall the game whenever you like etc. In the end, everyone are happy.
 
Last edited:

Miko

Miko No Pants
Jul 2, 2004
242
0
16
37
Flopping in bed
I just had a thought here. What if this is neither an Epic or People can fly but an EA decision. Remember that EA's name is in this too.
 

Grasshopper

New Member
Jan 21, 2008
121
0
0
Upstate NY
Threads are still being closed at the Epic Games Forums without comments.

MEH.

I was gonna give them the chance and get this game, but it's this whole attitude that I am against so you've just lost me.

Enjoy your power trip while you can Flak.

Closing threads, warnings and being banned were standard practice on Epic forums after UT3 released and gamers complained about it. Say anything in those forums that might hurt their feelings....or sales and there will be a reaction from Epic. They won't fix the problem. They will fix the forum. They own both.
 

Sir_Brizz

Administrator
Staff member
Feb 3, 2000
26,020
83
48
But really, no DRM is the best solution all around. Elemental has no DRM, it had a terrible launch and now its sales are skyrocketing because the developers are actually doing things to improve the game. Plus the consumers don't get restrictive DRMs and such. And to top it all off pirating it is not even worth it to begin with because retail consumers get support, DLCs (for free, as it was always supposed to be) and extra items which are simply unobtainable otherwise. And then you have the freedom to do whatever you like - place it in Steam, use it on Impulse, use it with XFire, use a patching tool, download the patches yourself, reinstall the game whenever you like etc. In the end, everyone are happy.
Elemental and skyrocketing sales do not belong in the same sentence together. If anything, that game is a stark reminder that stands along with UT3 that no game can be resurrected from a shot to the back of the skull at launch.

Stardock has yet to prove that Impulse is worth anything. Every game that has been released exclusively on there has had massive multiplayer problems and has never recovered.

Also, everything that was "exclusive" to paying customers in Elemental was cracked within a few hours, plus all the people that pirated the game were playing on legit servers. Fun!
 

GreatEmerald

Khnumhotep
Jan 20, 2008
4,042
1
0
Lithuania
Nope, they are skyrocketing. Those are old news, concerning v1.0. Elemental v1.1 is a lot more successful:
http://www.impulsedriven.com/news/2271/Impulse_Weekly_Top_10

And I'm not talking about Impulse here. I'm talking about no DRM. Sure, you can crack anything, and that's the whole point - since you can do that, why bother making your customers' lives more difficult? Besides, the extra things you get is in itself a very good protection from piracy. For example, support forum/ticket subscription. I am yet to hear anyone having cracked Invision Power Board support forums.
 

Sir_Brizz

Administrator
Staff member
Feb 3, 2000
26,020
83
48
Nope, they are skyrocketing. Those are old news, concerning v1.0. Elemental v1.1 is a lot more successful:
http://www.impulsedriven.com/news/2271/Impulse_Weekly_Top_10
How does the game being the top seller on Impulse prove anything? For all we know, the top seller sold 1,000 units last week. Also, I think the game was 50% off during the two weeks listed.
And I'm not talking about Impulse here. I'm talking about no DRM. Sure, you can crack anything, and that's the whole point - since you can do that, why bother making your customers' lives more difficult? Besides, the extra things you get is in itself a very good protection from piracy. For example, support forum/ticket subscription. I am yet to hear anyone having cracked Invision Power Board support forums.
I agree with you that DRM is mostly pointless. I understand why people decide to use it (one person not pirating your game because it's too hard could be worth it, depending on how difficult it was to implement). However, I'm a big believer that screwing up your customer experience in the name of combating piracy is the worst possible thing you could do.