Important Steam Information

[CSN NewsBot]

Alfred has alerted the HLDS mailing lists the timeline for Steam Final release. There is a ton of valuable information in his e-mail, so click below and get to readin'!



Steam will be available tomorrow at 11am PST here.[break="Alfred's e-mail"]

Timeline:

We will be releasing the dedicated server binaries later today. Tomorrow we will be releasing the client. In a couple of weeks we will make this update mandatory.



What is it:

This release is converting all users to Steam. When you install the client you will need to have a valid HL or CStrike CD-Key. Dedicated servers will need to create accounts but will NOT need to enter a cd-key. At no point will anyone have to enter credit card details. In the future there will be the option to purchase the "Platinum Pack" via Steam if you don't currently own a copy.



This release consists of:

Counter-Strike 1.6, Half-Life, TeamFortress Classic, DMC, Ricochet and Day-of-Defeat 1.0.



What changed:

Linux Dedicated Server

Dedicated Server

Team Fortress Classic

Counter-Strike



Steam Issues:

Q: Can I use Steam with a modem?

A: Yes, steam will work for modem users.



Q: Is WON going away?

A: Yes, once we have completed the rollover we will slowly remove parts of the WON system as they become obsolete.



Q: Has the net code been changed since the beta?

A: No, apart from small bug fixes.



Q: Will my existing 3rd party programs work (i.e Admin Mod, CDeath, ...).

A: In general yes, all existing 3rd party programs can still work under Steam. The individual authors of each program will need to inform their users of any install directory or configuration changes.



Q: Do I need to alter my firewall setup?

A: Steam requires some extra ports to be opened for outgoing access, read this page for details.



Q: What happens to my current banlist?

A: Everyone will be getting assigned a new Steam ID and it will not be possible to convert old banlists.

[Lestat]

no mention of the lans w/o internet question... ; (

[Simplex]

fix those links, ritchey

[NORsAIRius]

This release consists of:

Counter-Strike 1.6, Half-Life, TeamFortress Classic, DMC, Ricochet and Day-of-Defeat 1.0.

[cHic0!]

1.6 is still buggy

[|)3stroyer]

Its in beta, geez. No one seems to realize that beta means it isnt done yet. Thats why they have it, to fix the bugs. When 1.6 is official they will have fixed the bugs



And yay for updates!

[FAF]

The LAN question, according to the Steam FAQ, is answered by, basically, "even at a LAN you still need each person to authenticate by the Internet". Ie, 99.99% of the LANs I attend, in the future, I won't be able to play CS at. I spose at least that means I can spend more time downloading pr0n :/

[-:Nighthawk:-]

Good info here. And yeah, Ritchey, fix those links!



Anyway, rejoice all ye banned, you are free to revisit your old servers.

[Take13|Invader Zim]

i'm not one to flame valve, but this.... well, this all basically means that any lan party is screwed if they don't have an internet connection. brilliant. no cs1.6 or any other steam enabled game. absolutely brilliant. i mean, we finally get official bots, and now, when your internet connection is unavailable (isp down, modem broke, you're on a ferry boat) and you still can't use the bots when you can't play online.

btw, that broken link points to

http://www.steampowered.com/index.php?a...5726,98098300

[orphy]

Delicious. I guess I can say goodbye to 1.5.

[hitnrun]

Yay, I get to ban people all over again. I actually enjoy doing this. Nothing more gratifying that banning someone while they're in the middle of saying "stfu noob, i'm cal-i".



Also, quite a few mods use WonIDs in their programs, this will be interesting....



What does he mean a 'couple of weeks' to be mandatory, give me an exact date and time!

[DoTheDrew14]

i just have to say i hate valve now. this means you have to play with these retarded riot shields and stupid looking models and new buy menu and new recoils. no more 1.5 i predict 100,000,000 people quit cs tomorrow. this is the worst day for cs of all time

[FLeK0]

waldo from the DoD team said the faq about LAN is outdated.

we'll see stuff tomorrow

and why isnt it cs1.6 BETA BETA BETA this time?

[Noldster]

i know this is somewhat off-topic, but where do the cs maps go? i dun wanna download all the custom maps all over again. anyone know where the maps folder is?

[-:Nighthawk:-]

A couple is technically two, but I'm guessing they'll probably see how hard-hit their content servers are, and wait until the highest demand slacks off before making it mandatory.



In theory, though, this should be the last time they have to worry much about their bandwidth issues for new releases. The whole theory with Steam is that it can silently download the new updates and have them just sitting there, unbeknownst to you for days on end. Then we just wait for VALVe to decide enough people have it, flip the switch, and update the game for everyone at the same time.



I'm also curious about the LAN thing. I mean, making everyone authenticate made sense while Steam was in beta, as otherwise a ton of people could download it for free, never own HL or CS, and be able to play on LAN whenever they wanted. But now that it's official, I would assume that after creating an initial Steam ID, we'll all be able to play with our installs on LANs with no 'net connection. I could be wrong, but that would make more sense.



Otherwise, I'd recommend you download a copy of the CS1.5 dedicated server and the CS1.5 full mod install right now, burn them on a CD, and keep them around for LAN parties.