'Official' Half-Life 2 Thread. Do Not Create New Threads (NO SPOILERS)

[Dimensio]

Originally Posted by tbaher

now my question is this: do i need to deny all users or just "administrators" or "system"

I had to do it for "Everyone", because my main playing account is not an Administrator-level account (because only an idiot runs as Admin all the time )

I did not change it for "RESTRICTED" or "SYSTEM".

[Mookers]

Originally Posted by Dimensio

Hmm. Apparently there is a way to get around the CD check by ripping an image via BlindWrite, with a SecuROM 5 ini file. Unfortuntely, for some reason BlindWrite does not like my DVD-ROM drive, and as such it bails before it even begins extracting my DVD image.

Perhaps someone else could have better luck pulling a DVD image via BlindWrite?

Instructions (in German), were found here http://forum.copybase.ch/de/index.php?showtopic=3526

Apparently it also involves tweaking the registry to hide Daemon Tools from the SecuROM check.

I have never used BLindwrite before. Does this method only work with the DVD version of this game? or can I do it with my 5 cd retail copy??

[GLH]

Originally Posted by GLH

Can anyone tell me which files i have to store on a DVD+R, so i don't have to redownload it, when my PC crashs?

So now i found out, there is a "Backup files" option in the Steam-Menu (right-click on the game title).
But when i do that, Steam tells me "Half-Life 2 kann erst gesichert werden, wenn die Aktualisierung abgeschlossen wurde."
(english: Half-Life 2 cannot be backed up until it has finished updating.)

Which actualization/update?
When will it be ready?
I can play the game without problems!
How can i tell Steam "update now"?

PS: It's a very cool game!

[Dimensio]

Originally Posted by Mookers

I have never used BLindwrite before. Does this method only work with the DVD version of this game? or can I do it with my 5 cd retail copy??

The .ini file linked at the forum is just for SecuROM on DVD. If you could find a similar .ini file for CD-ROM, you could probably use it for the first disc.

I'm still trying to figure out how to make BlindWrite work with my DVD-ROM drive :\

[doctor_kaz]

I guess that I'll ask this question here since it's as good a place as any....

Is it impossible to transfer ownership of this game? I want to sell my copy as soon as I am done playing it through. Or am I permanently stuck with it?

[TRICHOMEZ]

Two Scenarios:
1. My friend has no Internet connection, how can he set things up so he can play offline?

2. I want to be able to play at a LAN party and they won't have an internet connection there, how can we all play offline?

Answer:
There are several ways to do this that will work for players without Internet access as well as for LAN Parties where there won't be internet access.

Note:
You have to be online somewhere at least once to perform all of the following steps.

The first step here is to perform the latest update and capture it. This is very important to make sure you get the latest content and bug fixes. Everyone that will be participating at the LAN event must have the latest update!

Easiest way
Bring the computer that will be playing offline to an available internet connection at a friend's house, school or perhaps business. Log into the account and do all the updates, make sure it all works.

Then "exit" (do not log out!) from Steam, go to the Steam folder and make a copy of the clientregistry.blob file (just in case). Write-protect the copy (mark it Read/Only).

Physically unplug the computer from the internet, start up Steam and let it fall back into offline mode. Make sure the computer will play both Listenserver (LAN), client and the single player ok, then exit from Steam again.

WIN98
If this is a WIN98 computer, it will act like it's stuck updating and not logging in, JUST WAIT! It will take about 90 seconds for it to finally figure out that there isn't an active internet connection then it will prompt you to retry or go into offline mode.

The computer is now ready to play offline at home unless he accidentally logs out ...

If he does this he won't be able to play unless he verifies online again >> or << exits from Steam, then copies the copy of the clientregistry.blob file back which will restore his offline play.

NOTE: MAKE SURE THE ACTIVE ClientRegistry.blob FILE IS NOT WRITE PROTECTED!

It certainly wouldn't hurt to burn a CD of the working offline installation for him.

Next Easiest way
Do all the above on a different computer, IE: install Steam, log into his account, do all the updates, exit from Steam, make the copy of the Clientregistry.blob file, start up and let it fall back into offline mode, make sure it all works, then exit again.

Then burn a CD of the install and take the CD to the remote computer and copy the install there.

Very Important! Make sure the files are placed on the exact same Disk and Path!

LAN Party Setup:
Clients
All clients that are going to play on the LAN should have unique Steam Accounts. You might also have to assign unique clientports to each computer if they are going to play online as well as offline. Please refer to this FAQ for help in configuring multiple clients behind a router.

Most home DLS and cable connections will only be able to support 6 or 8 players on a 128K uplink and 12 to 16 players on a 256K uplink, assuming that they are using a reasonable rate (7500) and cl_cmdrate (30) settings. You might have to lower the cl_cmdrate to 20.

The Server
The first step is to decide if the server is going to be a Listen Server or a Dedicated Server.

If this is a small party (4 players or less) just for fun, then a Listen server will probably be the easiest way to host a quick party, but it's important to remember that the player who's computer is running the Server has an advantage over all the other players.

If there are going to be more players, or if the players are more serious players and want a level playing field, then a Dedicated Server is the best way to go, and assigning a computer to run only the Dedicated Server (no clients) is the very best.

If this is for a Stand-Alone Dedicated Server, be sure to get the latest Server update.

If family and friends want to watch, then it is a good idea to set up a couple of extra computers for spectators and run the HLTV spectator proxy.

The first requirement is that you need a 10/100 switch or router for setting up the core network. This can be part of a router, and you can daisy-chain several switches to connect everyone else if you need more ports.

The key here is to use that one switch or router (we'll call it switch #1) to join up to 4 additional switches (assuming it's a 4-port switch) which then can support up to 16 players (at 4 ports each). This way, there is one central switch/router and up to four other switches.

If there is internet access available, then the central router can connect everyone on the network for authentication and web browsing if they need to.

For best performance, plug the Game Server into the central router or switch, that way it will have 1/2 the delay to everyone (you'll only have 3 ports then to connect additional switches to). It's a good idea to make sure the Server has a 100mbit Ethernet adapter.

NOTE: Do not use mixed ethernet speeds with "dumb hubs" they can't handle it. If you have a hub and not a switch, you'll have to make sure that all ethernet connections on the network are all 10MBit only.

Speeding up Fallback into Offline Play:
It's actually quite easy to make Steam fall back into offline mode with almost no delay.

1. go to network properties
2. right-click on your internet connection "local area connection"
3. disable it
4. start Steam - it only takes about 2 seconds to pop up to the start in offline mode.
5. then re-enable your connection and you can play on LAN.

One warning, XP might get upset if you disable your NIC and think that you are changing the hardware in your computer (happens when you re-boot, so enable the NIC before rebooting!).

XP identifies 7 devices on the system when it is installed and if the identity of those devices changes too much then XP will complain and may require you to re-activate.

[TRICHOMEZ]

Originally Posted by doctor_kaz

I guess that I'll ask this question here since it's as good a place as any....

Is it impossible to transfer ownership of this game? I want to sell my copy as soon as I am done playing it through. Or am I permanently stuck with it?

YES YOU CAN TRANSFER....IF YOU REMOVE THE ORIGINAL FROM YOUR PC........YOU CAN GET ALL THIS INFO FROM THE VALVE WEBSITE.

[Luciel]

TRICHOMEZ, it says in www.play.com *you need access to the internet to be able to play this game* so im guessing theres no way of playing it without having to activate it through the internet.

[vib]

Originally Posted by TRICHOMEZ

YES YOU CAN TRANSFER....IF YOU REMOVE THE ORIGINAL FROM YOUR PC........YOU CAN GET ALL THIS INFO FROM THE VALVE WEBSITE.

Could you be a little more specific? A link or an e-mail address perhaps?

[GLH]

Originally Posted by doctor_kaz

Is it impossible to transfer ownership of this game? I want to sell my copy as soon as I am done playing it through. Or am I permanently stuck with it?

In the forum at steampowered.custhelp.com is a thread with this question:
Can I transfer my CD Key to another Steam Account?
The Answer is:
Transferring CDKeys from one account to another is not supported at this time.

[GLH]

Originally Posted by GLH

So now i found out, there is a "Backup files" option in the Steam-Menu (right-click on the game title).
But when i do that, Steam tells me "Half-Life 2 kann erst gesichert werden, wenn die Aktualisierung abgeschlossen wurde."
(english: Half-Life 2 cannot be backed up until it has finished updating.)

Which actualization/update?
When will it be ready?
I can play the game without problems!
How can i tell Steam "update now"?

PS: It's a very cool game!

Ok, now everything is fine.
I let my PC online (and also Steam) over the night.
Now i can use the "Backup-Files" option.

[ill_mefs]

Sorry to bring up wat may seem like old news but i bought a copy of half-life 2 on 16/11 and took it home eagerly awaiting wat adventures Valve had instore for me in the perspective of Morgan Freeman. I was angered to observe that an online activation system had been put in place and before the 16/11 i only really used the internet at home to get the occasional no cd patch from gcw. I wasn't too angry at this point though because i had bought the game with hard earned cash and i'm not planning on selling it. The thing that has really been annoying me for the past 4 days is that i cannot login into the steam system to create an account and activate this eagerly awaited title. Apparently the high demand for activation across the world has brought the servers to a somewhat grinding halt. Some people apparently have activated the game ok but, call me paranoid, i think my internet connection at 36k has been given lowest priority and the faster DSL connections have had better luck connecting. Even if this isn't true for a hardcore Half-life fan such as myself, having Half-Life 2 sitting in my room that i have paid for and by all means should be playing right now is driving me crazy, and the prospect of playing the game is fading away to a distant dream each day. The reason I write to tell you all this is because I just wanted to say:

**** VIVENDI AND ALL THOSE ****HEADS WHO ****ED UP THE RELEASE OF THIS ****ING GAME. I SPENT £40 ON THIS GAME WHEN I COULD HAVE JUST DOWNLOADED AN ILLEGAL COPY. I THOUGHT I WOULD SUPPORT VALVE AND ALL OF ITS TALENT BUT NOW I SEE THAT THEY ARE ALL A BUNCH OF PRICKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Grumpy]

@ill mefs
Firstly I do understand your frustrations! If you only have a 36k connection you could be in for a long wait! There are many people I have read about who have a 1gig connection and some of them have waited for a few hours! Have you tried leaving it connected all night? I may very well take you this long just to activate it! Once it is activated you will be able to play it without the need to be connected to the Internet. But it will take some time to activate on a 36k! Sorry to have to tell you this but bare with it as it is worth the wait!

[JoyBoy]

Yep, ill mefs is a hard to the core Half-Life fan. Its clear for everyone to see. This aint a forum to vent. Go piss and moan on the official forums

[TRICHOMEZ]

Originally Posted by dalver

Move my post if you need to. I just hope someone notices this...

Apart from the game itself I notice that nobody picks up the issue of the internet activation. There is a big world out there that is not USA, UK, Germany or France (this is probably a shock to the developers) but "unfortunately" true. And this big world out there filled with people and gamers don't have a superfast connection to the net, many of them don't have an internet connection at all. Many of them don't know that PC stands for "Internet Machine". It would seem to me that the developer-thought behind this is: "if you don't have an internet connection then you probably can't afford the legal copy anyway, so you don't get to play" or "you have a code on your games box and with it you can download a decryption key from us, if you can't do that, then you are a thief and we will have nothing to do with you". Spit in the face to poor people and people not residing in the beforementioned countries, by the developers.

Valve/Steam/VU Games basically say: This game can only be played by people with access to internet. I ask you: Where will this lead? Will games in the future be made specifically for countries with a certain BMP? For people of a certain sexual preference? Certain skin colour? Religion?

Am I going to far and off topic? Maybe, maybe not.

By all means, copy protection, yes. Invest and make a disc that can't be copied. Do whatever but don't make the internet a requirement for a singleplayer game.

What an internet-online-account-copy-protection means to me is that the pirates and hackers and crack programs will need to change direction and also become better and more specialised, meaning the internet security will drastically drop. As it is now hackers are hacking cd-s and copy-protection-specific programs not online databases, at least not to crack a mere game for a no-cd crack - which will need to be done in order to crack this sort of “future” protection.

Games for me are meant to be – p l a y e d - and enjoyed, for relaxation or recreation, not to be bartered like an economical investment... a pity that commercialisation kills yet another form of relaxation/entertainment. A low down, dirty, pity!

You couldn't have said it any better.....it's a scary thing when I start to think about consoles again....I'll feel like I'm going back in time like 6 yrs with a console, but, it might be worth it with the @$##%%$## pc companies put us through.....between unfinished crap that's released.....needing an internet connection to download 20 patches by the time these morons get it right...and now protection using online authentication......wtf......I had to wait 12hrs before I could use the offline feature.....but you know what, I figured this bs out......mf'z........I no longer need your steam bs to play offline.....look and ye shall find.