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Based on what did you draw that conclusion? Valve have stated it will be
possible to buy HL2 in the store and play without internet connectivity at
all as far as the singleplayer game is concerned. In other words, HL2
single player will be all over the net a few hours after its release. As
far as multiplayer is concerned Steam replaces the old system for
authenticating so no real news there as far as I can tell.
The single-player game is very likely to be playable AS SHIPPED
without any on-line authentication. For practical reasons........You
buy a game, bring it home and can't play it at all because the
authentication servers are full with the thousands of other who
bought it on the same day ? Valve are not that naive....... !!!
Authentication will obviously be required for Internet-play
and local-LAN authentication is still a ??
( Have you noticed that Valve is very closed-mouth about
the functional specification for Steam? Now that Steam has
been released to the public, the complete functional spec
for the public Steam release obviously exists and no doubt
has also been provided to other developers interested in
licensing the Steam technology. Anybody with a link to the
complete functional spec for Steam please post it here !
Can't find it on
www.steampowered.com. )
Steam connectivity gives Valve the ability to change all files at will
including the game .exe and any that deal with client authentication.
You may (?) be able to rip off the CD version as shipped, but
any patched, updated version including SP/ local-LAN, the hackers
will be screwed. The Steam download/authentication engine
will have taken over. How Steam will deal with the theft of
legitimate user-keys is not clear. ( The usual game returned-for-
exchange trick ). Can't use physical CD-validation of any sort,
since Steam is intended for download game-purchase, as well
as retail. May use a MS- XP style hardware probe scheme. If so,
should be very interesting for a re-install on a different or updated
HW configuration. MS can afford world-wide immediate telephone
support at 2AM for their pro products... but for a game, naw... !!
Even MS don't copy-protect their games that way, however they
don't download-sell them (yet) either.
And if you think that you can re-install the game at any time,
plus patch(es) from your local patch archives, forget it.The only
game update/patch mechanism announced by Valve is Steam
download...........Then re-authenticate after install. Should please
the non-broadband game purchaser a great deal.......
And should Valve/Steam ever go belly up, you may either be able
to play the original CDs just as they come (no Internet-play of
course) or use them as coasters. It is diifficult to see
how Valve could issue stand-alone patches without the risk
of piracy.......code download flexibility is the likely mechanism
which Valve will use to keep ahead of the pirates.
Valve may eventually provide a tool for the user can
automatically image, compress and store the Steam cache
together with the Steam auto-start, so that a re-install
on unchanged hardware would not require a massive
download. Would still need secure protection against
unauthorized duplication and distribution. Nothing
announced so far..........
Steam is a complete copy-protection/download-sales/
pay-for-play-capable game-distribution system. It does have superb
game-update capability and game-cheat protection including immediate
denial of service for persistent offenders. These bells and whistles
mask Steam's true intent as a business tool to ensure that developers
get the full revenue they deserve. However, its Achilles heel is that
it requires a broadband connection and vast server-capacity for
near-transparent operation. If Valve's intention is to serve the
broadband market only with their new games, they are right
on-the-money. If the majority of the immediate-future market for
Valve games is non-broadband, they may have shot themselves
through the foot or worse..........
John Lewis
