Cliffs of Dover: £8.75 at Just Flight till Tuesday 8th Nov

[DaveB]

OK Tony.. tks No, I wasn't sure it was going to be my cup of tea but as it was free, I looked into it. Having seen it needs 17gb of disc space.. I'd discounted the download on my 2mb BB. There's something comforting about holding a disc in your hands isn't there

ATB
DaveB

[Paul K]

Tony..

Sri to take this off track a little but you mention Steam.. what the hell is it? I have a free Batman game with my GTX560Ti and it mentions a Steam account. Is it a way to download stuff

ATB
DaveB

Its a DRM thing Dave. It started with Half Life, but quite a few games now require it, including the more recent Total War releases. Setting up an account is dead easy, and it also keeps your game updated so you always have the latest version and patches. Add-ons can also be purchased from their store. I can honestly say I've never had a moments bother with it, and after a couple of minutes playing, the fact that I am connected to Steam disappears from my mind. Yes you have to be connected to the internet to play the games, but its no worse than having to be connected to the internet for REX's weather updates when in FSX.

[DarrenL]

Also think of steam as a free online game backup service. Imagine you have a failure on the HDD you have your games and it it's saved games and such. If you get a new HDD install the steam client and logon you can not only recover your games but all the save games too so you can continue from where you left. You can also install steam to a 2nd Pc, a laptop perhaps and if you travel and get bored you can play your favourite game from where you left it, then continue on your desktop when you get home.

You don't have to install every game to your 2nd PC just what you choose.

It also does a thing called "verify game" so if you experience any problems it can run a check on the game files, if one is corrupt it will re-download the file. The old "put the FSX Acceleration disc in and repair" fix. But this does it without the tension of "but will it screw up my install?"

Any game you purchase through Steam (they often so sales) you can still burn to a disc as a backup if you want. If you uninstall a game on the Steam client to save HDD space on your machine it is still in your game list (greyed out) and can be re-activated later if you wish.

It's cloud gaming I suppose. Without the expense of paying for online storage

[tonymadge]

Well I agree on some points like having on line back up. However I don't like being connected to steam all the time it just doesn't sit right with me. Now to the product.... Well after loads of piddling about I got it working once I got my webroot firewall to accept it, like me it didn't like steam accessing the Internet all the time! Ages spent trying to get settings right so it did not look rubbish. Final thoughts on the few minutes I did get it running......don't bother it's a waste of money, no wonder they knocked it out cheap, I will hunt out CFS2 and reinstall it, much better in my view. Now time to see if I can get a refund and delete this disc and Internet hogging crap!

[DarrenL]

Well I agree on some points like having on line back up. However I don't like being connected to steam all the time it just doesn't sit right with me.

You don't have to be online all the time, you can use it when offline. Try starting a steam game with no internet connection and it'll ask you if you want to "start in offline mode". What it will do is sync with the online backup (save games) when you are next online.

[TSR2]

Steam is superb. Used it back in the days od HalfLife and it worked really well. I'm not really into IL2, saving my pennnies for a certain upcoming 146 and have just bought REX.

[DaveB]

Tks for that guys but forgive my dimness I take it you still have to download the game?

ATB
DaveB

[Paul K]

Dave, yes, you do...sort of. Take, for instance, Total War: Shogun 2. I bought the game as a boxed DVD, but it requires a Steam account to activate. So, I installed what was on the DVD, and then started the game, with Steam enabled as it has to be. Immediately, there was a big download to install. Now, this was two days after Shogun 2 was released, so why a 1Gb+ download on top of the game I had received in the post ? The explanation I read was that Creative Assembly released the nuts and bolts of Shogun 2 on the DVD, but to prevent those DVDs being copied and used, there are vital missing elements to the game that are then downloaded via Steam to complete the game and make it runnable. And it works beautifully.

[DaveB]

Hi Paul

Tks for taking the time to explain that It makes a lot more sense now.. particularly after your initial DRM comment In this case, the game is offered 'free' for those who buy/have bought the Nvidia GTX560 (in whichever flavour) and there's no DVD upgrade option.. just to download the game via Steam. I think it would make my nose bleed to have to accept a 1gb upgrade let alone download 17gb worth of game so in my particular case.. it's a bit of a none starter. TBH.. I'd hate to think I had to buy something THEN have to endure a 1gb download in order to make it playable so under the circumstances (my circumstances), I don't think it's that good They might as well offer me a Bentley Continental R as long as I can run a 4min mile

ATB
DaveB

[Airspeed]

G'day Pilots All,
Well I spent my $12AU on it last night. There's 4Gb of download, and if you don't have Windows Net v4, you have to upgrade. I'm on ADSL2+, and the download swung between 17kbs and 1815kbs. When I left it running (after two hours) it said 9hrs to go, so be prepared for a long haul. It was there early Sunday morning, but then needed another 35minutes to do the Net 4 biz. First attempt to set the controls was disastrous, but after repeating four times, it finally accepted that the rudder pedals DON'T control throttle. and the toe brakes WERE actually toe brakes. Visually, it's pretty full - on, all sorts of trucks and ambulances dashing about, and the Hurricane instrument panel is spot on [I've built a full size replica, so I know what's supposed to be there]. Your virtual head swings around when manouvering, the guns shake your cockpit, clouds and sea look realistic, and enemy bombers weave about to evade you. As per posts above, I suffered the bright blue and yellow all over the black instruments, but fixed it with combination epileptic off, and higher model detail. I don't like being tied to Steam, either, I'd much rather buy a disc, load it, and fly. And the legal agreement of course giveth nought, demands all, including you paying their solicitors to oppose you. Someone said above that they might ask for a refund. Your only remedy is to stop using it, no refunds.
I paid $5 for IL-2 Sturmovic, btw.
If you need to get your heart rate up and your lady is out of town, this is quite a cheap alternative. I certainly would not have been happy to pay full price though.

Cheers, Mike