The STEAM Sales and Releases Thread - WINTER SALE 2024

[Gragt]

I'll probably have to force myself through The Void out of a sense of masochism, annoying with its Arx Fatalis glyph casting but wasting precious mana Colour if it didn't think you drew it right.

The glyph recognition system of TV is far superior to what you find in Arx. The only glyph that gave me a bit of trouble at first was the donor glyph but it basically comes down to draw big enough legs along with the loop. Else the game is quite forgiving in the way you draw stuff, and the videos that plays when you pick up a new heart help a lot.

No hand-holding can be a good thing, but would it have killed them to demystify the basic interface a little more at first if they're going to force-demo it to you. Pretentious there at least even though you can figure it out.

I'm not exactly sure what's the problem with the interface but did you read the manual?

 

[Zed]

Damn shit.

Tropico 3 lags on this shitty laptop but Majesty 2 runs just fine. I'm bored as hell and need something to play!

What do you think... Will Majesty 2 come up cheaper than -50%?

EDIT: lol bought.
Why doesn't DLC show in the game library? Where do you see it? :S

 

[Mangoose]

Red Orchestra for $2.50 but I searched the Codex and it sounds like nobody plays that online anymore. Does it have an okay single player?

Got Red Faction Guerrilla/.

 

[piydek]

I quite liked that little game called "Osmos" that cost about 1€ yesterday. Quite relaxing.

 

[Antihero]

No hand-holding can be a good thing, but would it have killed them to demystify the basic interface a little more at first if they're going to force-demo it to you. Pretentious there at least even though you can figure it out.

I'm not exactly sure what's the problem with the interface but did you read the manual?

You pretty much have to, but it leaves a lot of room for improvement. I don't think it even defines what a "heart" is before it starts going on about lympha, although you do get a heart right at the beginning of the game.

My weak argument is that the manual alone kind of sucks, and if you try to jump into the game, the interface-demos also suck. Between them they suck less, but it's still annoying at first. It just seems like they decided that being more "artistic" with the UI was more important than providing information on how to "read" it.

 

[Hazelnut]

Today's temptations (for me) are Thief 3 @ £2 and BioShock @ £3.5... never played either.

I've actually been having a nice (mindless) time playing Titan Quest (came with THQ pack) believe it or not. Pretty much putting no thought into character development, so might be stuck at some point.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Today's temptations (for me) are Thief 3 @ £2 and BioShock @ £3.5... never played either.

Get Thief 3, skip Bioshock. Bioshock is not only a giant, GIANT disappointment, but also generally a bad game all around.

 

[Joghurt]

How is that X3: Terran Conflict game ? Anybody tried it ?

 

[RatFink]

thq complete pack looks interesting
but what is one to do with two dawn of war addons ....i dont think they are standalone

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Why doesn't DLC show in the game library? Where do you see it? :S

Most likely will show up in the game itself once you install it. That's how most/all DLC on Steam works, it rolls it into the main game.

Lots of good games today. Thief 3, Winterbottom, Bioshock, Titan Quest, GTASA, Tropico 3, Madballs (Somewhat), possibly X3.

Ratfink, Soulstorm and Dark Crusade are standalone. Winter Assault (Which is part of "Dawn of War Gold" which is the only DoW1 on Steam) is rolled in with DoW1. However you most likely need to have all of them installed to have access to all the races in multiplayer unless the Steam version is different. For instance Winter Assault adds imperial guard, but to play IG in Dark Crusade and I assume Soulstorm multiplayer. you need to have Winter Assault installed.
For campaign and I'm fairly sure skirmish you don't need to worry about that.

 

[MetalCraze]

How is that X3: Terran Conflict game ? Anybody tried it ?

It's EVE Offline
At first you will be overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the game, but then will realise that you just grind grind grind for more money and space has no exploration aspect due to each sector being a square + same stations everywhere. In the end I managed to get fun out of it by cheating 9999999999 of moneys and playing with various toys I could buy but that gets boring rather quick.

I bet your real life job is 10 times more fun than this

 

[Hazelnut]

thq complete pack looks interesting
but what is one to do with two dawn of war addons ....i dont think they are standalone

The pack comes with DoW 1 & 2 - I've yet to try them. I have to say it's great value for all the games, but I was a bit dissappointed by Saints Row 2, I'd heard it was great fun - maybe on a console but I couldn't drive any of the cars when the tiniest tap on the keyboard changes direction by 20-30 degrees.. I have a mouse, why can't I use that to steer on these driving games FFS.

EDIT: Just remembered it comes with Stalker SoC doesn't it (I already had it for £3.50 ages ago. Well worth it that game, although not for everyone. Steam tells me I have 92 hours logged for SoC and 47 for CS!

Well, lined up Thief 3 and Commandos 2, but still wavering about Bioshock. I know its not the greatest game ever made, but when i decided not to buy on release I thought that I'd bargain it just to experience Rapture. Still with so many game purchases, I really have the next year or more of gaming booked up!!

And I just found out that Stalker clear sky Total Faction Warfare mod v1.8 was released a couple of days ago.... :D 1.1 was a blast, this looks even better.

I now have 84 games on Steam - something I onlygot for HL2, gotta hand it to Valve!

 

[RatFink]

yeah..thats the problem..i would like to leave games out...
i have stalker..
i also have dawn of war. but not here where i go to uni...

i dont want fuckin juiced..titan quest and world of zoo...

im not even sure about full spectrum warrior

company of heroes, red faction, dawn of war games and id buy it!

would be great to leave games out and get it for even cheaper

edit: thanks for the info multi headed cow!

edit2: the more i think about it it still is a good price even with crappy games or games i dont want in it...ahhhhhhh c&c

 

[Berekän]

However you most likely need to have all of them installed to have access to all the races in multiplayer unless the Steam version is different. For instance Winter Assault adds imperial guard, but to play IG in Dark Crusade and I assume Soulstorm multiplayer. you need to have Winter Assault installed.

That's true. However there was a way to play with all the races in multiplayer without having all the games installed. You just had to put the CD-Keys from all the games in the registry and have the latest game installed.

Don't know if it still works or if it even worked for the Steam version.

 

[Metro]

I bought Bioshock for $5 last time it was on sale -- played through the first chapter and haven't picked it up again since. The atmosphere and art direction is nice but the game play is inane and boring.

Madballs is a decent enough game but the online community is dead -- that said it has an okay single player campaign but it isn't much more than a typical arcade shooter. For the $2 or so you're better off spending it on Shatter or something similar.

I'll definitely get Winterbottom and probably Thief.

 

[Hazelnut]

yeah..thats the problem..i would like to leave games out...
i have stalker..

edit2: the more i think about it it still is a good price even with crappy games or games i dont want in it...ahhhhhhh c&c

Yeah, I wouldn't have bought it if it wasn't so cheap. I wanted Metro 2033 & Red Faction G anyways... the rest was just a bonus

 

[Shagnak]

What do you think... Will Majesty 2 come up cheaper than -50%?

EDIT: lol bought.
Why doesn't DLC show in the game library? Where do you see it? :S

As you've probably found out, you see it when you start the game; i.e. you have a choice of either "Majesty 2" or "Majesty 2 Kingmaker".

 

[Longwinded & Pretty]

Hrmm, I'm tempted at some of the cheaper Action-RPGs on there right now. How would you guys compare Hazen to Avencast?

 

[Shagnak]

Err... Hazen is absolute shit. Avencast is partly shit, but enjoyable enough after you get past the beginning. (I think Hazen is meant to be quite short/episodic too).

What's with some of these Steam games having online SecuROM activation and shit like that. How many layers of protection do they need? Fuckers.

 

[Metro]

Hazen is garbage. The developer went out of business a while ago so don't expect any updates/fixes or future 'episodes.' It's fairly criminal Steam has it listed.

 

[Zed]

What do you think... Will Majesty 2 come up cheaper than -50%?

EDIT: lol bought.
Why doesn't DLC show in the game library? Where do you see it? :S

As you've probably found out, you see it when you start the game; i.e. you have a choice of either "Majesty 2" or "Majesty 2 Kingmaker".

Yeah, noticed. Pretty weak DLC though, unless you're into map-making.

 

[Longwinded & Pretty]

Le sigh. Figures then, and though Greed was also looking interesting I'm also going to take the lack of comment on it previously to mean about the same thing. Looks like it's the Broken Sword bundle for me, if not the Introversion Complete Pack.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Just watched the trailer for Winterbottom. I'm a bit tired, so I didn't really understand what exactly was going on, but I liked the music and how the game looked so I'll be sure to grab the game.

 

[Metro]

Le sigh. Figures then, and though Greed was also looking interesting I'm also going to take the lack of comment on it previously to mean about the same thing. Looks like it's the Broken Sword bundle for me, if not the Introversion Complete Pack.

I've been looking at Greed, too. The publisher was posting on the Steam forums answering questions and it sounds decent although probably closer to Alien Breed than a Torchlight or Titan Quest. You also have to install some third party program to do online mutliplayer but I forget what it's called.

 

[deshields538]

So far I've picked up:

Counter-Strike: Source
Europa Universalis: Rome - Gold Edition
King Arthur: The Roleplaying Wargame - Complete
Europa Universalis III - Complete
Europa Universalis III - Heir to the Throne

Been having lots of fun with King Arthur and EU 3 especially. I love the atmosphere and the little text based quests in Arthur. I went Rightful Christian for the first try but I think I might restart and go Pagan instead.

I think there's even a good bit of C&C in it. I forgot about the quest where the King of Mercia asks you to go into the northern woods because I was involved in quite a brutal war with Wessex. Just as soon as a finished off Wessex a message came that the King had ran out of patience with me and set off into the woods himself. A few turns later his subjects found him dead which caused a war of succession between his sons and split the kingdom into East and West Mercia. Fuckin' A!

EU III is great too. Started a game as the Teutonic Order and I've set about converting the pagans in my rebellious province, trying to get Casus Belli against Riga and muscling out trading competitors in the Hanseatic league.