Empire Steam FAQ

[random_samurai]

For the love of god, your looking for the word "invasive", not evasive. Also it might be worth it to know that you will need internet in order to access any of the patches as I assume that they will be distributed through the Steam platform as opposed to standalone.

[Sargsaft]

one thing i just love about steam is that the games are always up to date, no hazzle in seariching patches...
another major good thing is that i can play my games on any computer with my account, since they are bound to my account not to my computer...

[Mr_Inu]

well said, i for one love steam......if only the prize policy would be fair...

I agree, for DRM software steam may be annoying, but at least it works and it's not downright offensive as many others are. As someone who buys games, I am well aware that they would be cheaper and/or better if more people bought them, so DRM is in theory a good thing. In practice, what most companies are doing right now seems designed to piss of customers (looking at you, EA)... So I'm happy it's Steam, cause it could have been so much worse.

I'm peeved about Steam's pricing of 1€ = 1$. Stardock's Impulse handles this a lot better. But as long as I'm not forced to buy off of Steam, I don't have to like it

[Thanatos]

And I'm saying it's the way gaming is going, and E:TW is just the first wave of this sort of trend. It's the way things work now, and that's the unfortunate truth.

[boomheadshot45]

For everybody who is worried about "overloading the server" don't be. For Company of Heroes and Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, I was downloading at 1.1 MB per second. It won't take any longer than 15 minutes (if you buy it off of STEAM)

[Danigol of South America]

Quick Question....

okay so if i buy empire by steam and i download it into my pc will i be able to log in into any pc that has steam and play the game or is it limited to 1 pc?

[Sargsaft]

Quick Question....

okay so if i buy empire by steam and i download it into my pc will i be able to log in into any pc that has steam and play the game or is it limited to 1 pc?

the game is only bount to your steam account so technically you can play it on any pc, not at the same time....very practical if u visit a friend and want to play a game or so on lan, you only have to know your account and be able to download it and play...

[jimkatalanos]

All posts that are not contributing to the topic in a useful way (rants, questions that have been answered already, etc) will be immediately deleted.

[Danigol of South America]

Thanks to all who answered my question but personally i love the fact that CA went ahead and used steam!

[Sun Devil]

Couple of important questions:

1. When you pre-order the game, it charges $1. When you download, will it automatically charge the same card the full $50, will I have to reput in my card info, what?

2. Browsing the steam site (looking for the answer to #1 to no avail), I found a page where it says that Teamspeak, Ventrillo, and X-fire may interefere with steam. Is that true, because not being able to talk while playing online would SUCK, and make the crapy gamespy servers seem better all of the sudden.

[R4nd0M]

Couple of important questions:

1. When you pre-order the game, it charges $1. When you download, will it automatically charge the same card the full $50, will I have to reput in my card info, what?

2. Browsing the steam site (looking for the answer to #1 to no avail), I found a page where it says that Teamspeak, Ventrillo, and X-fire may interefere with steam. Is that true, because not being able to talk while playing online would SUCK, and make the crapy gamespy servers seem better all of the sudden.

"May interfere" is not the same as "will interfere". Generally you won't have problems with voice programs and Steam. Just disable Steam's in-house voice system (enable push to talk key but don't map a key). I used to play CS Source competitively and used Ventrilo extensively and not once did I have problems with the two programs together.

Xfire shouldn't cause many problems either. If the overlay doesn't come up (Xfire hooks into the graphics dll and if there are more than one programs hooking in the same way then one or both may not display) then disable Steam's ingame overlay.

[eddy_purpus]

Short and simple answer is: sucks for them.

This is the 21st century. Eventually, all games are going to be like this. They'd better jump on the bandwagon, or be left behind. That's all there is to it.

youre right on that ...
F A T A L For them =(

[jim600]

I know you need Steam to register the game.
So is it true that if you are not connected to the web you can`t play the gam

So if I buy it retail and haven`t got internet access I can`t play it. Is that so?

[Gonzo89]

I know you need Steam to register the game.
So is it true that if you are not connected to the web you can`t play the gam

So if I buy it retail and haven`t got internet access I can`t play it. Is that so?

Read the first post. You can start Steam in 'offline mode' and play through that. You will need to register the game online once, and to do that use a public computer at a library or cyber cafe, or even a friend.

After you've registered your CD key, you can play the game without an internet connection through Steam.

[Lord of Lost Socks]

I know you need Steam to register the game.
So is it true that if you are not connected to the web you can`t play the gam

So if I buy it retail and haven`t got internet access I can`t play it. Is that so?

how many times has this question been answered?

You have to register it online(in steam) when you buy the game, after that you can play it in offline mode(you are not connected to the internet, but steam is on.)

[Mr_Inu]

Read the first post. You can start Steam in 'offline mode' and play through that. You will need to register the game online once, and to do that use a public computer at a library or cyber cafe, or even a friend.

After you've registered your CD key, you can play the game without an internet connection through Steam.

I do not think this is possible. My impression was that to install steam itself and connect it to a specific account, you also have to be online once before you go into offline mode.

It's not possible to install steam and Empire on a computer without taking that specific computer online at least once, from what I know.

[Dingo John]

Okay it just occured to me that there is TRAGICALLY many people in these forums that have absolutely no idea what Steam is or how it works, so here is the basics:

1 Steam is absolutely virus-free and 100% secure to use

2 It is completely free to download and to create an account

3 You just need to download it, which takes about 10 seconds if you have a decent connection, and then you have to update it (which is a completely automatic process, you need not do a THING) and log on to your user.

4 BAM! when logged on, you have all the data and all the rights that you have on that user. Just like MSN gives you the same status and things no matter where or what computer you log on to, Steam gives you the ability to download a game to your friends computer, if just you are logged on to your account. the trick is that you can only launch the games if logged on to that account in Steam.

5 All this means that if you (for some reason I do not see any sense in) have a gaming computer that is not hooked up to the internet, then pack it down and take it to a friends house, hook it to the internet, download Steam, wait for it to update, log in (or create account), launch it, put in the DVD (actually you dont even need that), YOU GOTTA ACTIVATE ON STEAM but theres an inavoidable button that says "Activate product..." type the activation key you got with the game, BANG! installing/installed, updating (probably) and then ready to launch.
HERE COMES THE TRICKY PART!!!
If you want to play after you have gotten home from your friends house you have to go to settings and ALLOW Offline Mode...
You must be online to activate this, so the computer can store the informations needed to confirm that it is a real Steam Account.


If you are somehow incapable of doing this I am sorry to say this, but truly, hen I do not understand how you were capable of going to this forum and read this.

[Mr_Inu]

Look, it's not a technical issue in my impression. Some people (and I am not one of them) do not want to connect to the internet for personal reasons. Maybe it's security. If your machine is hooked up to the net, it will be constantly tested and probed for security leaks. If you're under the impression that your machine is safe just because you have a virus scanner and a firewall, you're mistaken. It's a calculated risk, and a small one if you're careful, but some people just don't want the hassle. So they separate their important computer from the internet. They have a secondary machine for internet connections.

Like I said, I am not one of these guys, would be too much of a hassle for me. But you should at least try to understand them. On the other hand, they will have to understand that copy protection is a necessary evil, and that all mechanisms not relying on connecting to a central server are usually cracked in hours. It sucks, but this is the price we pay for the fact that other people steal.

[Sargsaft]

Okay it just occured to me that there is TRAGICALLY many people in these forums that have absolutely no idea what Steam is or how it works, so here is the basics:

1 Steam is absolutely virus-free and 100% secure to use

2 It is completely free to download and to create an account

3 You just need to download it, which takes about 10 seconds if you have a decent connection, and then you have to update it (which is a completely automatic process, you need not do a THING) and log on to your user.

4 BAM! when logged on, you have all the data and all the rights that you have on that user. Just like MSN gives you the same status and things no matter where or what computer you log on to, Steam gives you the ability to download a game to your friends computer, if just you are logged on to your account. the trick is that you can only launch the games if logged on to that account in Steam.

5 All this means that if you (for some reason I do not see any sense in) have a gaming computer that is not hooked up to the internet, then pack it down and take it to a friends house, hook it to the internet, download Steam, wait for it to update, log in (or create account), launch it, put in the DVD (actually you dont even need that), YOU GOTTA ACTIVATE ON STEAM but theres an inavoidable button that says "Activate product..." type the activation key you got with the game, BANG! installing/installed, updating (probably) and then ready to launch.
HERE COMES THE TRICKY PART!!!
If you want to play after you have gotten home from your friends house you have to go to settings and ALLOW Offline Mode...
You must be online to activate this, so the computer can store the informations needed to confirm that it is a real Steam Account.


If you are somehow incapable of doing this I am sorry to say this, but truly, hen I do not understand how you were capable of going to this forum and read this.

+1 rep

[random_samurai]

Look, it's not a technical issue in my impression. Some people (and I am not one of them) do not want to connect to the internet for personal reasons. Maybe it's security. If your machine is hooked up to the net, it will be constantly tested and probed for security leaks. If you're under the impression that your machine is safe just because you have a virus scanner and a firewall, you're mistaken. It's a calculated risk, and a small one if you're careful, but some people just don't want the hassle. So they separate their important computer from the internet. They have a secondary machine for internet connections.

Like I said, I am not one of these guys, would be too much of a hassle for me. But you should at least try to understand them. On the other hand, they will have to understand that copy protection is a necessary evil, and that all mechanisms not relying on connecting to a central server are usually cracked in hours. It sucks, but this is the price we pay for the fact that other people steal.

Lol, you mean like Steam?