The All New Gabriel Newell's Digital Wonder Emporium, aka, The Steam Update Thread

But strangely enough it keeps going back as in not opted in for the beta client.

I think the way that works is that you opt in for one beta cycle at a time. As soon as that beta becomes the mainstream release, you're returned to the global pool, and have to manually say you want the next beta.

From http://steamcommunity.com/groups/Ste...

There's a new Steam Client Beta available. The changes are listed below, please note that due to some changes you may need to opt in to the beta twice.

On Windows, this Beta introduces a change to the way that Steam downloads Steam Client updates. This work is done by Steam.exe, which will update when you join this Beta. You’ll see a new download progress dialog, which means that Steam is using a new HTTP-based method to get the updates. This method is already used by the OSX and linux versions of the Steam Client. In the long run, this method should be faster and more efficient for everybody.

However, there is one quirk due to the fact that the thing which manages the Steam Client Betas is, itself, updating. This only affects users running Windows - the OSX and linux versions of Steam should join the Beta in one step. What you will see when you join the Beta is:

Steam will restart, and update Steam.exe then download a Steam Client package. This will actually be essentially the same files as the non-Beta Steam Client, but in the new format (on disk as individual files, instead of in a gcf file)
If you go to Settings, you’ll see that Steam no longer thinks you are in the Beta. Click “Change. . .” to re-join the Client Beta.
Steam will restart again, this time downloading the full Beta version of the Steam Client.

We apologize for the extra step and downloads – from this point on, your Steam client should update itself like before to keep your Beta version up to date.

Steam will restart, and update Steam.exe then download a Steam Client package. This will actually be essentially the same files as the non-Beta Steam Client, but in the new format (on disk as individual files, instead of in a gcf file)
If you go to Settings, you’ll see that Steam no longer thinks you are in the Beta. Click “Change. . .” to re-join the Client Beta.
Steam will restart again, this time downloading the full Beta version of the Steam Client.

I just checked my settings after the initial joining of the beta, and it says Steam Beta Update, so I guess it worked the first time for me.

Huh, I've had a problem with Steam in Win 7 for months where it wouldn't ever come to the front and take over focus if I just clicked on the task bar. This new beta finally fixes it to where it works properly.

MannishBoy wrote:

Huh, I've had a problem with Steam in Win 7 for months where it wouldn't ever come to the front and take over focus if I just clicked on the task bar. This new beta finally fixes it to where it works properly.

About damn time they fixed that. Also, I'd really like it if event notifications would pop-under my screensaver, although that might be more a bug with Electric Sheep than Steam.

Finally, with the new beta, the changelog for any beta will display correctly when prompted to download a new update. This might sound like a small thing, and it kind of is, but it's also super nice.

iaintgotnopants wrote:

I've wanted offline messaging for a while. So, that will be nice once it's actually implemented. Steam betas are always really unstable for me so I'm not going to run this one.

I would actually like an option to not sign into the friends list while signing into Steam. I don't think my boss needs to know that I played the new hot game all day when I was "sick" with a stomach bug.

BadKen wrote:

Here's the top of my Steam games list, sorted by playtime. Why are Defense Grid and Borderlands 2 at the top of the list when they have less playtime than the things that follow them? Why is the background of those two list items blue?

I have found the steam playtime counter to be totally unreliable. It thinks I have played almost 100 hours of Far Cry 3 because I left the Ubisoft Game manager running.

EvilDead wrote:
iaintgotnopants wrote:

I've wanted offline messaging for a while. So, that will be nice once it's actually implemented. Steam betas are always really unstable for me so I'm not going to run this one.

I would actually like an option to not sign into the friends list while signing into Steam. I don't think my boss needs to know that I played the new hot game all day when I was "sick" with a stomach bug.

That's in there. Settings -> Friends -> Automatically sign into Friends when I start Steam - That doesn't help you if you don't change it before you get "sick", I guess.

EvilDead wrote:
BadKen wrote:

Here's the top of my Steam games list, sorted by playtime. Why are Defense Grid and Borderlands 2 at the top of the list when they have less playtime than the things that follow them? Why is the background of those two list items blue?

I have found the steam playtime counter to be totally unreliable. It thinks I have played almost 100 hours of Far Cry 3 because I left the Ubisoft Game manager running.

Well, for Steam, Uplay *is* Far Cry 3.

Not sure what to think about this.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/02/...

Also figured this was the most appropriate thread in which to post it.

[edit]

RPS's article about the same thing

Valve and Abrams are officially collaborating. “What we’re actually doing here,” Newell said at the talk’s conclusion, “is recapitulating a series of conversations that have been going on [between Abrams and I]. This is what happens when game and movie people get together. And we sort of reached the point where we decided that we needed to do more than talk. So we’re gonna try and figure out if we can make a Portal movie or a Half-Life movie together.” Meanwhile, Abrams added: “And we have a game idea we’d like to work with Valve on.” Finally, Gabe wrapped it up: “It’s time for our industries to stop talking about potential and really execute on it.”

Episode 3 will be a movie instead of a game!

I hope they make a movie with an eerily silent protagonist.

The silent protagonist will have a chatty sidekick with a British accent.

The silent protagonist will be an aut

Wait, I'm better than Gabe Newell.

I think nothing of it. The likelihood of it happening is so small from my POV.

Suddenly that Super-8 bit included with Portal 2 makes a lot more sense.

Steam Linux is official, and there's a sizable list of changes for all clients:

Features
- Added support for Linux
- Offline messaging: You can now send messages to users who are offline. They will receive the message when they next log in
- Opening a chat dialog with a friend will show some recent chat history
- A web chat interface is available, you can find it by navigating to the Steam Community Friend Activity page in your web browser
- Added a caps lock warning indicator to the login dialog password textbox
- Added support for better content sharing between games
- Improved performance and responsiveness of client UI
- Improved startup time for users with large screenshot folders
- Prevent users from selecting an invalid screenshots folder
- Suspend all downloads automatically when a game is launched
- Added third party Mod support for games on new content system
- Big Picture: Users can now add wallet funds and authorize microtransactions
- Big Picture: In-game overlay now moves back on ESC when appropriate rather than closing directly
- Added the date that SteamGuard was enabled in the settings dialog
- Improved handling of international characters

Fixes
- Fixed several issues with scroll bars in the store and community views
- Fixed forum links opening in external browser windows
- Reduced retail install time when reading from optical disc on Windows XP/Vista
- Removed "/me" chat command, which allowed some users to modify the color of their chat text
- Fixed crash on startup caused by corrupt ClientRegistry.blob file
- Fixed a top crash related to video streaming
- Fixed an issue with cascading menu items
- Fixed issue where some game installers cannot write to the registry
- Fixed screenshots sometimes not showing up in screenshot manager when copied from another Steam installation
- Big Picture: Fixed left/right navigation of game related sections in the in-game overlay
- Big Picture: Fixed default font used by the in-game overlay
- Fixed launching 64-bit games and applications
- When a friend's status changes multiple times consecutively, only the last change will be shown (ie "Friend is now Online", "Friend is now Away" messages)
- Fixed Windows error message "Disk not ready" in game install wizard
- Made the preview image for guides smaller in the overlay
- Caching guide preview images when viewed in the overlay
- Added Ctrl+A select-all for system info text

Mac
- Greatly reduced CPU usage and power consumption
- Fixed command-W and other keyboard shortcuts
- Fixed bugs with window management and the Window menu
- Fixed leaks which caused memory usage to increase over time
- Added partial support for Retina displays
- Fixed bug with tooltips showing through Windows
- Notification popups now respond on the first click
- Web page views no longer freeze up after clicking and dragging the mouse
- Clicking the dock icon now brings all Steam windows to the front

shoptroll wrote:

Steam Linux is official, and there's a sizable list of changes for all clients:

- Suspend all downloads automatically when a game is launched

This is something that has always annoyed me. Can't Steam detect and decide which games are single player (usually off line) and which ones are multiplayer (usually online)? Or can't they detect when a game needs to talk to the cloud?

Why can't I have a single player session that requires no data transmission that allows for games to update and download in the background?

Hyetal wrote:

That's in there. Settings -> Friends -> Automatically sign into Friends when I start Steam - That doesn't help you if you don't change it before you get "sick", I guess.

Sweet! Just changed it now.

Hyetal wrote:
EvilDead wrote:

I have found the steam playtime counter to be totally unreliable. It thinks I have played almost 100 hours of Far Cry 3 because I left the Ubisoft Game manager running.

Well, for Steam, Uplay *is* Far Cry 3.

So many games having secondary launchers is part of the reason its unreliable. The in game counters give me a much more accurate idea of how much time I have poured into a game since most of them also account for pausing.

Hobbes2099 wrote:
- Suspend all downloads automatically when a game is launched

This is something that has always annoyed me. Can't Steam detect and decide which games are single player (usually off line) and which ones are multiplayer (usually online)? Or can't they detect when a game needs to talk to the cloud?

Why can't I have a single player session that requires no data transmission that allows for games to update and download in the background?

I think the reason it probably does this is that I could maybe see that network/hard drive/steam activity interfering with the running game.

Scratched wrote:
Hobbes2099 wrote:
- Suspend all downloads automatically when a game is launched

This is something that has always annoyed me. Can't Steam detect and decide which games are single player (usually off line) and which ones are multiplayer (usually online)? Or can't they detect when a game needs to talk to the cloud?

Why can't I have a single player session that requires no data transmission that allows for games to update and download in the background?

I think the reason it probably does this is that I could maybe see that network/hard drive/steam activity interfering with the running game.

It would be pretty minimal. The 360 does it and I'm pretty sure the PS3 can do it now too and its not noticeable. I imagine it has more to do with it not knowing which games are multiplayer and which ones aren't. It would need to require steam games to have some sort of multiplayer flag.

EvilDead wrote:

It would need to require steam games to have some sort of multiplayer flag.

Don't they already have that listed on the store page for each game?

Also, that's a weird patch note. For as long as I can remember, Steam has always suspended downloads while a game was being played. Did they stop doing that at some point?

I had my PS3 DL while loading and playing Uncharted 3 once (got finished notification while playing, just like a trophy / someone's online) and while yes it kept DL'ing for me, it was annoying as it made the initial load into the playable game from the menus take longer than the theme song that plays while loading. I assume that's more than 3 minutes.

mrtomaytohead wrote:

I had my PS3 DL while loading and playing Uncharted 3 once (got finished notification while playing, just like a trophy / someone's online) and while yes it kept DL'ing for me, it was annoying as it made the initial load into the playable game from the menus take longer than the theme song that plays while loading. I assume that's more than 3 minutes. :(

I haven't tried it on my PS3 but it does it automatically on the 360 when your playing offline games. I never notice any slowdown except a "hiccup" when it finishes and the notification pops up. Also, in terms of PC games, I have downloaded 10 GB games off Amazon while playing a Steam game with no problems at all so I don't really see it being an issue.

shoptroll wrote:
EvilDead wrote:

It would need to require steam games to have some sort of multiplayer flag.

Don't they already have that listed on the store page for each game?

Also, that's a weird patch note. For as long as I can remember, Steam has always suspended downloads while a game was being played. Did they stop doing that at some point?

Yeah, I just checked and says whether it is single or multi. Also, I just tested downloading a small game while launching another and it didn't stop so I guess they did stop suspending downloads. Like you, I always remember them stopping.

I entered big picture mode for the first time I moment ago. The interface looked clean and easy, I see why people like it. I did not like it, however, as I was sitting in front of my computer after a bit of score-chasing in Sleeping Dogs. I tried to close the interface so I could close Steam (I was, and am, tired). Instead I somehow called a Goodger via Steam (JollyEskimo maybe?). In closing,

A) The interface looks clean and surprisingly app-like.
B) I'm sorry I accidentally tried to hail a Steam buddy before figuring out how to disconnect the call.
C) I feel bad for not noting who it was I randomly Steam-dialed so as to properly apologize via pm.

It looks like steam is going away from GCF files, and converting old titles to SteamPipe (L4D and later style) so they exist in the steam/steamapps/common folder.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...

Right now they're testing it on TF2 beta, but they're initially aiming for the orange box games.

Scratched wrote:

Right now they're testing it on TF2 beta, but they're initially aiming for the orange box games.

They've been doing this with a lot of the 3rd party games too. It's mostly the older Valve games (Orange Box and older) which have been holdouts.

TF2 is going to take a long time to convert, I think that game is up to 12 GB or so now.

Am I the only one who is more excited by Steam Client Updates than by next-gen console announcements?

You know you're a PC gamer when...

Actually, that could start a whole meme.

You know you're a PC gamer when your heat sink has a heat sink!

I am actually also very curious what Steam will also mean for the upcoming PS4. Being a PC basically.

Have I missed something, because as far as I remember I've heard nothing to link Valve/steam and the PS4. They did that one game, one event isn't really a pattern.