Steam Newbie - Where does one begin?

I picked up a Surface Pro last week (Intel Core i5/ 128GB SSD/ 4GB RAM, plus 128GB Micro SD card), and immediately downloaded Steam and put £100 in my account.

I'd welcome fellow GwJers advice on how to get the best out of Steam in these critical first few weeks. My plan is for the Surface Pro to be my second gaming machine, replacing my PSP for travelling and allowing some late night gaming-in-bed on week nights. However, I'm open to being converted to giving my Surface Pro equal status to my PS4 if the experience is compelling enough.

A quick browse of the Action games section indicated that my specs might limit me to pre-2013 games of this type. Is it therefore time for me to dip my toes into Real Time Strategy? If so, where does a RTS newbie begin.

Are there any PC-/Steam-only Indie games that I must play?

Should I be investing in a controller? If so, which one?

Should I be waiting for one of these Steam Sales?

What else do I need to know?

One big tip (that I wish I learned earlier), was never buy a game on Steam unless you want to play it immediately. Games on Steam are so regularly discounted, that you rarely need to pay full price. And speaking of not paying full price, why not pay no price at all? There are a surprising amount of quality free to play titles available -- check out this list!

I'm a big advocate for Zachtronic games. I think they'd be a good fit for portable gaming. They're all very difficult logic puzzlers, but with interesting themes (and they'll run on a potato). My personal favourite is Spacechem, followed by TIS-100. Creeper World 3 is another easy-to-run game which would be great for portable play (that I always recommend because it's criminally overlooked).

If you really want the "steam experience", The Orange Box, Counter Strike and Dota 2 are pretty on-brand. But fair warning, the latter two are gruelling online experiences. Not for everyone.

I'm sure many will post with more recommendations so I won't post any more.

Btw, I've PMd you a few spare keys I had laying around for games which should run on almost anything. Just a little headstart

First question would be: does your surface have a graphics card or integrated graphics.
Second is which one.
Some surfaces have a dedicated GPU, but most don't and either way it makes a difference in what your gaming options are.

There are alot of steam indie games to check out and I'm sure many of them are playable for you. What genres interest you?
You mentioned rts, some rts is probably playable but I dont play alot of rts anymore. Is the real time aspect important to you, or is it the strategy aspect that draws you in? If the latter there's a ton of fantastic turn based strategy that wouldn't stress your surface out as much.

Thanks for the swift responses.

My graphics card is integrated, I think. It's a Intel HD Graphics 620 (i5). I've just had a quick look at Notebookcheck and I infer that 2014 is probably the cut-off point for graphics-intensive games. Which is one reason why I've been considering giving RTS a go.

Also, I think the genre will suit my intended use pattern. I think me quietly plotting my plans for world domination and clicking is likely to be more acceptable to fellow aeroplane passengers than me bucking and twisting as I try to executive my special moves in an action game.

Tycho the Mad, what specific games that I should be - to take A_Unicycle's advice - be waiting to nab in the next sale?

I couldn't help noticing that Half Life 2 is still available. It's ancient now. Too ancient to sample for the first time?

Half-Life 2 holds up very well. If you haven't played it, you're missing out. You can usually get it for less than the price of a coffee during sales.

Half life 2 is definitely still a game worth playing. I'd suggest checking out invisible inc and endless legend. Both are fantastic turn based strategy games that should run great. Ive found that on laptops turn based games serve me much better in the strategy department since you can take your time.
Another, weirder, game that might be worth looking into is majesty 2, it's an rts thats all about managing a small kingdom, the twist being you can't directly control the heroes that serve you, everything has to be done by offering bounties on certain actions and building the right buidlings.

Also look up darkest dungeon and steamworld heist, see if they strike your fancy.

detroit20 wrote:

If so, where does a RTS newbie begin.

Not on Steam. Get Starcraft (which is free now) or Starcraft II

RPS did a list of the Top 50 Strategy Games a couple years back which unfortunately mixes RTS and TBS but it's worth looking at.

detroit20 wrote:

Are there any PC-/Steam-only Indie games that I must play?

Gunpoint.

Do you care for point & click adventure games? That's a really easy genre to recommend for in terms of PC-exclusives

Should I be investing in a controller? If so, which one?

I use a Logitech F710 which is effecitvely a DualShock with XBox style buttons and color scheme.

Should I be waiting for one of these Steam Sales?

Only if you want to have the consumerist equivalent of a hangover the next week. Also, the next sale is probably 2 months away. Don't let the fear of optimizing your money stop you from enjoying your new toy.

What else do I need to know?

This is more of an intermediate thing, but keep alternate store fronts like Humble and Itch in mind. Humble tends to carry a lot of the same stuff as Steam, but Itch lends itself to more experimental indie titles and stuff that you won't find on Steam for a variety of reasons. Devs who publish on Steam and Humble/Itch tend to be very good about handing out a Steam key and I believe Humble (and possibly Itch) give a bigger slice of the sale to the developer than Steam. So I tend to check Humble and Itch before buying on Steam.

There's also GOG which is DRM-free and specializes in older/retro titles and indies. They don't really have a whole lot of interplay with Steam although there's occassionally a promotion to get free copies of games you already own on Steam.

Dont. Just don't, save yourself and do not go down this rabbit hole!

Edit: In all seriousness I would recommend the same thing as many others, don't buy anything unless you are going to play it immediately or it's a killer deal on something you know you want and will eventually get around to. That, however, is also how backlogs get started and eventually end up taking on a life of their own.

I loved Half Life 2 but it kind of baffles me people are still recommending it. Game ends on a cliffhanger that we'll probably never get a legit conclusion too. Save yourself!

A_Unicycle wrote:

One big tip (that I wish I learned earlier), was never buy a game on Steam unless you want to play it immediately. Games on Steam are so regularly discounted, that you rarely need to pay full price.

This is my #1 tip. Just put a game you want to play on your Wish list and then go back to enjoying whatever game you are currently playing. Then in a week, or month or two you get an saying the game is on sale and you can pick it up.

shoptroll wrote:
Should I be investing in a controller? If so, which one?

I use a Logitech F710 which is effecitvely a DualShock with XBox style buttons and color scheme.

I use an Xbox One controller and love it. It just feels great in the hands and works perfectly.

On Steam I would just pick the category of game you are most interested and then sort by review score. You'll find that mostly the cream rises to the top of those lists.

I also agree that you should check out Blizzard's titles. They are well known for not needing graphics horsepower to play well, and Starcraft and Diablo are considered the pinnacle of their type by many.

Get thee to the Steam key giveaway thread When I switched from console to PC around 2012, the massive generosity of the GWJ community filled out my library with gems in no time. Just make sure to pay it forward when you inevitably end up with keys you don't need.

Sign up for Humble Bundle emails. They're a fabulous way to pick up slightly older games for tiny amounts of money, while supporting charities to boot.

As to a controller, I rock a wired 360 controller, and it's great.

Since you mentioned strategy, the Total War series is great. You plot your strategic moves (building cities, moving armies, etc) in turn-based mode and then fight the battles in real time. Your specs should be able to handle Shogun 2 which is one of the best of the series.

There's also Civilization 5, Endless Legend, and Darkest Dungeon for turn-based strategy. If you really want to go down the rabbit hole, check out EU 4 or Crusader Kings 2.

Thanks for the list of hints and tips... in particular the money-saving ones. I'll set up my Wish List tonight.

It looks like I'll also be downloading Half Life 2 and either a Civilisation or Total War game.

I will also check out Humble Bundle, which I'd heard mentioned on many a gaming podcast but never followed up on.

Civ games are the classic example of one more turning yourself into a 4 am game session. It's both amazing and exhausting.

HumbleBundle and BundleStars are both decent ways of getting piles of potentially interesting games for cheap.

I just wanted to thank Tycho the Mad and A_Unicycle for sending me those Steam keys.

GWJ and its members continue to be awesome!

Keep in mind that steam isn't the be all and end all either, places like gmg, gog and humble bundle store might have better discounts than steam.

I don't know if all of the games would be playable on your Surface Pro (I have a Surface Pro 4, have only tried Tyranny - though it ran it was incredibly slow) but I've had good luck with the range of games I get with Humble Monthly. Lots of indie games that *ought* to be playable on less high-powered computers. Do you have an external HD? My stock Surface Pro came with something like 128GB of storage.

No, I don't have an additional HD, but I have added a 128GB MicroSD card. I've set the Surface Pro up to send all new non-gaming media that storage.

I think I'm fairly realistic about what will play well on the Surface Pro. And ld games and low demand Indie games are fine by me in exchange for an otherwise full power and hyper portable laptop.

detroit20 wrote:

Thanks for the list of hints and tips... in particular the money-saving ones. I'll set up my Wish List tonight.

It looks like I'll also be downloading Half Life 2 and either a Civilisation or Total War game.

I will also check out Humble Bundle, which I'd heard mentioned on many a gaming podcast but never followed up on.

I PM'ed you a key for Civ 4.

Thank you too, Nottstu

I'm now very pleased that I installed the MicroSD card!