Preloading EU4 on Steam

[possumcorpse]

Well, i get cable TV and 100MBts internet under 20 USD. I live in third world(Ukraine).

Which further proves how ridiculous it is to live in rural Minnesota and pretend it is better than a desert. I don't live in a desert I live in the frozen wilderness! Companies and countries generally don't go out of their way to install modern conveniences in places where human beings shouldn't be living.

 

[Zhetone]

Which further proves how ridiculous it is to live in rural Minnesota and pretend it is better than a desert. I don't live in a desert I live in the frozen wilderness! Companies and countries generally don't go out of their way to install modern conveniences in places where human beings shouldn't be living.

Yeah, because my location totally mentions living in a rural area...
There's no way you're being serious.

 

[unmerged(495697)]

Steam says "This game will unlock in approximately 21 hours"

Down from 22 hours a few minutes ago....

This kinda shows my annoyance with steam timers. When they don't have the minutes showing, you can't tell if they're rounding and at what intervals.

 

[Jakalak]

Yeah, because my location totally mentions living in a rural area...
There's no way you're being serious.

I'm pretty sure he's just trolling.

 

[Illanair]

But...The Games are encrypted by Steam when preloaded, and need to be decrypted, so no one could crack them anyway.

A nice thougt, but a naive one. Steam's protection was overcome years ago. Developers have to take additional measures to avoid pre-load piracy.

 

[Panzergruppe]

Too bad Steam is needed at all, Paradox' stance against DRM has made them my favourite games company (along with GOG, if that counts). Not that I pirate games, I've bought all PI games I like at least once, sometimes three or four times considering the "collection" packs, and I've pre-ordered EUIV. I just don't like the hassle it brings. Oh well. It's not EA.

 

[Gemberkoekje]

Too bad Steam is needed at all, Paradox' stance against DRM has made them my favourite games company (along with GOG, if that counts). Not that I pirate games, I've bought all PI games I like at least once, sometimes three or four times considering the "collection" packs, and I've pre-ordered EUIV. I just don't like the hassle it brings. Oh well. It's not EA.

Steam is barely a hassle, rly, I personally really like how i can access my games and saves at many places at once, as opposed to having some obscure download somewhere in my mail which may be disabled after a certain time, or i may loose, or having some physical CD which also can be lost or destroyed.

 

[unmerged(751656)]

A nice thougt, but a naive one. Steam's protection was overcome years ago. Developers have to take additional measures to avoid pre-load piracy.

What? The encryption used by steamworks/ceg has never been broken, and isn't likely to for many decades (by which point it would be pointless to do so, any preload will only be for a few weeks/days at most). The issue is that paradox would've need to have used steamworks/ceg in the first place, which would force you to have steam online and running whenever you want access to your game - which is a blatant restriction of your freedoms.

 

[Skrytwitch]

Which further proves how ridiculous it is to live in rural Minnesota and pretend it is better than a desert. I don't live in a desert I live in the frozen wilderness! Companies and countries generally don't go out of their way to install modern conveniences in places where human beings shouldn't be living.

You're getting it all wrong, foo! We're a frozen wasteland for only half the year; the other half is split between 5.5 months of sweltering swampdeath and 2 weeks split between a pleasant spring/fall

pretend it is better than a desert

I don't know if there are any places on this earth that aren't better to live in than a desert. Something about 140 degree temps and wind that actually brings more heat just seems like it shouldn't exist.

 

[Illanair]

What? The encryption used by steamworks/ceg has never been broken, and isn't likely to for many decades.

Oh but it has - I've unpacked several Steamworks games from DVD's before their release date because I a retailer sent out copies too early and I can't be arsed to wait to pre-load it.

Too bad Steam is needed at all

I think you'll change your tune once you see how big of a difference Steamworks makes in Multiplayer.

 

[InnocentIII]

You're getting it all wrong, foo! We're a frozen wasteland for only half the year; the other half is split between 5.5 months of sweltering swampdeath and 2 weeks split between a pleasant spring/fall

You kids these days, you have it easy.

The half-gig Demo took 30m to download in the uncivilized Finger Lakes Thursday. Sorry to those without cable or other high speed, but seems like an hour-ish for the game.

 

[Samefar]

Here's what you do:

1. Download EU4 demo
2. Make a new folder in steam/steamApps/common and call it 'Europa Universalis IV'
3. Copypaste everything from the demo folder to the new folder
4. When game is released, simply right click the game in steam and select properties
5. Go to local files and 'verify integrity of game cache'

Steam will download the preordered dlc as well as the files that has been changed in the demo, however I expect a least 70% if not more of the files to remain unchanged, folders like 'music', 'sound' and 'GFX' will most likely not be downloaded again, in the demo this accounts for 600mb.

 

[unmerged(584823)]

Here's what you do:

1. Download EU4 demo
2. Make a new folder in steam/steamApps/common and call it 'Europa Universalis IV'
3. Copypaste everything from the demo folder to the new folder
4. When game is released, simply right click the game in steam and select properties
5. Go to local files and 'verify integrity of game cache'

Steam will download the preordered dlc as well as the files that has been changed in the demo, however I expect a least 70% if not more of the files to remain unchanged, folders like 'music', 'sound' and 'GFX' will most likely not be downloaded again, in the demo this accounts for 600mb.

Yep, but, what if Paradox change something in the file since the demo ? It would be sad to be deprived of a new name for your polish king, isn't it ? (Or more important things, and what if a bug happens because of it ?)

 

[Illanair]

Yep, but, what if Paradox change something in the file since the demo ? It would be sad to be deprived of a new name for your polish king, isn't it ? (Or more important things, and what if a bug happens because of it ?)

New name? Bugs? He's not talking about keeping savegames - He's talking about saving download bandwidth (and time) by using unchanged demo files in the game. If a file is changed, Steam picks up on it immediately and re-downloads it from scratch. Keyword here is checksum.

 

[unmerged(584823)]

New name? Bugs? He's not talking about keeping savegames - He's talking about saving download bandwidth (and time) by using unchanged demo files in the game. If a file is changed, Steam picks up on it immediately and re-downloads it from scratch. Keyword here is checksum.

You didn't understand me. But, whatever, I was wrong, I forgot about the checksum, though it gave so much headaches on EU III.

 

[Panzergruppe]

I think you'll change your tune once you see how big of a difference Steamworks makes in Multiplayer.

Probably not, as I don't play multiplayer. It's not that I don't enjoy it, I just don't have the time for such dedication, I only have a few hours here and there. I'm glad for the rest of you guys though, if it indeed makes multiplayer better. Hopefully that'll make other people interested, too.

 

[Illanair]

Well you won't need Steam running to play Singleplayer - Only to update and use Multiplayer.

 

[Gemberkoekje]

Probably not, as I don't play multiplayer. It's not that I don't enjoy it, I just don't have the time for such dedication, I only have a few hours here and there. I'm glad for the rest of you guys though, if it indeed makes multiplayer better. Hopefully that'll make other people interested, too.

With the new hotjoin function, you can join a game in progress, pull a few strings for an hour or 2, and go again.

 

[malyxxl]

IMO steam becomes really handy when it comes to updates, DLCs, etc. And also you don't have to worry about your CDs getting scratched, so that's a useful perk too

 

[Panzergruppe]

Alright guys, you've convinced me. I think I'll try a multiplayer game for a few hours next week when I've figured out the new game.