FSX Steam-- Thinking of giving it a try (question though)

A long time FS9 user, thinking of taking the plunge. What do I have to lose... right?

I went to the website to add to my cart, and it took me to a page where I either have to login or create a new account. I know not all downloadable payware requires signing up for an account. Is there a way to purchase Steam without signing up for an account? Or is that simply how the whole thing works?

Thanks,

-- John

EDIT: Well I grew restless so I went and created a steam account and downloaded the steam installer. I pretty much ascertained that it needs all that, so I'm thinking I just answered my own question. Probably disregard the above at this point. FSX just started downloading... says it will take 4 more hrs. I'll go to sleep now... I think.

I haven't got FSX on Steam (I've got 6-yr-old disks) but I had to sign up to Steam to buy and play some PC wargames.

It's not so bad because having a Steam account means everything is conveniently on hand there such as updates and upgrades, news, chat, discussion forums etc, a bit like a big jolly club.

However there are some people who dislike Steam because they see it as a bossy Big Brother, or they have tech problems with Steam on their computer, or they don't like having to sign in every time they want to play a Steam game, or they prefer having disks instead of downloads etc.

or they don't like having to sign in every time they want to play a Steam game, or they prefer having disks instead of downloads etc.

Oh, so are you saying that after my download is complete, I won't necessarily have an icon on my desktop that I just click on that loads and starts the game, w/o being on Steam at the same time? In other words, no way to play off line and only on my computer's hard drive?

I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing. Just that I've never experienced that before.

Oh, so are you saying that after my download is complete, I won't necessarily have an icon on my desktop that I just click on that loads and starts the game, w/o being on Steam at the same time? In other words, no way to play off line and only on my computer's hard drive?

I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing. Just that I've never experienced that before.

I'm not sure, because my experience with Steam is limited, I've only got two Steam games (Armed Assault 3 and Empire), Steam put their icons on my desktop and the games start fine when I click them, I'm not sure if Steam auto-connects itself at the same time.

I seem to remember seeing a Steam option to "play offline" somewhere, but I never tried it.

PS- and like AlaskanCrab said, we've got NO CHOICE but to sign up to Steam if we buy a game that's only available through Steam, it's the way of the future.

Another thing- if we nowadays buy a game "on disk" from a shop thinking we're bypassing Steam, the disk is often just an empty shell and we find we still have to sign on to our Steam account in order to download and play it, so read the small print on the back of the case first to see if it says "Steam account required"!

Oh, and if we want to give a Steam disk away to our pals later, it won't work for them because it's only registered to our own specific Steam account, grrr...

I've been computer gaming/simming for over 30 years and things were much simpler and uncluttered in the good old days, (sigh)...

If you know you won't be able to go online, you can always put Steam in offline mode, and they'll give you a token so that you can use it without connecting. At least for a while.

Doesn't currently work with FSX Steam.

Oh, and if we want to give a Steam disk away to our pals later, it won't work for them because it's only registered to our own specific Steam account, grrr...

While not entirely the same thing, Steam's Family Sharing does allow for some sharing with friends.

http://store.steampowered.com/promotion/familysharing

While not entirely the same thing, Steam's Family Sharing does allow for some sharing with friends.

 

http://store.steampowered.com/promotion/familysharing

Thanks, I'll ask my teenage nephew if he wants to share a couple of mine, but I think he's more interested in girls at the moment..;)

Thanks, I'll ask my teenage nephew if he wants to share a couple of mine, but I think he's more interested in girls at the moment..;)

I know *I* sure was at that age. I didn't care about very much, other than girls. Then there was girls, and of course, don't forget girls...

:D

Pat☺

Doesn't currently work with FSX Steam.

Yeah I guess it doesn't. Train Simulator does though.

Yeah I guess it doesn't. Train Simulator does though.

Dovetail did say they were looking into it. No timeline was given though.

I've been using Steam for many years now and have many, many games in my library. That's probably the best thing about Steam, the fact that you can uninstall a game from your PC and then just grab it from the library and reinstall. The bad news is the download times. For a game like COD the average time was way over four hours. And not much you can do for that. I found a way to search for the fastest download site on the Steam network and that was still slooooow.

Other than that, once you have the game loaded and configured, you'll never know Steam is there. It will pop up when you hit the game icon and depending on how you set it up, go right to the game. Big hint. If you don't use Steam, or a game through Steam, for a long time, it might disconnect and you'll need to re-enter your name and password so don't lose your password. It's a real pain to get it back.