Sim Racing games these days?

[Shonky]

1, So can you install steam onto a USB or does the 1st install have to be on a PC?

Steam is an application like any other, it will need to be installed on whatever PC you wish to run it on. as far as i know you can just copy the Steam directory on the PC that did the downloads, and overwrite the Steam directory on the PC you wish to also run the games on to run on multiple PCs.

2, Does it run in the background or can do you open the app as needed?

It can do either, initially it sets itself to run every time windows starts, but this is easy enough to disable so you can run it whenever you like.

3, If I do buy the SIMBIN Pack do I need STEAM installed to be able to install each sim or does the download contain the .exe files for each game?

I'm not sure on the Simbin games specifically, but typically whenever you run a game that was installed with Steam, Steam will also fire up at the same time.

4, Does STEAM need to be run before running a sim/game for DRM/Verification reasons?

This is sort of covered above.

[Duke]

Thansk SHoNKY, that makes it pretty clear.

So last question, given the machine I want to install on is not ready can I just purchase via the steam website & do the rest later?

[r8response]

Thansk SHoNKY, that makes it pretty clear.

So last question, given the machine I want to install on is not ready can I just purchase via the steam website & do the rest later?

If you have a machine handy. Install Steam on it, buy and download the games you want. When the new machine is working, install Steam on it and simply copy across the "Steamapps" folder and log in. It'll recognise the files and away you go.

[ysu]

you install steam on a PC, but you can carry your downloaded games on any storage medium, and thus save yourself the re-downloading the game. All you need is install steam (small), copy the games into place, log in with your credentials and start installing them - steam will pick up the downloaded files (as long as they're in the right place).

Steam does not have to run, only when you're playing, and it can run in offline mode. It takes up next to nothing in resources if that's your worry.

If a game is on steam - and I reckon the pack will contain all games' steam version - you'll need steam to run each and every one of them (they'll appear in the steam window, where you can run them from).

And yes, as I said steam have to run while you're playing.

But you worry too much, mate, 99% of gamers use Steam nowadays. Just go for it.


Edit: oops, late response.

[Duke]

Thanks heaps guys.
Yep you're right I do worry to much but I've been out of the games loop for a while now & I had vague memories of STEAM horror stories when it was 1st introduced. Anyway I've bit the bullet & bought the SIMBIN bundle through their website for now.

Your digitally delivered items are now registered to your account on Steam. To access your games, simply visit your game library in Steam and install them whenever you're ready.

Back to regular programming...

[Dr. Pain]

Lotus 49 and Montreal coming for iracing should be good. I'm also liking the classic cars coming for F1 2013 too.

[Duke]

Just to dig up this thread but can anyone tell me why the STEAM client practically updates nearly every time I use it, downloading around 75mb in doing so?
Is there a way to avoid it? I suspect not but damn it's so annoying especially when you just want to get on & drive. Grr!!!

[DexterPunk]

Yeah I get the same thing. Every damn time I turn on my PC. I read a thread about it not long back and it's not meant to happen. There were some fixes being suggested but not everyone having luck. All seemed too hard.


Sent from Han Solo using TK-421's phone.

[DarrenM]

Try switching it to offline mode in the menu. You should only need online mode when using the store or getting updates.

[kwijibo]

I had the same problem, so I just stopped shutting down my pc, and put it into sleep mode instead

[Duke]

I wonder if my issue is related to not running the Steam client on Windows startup then?

Thanks Darren, I'll give that a try.
Is there any issue with it being in offline mode?

[DarrenM]

I use it when I get sick of the constant updates and haven't had an issue. You just won't get notified of updates.

You could also set steam to not auto run when you start the pc. That way you'll only get the update when you start it.
Steam->Settings->Interface tab.