55 replies to this topic

[DirtyHarry50]

Thain Esh Kelch, on 29 October 2017 - 02:32 PM, said:

There are so many games out there that you'll never lack games, no matter what setup/platform you choose..

That is an excellent point. I wound up settling on consoles for AAA and whatever will work that's of interest to me on my cheapo (for now anyway) laptop and my iOS devices.

It's nice to have libraries of games on GOG and Steam now that have plenty of good and older titles that'll run fine on low spec hardware. Even running Linux now on the laptop thanks to Steamplay the titles I was planning to play on this in Windows have linux versions! So that was really cool. That's a nice benefit of both stores, the cross platform support.

As for hearing bad things about Steam, I have never had any issues with Steam at all and I've been using Steam since it was a client to run Valve games and there was no store. That came later. If anything was out of sorts early on and maybe it was, it didn't bother me enough to remember it and I loved multiplayer back then with all the Half-life mods and whatnot. Fast forward to now, I recently finished Planescape Torment on Steam and I had zero issues with Steam as usual. I think some people maybe have problems with the bloat, the store, the UI, whatever but in terms of functionality the thing works and has worked for many years. Millions of people play games on that platform all the time 24/7/365 year after year. Ignore the noise because it is mostly just noise. I've used Steam on Windows, macOS and now Linux and it just works fine.

I set my Steam client to open to my Library view so I can go about the business of playing something. I think that beats the default of opening to the store by a long shot. I can go wade through that when I have some reason to want to. There's no need of being confronted with it every time you just want to play something but to their credit they let you customize your experience. Also, you can do that a great deal in the store so as to filter out a lot of noise you don't care about. It's not perfect but it is a step in the right direction. I give them good marks for effort with stuff like that.

[Mr Pink]

jeannot, on 29 October 2017 - 02:14 PM, said:

I find curious that you deprive yourself of some games just because you don't like the distribution platform.

I already willingly deprive myself of quite a lot of games, because I don't like using Windows.
I don't feel like I'm missing much more by not using Steam.

[Thain Esh Kelch]

DirtyHarry50, on 29 October 2017 - 04:28 PM, said:

That is an excellent point. I wound up settling on consoles for AAA and whatever will work that's of interest to me on my cheapo (for now anyway) laptop and my iOS devices.

10 years ago, a supplement console to my Mac gaming was a must. These days, I only have time to game a bit in the weekends, and while I want a Nintendo Switch, my Nintendo Wii hasn't been played for 2 years and my Mac backlog is still huge (Slowly comming down though!).

So I can definitely live with those AAA games, and a buttload of indie stuff, that comes out on Mac. And really, I am not missing much AAA stuff anymore, since most of it is ported to Mac. (I only want the Mass Effect trilogy, The Witcher 3, Skyrim, Red Dead Redemption and that's about it?)

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As for hearing bad things about Steam, I have never had any issues with Steam at all and I've been using Steam since it was a client to run Valve games and there was no store. That came later. If anything was out of sorts early on and maybe it was, it didn't bother me enough to remember it and I loved multiplayer back then with all the Half-life mods and whatnot. Fast forward to now, I recently finished Planescape Torment on Steam and I had zero issues with Steam as usual. I think some people maybe have problems with the bloat, the store, the UI, whatever but in terms of functionality the thing works and has worked for many years.

Yeah, I really don't like the Steam client, but I should also point out that I never actually have anytechnical  issues with it - Its always been solid and worked as expected. I just think it looks horrible, doesn't adhere to the macOS HIG, is a complete maze to navigate. But therefore I also just stick to the view of my library (Where 95% of the stuff is from MGS or Humble Bundles anyway). I don't buy much, if anything, from Steam, because they have enough as is, and I really don't like the way Gabe handles that company - From a gamers POV.

Mr Pink, on 29 October 2017 - 05:14 PM, said:

I already willingly deprive myself of quite a lot of games, because I don't like using Windows.
I don't feel like I'm missing much more by not using Steam.

Same here. I don't do Windows gaming, because I don't like Windows. And the same goes for Steam, as described above. And I can live with having to pay 5$ and not 4$ for an AAA game on sales, at MGS compared to Steam.

[ipickert55]

You don't need to play every game to be a gamer and enjoy video games. Odds are you won't even have time to play most of the games you buy (god my backlog is so big). Just use whatever OS and gaming client makes you happy and you'll be happy. Simple as that.

[jeannot]

ipickert55, on 30 October 2017 - 11:15 AM, said:

You don't need to play every game to be a gamer and enjoy video games.

No, but there are games I want to play. Some Valve's games in particular are among the best games ever made (according to "official" rankings) and require Steam.

[ipickert55]

jeannot, on 30 October 2017 - 11:19 AM, said:

No, but there are games I want to play. Some Valve's games in particular are among the best games ever made (according to "official" rankings) and require Steam.

Was speaking to the people who are debating whether or not to use certain clients. I agree, I like those games a lot too, but I would be able to survive if I hadn't played them.

[Laurensvo]

It's a shame Apple doesn't invest more resources into the Mac AppStore. It seems Steam is the best option, so will go for it.  However, it does look dated. Does anyone know if Steam's design will get updated to macOS Yosemite?

[jeannot]

A new Steam design is rumoured to be in the works. Not sure if it will fit better in the OS though.
I also suggest you update to the latest macOS if you do gaming.

[Cougar]

Laurensvo, on 01 November 2017 - 09:46 AM, said:

It's a shame Apple doesn't invest more resources into the Mac AppStore. It seems Steam is the best option, so will go for it.  However, it does look dated. Does anyone know if Steam's design will get updated to macOS Yosemite?

I use this skin to fix the stoplight icons: https://fezvrasta.de...-Skin-508561627

[Laurensvo]

Thanks. Is there a game on Steam that is considered to be a 'must have'?

[DirtyHarry50]

Laurensvo, on 07 November 2017 - 08:13 AM, said:

Thanks. Is there a game on Steam that is considered to be a 'must have'?

There are plenty of them depending on who you ask. You'll always get what they think is fabulous but unfortunately that might not translate to what you think is fabulous. It would help if you could narrow it down to a favorite genre you really enjoy such as RPGs, Shooters, Turn based or Real Time Strategy, Indies, etc. and from there you can probably get some suggestions of leading titles. Tell us what you really like in gaming and maybe we can come up with some stuff.

[Jan]

1. GOG

Ethics, customer support, DRM-freedom, multi-platform releases. GOG Galaxy on Mac ist snappy and works well within the OS design guidelines. The classic .sh scripts under Linux (Mojo-Installers) by Ryan Gordon are a dream for old-school purists.

If you use the classic installers, there‘s no online dependancy at all and you can move the game to wherever you like: internal, external drives, USB sticks, etc. It‘s super easy to share a game with your family members, which don‘t have any game accounts or are too young. Much better than Steam Family Sharing. Lots of sales, too and GOG‘s curation is MUCH better and more refined than Steam‘s garbage collection as of late (there‘s so much bullpopsnizzle and fake games on the platform it‘s getting ridiculous!).

2. Feral games

Bought directly off of their store to support their Linux/Mac porting efforts.

[Matt Diamond]

Laurensvo, on 07 November 2017 - 08:13 AM, said:

Thanks. Is there a game on Steam that is considered to be a 'must have'?

It depends on your tastes, as DH50 said. But Portal 1 and Portal 2 are Steam-exclusive and appeal to a wide range of gamers. (They also go on sale a couple times a year so if you wait until the annual holiday sale you might get a real bargain.)

[Laurensvo]

DirtyHarry50, on 07 November 2017 - 09:53 AM, said:

There are plenty of them depending on who you ask. You'll always get what they think is fabulous but unfortunately that might not translate to what you think is fabulous. It would help if you could narrow it down to a favorite genre you really enjoy such as RPGs, Shooters, Turn based or Real Time Strategy, Indies, etc. and from there you can probably get some suggestions of leading titles. Tell us what you really like in gaming and maybe we can come up with some stuff.

RPG and strategy game in particular?

[ipickert55]

Laurensvo, on 09 November 2017 - 12:05 PM, said:

RPG and strategy game in particular?

Civilization, Knights of the Old Republic, Endless Games (Endless Space and Endless Legend) are a personal favorite, Xcom. Those are off the top of my head.

[DirtyHarry50]

Dawn of War II series of games are fabulous good fun. For RPGs I'm a big fan of the Infinity Engine remakes, namely Planescape Torment, Icewind Dale and last but not least the epic Baldur's Gate saga consisting of Baldur's Gate I and II with their expansions included.