About 50 Years In And Some Questions

[wagtunes]

Well, I'm about 50 years into my first 1,000 year DW campaign and all I can say is WOW. Had no idea what I was in for but I didn't expect anything like this.

Have a few questions. First one actually pertains to Steam.

Question 1:

My understanding is that you need to connect to Steam to play the game, which I assume I've done. However, all I did upon purchasing the game was install it, and after getting DirectX 9 to finally work, run it and play it.

I never opened a Steam account and can only assume I've connected to them in some way.

Can somebody explain to me exactly how this works? By purchasing the game directly from Matrix Games, was I automatically made a Steam member? If not, is there something additionally that I need to do?

Question 2:

Now that more things are going on in the game, I am noticing that the messages are flying by and it's almost impossible to keep up with them, especially the ones that you have to respond to like approving an attack on a colony or building a new base.

Is there some way to slow these things down? I am suspecting that some messages are being lost in the queue. For example, today I am sure I saw about 6 or 7 scroll up but when I went to approve them, there were only about 4 or 5. I am sure that 2 were lost and I don't know how to retrieve them to respond to them, if it's even possible. For all I know, it was an attack order that I missed.

Any assistance in this area will be appreciated.

Question 3:

As much as I've taken to this game rather quickly, I am sure there are tips and things that I'm probably not even aware of. Is there some part of this forum that has a list of tips and strategies that I can read through?

In short, am having a blast. My years of gaming experience were not for nothing. It has helped a lot, but I know there's a lot I haven't figured out yet. So any advanced pointers (I think I've got all the basic stuff down) will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[mordachai]

1: I don't know - I don't have any issues playing this game w/o Steam logged in nor running, unlikely most steam games.
2: You have control over game-speed (+/- I think?). You can pause anytime (space), and you can use the event log to go back and see what you missed.
3: There are you-tube videos and FAQs and walk-throughs and so on... someone else can point you where, or you can google.

[Bingeling]

When you bought your game directly from Matrix, Steam is an option only. You run the game from the matrix installed setup just fine without any connection or relation to Steam.

If you want the game in your steam library, you can get a steam key as described in one of the stickies here. You will then have to do an additional install (inside Steam) if you want to use the steam overlay, get steam achievements, or other Steam specific stuff.

[wagtunes]

ORIGINAL: Bingeling

When you bought your game directly from Matrix, Steam is an option only. You run the game from the matrix installed setup just fine without any connection or relation to Steam.

If you want the game in your steam library, you can get a steam key as described in one of the stickies here. You will then have to do an additional install (inside Steam) if you want to use the steam overlay, get steam achievements, or other Steam specific stuff.

Ah, so then Steam is NOT required to play this game? Now I'm really confused. Go to Amazon and read all the complaints about how you need Steam to play this game.

What are these people talking about then? I don't understand.

[Bingeling]

If you buy the game on Steam, you may have to use Steam. It would be unusual to be able to launch a game bought on Steam outside Steam.

Steam is a store/game management system. You buy games on Steam, you run games on Steam. A bad thing with it is that you may need internet to play. And if you lose access to your steam account, you lose access to all your games bought there. The good thing about Steam is that they have nice deals, and makes moving to a new computer easy. They also handle patches automatically and you may have some tools to connect with your friends through Steam while playing. Also, there are no installers and game keys to lose like it is if you buy from Matrix.

[HerpInYourDerp]

Several games you can buy on Steam don't require Steam itself running to play, as in you can just open via its own exe.

[mordachai]

As Herp'd'Derp indicates - once you've installed it - you don't need steam to play. At least - I bought it through steam - installed it via steam - but never need steam to play.

People say ignorant stuff constantly.

[Rekm41]

Try this link it has helped me immensely.

tm.asp?m=3508583

[wagtunes]

So then if I buy all my games directly from the manufacturer (like Matrix Games) even if it says requires Steam or uses Steam or whatever, I'll be able to play it okay without actually getting a Steam account, correct?

IOW, as long as I don't buy from Steam, I'm fine.

[Aeson]

So then if I buy all my games directly from the manufacturer (like Matrix Games) even if it says requires Steam or uses Steam or whatever, I'll be able to play it okay without actually getting a Steam account, correct?

This depends on how the publisher/developer decided to manage things. Some games yes, others no. In the case of Distant Worlds, you can. There are other examples where the opposite is true.

[wagtunes]

ORIGINAL: Aeson

So then if I buy all my games directly from the manufacturer (like Matrix Games) even if it says requires Steam or uses Steam or whatever, I'll be able to play it okay without actually getting a Steam account, correct?

This depends on how the publisher/developer decided to manage things. Some games yes, others no. In the case of Distant Worlds, you can. There are other examples where the opposite is true.

I assume then that before you actually buy the game it will at least tell you if Steam IS a requirement to run it or not, correct?

[mordachai]

ORIGINAL: wagtunes
I assume then that before you actually buy the game it will at least tell you if Steam IS a requirement to run it or not, correct?

I have a bridge I'd love to sell you...

[wagtunes]

ORIGINAL: mordachai

ORIGINAL: wagtunes
I assume then that before you actually buy the game it will at least tell you if Steam IS a requirement to run it or not, correct?

I have a bridge I'd love to sell you...

I'll take that as a "read the fine print before you buy."

Thanks. Will do.

[mordachai]

lol - yeah, that works [:)]