Steam or local PC work better?

[rwenstrup]

I've bought my games through Matrix...so I can either load them locally on my PC or through Steam. For desktop play Steam is very convenient, but my laptop is old and slow.

Would it be better to load my games on Steam or locally on my laptop to get the best performance? I find the bigger AGEOD games and Command Air/Naval very slow to load from Steam and I'm thinking it may be better to load them locally.

Your help is much appreciated...

[VPaulus]

There should be no difference between Steam versions or the Slitherine/Matrix versions.

[rwenstrup]

Thanks for your help!

[demyansk]

I normally have the game locally but I do like Steam for the updates. By the way, no difference from what I can determine.

[zakblood]

while there is no difference between Steam versions or the Slitherine/Matrix versions,

adding steam into the mix on a low end pc does use more resources, where as a standalone game doesn't use at much, but on a modern pc and O/S, agreed the difference isn't noticeable either on boot, or loading time, or access to anything game related and in some respects, with auto update on all the time, steam is imo a good service, but i'd still say buying the site versions first gives the best option, as then you have the best of both worlds, a site key for a standalone version and also a steam key for now or in the future if the game isn't released at the time of sale and late the game gets released on steam, so win win, and your supporting the site with better revenue, where steam sales are slightly less for the developers and publishers etc etc and steam doesn't offer the service for free either

[Symple]

I often play games while not online. For me, this is a key reason to not use Steam as in my last experience with Steam I had to be logged in or I could not play. So when I traveled, I could not play my Steam games until I landed and got logged in. (Some players tell me this is no longer an issue) However, for me, this was a deal breaker.

I am not a fan of Steam for a few reasons. Their forum seems to have a lot of members who run to the hysterical in reply instead of using contemplation and balance. This mob mentality often makes a great game get a low rating as many Steam members seem to lack the sophistication to appreciate sophisticated games. They seem to prefer simplistic game and often trash complex games, especially AGEOD games. This is a shame as these uninformed voices drown out actual discourse and serious discussion.

But I also prefer to house my own games and not have a company which has no obligation to me or to my gaming desires have a bit of a dictate over my games and the versions of my games. Perhaps things have changed at Steam. It has been a very long time since I used this interface, but I grew tired of not being able to use beta patches and having my updated versions revert to the Steam version.

Ok, I am a troglodyte, but why would anyone want an unknowable entity to buffer their game products while monitoring their usage? What is the value add? Convenience? Not persuasive. All my games are on my desktop. The thing is, Steam has no value add, just additional steps to get to game play, by my count, two more steps minimum.

As rwenstrup says in the original post, not all games run as well in Steam as when a stand alone. This is so true.

My take, own your own games. Do not let a surrogate service be a gateway to your enjoyment of games and gaming.

[Mike Barry]

I bought Warhammer 40,000 Amageddom (17Feb2018) loaded it up, registered the game and played a scenario until it crashed. A graphic file was not found. I started the game again and saw I had v. 107, so I used the game to check for an update. The game was first published in 2014, four years ago. Yet, I didn't have an updated disc? Anyway, I downloaded the 2 new updates (from 2017), installed the first (b)update and rebooted. The game started and I played a scenario until the game crashed. Again, another graphic was not displayed. I installed the second (c) update and rebooted. Upon getting past the story graphics I was prompted to get a Steam account to play the game. Nowhere on Matrix's or Slitherine's site, or the game disc box, did it say I needed a Steam account to play the game. I registered a Steam account and while online started the game again only to have a box open to say I did not have a client account with Steam. Looking on Steam I found the game and was told I had to buy the game. I looked past this and found I could play a non-Steam game and followed the process to have the game from my hd to become listed on Steam in my library. After doing this, I started the game and still got the box saying I needed to be a Steam client to play the game. While on Steam I tried to show the retail game I bought from Matrix/Slitherine had a registration code, but it was not recognized by Steam as being valid. I cannot play the game, either offline or online thru Steam. What do I do now?

[Mike Barry]

I found the Steam variant to be v.107, but there are two updates from 2017 (v.1012b and v.1012c) that need to be downloaded to fix errors. However, once I installed the updates my game does not work. I get a box saying Steam client must be on to run the game. This box shows up while I am logged on to Steam. What do I do?

[Douvan]

on my laptom Steam work how a clock, all good

[doler]

If you're using Wi-Fi to connect your two Steam computers, try a wired ethernet connection to see if it works better.