HL2 : Silver package

what's the back catalog supposed to be?

All the games currently available on Steam...

use your eyes, there's a link right next to where it says back catalogue! :razz:

Does the BRONZE package contain HL2, CS:S AND the full SDK?

The SDK is an optional steam download, avaiable with any pack. No extra charge has been mentioned so far

Kage_Prototype said:
All the games currently available on Steam...

use your eyes, there's a link right next to where it says back catalogue! :razz:

so i can play cs, tfc , CS:CZ ,dod 1.6 with this CD?

Its not a CD, you don't get anything physically. Buying the silver
package will give you access to download and play everything available
on steam.

BIG WARNING:

I hear that if you get the Silver package on your current HL steam ID, since you are getting HL1 etc., which you already have on that ID, your 'old' HL1 CD Key will be overwritten and invalidated. In other words, you won't be able to take your old copy of HL1 and install it on another machine, since you'd have to be logged in twice under the same Steam ID at the same time to use both copies at once, which no workie.

I -think- if you simply buy HL2 under a new Steam ID you will get around this problem (then install and play HL1 under the old ID). To be safe, though, I'm probably just going to uninstall HL1 before I buy HL2. Since I have multiple computers on a LAN, I'd kinda like to have HL1 on two of them for LANing purposes.

fraggard said:
The SDK is an optional steam download, avaiable with any pack. No extra charge has been mentioned so far

Will it be included on the DVD? Does anyone know?

Jinx said:
BIG WARNING:

I hear that if you get the Silver package on your current HL steam ID, since you are getting HL1 etc., which you already have on that ID, your 'old' HL1 CD Key will be overwritten and invalidated. In other words, you won't be able to take your old copy of HL1 and install it on another machine, since you'd have to be logged in twice under the same Steam ID at the same time to use both copies at once, which no workie.

I -think- if you simply buy HL2 under a new Steam ID you will get around this problem (then install and play HL1 under the old ID). To be safe, though, I'm probably just going to uninstall HL1 before I buy HL2. Since I have multiple computers on a LAN, I'd kinda like to have HL1 on two of them for LANing purposes.

will i be able to get 2 steam IDs ? ( one old hl1 and the HL2 )

What he's saying is, since HL2 gives you access to all the back games, create a new steam account with the HL2 key or whatever and use the old account on another machine.

This means, at the very least, you can play HL 1 and all it's mods on more then one computer through steam. That's all.

you probably don't understand my question.
Question -----> will there be a second Steam ID for us, if we buy the HL2?

I imagine that there could be a cheap version of HL2 that is DM-only some time in the future, for all those offices/houses throughout the land with a LAN and who aren't willing to pay for a 2nd full copy of the game.

er...thanks leperous for posting at this thread...
but i really want to have my question answer so that i can make a choice.

Steam website said:
PLUS: Valve's back catalog (listed here) available on Steam!

Steam website,again said:
Valve's back catalog includes:

• Half-Life
• Counter-Strike: Condition Zero
• Day of Defeat
• Team Fortress Classic
• Deathmatch Classic
• Opposing Force
• Ricochet

Irenicis said:
you probably don't understand my question.
Question -----> will there be a second Steam ID for us, if we buy the HL2?

sry for the misunderstanding...maybe you missed out this post as well

because i need 2 Steam ids , to be frank , one for myself , one for my brother.

You can always get more steam usernamess if you buy more VALVe games. Just register again with another steam username with the new CDKey you got. You'll just have to login and logout to switch between them.

ok....does HL2 comes with a CD-Key?

Irenicis said:
ok....does HL2 comes with a CD-Key?

If you buy it at the store, yes.

Irenicis, no one is missing your point.

Buying HL2 under another steam ID is NOT required, However, if you do create another account for HL2 then you'll have two valid steam accounts for all of Valve's back games (minus, mabey, condition zero on the old account)

If you plan on buying HL2 over steam, create a new steam user, log onto steam and order whatever HL2 package you want. Wa-la, two accounts that have access to the back Valve catalog.

This isn't too hard to grasp ...

meh, too late for me who bought gold, and it didnt invalidate my old cd
key, as that is still the one related to my SteamID, which is still
used on servers, and on a server with admin which i still have admin on.

Speaking of which, I have my copy reserved, (YAY PICKUP TOMOROW!!) But... if Im buying in stores, what pakage is it? Gold, Silver or bronze?

if you just wanna play the game....Silver is enough.

Wild Card said:
Speaking of which, I have my copy reserved, (YAY PICKUP TOMOROW!!) But... if Im buying in stores, what pakage is it? Gold, Silver or bronze?

There are no gold/silver/bronze packages in stores. There's either the standard or collector's edition. I'm not exactly sure what's in either, but I'm certain you could look it up.

Standard is the equivalent of the "bronze" package, and I think the collector's edition is the equivalent of the "gold" one.

The only real equivelant is between bronze and standard retail - all
the others are quite different. Only silver and gold give you
HL1:Source and DoD:Source for example, and I think only they get you
the Valve back catalogue. Collectors retail is just standard retail
with some extra non-gaming stuff, like some sort of strategy guide,
clothing, etc... I think.

Basically, it seems only silver gets you all the games with none of the extras, which is why I went for it.

I'd like to hear an answer for Wil5on's question :O I'm buying the full DVD Pack on Wednesday -- me wants VH4!

Valve spokespeople have said the full SDK will be released soon after
HL2 hits the shelves, which sort of SUGGESTS that it isn't included in
any retail packs.

I think the retail versions actually DO give you the same stuff (back catalog). The listings they gave are probably just what comes on the physical discs (remember those round things games used to come on, HL1 had one). I'm pretty sure if you buy the collectors edition and put the key in through steam you can download everything. I mean, honestly, do you think they're going to have DoD source cost extra money only if you bought a retail copy and not a copy through steam?

I also bet that if you just install HL2 straight from the box it'll have a superficial steam interface once you run the game.
These are just deductions, but it wouldn't make sense to say, "these people who payed the same price don't get the same product"

I mean, honestly, do you think they're going to have DoD source
cost extra money only if you bought a retail copy and not a copy
through steam?

To be honest, I bloody hope so, because I paid ?40 to get the silver
pack DUE to the fact it included DoD:S and HL1:S. I could have bought
the retail version and got it for under ?30, but I didn't because it
apparently doesn't get you DoD:S and HL1:S. If Valve then turn around
and just give it out to everyone for free, then they have conned a lot
of people into buying on Steam for no benefit.

Did it ever occur to you that the extra money was for the back catalog and not the source mods? I mean as a possibility.

Obviously, no one outside of that company knows how it's going to be panned out.
The only thing is, they haven't explained what options the HL2 retail packs will have when used with steam. Honestly, if they keep them seperate, that would be far worse then you and some other people paying a small amount for some things you alread had because the details were never explained properly.

If you look at the original release options (quote from PHL news)...

[size=40]

Retail Boxes
[list]
[*] Standard Edition - includes HL2 and CS:Source. Ships on six CDs, in one of three box-art packages (Gordon, Alyx or the G-Man).
[*] Collector's Edition ? includes Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike:
Source, Half-Life 1: Source, a Half-Life 2 T-shirt and a Prima book
sampler. Ships on a single DVD.</li>[/list]

Steam Packages
[list]
[*] Bronze - HL2* and CS:Source.
[*] Silver - HL2*, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life 1: Source*,
Day of Defeat: Source*, Valve's back catalog currently available on
Steam.</li>[*] Gold - HL2*, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life 1: Source*,
Day of Defeat: Source*, Valve's back catalog currently available on
Steam, Complete Strategy Guide from Prima Games, 3 different Half-Life
2 posters, Half-Life 2 hat, Half-Life 2 postcard, Half-Life 2 stickers,
Half-Life 2 Soundtrack CD, Chance to win a trip to Valve! (1 trip
offered for every 5000 Gold packages purchased).</li>
[/list]

[/size]

...it shows that neither bronze nor either retail option lists DoD:S,
and neither bronze or standard retail lists HL1:S. If everybody is
going to be getting DoD:S free then that really doesn't make it look so.

does the standard or collector's edition comes with the back catalog?

I'd surmise that if either of them comes with the complete back catalogue it would be the collector's edition. It wouldn't make sense for the standard edition to get the back catalogue and not the bronze edition through steam. Seriously this should be a nonissue as if you were going to get the steam version you'd have it by now and odds are you won't be finding many collector's editions sitting around tomorrow.

ReNo said:
If you look at the original release options (quote from PHL news)...
? quote:
Retail Boxes
Standard Edition - includes HL2 and CS:Source. Ships on six CDs, in one of three box-art packages (Gordon, Alyx or the G-Man).Collector's Edition ? includes Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike:
Source, Half-Life 1: Source, a Half-Life 2 T-shirt and a Prima book
sampler. Ships on a single DVD.
Steam Packages
Bronze - HL2* and CS:Source.Silver - HL2*, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life 1: Source*,
Day of Defeat: Source*, Valve's back catalog currently available on
Steam.Gold - HL2*, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life 1: Source*,
Day of Defeat: Source*, Valve's back catalog currently available on
Steam, Complete Strategy Guide from Prima Games, 3 different Half-Life
2 posters, Half-Life 2 hat, Half-Life 2 postcard, Half-Life 2 stickers,
Half-Life 2 Soundtrack CD, Chance to win a trip to Valve! (1 trip
offered for every 5000 Gold packages purchased).

...it shows that neither bronze nor either retail option lists DoD:S,
and neither bronze or standard retail lists HL1:S. If everybody is
going to be getting DoD:S free then that really doesn't make it look so.

All I said, is those listings you quoted only imply what will be shipped on the actual discs, not what will be available to you once you use the program with your steam account.

Why do you think it only lists HL1 source and not DoD:S with the collectors edition? Simply because it isn't going to be out with the retail pack. That doesn't mean it wont be available. I'm fairly sure anyone who has HL2 will be able to use DoD:S, it wouldn't make sense if they couldn't, because they paid $5 less for something that's generally free?

That's all.

Just to reiterate, the retail list is what comes in the box. They haven't said anything about future releases in conjunction with steam. Doesn't really matter though, we'll find out tomorrow. Well ... I'll find out tomorrow :smile:

If they list DoD:S at all, it should be listed in the packages it will
be made available to owners of. It makes no sense to list it in silver
and gold if all the packages will get it through steam - bronze
at least should have it listed if that is the case, and it should be
made obvious that it is available for retail buyers just not straight
from the box. Listing it in those sections makes it look like the only
way to get DoD:S is to buy silver or gold. If thats not the
case, then I'd say they have purposefully conned people into buying
over steam by leading them to believe they are getting more than people
who buy the other deals.

yea, it's not clear...

got the gold pack......we'll see if all the paraphenalia steps to the hype as well....

Doc B... :dodgy:

ReNo said:
If they list DoD:S at all, it should be listed in the packages it will
be made available to owners of. It makes no sense to list it in silver
and gold if all the packages will get it through steam - bronze
at least should have it listed if that is the case, and it should be
made obvious that it is available for retail buyers just not straight
from the box. Listing it in those sections makes it look like the only
way to get DoD:S is to buy silver or gold. If thats not the
case, then I'd say they have purposefully conned people into buying
over steam by leading them to believe they are getting more than people
who buy the other deals.

A common marketing practice.

All I'm saying is just because it doesn't say it has it doesn't mean it wont eventually have it.

I don't even know if they're going to interact Retail copy with steam, if they don't wouldn't that be equally conning? Or is it only conning since you bought the silver package? Because that's basically what I'm getting from you, which I doubt it what you mean.

They haven't listen how the retail packs interact with steam. I just imagine they wouldn't f**k over a huge percentage of people who are purchasing it through a retail outlets.

What do you mean by how the retail versions interact with steam? Valve
have made fairly clear that you need to activate your retail copy over
steam. I imagine how it works is that the CD's just contain the data
other people have preloaded, and once it is installed you just activate
it over steam by entering your CD key. Your steam account will then be
updated to give you access to whatever games you have bought.

What Valve listed in the purchase options should be what people are
given. I bought the silver pack because it had DoD:S and HL1:S while
the retail versions didn't, and I'm not the only person who made their
decision based on that. People who buy the retail version do so with
full knowledge of what they were getting (or at least the knowledge is
available to them online quite readily) - nowhere does it say that they
will get DoD:S and HL1:S (except for the CE of course). If what Valve
have been showing isn't what people will get, I'll be pissed off. I
think that its well within my rights to be so.

I imaged that the retail copies would have a stand alone version of HL2. If you used the CD key in Steam then it would do all that steam junk.

Wait ... so you're saying that the CE edition should come with the game options but the normal retail can't even though neither say they'll have those game options?

Also, a lot of people (me included) flat out paid for HL2 back when it was suppose to come out the first time, well before they announced the Steam versions and before Sierra went under.

Anyway, all I said in the first place was, that crap was a list of what came with it. The only reason why the steam versions have unreleased games under its catalog is because they know you'll be using steam. If you buy a copy of HL2 at some store it doesn't mean you'll use steam. It doesn't even mean you'll play online (which is why they were going to release sp versions only before the Sierra undertaking). That's why, I would imagine, the retail versions would have different options once the CD key is used with Steam.
Otherwise, it's just a game CD like any other game.

Are my points clear? Or ... ?

I mean, for all I know, the Normal Retail version will have the option for you to send in $5 and unlock the back catalog, who knows?

let's see what happens when it comes out.

I can see where you are coming from, but I disagree. It has been said
by Valve that you need steam in order to play HL2, as only once
you have an account with a valid HL2 CD key will the game be unlocked
and playable. The people who have managed to buy retail copies of HL2
already have found this out, much to their anger I imagine.

All I meant by "nowhere does it say that they
will get DoD:S and HL1:S (except for the CE of course)" was that the CE
does state that it comes with HL1:S, so of course they should
get it. It doesn't say they get DoD:S however, so I assume, and hope,
they will not. Don't take this as me being spiteful against others, as
that isn't my point at all.

I hope that you are wrong about them listing things because they assume
you will have steam and can therefore download them if you bought over
steam. If that was the case, I don't see why it wouldn't be listed
under the bronze package as well. As far as I can tell, its not listed
in bronze or retail ones because those don't allow you access to these
games. You will most likely be able to buy them over steam for a modest
price or something.

About those copies already sold: I believe someone used a part of the
taboo version to get HL2 running without steam auth-ing. At least,
that's wat some people say.

Did you see the guy on Ebay selling the Ending Sequence Screenshot ?

It's a funny read too:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=1469&item=5534899126&rd=1

What valve should offer is a rebate for those people who already own
the ENTIRE back catalog and want to get all the source games from the
silver pack without wasting money on the catalog. It might seem like
only $10 in the US, but its around $15 difference here in australia,
and is DoD:S and HL1:S worth paying $80 for, or is $65 for just HL2 and
CS:S a better option?

There must be a version which doesn't need Steam authorisation, otherwise review sites/mags wouldn't have been able to play the game already...

i wonder if the Retail box: standard edition contains the back catalog...

Irenicis said:
i wonder if the Retail box: standard edition contains the back catalog...

Not on the discs.

The preview copies sent out to reviewers and the like might not have needed steam authentication, but all the retail copies do.

Crono said:
<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Irenicis</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>i wonder if the Retail box: standard edition contains the back catalog...
</DIV></DIV>

Not on the discs.

what do you mean not on the discs?

My flatmates got the retail standard copies, and they don't let the
person play HL:S. I assume this will also mean they won't be able to
play DoD:S, though as it is currently listed as "coming soon" for
everyone you can't really tell for sure.