Anyone actually buy HL2 not through Steam?

skankerzero

I keep getting this error:

"Error 1334: The file 'hl2.ico1' cannot be installed because the file cannot be found in cabinet file 'hl24.cab'. Yhis could indicate a network error, an error reading from the CD-ROM, or a problem with this package."

I've tried both drives and 2 different copies of the game.

ElysiumGX

try installing CS: Source first. that seemed to help some.

skankerzero

yeah, that worked. Thanks.

Kinda cheap I think. I really don't want CS taking up space on my drive.

Daz

Its a know issue. You can uninstall CS later, but for now you have to install.

kleinluka

worked for me (collector's edition retail)

Deimos

Is it just me, or does it seem exceedingly cheap of vivendi to ship the retail game with no hard copy of the manual in the box?

FatAssasin

Seriously? That's one the main reasons I would actually by the boxed version, to have something physical to hold on to and look at.

ScoobyDoofus

I bought my copy at Walmart around 1am Tuesday pacific time.
I couldnt wait until the next day to pick up my pre-ordered copy at GameStop. Hopefully they'll roll my 5$ deposit into store credit.

Also, slightly lamer is that I bought the standard edition at Walmart, as they didnt have any collectors editions. I'd reserved the CE, because I wanted to play HL: Source as well.

Scott Ruggels

I got my copy of the Collector's edition at EB Games at Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo. Got it, becaueI like to have physical media around to re-install if the need arises, also the booklet of the concept art was nice.

Scott

Frank

Quick ref card and CDs in paper sleeves, that's all you get with the retail version. Oh, and disk errors, I got those free of charge. And paid 55 bucks instead of 50. Thanks, Vivendi, go fuck yourselves.

Frank the Avenger

Mojo2k

i got a neat lil book, the game on one dvd in a nice jewel case and a swank tshirt, the install went fine. but the steam part of the install took 8 hours,

Thanks, Steam, go fuck yourselves

adam

The shirt is pretty nice. Simple, yet nice. Wore it right outta the box - ha!

dur23

I also got the collectors edition with dvd and the booklet and tshirt. Why in heavens name would they send xxl in the box. I know your better safe than sorry, but god damnit....i had to cut the shit of the shirt so that it wasn't a skirt.

That Darn Satan!

I love Steam as a concept, and the implementation is pretty good too (the bugs some people experienced notwithstanding). Giving people the three option packages to choose from is just brilliant. Why not milk some extra cash from easy spenders with almost no additional effort? Awesome! I also like Steam because I'm sick of the clutter in my apartment and would like to reduce it or at least not add to it. I buy a lot of games and CDs, but once the game is installed or the CD is ripped, I feel myself wanting to add to landfills and get this redundant material stuff outta my life. Steam solves the problem for me. As a developer and a gamer, I really hope Steam catches on!

[edit: bah, pretty off-topic, but I needed to gush]

Scott Ruggels

[ QUOTE ]
I also got the collectors edition with dvd and the booklet and tshirt. Why in heavens name would they send xxl in the box. I know your better safe than sorry, but god damnit....i had to cut the shit of the shirt so that it wasn't a skirt.

[/ QUOTE ]

Try wearing pants next time? Then you can tuck the extra amount of shirt in them. Hope this helps.

:-) :-) :-)

Scott

iMag

bought the collectors, somewhat with it. biggest bitch though is having to have the dvd in the drive to even play the game while anyone who bought it on steam doesn't need the disk. anyways back to playing hl2 wheee

Scott Ruggels

IMag, you are absolutely right! holy shit! I have to have the DVD in the drive, even AFTER I have reg'd with Steam? WTF? Well if I have the Steam authentication, can I now Not have to have the DVD resident in my drives?

Scott

KDR_11k

I wonder how hard it is to store your auth data somewhere and burn the activated copy to a disk, ready to be installed and used on any system without activation?

Steve Schulze

Its pretty simple. Half the guys at work just shared the 4 gig of data out between themselves so they didn't have to spend days DLing from overstressed Steam.

As for my retail install it took about fifteen minutes with no problems aside from the need of some new graphics drivers to get the game running without a completely abysmal framerate.

Dukester

I was going to buy the Collectors edition tody.
This may be s stupid question, but I'm asking it anyway.
What in the hell is Steam? And, why do I need it?
Could I just install HL2 on my new comp (with no internet connection) and just play the single player?
I do not want to spend 8 hours installing anythng

Jeff Parrott

Mojo rocks, he summed up my opinion of Steam perfectly. Steam gave me issues, the DVD and shirt rock.

KDR_11k

Duke: Steam is a content delivery and digital rights management (read: copy restriction) software that also handles server browsing. Means it's a service for buying games online, delivering them via download and running in the background to make sure only the person who paid for it can use it. With HL2 retail you must let Steam connect to its master once so it can validate your data, then your copy becomes playable. Before Steam rung up its big brother it will not let you play. You have to set Steam to offline mode if you don't want to have to contact Valve's master server every time you start the game after that but the first time is unavoidable. That's the tagline for DRM: Guilty until proven innocent.

Dukester

bah! well the computer I have that will play it has no internet connection, so they will not make a sale for now >:(

thanks for the info!