I dont have a steam account

[Delanski]

Originally Posted by Udet65

" once you've installed Cold Waters from Steam, you don't need to have Steam running to play it. Simply click the .exe directly in "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Cold Waters" or make a shortcut to it in your Start menu or elsewhere"

for sure? I think the Steam client is then started in the background.

You might be right. He'll probably need to Ctrl Alt Delete next time, head over to Start Task Manager then over to the Process tab to look for a Steam.exe

[Sean C]

Originally Posted by Udet65

I think the Steam client is then started in the background.

Originally Posted by Delanski

You might be right. He'll probably need to Ctrl Alt Delete next time, head over to Start Task Manager then over to the Process tab to look for a Steam.exe

Just did a quick test and was able to start and play CW without Steam background process ever starting.

[Killerfish Games]

Originally Posted by Nathaniel B.

Just did a quick test and was able to start and play CW without Steam background process ever starting.

Correct, you can play Cold Waters independently of the Steam client and without an internet connection (once it is downloaded) as mentioned above.

However you will need to use the Steam client to get updates and access to betas, again as mentioned above.

[chillbro baggins]

Originally Posted by Swordsman422

It's always a good idea to get legit.

Early on, I was against services like Steam, preferring actual discs so that if a service ever went tango-uniform, I'd not be out my ability to install and play a game. Now, only 2 of the games I have installed have physical copies, and one of them now has a Steam release.

Originally Posted by Red Devil

When I first got a pc, mid 90s, it was 'can you do my a copy of x,y and z'. Now? I wouldn't touch a pirate copy at all. Its both not worth it and could contain naughty bits!!

Same. I accepted my fair share of copied floppies back in the bad old days, but it's just not worth it anymore, the time you spend removing all the bundled malware that comes with a copy is going to be worth as much or more than using a minimum-wage job to buy it legit (or mowing your neighbor's lawn a few times if you're too young to get a real job).

Nowadays your only problem with Steam is going to be the the game just being too old/un-updated to run on modern hardware (see SH5), Steam's not going anywhere. I don't even know the last game I got on physical media. I know my current computer wouldn't run it, between the game being from the Win98 era and my PC not having an optical drive.

Aren't most retail-packaged games now just a Steam code and maybe a disc so you can do the preinstall and only have to download the updates instead of all of it anyway? Pretty sure even console games where you buy a DVD want to update out of the box these days (though that's an entirely other can of worms.).

Too bad shareware/limited trials aren't all that big anymore, I've bought several games based on demos/free weekends on Steam (though tbf, there's a reason for that -- I played the hell out of the DOOM shareware copy and second disc of community maps my sister gave me back in the day, and never actually bought the full version. )

[Aktungbby]

chillbro baggins!

[GeneralGamer]

Putting a shortcut to your desktop is a great idea. Thanks!

Running with as few system resources being used is better on old graphics cards. So I have 2 shortcuts now. One for Coldwaters-steam, and one for just Coldwaters.

Great tip!!