New Steam chat - how to switch it off?

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Actually I would keep using it but they made the decision easier for me. I recently had a reformat and when I went to reload FSX it was gone! I'm still in the process of talking to Steam about it but it seems the outcome is going to be that I can't restore it to my PC. To make matters worse my Activation Key is also somehow missing. They said I need to talk to the the manufacturer about that, but in this case they are the manufacturer. If I get everything back, great. If not, I won't fight them. I'll just say goodbye and good riddance.

That's odd, your games should be linked to your Steam account after you've activated them.

[Red October1984]

I bought FSX Steam Edition when it was on sale and it's probably one of the very few Steam purchases I actually regret. It runs so poorly for me and they're charging so much for addons. I made the decision to switch to DCS/BMS after just a short amount of time flying on FSX.

I used to play FS9 almost religiously, but FSX:SE left a bad taste in my mouth for the MSFS series.

It's a shame FSX drove you away from Steam, Steve. Although the game not being registered to your account is an interesting issue. I can't say I don't respect the decision to abstain from using it.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Did you use the original FSX as released by MS, or the Steam-version of it (I do not know whether they sell both versions at Steam)? The latter had some code redone to make it "Steam" and thus is not compatabile with all modules available for FSX anyway. Maybe the installation is affected by that, too. The original FSX had a limited number of activations, when they were all used up, one had to activate via telephone.

It's the all-Steam version. Steam doesn't sell the original, and the few copies I've found elsewhere are pretty expensive.

The Steam version is not only changed for Steam, but they've done some upgrades to it as well. They were also working on their own version - a complete rewrite a la P3D, but they just cancelled work on it a month or two ago.

For the new version of P3D, 3 and 4, commercial modules also had to be rewritten, for exmaple my beloved stuff by PMDG. FSX and PMDG are synonyms for me, the one without the other is pointless for me.

According to some comments I've read on YouTube, P3D v3 is still compatible with FSX. P3D v4 is not, since it is an upgrade to 64-bit made to stay competitive with X-Plane 11.

However, flying probbaly is behind me. XP11 just does nto do the trick for me, andI am fully engaged in Assetto Corsa (Competizione soon) these days, and Raceroom, and use not just the most toy-like controllers for it anymore, but more elaborated hardware.

What's doing it for me right now is Wings: Over Flanders Fields. I would love to race as well, but flying such primitive machines (safely from my living room, of course) really turns me on. This is especially true because I have mine set up to fly before the war begins, so I'm just cruising around 1914 England, France and Germany.

Sometimes I miss the memory however...

I've watched quite a few videos of people replicating airline flights with photo-realistic cockpits and airports. It's awesome to watch, but I prefer to bop around in the older planes. I like flying the downloads of the Boeing 40 and 247, the Ford 4-AT Trimotor, and I was walking my way through the American trainers - PT-19, AT-6, AT-11 and was soon to get into the T-28, T-33, T-34 and T-38. From there I was planning to graduate to the "real" planes. I played around with FSX's B-47. Flying it was no problem, but I never survived a single landing. Hence the training periods.

Good luck with your Steam conversation.

I received an email saying they had received mine, but no actual response yet.

Originally Posted by Dowly

That's odd, your games should be linked to your Steam account after you've activated them.

The purchase shows up in my account, but nothing about re-downloading or restoring the Activation Key.

Originally Posted by Red October1984

I bought FSX Steam Edition when it was on sale and it's probably one of the very few Steam purchases I actually regret. It runs so poorly for me and they're charging so much for addons. I made the decision to switch to DCS/BMS after just a short amount of time flying on FSX.

I've watched some DCS videos and they are spectacular, but not really what I want to do.

I used to play FS9 almost religiously, but FSX:SE left a bad taste in my mouth for the MSFS series.

I still have my old FS9 copy (labeled 'FS 2004'), but unlike you I like the FSX: SE version. Well, except for the 'SE' part.

It's a shame FSX drove you away from Steam, Steve. Although the game not being registered to your account is an interesting issue. I can't say I don't respect the decision to abstain from using it.

I just dislike the feeling that I don't own my own game. I need their permission to play it, and they keep track of how often and how much I play. Still, if they restore it for me I'll keep it up. If not, I'll go for P3D v3.

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

The purchase shows up in my account, but nothing about re-downloading or restoring the Activation Key.

That's really, really odd. If it shows in your games library, you should be able to click the game and there should be a button to install it on the right window (or right-click-> install game).

[Sailor Steve]

Nope, nothing like that. Clicking the link takes me to a huge page of ads for add-ons. Right-clicking brings up the usual "Open link in new tab" etc.

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

Nope, nothing like that. Clicking the link takes me to a huge page of ads for add-ons. Right-clicking brings up the usual "Open link in new tab" etc.

If you have the Steam version of FSX, then you need to download and install steam (LINK). After that's done, fire it up and log in and go to your games library within Steam, you should see it there.


Steam games always require you to run them through the Steam software.

[Skybird]

Also, backup the installed game (there is an option for that in the Steam game menu), make a hardcopy of the compressed file that is to be found in Steam/Backups. You can then install froim that file instread of needing to download it. Just saving the folder of the installed game will NOT allow you to reinstall from that. You need to use the backup option by Steam.

The data Steam collects, is limited, as far as I know,m and related to the games of steam indeed. That they know my playing hours, is not so much my concern. I mean the ammount of data Windows 10 phones home even if you have all mrelated options switched off, is a quite beigger worry. Almost 2000 data variabkles get frequently collected by Windows even if you shut all telemetry down as far as that can be done by the normal user. And these collect far more than just usage times, but allow to profile and identify people and connect this data to gained data form other sources. Sensitive, potentially abusable data.

If you are sensible about Steam, you should not use Windows at all, Steve. The whole bullcrap of Windows 10 has been reverse-engineered into Windows7 as well already long time ago. Go Linux. Chrome is safer than Windows, but knows no privacy. Apple is like Windows, just more locked in its own universe. For a weekly overview of the latest Windows patch mess, visit this siter occasionally: https://www.askwoody.com/ Busines sslowly realises that Windows costs them money: in license fees, and in workaround, repair and overtime working hours by their IT staff.

Steam has started already years ago to slowly start migrating away from Windows, and offering more and more games for Steam OS which in principle is Linux, as far as I understand. Of course that is also announcing their desire to have people buying their own Steam hardware.

When Windows is gone one day, consoles indeed may be what ius left for me to play on. At least a few good racing games are available for them - Assetto Corsa as an example. Niche products however from the cosim branch and others, may find it hard to surive then, but since they usually do not need additonal controller hardware that Linux finds hard to offer drivers for, authors maybe finally will see a greater motivation to start developing such things for Linux.