Phew! It’s like a sauna in here!! 
Merged I think I just fell in love with Steam thread started by Daddypants with this one.
Ellen Cherry
Game Room Moderator
Have you tried setting Steam to run as Administrator? I had some weird issues when I first installed Steam until I gave it admin rights.
After spending way too much money on discounted Steam games, I can say that XCOM runs on Windows 7 Ultimate x64 (though my CPU is only x32). It installs with DOSBOX, which launches automatically when you launch it from Steam.
I also picked up Bioshock, the Telltale everything pack, Torchlight, Machinarium, and Audiosurf. That’s in addition to the dozen or so games I picked up during their Thanksgiving sales. And to top it off, I’m not even gaming much, as I just picked up a bunch of books I want to catch up on. I feel like a Filippina shoe fetishist. Looking forward to the Strong Bad and Sam & Max adventure games. Too bad I don’t have the time :smack:
The CD keys -are- generated procedurally, that’s the purpose of the CD key and how they’re verified online, to avoid having to keep a gigantic database of valid keys. The strength of the key is in being computationally strong enough to resist easy reverse engineering of the function from a limited sample size of keys. The problem is that handing out the generator is something that one Does Not Do, not even to a respectable outfit like Steam. As the saying goes, two people can keep a secret, as long as one of them is dead. Thus the finite set of keys.
Stuff that has a CD key that isn’t designed for online authentication can be successfully beaten with a keygen, though, since it’s doing some sort of math check on the key rather than authenticating the key with a master list on a server. Online authentication CD key seems to work differently in that I’ve never seen a working keygen for one.
Edit: I may not have explained my point enough. When I say generated procedurally, I meant that they do some sort of algorithm that when you do the reverse math, you get an expected result. So a program can decide whether a key is valid or not without authenticating with a server by running some sort of algorythm. The CD keys used by online authentication are generated procedurally of course (it’s not like someone is making them up by hand), but only a specific set of keys is entered into a database, rather than any number following a certain pattern being confirmed as valid.
I have, although it’s rather scarce these days. What you’re noticing is a difference of magnitude rather than kind. Any key generation function can be mathematically determined from a sufficient set of keys with sufficient computation time. It’s a relatively simple matter of computer science to extend the sample size and time requirements beyond the limits of practicality even for the dedicated individuals that do piracy. It’s a closely related problem to encryption.
The reason you’ll find keygens that work for, say, standalone installs of a game but not for online usage, is because the installer programs that verify the CD key do not contain the real key function. If they did, it would be a simple matter to disassemble or trace the installer and obtain the function (this is the source of virtually all keygens, btw). The installer uses a more permissive verification function that is guaranteed to validate all legit CD keys but will also validate some amount of illegitimate keys as well. The server that the app phones home to is assumed to run on secure hardware and thus can use the real deal. If the key designers did their job properly, it’s impossible to tell a legit key from a bogus one without the brute force mathematical approach.
Most likely, it’s some sort of conflict between Steam and another program you have running. Try disabling firewalls, antiviruses, etc before running the game. I’ll PM you some more info when I get home from work.
Also, many non-Valve and/or older games don’t need to be run through Steam, Steam simply serves as a download client for them. If you find where it’s installed (generally Steam/steamapps/common/ ) you can often run the executable directly with no need for Steam to even be running.
Steam has Osmos on sale today, only $2. GET IT.
Steam usually encrypts the executables and adds something to make it force-launch steam, IME at least. For instance, I couldn’t separate the original Fallout from the client even by fully shutting down the client and then launching it directly.
I played this a while back, then couldn’t find it again or remember the name. Found it again on steam while browsing through the holiday sales. Very fun, relaxing game with beautiful graphics. There’s a demo on steam too, go check it out. Then buy it!
That Hammerfight game looks interesting too, I might pick that up as well.
Not much time for a demo, if you want Osmos (which I highly recommend) at $2 you only have an hour and 15 minutes before the daily deal is up.