Steam or not to Steam?

[birdsofprey02]

Hi! Been playing OOTP baseball for 25 years but I'm actually more of a hockey fan these days. Wanted to give FHM a try this year.

I'm not much of a gamer, but every once in a while I'll download something on Steam. But to be honest, I wasn't really sure if there is a benefit or not, just liked that it was a marketplace.

I guess my question is, are there benefits or disadvantages of buying it on Steam? You can explain it to me like I'm 5, promise I won't get offended. Is it locked to a specific desktop?

Even if the purchase is through steam, is it still locally installed, or is it cloud based? Can I launch steam remotely (from a tablet) and play? I guess the answer to that is based on the first question.

Thanks again!

[Déjà Bru]

I am one of those folks who were reluctant to trust Steam, hence I would download OOTPB and any other games that I could from their websites or Slitherine or GOG. I was worried about Steam disappearing one day.

Now, though, such thoughts no longer occur. For one thing, OOTPB (and probably FHM) still require your direct download to "check in" with their license manager once in a while. There is more risk in that — the license dealer disappearing or being obsoleted — than in going with Steam, I think.

There are other benefits with Steam. For one thing, the program update process is practically transparent on Steam whereas you need to go to the website, notice there is an update, download it yourself, and install it if you get the game directly from Out of the Park Developments.

However, there is a downside to that upside: You have no control over updates in Steam. OOTPD had been good with their program updating; any urgent issues are usually addressed with a hot fix. But if you are the kind of person who wants absolute control over game updates, Steam is not the way to go. I used to be like that but now I'm not.

OOTPB (and FHM) have active communities here, so the access to the Steam forums for these games is not so big a deal. Yet, it is a consideration as is the news that you receive concerning the game(s) in your Steam Library.

Now as far as how it works, and take this from a non-professional, BOTH alternatives result in installations on your computer. Steam, of course, knows that you own the game or else you would not have access to it.

For the direct download method, you need to be careful with the license. With direct downloading, it asks for the license; you enter it; and somewhere on your computer it records the data. IT IS GOOD PRACTICE to 1) Keep the license message someplace for future reference, and 2) Uninstall the license (in Game Settings) BEFORE you ever uninstall the game.

Now, I have forgotten at times to do the latter but when I have reinstalled the game, it does NOT ask again for the license data because, as I said, it remembers my computer somehow. HOWEVER, if you were to forget to unlicense the game, uninstall it, and try to install it on ANOTHER computer, you may have problems. (I believe the licensing manager assigns a code to your current machine and remembers it somehow, but that is a long story.)

With Steam, of course, you don't have to worry about license management. This game does not have DLCs, but if it did and you purchased them, Steam would know that you own them as well. Another game that I own that is downloaded directly is Order of Battle from Slitherine. Whenever I have to reinstall that game, and its DLCs, I enter 17 licenses!

Okay, hopefully this is not TL;DR so far, but there is more. When I say that either method results in an installation of the game on your computer, that is true but Steam offers cloud-based storage of game saves and preferences (I think) as well as interaction with the Steam community if you like that sort of thing.

Steam will install the game's programming in this folder:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\OOTP Baseball 25

Downloading direct will install the game's programming in this folder:
C:\Program Files\Out of the Park Developments\OOTP Baseball 25

Before you ask, yes, it's the exact same game. The big differences are in the licensing, as I discussed, and in where certain additional folders are located. I direct download OOTPB, and these are the additional folders located in My Documents:



You do not have to worry about these if you do not mod the game at all! That's really all they are for, providing the capability of importing custom stuff like team logos into your leagues. With a direct download, these folders are automatically installed in My Documents. They are not really part of the game's programming, which is in C:\Program Files.

In a Steam installation, however, these folders are almost all included with the game's programming in C:\Program Files. Only Saved Games, Tables, and a few others remain in My Documents.

Most people launch Steam games in Steam, clicking the Library entries. What I prefer to do, however, is to make game start icons for the desktop (right-click the game in Steam, choose Manage, add desktop shortcut). I group these with my direct download game starts in one window for easy access to either type of game. Steam game start icons will automatically launch Steam as necessary.

Okay. So. If this has been TL;DR, here is the skinny: If you do really do have the intellect of a five-year-old () or you just are not into game management all that much, go with the Steam version. It really is a lot easier in a number of ways.

[Déjà Bru]

Heh, I realized after posting that I may have been confusing in one aspect.

Yes, I trust Steam. I have dozens of games on Steam.

Yes, I direct download OOTPB, however. I don't do so because I worry about Steam. I do so because I do indeed mod the game and it's easier to access in My Documents those additional folders that I showed in my screenshot.

The only thing that I mod that is not accessible in My Documents are custom interface skins. For some reason, with both types of installation, skin files are grouped with the game's programming in C:\Program Files.

But you do not have to worry about any of this if you do not mod the game.

[cheddah]

Valve is the company operating Steam as it's primary business, and Valve is apparently worth well over $8B. It's not going anywhere.

[Sweed]

One great thing about Steam patches/updates is they only overwrite files in the game that have actually changed. IE for the most part they won't touch your mods. A Steam patch is just that, a patch. Where the non-Steam patches are full install packages that don't always play nice with mods.

Deja Bru is correct on Steam updates not being a choice, with the exception of beta patches that you must opt in to. However the beta patch is eventually going to become the official patch and OOTP is going to update to it.

The other thing about a Steam version is the access you get to the OOTP Workshop where some nice mods reside. Face-gens, historical stadiums, uniforms, etc are here. "Subscribe" to the mods you want in the Workshop, select it to be installed, and OOTP and the Workshop install the files to the right place. At least for a default install. I don't know if that is true if you use customized install locations?