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Campo Santo, developer of Firewatch has joined Valve

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It seems Valve are quite serious about getting back into making games, as Campo Santo the developer of Firewatch has joined them.

Writing on their official website in a post, the team from Campo Santo confirmed that the news is true. They said they found that people at Valve share the same values that they do, so it became an "obvious match". Expanding on that, they said this:

We had a series of long conversations with the people at Valve and everyone shared the satisfaction we take in working with people whose talents dwarf our own to make things we never thought possible. Both sides spoke about our values and how, when you get right down to it, we, as human beings, are hard-limited by the time we have left when it comes to making the things we care about and believe in. They asked us if we’d all be interested in coming up to Bellevue and doing that there and we said yes.

They confirmed that their next game, In the Valley of Gods, is still being made and so it's now a Valve game.

Personally, I think it's great that Valve are bringing in some obviously talented folk to make games. Valve have a lot of resources and contacts that can help for sure. It should also mean they have good Linux support, since Valve are still committed to Linux gaming.

Since it will now be a Valve game, it will be interesting to see if In the Valley of Gods will make it to GOG. I wouldn't expect it to now, but maybe Valve will surprise us there.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Misc, Valve
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hummer010 Apr 22, 2018
[quote=Comandante Ñoñardo]
Quoting: Purple Library GuyIt is impossible to do the same with Steam games..
Can you move these games to another of your machines using an external HDD?

Yes, yes you can.

In fact, you don't need the Steam client, you need a Steam client. I use SteamCMD, and play several Steam games without even having the client installed on my computer. Neither SteamCMD, nor the Steam client need to be running for the games on that list to work, and you can simply copy the install folder to another computer, and it will still work.
Cyril Apr 22, 2018
This : https://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm_digital_restrictions_management and the FAQ

The problem there is... With GOG you can download your game on their website OR with Galaxy. With Steam you don't have that choice, you HAVE TO install their client on your PC and then download/install your games.
Why you can't download a game on their website, it is too much complicated for them?
And (tell me if i'm wrong) you can't use Steam all the time in Offline mode.

Imagine if you'd buy any digital product on Amazon (just for example, I hate Amazon) but you can't download it until you install their software on your machine...
Anywhere you buy a game etc on Internet, they have to know if it's really you who bought it, so you login and download your stuff.
Or maybe you have an another idea to achieve that? Come on...
tuubi Apr 22, 2018
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Quoting: jensPeople here are sadly recently immediately on the edge as soon as the subjects Steam/Valvue or DRM are touched. (I guess I had my share in it too.) Impartial opinions aren't that easy to find anymore.
Hasn't DRM been a point of contention since... well, since it was first introduced? There's nothing recent about this, and it's easy to see why some people feel strongly about it. The basic issue is a lot like the proprietary vs free software debate. It's all about who decides what you can and cannot do with a product you've bought. If indeed you're even paying for a product and not just a license to use it.
jens Apr 22, 2018
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Quoting: tuubi
Quoting: jensPeople here are sadly recently immediately on the edge as soon as the subjects Steam/Valvue or DRM are touched. (I guess I had my share in it too.) Impartial opinions aren't that easy to find anymore.
Hasn't DRM been a point of contention since... well, since it was first introduced? There's nothing recent about this, and it's easy to see why some people feel strongly about it. The basic issue is a lot like the proprietary vs free software debate. It's all about who decides what you can and cannot do with a product you've bought. If indeed you're even paying for a product and not just a license to use it.

Yes sure, the discussion is not new. It just feels to me that the discussions here on GOL about this topic are recently more often, much more heated and more .. (I'm missing a word: something like extreme, it is either 100% one side or 100% the other, nearly no in-between, at least not outspoken).


Last edited by jens on 22 April 2018 at 6:04 pm UTC
tuubi Apr 22, 2018
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Quoting: jens(I'm missing a word: something like extreme, it is either 100% one side or 100% the other, nearly no in-between, at least not outspoken).
"Polarized"? I guess people who don't feel strongly about a subject aren't likely to comment on it.
Comandante Ñoñardo Apr 22, 2018
Quoting: hummer010Yes, yes you can.

In fact, you don't need the Steam client, you need a Steam client. I use SteamCMD, and play several Steam games without even having the client installed on my computer. Neither SteamCMD, nor the Steam client need to be running for the games on that list to work, and you can simply copy the install folder to another computer, and it will still work.

Time to do some experiments...

Now, if you, people, don't have it, the important thing here is to buy Firewatch on GOG as soon as posible, just as a precaution in case of the new owner decide to remove it.
Shmerl Apr 22, 2018
It's just that some keep claiming that Steam isn't DRM. Arguments that explain how it is DRM were brought many times, so I'm not sure why this topic comes up every so often, but I guess some define DRM only in limited way, that's why they can think that Steam itself isn't one.
Doc Angelo Apr 22, 2018
Quoting: CyrilThis : https://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm_digital_restrictions_management and the FAQ

From this page: "When a program is designed to prevent you from copying or sharing a song, reading an ebook on another device, or playing a single-player game without an Internet connection, you are being restricted by DRM."

Following this definition, some of the games on Steam are not restricted by DRM.

Quoting: CyrilThe problem there is... With GOG you can download your game on their website OR with Galaxy. With Steam you don't have that choice, you HAVE TO install their client on your PC and then download/install your games.
Why you can't download a game on their website, it is too much complicated for them?

I think it would be possible to do this. Steam would then take the latest update of the game, package it and distribute the game files along with an executable installer. That is pretty much what GOG does. You don't get the original/vanilla game files. You get a GOG installer with all games files incorporated in it. With Steam, the installer is incorporated in the Steam client. You need to download it before you can download a game. With GOG, you need to download the installer every time you download a game on their website. In both cases, you need to provide your credentials in order to download the game.

Apart from that, after being installed, every DRM free game can be copied and shared freely without any restrictions. That is true for GOG and Steam.

GOG Galaxy is a nice tool if you want automatic updates for your games. Steam also provides this. There are good reasons for a dedicated game management client.

Quoting: CyrilAnd (tell me if i'm wrong) you can't use Steam all the time in Offline mode.

I think you can, but not every game works in offline mode. But I'm not really sure on this one. However, I regularly start games without an internet connection on my laptop, and I rarely have problems with this. I think some games require you to start them at least once with a connection, but after this they work just fine in offline mode. But again, I'm not entirely sure on this one.

But DRM free games on Steam don't have this problem. You can copy, share and execute them no matter what. DRM free games on Steam don't need the offline mode. Just go to the directory and execute the main game binary. Done.
Shmerl Apr 22, 2018
DRM is defined very simply as something that limits the usage of your digital good after purchase. If Steam is required to install the game after purchase (i.e. inability to legally make a backup of your game that you can install without Steam), it is already DRM. I.e. it's not only playing that should not be restricted, it's installation from backup too.

DRM-free services explicitly provide downloadable packages for that. If they close down tomorrow, you can still use them to install games you paid for. Steam does not. And Steam explicitly requires you to use it to re-install what you bought. It would be a violation of their TOS to make manual backup and bypass their installation.


Last edited by Shmerl on 22 April 2018 at 6:52 pm UTC
Doc Angelo Apr 22, 2018
Quoting: ShmerlDRM is defined very simply as something that limits the usage of your digital good after purchase. If Steam is required to install the game after purchase (i.e. inability to legally make a backup of your game that you can install without Steam), it is already DRM. I.e. it's not only playing that should not be restricted, it's installation from backup too.

DRM-free services explicitly provide downloadable packages for that. If they close down tomorrow, you can still use them to install games you paid for. Steam does not. And Steam explicitly requires you to use it to re-install what you bought. It would be a violation of their TOS to make manual backup and bypass their installation.

But you can make backup of the DRM free games on Steam. What would prevent you from doing it? Those games have no DRM in them, so they never check for anything. You can just back them up, copy them, move the folder anywhere... it doesn't matter. The games will just work.

You say that the Steam TOS does forbid this. Can you provide the passage in the TOS about this?
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