okay, so i just need to vent again, because, well, i'm just really angry right now.

for those that don't know, in the past I have had a bit of trouble involving the orange box. trouble being i bought the thing...twice [one through steam, one on retail] and both of them don't work.

they download/update, then i go to play a game, it then does the validating, but jumps instantly to 100%. i did some poking around the GCF files, and almost all of them get downloaded corrupted. STEAM SENDS ME CORRUPTED FILES!!! why i don't know, but every single time i try to install any of the orange box games, i get this, i've found forums full of people with the same problem, and potential solutions, all of which I have tried,none of which work for me.

i bet you're thinking " why doesn't he ask valve about this problem?" well, I don't really want to. hundreds of other people have done so, nobody has had a reply, so it just doesn't seem worth it

It has got to the point where steam has forced me to use other means to play these games.

so i've just finished downloading a ripped version of Portal through torrents. I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but I feel i'm left with no other choice. yes it's illegal, but i think, considering i've bought it...twice, i think i'm entitled to a version of the game that WORKS, don't you?

and luckily, it does work!! and it has made me very, very happy, and as a result i am also downloading Hl2 episode 1 and 2 through torrents.

Most people think steam is a great way to distribute games, but from my point of view, it is a severely broken, deeply flawed program that deserves to sink into oblivion and never return.

I would say retail is better [and it is] but in the case of the orange box, it is just as bad, since the first think it installs is Steam! I don't f**king want steam, i want the orange box!!

but now this depressing tale should be coming to an end, The shiteness of steam has forced me to download it all illegally, and so far, it all works...

this is yet another vote for the "screw Steam" crew, but i have a very, VERY good reason.

all that said, Audiosurf works perfectly [proably due to the fact that it has no GCF files]
anyway, just needed to vent and get that off my chest.

gonna go play Portal now. [no steam, no achievements, no commentary, but at least IT WORKS!!!]where to buy abortion pill abortion types buy abortion pill online

I validated my copies too. I've had to defrag in steam a few times, although I recieved mine from steam - only needing to re-do the files for the steam apps.. that sounds like a modem link specifically. not necessarily you. nevertheless you do have to update by double clicking the game in question, it will update if bought online.

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I just count my blessings that I've never had a problem with Steam itself. I'm really sorry to hear you had to resort to such drastic measures to play Valve's games, Prankster bit.

I did have a couple of small problems with the games themselves, though.

The 64-bit version of the Source engine is a bit buggy, and you have to mess with a configuration file in order to keep the games working properly.

Also, the Steam version of Blue Shift would crash on me if I set the volume slider in the game options too high. Talk about the most absurd bug you could ever come across. Setting the volume too high crashes the game?

Dang, no "Portal: Extra Slice" demo for me!

Yes, you have to install Steam to download a demo of Portal, and I don't wanna install 1GB + whatever size the demo is from the interweb.

For those of you wanting to play portal without a 360, PS3, or Steam. And without using a torrent, try Narbacular Drop, from the same developers, and no Steam required! It's environmentally friendly!

Narbacular drop is like portal, but with a midevil theme and downloadable, user created custom maps!

Unfortunately I don't have their website, so you'll have to Google Search it.

It's like portal, except it works on my PC!