ARMA2 & OA's Steam Thread: All Steam Q's/discussions go here [covered by Dwarden]

[galzohar 31]

Q: What copy protections are used in Steam release?

A: Steam copy protection and BI internal solution.

I wonder what "BI internal solution" means...

[NoRCoN 10]

I wonder what "BI internal solution" means...

I wondered as well. But from what I read, the STEAM release is SecuRom free. So, I am not sure.

[CplBlakeman 10]

"Bohemia Interactive Internal Solution"

It means they hardcoded some prevention into the game to make it hard/buggy to copy/hack. I would think fade from the other game would be similar to what this states, or something we have no idea of.

[Big Dawg KS 6]

I wonder what "BI internal solution" means...

Fade, most likely.

@Dwarden,

I know Steam allows you to run the game exe with start parameters, but for all other games I've seen on Steam you (or at least I) can't create multiple shortcuts that can launch the game through Steam with different parameters (in other words, only one set of parameters can be saved at a time). What can we expect with ArmA2?

[NoRCoN 10]

@Dwarden,

I know Steam allows you to run the game exe with start parameters, but for all other games I've seen on Steam you (or at least I) can't create multiple shortcuts that can launch the game through Steam with different parameters (in other words, only one set of parameters can be saved at a time). What can we expect with ArmA2?

I know your question was directed at Dwarden, but I would be very surprised if you could not just do the same. Many of my non-Valve games through STEAM allow you to launch the game w/o STEAM running, or directly from a shortcut anyway. Also, if you create shortcuts, you can just add them to your STEAM game list as a non-STEAM program/game.

[aced170 14]

Does anyone know if we will get to pre-load it?

[mcbane 0]

Yeah, I'd like to know about the pre-load as well.

[Big Dawg KS 6]

I know your question was directed at Dwarden, but I would be very surprised if you could not just do the same. Many of my non-Valve games through STEAM allow you to launch the game w/o STEAM running, or directly from a shortcut anyway. Also, if you create shortcuts, you can just add them to your STEAM game list as a non-STEAM program/game.

Last time I checked creating a shortcut through Steam still launches the game through Steam, as in the shortcut is directed to Steam itself rather than a standalone game exe. This means it that you can't direclty modify start parameters, and that it will just use whatever paramaters you have entered in Steam (only one per game). I know how to add non-Steam games to the Steam games list, but from Dwarden's Q&A it seems that ArmA2 on Steam will fully implement certain Steam features, meaning that in order to use all those features (Browser, Friends, etc..) it would need to be launched through Steam. I had this same problem with DoWII on Steam, and found no practical resolution.

[thedudesam 10]

CAN steam players play with non steam players? or will the steam version have its own servers?

[Crazy Chris 10]

CAN steam players play with non steam players? or will the steam version have its own servers?

My understanding from the FAQ posted earlier in this thread, is that there are "no limitations" in terms of features specific to the Steam version. I would also interpret this to mean that you are not confined to Steam's servers. If this IS the case, then it is definitely a deal breaker for me.

[ltfransky-tpf- 0]

Thank you Dwarden for official news and for taking questions. We really appreciate it.

[Dwarden 1125]

sometimes i wonder if people read the faq before posting here anyway i updated them ... who can spot the difference ? :)

[Bigtnaples 10]

sometimes i wonder if people read the faq before posting here anyway i updated them ... who can spot the difference ? :)

1.2available for preload 1.2+ update at release? Sounds good to me. Can't wait guys keep up the good work!

[Dwarden 1125]

another update :) spot the difference game :)

[CplBlakeman 10]

There is a 'set launch options' in the properties menu for each game that might allow the addition of mods, or BIS might have another way for mods to run on steam we haven't seen before and this is what is causing the delay with the demo. Who knows?

[Dwarden 1125]

there is no need to worry about the command line (it's covered by FAQ again :)

when nothing set in launch parameters in the STEAM game profile

shortcut 1:

Drive:\Path\Steam.exe -applaunch IDnumber -nosplash -maxmem=2047

shortcut 2

Drive:\Path\Steam.exe -applaunch IDnumber -nosplash -windowed -maxmem=2047

shortcut 3

Drive:\Path\Steam.exe -applaunch IDnumber -nosplash -windowed -maxmem=2047 -mod=@test

one starts game fullscreen second windowed third got passed mod paramater correctly ...

works as intended :) any other concerns ?

[Big Dawg KS 6]

there is no need to worry about the command line (it's covered by FAQ again :)

when nothing set in launch parameters in the STEAM game profile

shortcut 1:

Drive:\Path\Steam.exe -applaunch IDnumber -nosplash -maxmem=2047

shortcut 2

Drive:\Path\Steam.exe -applaunch IDnumber -nosplash -windowed -maxmem=2047

shortcut 3

Drive:\Path\Steam.exe -applaunch IDnumber -nosplash -windowed -maxmem=2047 -mod=@test

one starts game fullscreen second windowed third got passed mod paramater correctly ...

works as intended :) any other concerns ?

I see. I was unaware that this worked, seeing as it's the Steam.exe and not the game executable. Thanks for clearing this up Dwarden.

[revolverocelotkjb 13]

Dwarden could you please elaborate on the following question in the Steam FAQ:

Q: Will Steam offer beta patches?

I did not play ARMA 1 and as a result I am not to familiar with the history surrounding ARMA 1's support. It is to my understanding that BIS produced beta patches for ARMA 1 (I guess when official patch support had ended and patch funding was no longer available patches produced by developers are unofficial and deemed beta patches???) and that ARMA 1 Steam purchasers could manually update with these beta patches if they chose to do so. Will this be the same for ARMA 2?

If: Example Mod requires x.xx Beta patch but Steam users couldn't download Beta patch then Steam users would not be able to play Example Mod.

1) For Steam purposes are Beta patches treated as a Mod on Steam?

2) What by definition is a beta patch (Is it where official patch funding support has ended yet the BIS developers continue to support the game with unofficial official patches referred to as beta patches)?

3) How will Steam's ability or inability of using beta patches affect Steam players in the future with not only mods but also online play?

Thanks!

THE Rev Tube

[Gyles 10]

The questions above are the same ones I'm having.

Alot of my personal friends live in europe, and so have been playing for the last week. Due to my living in the States, Nexway or Steam are my only options before likely the middle of july to get ARMA 2 (i live in the middle of nowhere, so it would have to be shipped to me, likely 4-5 day shipping)

My worry is that if they all have retail box copies, and I have steam or nexway the beta patches will at some point not be supported for the digital versions.

If Nexway doesnt have any reason why it cant take the retail patch, id buy it now, but as ive seen in the past with digital retailers (gamersgate for one), they require a specialized patch for their version, which doesnt always come on time (men of war took an extra week or so if i remember correctly, before the version differences between box and digital were fixed)

Anyway, I guess my final question is, is there going to be any reason why buying the nexway version now, or the steam version in 2 days, that i wouldnt be able to play with people with the boxed copy due to patch specializiation??

[Wifout Teef 10]

Hi guys sorry if this has been answered, i looked around before posting, but..

What time does the game unlock? Steam said 4pm on friday but that seems random and not right.

[mojoflow 10]

I posted the question about the beta patches with the Steam version on the Steam forums and Dwarden responded that they will see what they can do. This isn't very promising, and it would be nice to have a stronger answer while there is still time to cancel a preorder with them...

[mcbane 0]

Still no word on preloading?

[BLSmith2112 0]

On Arma, I wouldn't doubt that I had 15 Arma shortcut extensions on my desktop. I've already prepurchased Arma2 on steam but just realized that some of the steam games do not have an .exe of their own but instead are launched with Steam.exe.. so if thats the case, how can you get your mod folders working? Thx in advance :)

[cole 0]

If you wont be able to launch ArmA2.exe on it's own, I guess you'll be limited to clicking on the shortcut in steam, selecting Properties, then clicking on Set launch options... and inputting your desired mods there (with the typical -mod=@Mod1;@Mod2 command)

[BLSmith2112 0]

If you wont be able to launch ArmA2.exe on it's own, I guess you'll be limited to clicking on the shortcut in steam, selecting Properties, then clicking on Set launch options... and inputting your desired mods there (with the typical -mod=@Mod1;@Mod2 command)

Are you able to have more than one shortcut to the same file with steam in the steam games list?