Such a sad thing to see

[[JiF][AARP]Grimp]

[[JiF]Beezer]

I had a lot of homework to do...and so did rIot...thats why our presence was not felt tonight...

[Sir Die-a-lot]

Say Grimp, since I'm a noob when it comes to gaming accessories and side dishes, what is that screen from ? Is it Xfire ? Or another such program ?

[[JiF][AARP]Grimp]

It's from Steam. They have done a pretty good job of helping you find your buddies on Steam.

[[JiF]Beezer]

Its Team Fortress 2! You should definitely look into buying it...

[[JiF]EA]

I've been playing battlefield a lot lately, sorry grimp.

[[JiF][AARP]Grimp]

You can actually setup non-Steam games in Steam so your Steam friends can see that you’re playing something like BF 1942.
I don't think they can see where you are playing it, but I never tried that. You would still be able to message them with the steam friends though. Steam itself is free, but all the games cost money.

And another feature found it’s way into the Steam client: Now it’s possible to add basically every program, so it can be launched from the “My Games” list. A nice workaround for games not purchased via Steam, but that users want to have accessible there (some may find that strange, but once you’ve checked out the forums, lots of people ask if they can add their retail games to Steam later on, which were purchased without it; which might be the place the idea to do this came from). I just tested it with one of the Sam & Max episodes (DVD, not the Steam “edition”, I only buy via Steam if there’s “no other alternative”), it almost makes no difference at all. Once the option is selected, a new dialog opens and the desired executable can be chosen (this dialog lists numerous programs on its own, meaning it searches the drive(s) - creepy anyone?). The game icon can be custom, an option even “real” Steam games don’t offer.

The new in-game community features (default Shift-Tab) are available too (can blend in as overlay in any game started via the client). Those are still tagged as Beta, as all current social/user/community stuff is today. The idea is that gamers start chatting, planing (calendar options) = socializing via Steam too. Of course the inevitable user profile is not missing, where you can list your hobbies. Do I sound too negative again? Never mind, we’ll learn soon enough how this turns out.

[[JiF]Beezer]

Yeah steam has come a long way, a year or two ago and I would have told you to stay as far away from steam as possible. But now
steam has really stepped it up. I love it now, and I recommend it.

[[JiF]Rhykin]

Don't worry, we're making up all that missed time right now..