Love portal but steam is a pain

computergeekguy · 04 Mar 2012

I love portal it is the most fun game i have played yet in my opinion but dang what a pain steam is.

Steam insists on logging in every time before i can play portal...This wouldant bug me so much if it didn't take up to five minutes at times.

So i than tried to play it in offline mode and i get error saying i cant play it in offline mode. WHY? It is not a network game nothing in it has anything to do with online it is all offline.

Portal 2 i could understand but not in portal 1.

Any suggestions on how i could get out of steam?

I ask this because half the games on steam don't require steam to play.

Thanks for help:)... you guys have never let me down yet

DustSailor · 04 Mar 2012

Hello Geek,

If you buy a game through steam, you have to play it through steam. Some games can only play through steam, such as Civ V and Skyrim. If you are having problems with steam, it is probably either your computer's graphics capability or internet connection speed. Check through steam's options to see if there is any way to improve steam according to your preferences. I don't have steam on this particular computer, otherwise I would check through the options for you.

Wishmaster · 05 Mar 2012

You only need to be online to install and setup the game. Once you launch it the first time, you can put Steam in Offline mode.

you will still need to have Steam running, but it will not connect to the internet while offline.

Keep in mind, anytime you add new games to your library (from Steam or retail Steamworks games) you will need to go back online untill you get them installed.
You also need to be online to update any games that have a patch.

computergeekguy · 05 Mar 2012

Hi wishmaster i did exactly as you said and i get error (This operation cannot be completed when steam is in offline mode) any suggestions? because this would be an acceptable solution to my prob now i just have to get it to work lol

thanks

DustSailor · 05 Mar 2012

I suspect some games require an internet connection to play. I am not sure about portal. Use portal in online mode, make sure you have all updates, and see if after you are allowed to play in offline mode. If it forces you to be online, it should have some kind of log in info when you are playing the game. Though most of my games are not steam, when I am logged in, it will say "Dustsailor is logged in", etc.

Wishmaster · 06 Mar 2012

I think you just need to run the game at least 1 time before going offline. Let me test with my Portal games and see.

--Edit
Ok, mine works out fine in offline mode, so there might just be something missing.
What you may try (in Online mode), is verify the file cache. Then start the game. Perhaps make setting change and save save it.

Then put Steam in Offline mode and it should work.

If it doesn't work then, Im not sure what the problem may be. But if you have a slower internet connection, you may want to leave Steam Online and running for a few minutes without playing any games so it can download anything it needs for offline mode .. . just a thought.

computergeekguy · 06 Mar 2012

Well i have played all my games many more times than one im thinking around the hundreds.

I will try all of your suggestions later today and see if i can get it working. thanks

DustSailor · 06 Mar 2012

did you go into steam itself to let it update?