Steam Offline Mode needs an overhaul

gaddeath · 04-18-2012, 05:13 PM

It's another thread begging for another offline mode, but I'll keep it short.

Can it be like Origin? Whenever you download a game from Origin, it's as if you just downloaded the installer and the game's on your computer, no need for Origin to play. Only downside is you won't have cloud saves but even then that's not bad. There's only ONE game I can properly play from Steam (Grand Theft Auto IV) whenever I don't have an internet connection.

Epsilon · 04-19-2012, 04:16 PM

Doing that sounds like a good idea, but on closer inspection, it's possible to see why Steam has the design that it does.

If you're going to support the range of features that Steam does, like achievements, cloud saves, matchmaking, in-game Friends lists and chat, etc. then code written by Valve needs to be running on your computer.

One way to do that is to distribute Steam as a library, then each game can load it and run the code in their own process. What you end up with is something that looks a bit like GfWL. If you want to provide things like automatic updates the game needs to start up, then shut down, update and relaunch, same if the Steam-like thing needs to update itself, etc.

If you run the code outside of the game as a separate app, you sidestep a lot of that nasty stuff, and you get the benefits of having stuff like the Friends lists and whatnot available on your desktop too.

The problem isn't really at all that Steam is a separate app that the games connect to, the problem is that the way that Offline Mode in Steam works is daft! The fact that you have to shut Steam down and start it up again to put it into Offline Mode is daft. That you have to shut Steam down and start it back up again to put it back online is daft. It shouldn't be two seperate modes, there should be one mode, which can fluidly go online or offline as the connection allows.

Steam should always be able to start up offline (unless you're logged out, naturally). Offline should be the default, not an exception. Steam should be able to start, then try and connect to the Internet, not try to connect to the Internet before it's ever able to start.

Curiously, it's only some bits of Steam that have this issue of offline being monolithic. If you're running Steam online and you disconnect it from the Internet, it just says "No Connection" at the bottom, and all the stuff in Steam that needs the Internet stops working, but anything that doesn't (like launching games!) works fine. Reconnect the Internet, and Steam happily reconnects and starts working again. That bit of Steam isn't a blunt instrument!

My personal hope is that the blunt Offline/Online switch is a legacy of the old content system, and when we're fully moved over to the new content system it'll be expunged, and Offline Mode will never trouble us again.

gaddeath · 04-28-2012, 08:56 PM

Some people talk to those in need of help for Offline mode as if they're planning to go offline (not saying you). That's not the case all the time; sometimes the internet goes out in my home and I can't access the internet which means that I literally can't play almost any of not all of my games I purchased through Steam.

pbryce · 04-29-2012, 07:17 AM

I've never had a problem with Offline mode since I first got the Orange Box, and I never play online due to my crappy Internet connection.

Once I had all the Steam games running offline, I never update, saves a lot of hassles (for me)

Having said that, there are a lot of single player Steam games that I've passed on because I can't stand the huge d/l after you've installed a game that came on disc, 6GB cap limits a lot of things I can do.

I can't see Steam changing their Modus Operandi being as the majority of people have a HS connection.

Sucks to be me sometimes, but living miles from civilization has it's benefits.

DarthPsymon · 04-29-2012, 08:00 AM

I seem to be one of these minority who don't have a problem with offline mode.

I only have a few games installed, but CSS, TF2, Armed and Dangerous, Serious Sam 3, and Sword and Sworcery, all load without problem when I've switched to offline mode. (steam > Go offline...)

Now I hate when there's a thread of people with a problem and then that one person comes in and says 'I'm not getting a problem, it's your fault', so I don't really want to come across as that guy.

So, OP, or anyone else who has problems with offline mode. Could you decribe to me the problems you have and the conditions? I genuinely want to try and understand and help.

Amander · 04-29-2012, 01:02 PM

The offline mode is soo awesome. Let me sum up how it currently looks like
//This code is called when Steam connets
if there_is_some_sort_of_internet()
{
try
{
connect(throw_away_login_data=true);
}
catch
{
display_some_dumb_mesage();
}
else
{
go_offline();
}

That's totally how it looks like. It's enough to try to connect and fail due to whatever reason (e.g. Valve downtime), I can neither connect nor go offline. Seriously, Steam shows me "No login credintals stored in this computer". Except that everything's stored. Nice.

This is how it should work
try
{
connect(throw_away_login_data=false);
}
catch
{
just_go_offline();
}

I am quite certain that this is not a minor change (in fact, I won several "This is a minor change and is done in 5 minutes"-battles on this forum with me claiming the opposite) and I am sure that this would require some major rework of the whole Steam startup process, but this is absolutely neccessary! Seriously! Not being able to go offline after a connection attempt failed sucks big ???.

PS: I am aware of this not being any help for connection/offline issues, but this is a recent thread on that topic and I am jarateed. Seriously. Steam was designed with 100% uptime in mind and while my DSL line isn't that bad, Valve's lines seem to be down once again. And thanks to the foresight of whoever designed that thing, I can't go into offline mode either because the dude decided that it's cool to throw away login info before making sure that a connection can be made.

Lutherniel · 05-10-2012, 03:47 PM

I just hate how I can't go to offline mode when I start my computer without internet access. Is it even possible to go to offline mode without getting online on steam first? I hate losing access to the games that I've paid for just because my internet is acting up.

Syragar · 05-16-2012, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amander

The offline mode is soo awesome. Let me sum up how it currently looks like
//This code is called when Steam connets
if there_is_some_sort_of_internet()
{
try
{
connect(throw_away_login_data=true);
}
catch
{
display_some_dumb_mesage();
}
else
{
go_offline();
}

EXACTLY! I've been saying this for a long time now. Sooo many people don't understand that this is the core of the problem. That's why some people say everything is fine, while others don't. If you lose connection and your login data goes "poof", you are COMPLETELY blocked out of Steam and any games you purchased... whether they are offline games or not. For games that are offline games, we bought them with the intention of playing them offline... and we have the right to play the game we purchased while offline. Yet Steam blocks us out completely because of a design flaw? This seriously needs to be addressed!

cylon · 05-16-2012, 02:10 PM

But if your login data isn't stored... how does Steam know that you are allowed access to the account or even if it's yours?

If we had two people who used the same pc, the only thing i would need to do to use someone elses account or games is to enter their login and turn the internet off.

It obviously stores more than JUST the login and password, it stores which games that account owns (otherwise it would just show all games installed on the pc) - if you lose your 'offline data' then it also has no idea WHICH games you own so it can't show you a list.

Syragar · 05-17-2012, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cylon

If we had two people who used the same pc, the only thing i would need to do to use someone elses account or games is to enter their login and turn the internet off.

True... but you would also have access to their account even if you had left them logged online. I understand what you're saying... turn off the internet and you can launch Steam and access their games anytime. That can happen the way the system works anyway. Log into Steam... then manually go into offline mode. If you go into offline mode manually, you'll have access to the content indefinitely until you go back online. However, if you are online and suddenly have a connection problem... or you forget to turn off your wifi before launching Steam on a network where Steam is blocked... it can dump your account info and deny access to your games.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cylon

It obviously stores more than JUST the login and password, it stores which games that account owns (otherwise it would just show all games installed on the pc) - if you lose your 'offline data' then it also has no idea WHICH games you own so it can't show you a list.

That's true... I guess I didn't use the correct terminology. When I said "login data" I meant your account information that is stored locally. If you lose internet connection or try to access Steam online behind a network that blocks Steam, it can dump your account info and you lose access to ALL of your games.

Mr SmokesAlot · 05-17-2012, 11:04 AM

Offline mode does not work. It has not worked for 10+ years. It will never work.

Zefar · 05-17-2012, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr SmokesAlot

Offline mode does not work. It has not worked for 10+ years. It will never work.

It works for me and works for my brother. It's working for a lot of people in fact. So when it doesn't work there is a problem on your PC that conflicts with Steam Offline mode.

Mr SmokesAlot · 05-17-2012, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zefar

It works for me and works for my brother. It's working for a lot of people in fact. So when it doesn't work there is a problem on your PC that conflicts with Steam Offline mode.

I doubt it. "My pc" != hundreds maybe thousands of people sharing the same problem. We'll see how great it works for you and your brother when your connection cuts out.

That is all.

Anarchisteve · 05-17-2012, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr SmokesAlot

I doubt it. "My pc" != hundreds maybe thousands of people sharing the same problem. We'll see how great it works for you and your brother when your connection cuts out.

That is all.

It works for me too. Always. It also works when my connection cuts out.

Robert Pooner · 05-17-2012, 02:34 PM

I'm sort of new to Steam, so please be patient with me. I'm having problems with Off Line mode when I boot up my laptop without an Internet connection. I've gone through all of the steps recommended by Steam to make sure my games are up-to-date and ready to play off line. I switch Steam to off line mode and it works fine. BUT when I take my laptop away from an Internet connection and boot it up, Steam just tells me that there's a problem connecting to its servers and shuts down. WTF?! What's the point of an off line mode if you have to be on line first?

04-18-2012, 05:13 PM	#1
gaddeath Join Date: Dec 2009 Reputation: 18 Posts: 148	Steam Offline Mode needs an overhaul It's another thread begging for another offline mode, but I'll keep it short. Can it be like Origin? Whenever you download a game from Origin, it's as if you just downloaded the installer and the game's on your computer, no need for Origin to play. Only downside is you won't have cloud saves but even then that's not bad. There's only ONE game I can properly play from Steam (Grand Theft Auto IV) whenever I don't have an internet connection.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

04-19-2012, 04:16 PM	#2
Epsilon Join Date: Jan 2003 Reputation: 1795 Posts: 5,306	Doing that sounds like a good idea, but on closer inspection, it's possible to see why Steam has the design that it does. If you're going to support the range of features that Steam does, like achievements, cloud saves, matchmaking, in-game Friends lists and chat, etc. then code written by Valve needs to be running on your computer. One way to do that is to distribute Steam as a library, then each game can load it and run the code in their own process. What you end up with is something that looks a bit like GfWL. If you want to provide things like automatic updates the game needs to start up, then shut down, update and relaunch, same if the Steam-like thing needs to update itself, etc. If you run the code outside of the game as a separate app, you sidestep a lot of that nasty stuff, and you get the benefits of having stuff like the Friends lists and whatnot available on your desktop too. The problem isn't really at all that Steam is a separate app that the games connect to, the problem is that the way that Offline Mode in Steam works is daft! The fact that you have to shut Steam down and start it up again to put it into Offline Mode is daft. That you have to shut Steam down and start it back up again to put it back online is daft. It shouldn't be two seperate modes, there should be one mode, which can fluidly go online or offline as the connection allows. Steam should always be able to start up offline (unless you're logged out, naturally). Offline should be the default, not an exception. Steam should be able to start, then try and connect to the Internet, not try to connect to the Internet before it's ever able to start. Curiously, it's only some bits of Steam that have this issue of offline being monolithic. If you're running Steam online and you disconnect it from the Internet, it just says "No Connection" at the bottom, and all the stuff in Steam that needs the Internet stops working, but anything that doesn't (like launching games!) works fine. Reconnect the Internet, and Steam happily reconnects and starts working again. That bit of Steam isn't a blunt instrument! My personal hope is that the blunt Offline/Online switch is a legacy of the old content system, and when we're fully moved over to the new content system it'll be expunged, and Offline Mode will never trouble us again.

04-28-2012, 08:56 PM	#3
gaddeath Join Date: Dec 2009 Reputation: 18 Posts: 148	Some people talk to those in need of help for Offline mode as if they're planning to go offline (not saying you). That's not the case all the time; sometimes the internet goes out in my home and I can't access the internet which means that I literally can't play almost any of not all of my games I purchased through Steam.

04-29-2012, 07:17 AM	#4
pbryce Join Date: Nov 2004 Reputation: 221 Posts: 172	I've never had a problem with Offline mode since I first got the Orange Box, and I never play online due to my crappy Internet connection. Once I had all the Steam games running offline, I never update, saves a lot of hassles (for me) Having said that, there are a lot of single player Steam games that I've passed on because I can't stand the huge d/l after you've installed a game that came on disc, 6GB cap limits a lot of things I can do. I can't see Steam changing their Modus Operandi being as the majority of people have a HS connection. Sucks to be me sometimes, but living miles from civilization has it's benefits.

04-29-2012, 08:00 AM	#5
DarthPsymon Join Date: May 2004 Reputation: 125 Posts: 1,952	I seem to be one of these minority who don't have a problem with offline mode. I only have a few games installed, but CSS, TF2, Armed and Dangerous, Serious Sam 3, and Sword and Sworcery, all load without problem when I've switched to offline mode. (steam > Go offline...) Now I hate when there's a thread of people with a problem and then that one person comes in and says 'I'm not getting a problem, it's your fault', so I don't really want to come across as that guy. So, OP, or anyone else who has problems with offline mode. Could you decribe to me the problems you have and the conditions? I genuinely want to try and understand and help.

04-29-2012, 01:02 PM	#6
Amander Join Date: Feb 2010 Reputation: 561 Posts: 8,143	The offline mode is soo awesome. Let me sum up how it currently looks like //This code is called when Steam connets if there_is_some_sort_of_internet() { try { connect(throw_away_login_data=true); } catch { display_some_dumb_mesage(); } else { go_offline(); } That's totally how it looks like. It's enough to try to connect and fail due to whatever reason (e.g. Valve downtime), I can neither connect nor go offline. Seriously, Steam shows me "No login credintals stored in this computer". Except that everything's stored. Nice. This is how it should work try { connect(throw_away_login_data=false); } catch { just_go_offline(); } I am quite certain that this is not a minor change (in fact, I won several "This is a minor change and is done in 5 minutes"-battles on this forum with me claiming the opposite) and I am sure that this would require some major rework of the whole Steam startup process, but this is absolutely neccessary! Seriously! Not being able to go offline after a connection attempt failed sucks big ???. PS: I am aware of this not being any help for connection/offline issues, but this is a recent thread on that topic and I am jarateed. Seriously. Steam was designed with 100% uptime in mind and while my DSL line isn't that bad, Valve's lines seem to be down once again. And thanks to the foresight of whoever designed that thing, I can't go into offline mode either because the dude decided that it's cool to throw away login info before making sure that a connection can be made.

05-10-2012, 03:47 PM	#7
Lutherniel Join Date: Sep 2011 Reputation: 0 Posts: 3	I just hate how I can't go to offline mode when I start my computer without internet access. Is it even possible to go to offline mode without getting online on steam first? I hate losing access to the games that I've paid for just because my internet is acting up.

05-16-2012, 02:10 PM	#9
cylon Join Date: Nov 2009 Reputation: 744 Posts: 3,277	But if your login data isn't stored... how does Steam know that you are allowed access to the account or even if it's yours? If we had two people who used the same pc, the only thing i would need to do to use someone elses account or games is to enter their login and turn the internet off. It obviously stores more than JUST the login and password, it stores which games that account owns (otherwise it would just show all games installed on the pc) - if you lose your 'offline data' then it also has no idea WHICH games you own so it can't show you a list.

05-17-2012, 11:04 AM	#11
Mr SmokesAlot Banned Join Date: Apr 2012 Reputation: 209 Posts: 1,167	Offline mode does not work. It has not worked for 10+ years. It will never work.

05-17-2012, 02:34 PM	#15
Robert Pooner Join Date: May 2012 Reputation: 0 Posts: 37	I'm sort of new to Steam, so please be patient with me. I'm having problems with Off Line mode when I boot up my laptop without an Internet connection. I've gone through all of the steps recommended by Steam to make sure my games are up-to-date and ready to play off line. I switch Steam to off line mode and it works fine. BUT when I take my laptop away from an Internet connection and boot it up, Steam just tells me that there's a problem connecting to its servers and shuts down. WTF?! What's the point of an off line mode if you have to be on line first?