Can I add free to play games to my library?

[tdb]

Free to play games only appear on the library tab of the Steam client when they're installed. Is it possible to add them permanently? I use Steam on several different computers and all of them don't have all the games installed. Some games I no longer play and aren't installed on any of my computers but I'd still like to have them show up in my library. When looking at the games list on my profile the games are there so clearly Steam has a record that I've played them.

[Seven7]

hide them in library or buy premium version \ item

[Mar_$]

Kfcfffffse

[tdb]

What do you mean hide them in library? I don't see any option to hide a game, and how would that help with a game that isn't visible in the first place?

Not all games offer any kind of DLC or in-game purchases. For example Alien Swarm. I played it several years ago and the store page shows it's in my library, yet it's absent from my Steam client because it's not installed on this computer.

Even for games that do have DLC it seems to be hit-and-miss. I bought Dungeon Defenders II during alpha, along with one of the DLCs (which is no longer available), and the game has since gone free to play. DD2 shows up in my library on all computers. Orcs Must Die! Unchained has always been free to play but I bought a DLC for it during beta (this DLC is also no longer available). OMD!U only shows up in my library if it's installed.

[Tev]

Escrito originalmente por tdb:

What do you mean hide them in library? I don't see any option to hide a game, and how would that help with a game that isn't visible in the first place?

Right mouse click the game -> Set Categories

Hide this game in my library

What it does is, it keeps the game in the [Hidden] list despite the game being uninstalled. That's more than the default list does (which is that it removes the entry altogether upon uninstallation)

The other option is to just make a shortcut and keep that around. For example, steam://rungameid/440 as the address for a .url -file will both install and run Team Fortress 2.

[Seven7]

Category - check "Hide the game in my library"
DLC can be enabled\disabled in context menu \ game menu \ or allways on an it's just content \ addons \ maps \ quests

[ReBoot]

I remember having bought an addon/piece of DLC to keep a F2P game i was particularly interested to keep it in my library. That, and the addon is actually pretty good.

[tdb]

Found the hiding option now. It might be acceptable for games I don't play anymore, but I have other use cases as well. For instance Orcs Must Die! Unchained is a Windows-only game and I'd like it visible in Linux as well (when I pick the option that shows games for all platforms). If I add it to hidden games, then it will be hidden on my Windows machines as well.

There also doesn't seem to be a way to add a game which is not currently installed. Paid games are added to my library as soon as I buy them, but for free to play games the only option is the play button which will install the game.

An external shortcut also doesn't solve all of the issues related to not having the game in my library. Alien Swarm: Reactive Drop has floated around in my group's LAN party discussions recently, and because I'm usually on Linux I have to search for it in the store every time I want to paste a link to someone.

[Baraz]

Hello,

First, I am "impressed" by how some people do not read and post the opposite of what you are asking :P

Anyhow, I just solved it a moment ago for myself :

a) Find the previous free-to-play games you played on your Steam profile with the link called Games on the right side of your profile.

b) For a game you want to see in you Library ...
b.1) click Play on the Store page of that game ;
b.2) on the download page, you can pause/stop the download ;
b.3) in the game properties (good old right click), under the Updates tab of the game, you can select to have it update/load only when I want to launch it. This step is secondary and needless, as what you probably want is to stop downloading all those games as such.

c) To pause / stop downloads all the time :

Option 1) in your Steam settings, under Download, ask it to download/update only between an hour that you never play (I choose between 6 am and 7 am). I always fully close/open my gaming computer, so this was the solution for me. Note that this trick still allows you to freely download a specific game when you want (!), but you will need to allow it on the Steam download page.

Option 2) If you leave your computer open (sleep/awake), you can keep Steam always opened and pause those downloads.

* EDIT : the two above options have weaknesses. First, Steam will allocate disk space on the targeted disk, so this will not save space, but will save you Internet bandwidth if you want to avoid needless downloading. Second, Steam might, at some point, consider those downloads as failed or the allocated disk space might have a time limit.

Option 3) If you have a big HDD disk, just let them be installed there.

(optional: I also give them a category, which for me is "To play (random roll)". Meaning I sometimes randomly roll a game to play in my library, but not all games are listed.)

[Washell]

Escrito originalmente por Baraz:

Hello,

First, I am "impressed" by how some people do not read and post the opposite of what you are asking :P

Anyhow, I just solved it a moment ago for myself :

Yeah, about that reading thing... if you had done that you'd know your solution won't work for him.

[Ogami]

Escrito originalmente por Washell:

Escrito originalmente por Baraz:

Hello,

First, I am "impressed" by how some people do not read and post the opposite of what you are asking :P

Anyhow, I just solved it a moment ago for myself :

Yeah, about that reading thing... if you had done that you'd know your solution won't work for him.

And maybe noticed this thread is already a few months old.

[Baraz]

Escrito originalmente por Ogami:

Escrito originalmente por Washell:

Yeah, about that reading thing... if you had done that you'd know your solution won't work for him.

And maybe noticed this thread is already a few months old.

Oh no, I discussed a permanent issue on a thread only a few months old !
Anyhow, I tried to find a recent one (Google search: less than a year).

There is no perfect solution currently.

Sorry for trying to share tips to other Steam users.

[Washell]

Sharing tips is fine. Making snarky comments when you're making the exact. same. mistake. is not.

[tdb]

Well, it wasn't the exact same mistake, but still not applicable to my situation. I can't install Windows-only games in Linux.

Also, Steam likes to pre-allocate disk space for games before downloading so I'm not sure if pausing the download would allow that space to be used for other purposes. I might be wrong; I haven't ever really tried to keep a download perpetually paused.

[ReBoot]

The easiest way is still to shelve a few bucls to spend money on the game. See it this way: If youre enjoying it that much that you want to keep it, then this enjoyment surely is worth a bit, isnt it?

[tdb]

Please enlighten me, how do I spend a few bucks on Alien Swarm? http://store.steampowered.com/app/630/Alien_Swarm/

The game is free to play and does not offer any DLC.

Then there's Orcs Must Die! Unchained for which I've bought a DLC years ago when the game was still in beta. That one shows up on my Windows computers but is absent on Linux.