New to Steam - need help

[navinl1]

Hi, I just bought this "OVERVIEW: a Walk Through the Universe". How do I start about ? What software or hardware do I need ? Can I use any VR ?

any help appreciated

[Mikasa Ackerman]

go to your library and click on the game , if its not installed , there will be an install button instead of a play button

hardware wise the store page says you need an i5 or greater , and a gtx 980
if you have a VR headset ( a HTC Vive or Oculus Rift ( not sure if you could use PSVR on steam)) connect it to your pc and set it up

[navinl1]

thanks so much. I already installed steam app from app store on my iphone but when I go to library, it just lists the game with just 3 boxes (Links, View Stats and Review). I dont see any install or play button.

I bought this for my daughter and she has this google Cardboard 3D VR and was wondering if she could use the cardboard VR to see this game from my iphone?

On my laptop machine, I do see 2 buttons - Install Steam and Play now, but the idea was for her to experience this via cardboard VR thru my iphone. Not sure if I am even making sense, again any help appreciated.

[Forcen]

The Steam smartphone app does not let you play any games you bought on Steam, they are all games made for PC and sometimes mac and Linux.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/751110/OVERVIEW_a_Walk_Through_the_Universe/
The game has system requiriments listed on the store page and on the side you can see that it supports Oculus, Vive or Windows mixed reality only.

I don't think you can use google cardboard for any of this stuff, maybe a oculus rift for a Samsung phone at most and that would not be an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ way to do it.

If you want to request a refund then read this: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=6695-QIKM-7966&l=

[navinl1]

With every response from experts like you things are becoming a lot clearer now. That's of immense help to a newbie like me. Not worried about non-compatibility with google cardboard because I do have a real VR headset buy on the roadmap (cardboard was just for fun and adventure for her).

I understand that these games cannot be played in iphone steam app, so what is the app (steam) on phone used for? Secondly, like I said earlier, I see "install steam" and "play now" buttons - can I play w/o installing steam on my laptop ? whats the difference if I install steam then ?

[Forcen]

The phone app is basically used for everything else steam can do except playing games, examples include chatting, trading, socializing and creating login codes and more. You can browse the store and buy games on the go and you can install them on your PC remotely if the PC is on. Most of this can also be done through any web browser.

You need Steam installed to play and download games you bought from Steam and you also need to be able to log in to the account that the games are tied to. Games are tied to accounts and not computers and that's good if you lose your PC but not your account and problematic if the opposite happen so keep your account safe! https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=1266-OAFV-8478&l=
Make sure it's tied to an acctive email adress and consider adding a phone number to it.

You say haven't installed Steam yet? The play now button won't work in that case.
If you install Steam be aware that it's not just a web browser for the store that launches games through the store pages, you can also see your library in the client. (this can be a common mistake)

You should read this guide for new users: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7141-OPGX-5121

[Hodman]

The app provides extra secutiry for your account:

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=4020-ALZM-5519

And also allows you to browse the discussions (forums), the community market (you can buy items if you have the funds in your wallet and have no restrictions), the store (you can buy games to play in your laptop), the activity feed (to check what you're friends are up to), you can also chat with your them and do some trading with other Steam users.

Most games need Steam to run (DRM), I'm not sure if that games needs it or not, you can give it a try and see what happens, in the worst case you'll have to install the client in your laptop.

[navinl1]

thanks forcen, new user guide link was awesome. you are right, clicking on play now did not do anything (UI bug, should have grayed out :) ), so I installed steam on my laptop now.

also thanks to you hodman, for all the addl info, that was a goldmine.

I am all set now to play the game on lapop. silly Q maybe, but there is no restriction on number of times I can play right? its my game and I own it now, so I assume I can play umpteen # of times. right ? Also if i play this on laptop now, is that a 3D (VR) format ? how do I get VR experience from laptop ? Do I just buy the HTC hive / Oculus Rift and just connect these HMD devices via HDMI to my lap ?

[Forcen]

You can play as much as you want unless you're worried about not getting a possible refund. if you are worried about that then read the refund link I posted earlier.

You can't play it on multiple computers at once. A small number of games have external DRM that might limit your access to the game, for example they might reqire another account to launch the game.

Very few games limit installations of games, and no new ones basically, here is a list just in case: https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/The_Big_List_of_3rd_Party_DRM_on_Steam#Hardware-based_DRM (this one game you own won't be on this list most likely)

I don't know what laptop you have but VR often requires pretty beefy hardware.

You can download this free VR performance test to test your PC: http://store.steampowered.com/app/323910/

You will need to install more stuff but the headset for vive but not stuff you plug into your PC really, more info: https://www.vive.com/eu/product/

[navinl1]

my laptop specs below) may be laughable, but like I said this is my first venture in VR by any means.

Dell Windows 7 Pro, i5 2 cores 2 GHz, 16GB RAM

the test was bad news, but I had too many apps running, so test suggested to close and try. I am going to do a clean reboot and run test as the first thing before opening anything else on my laptopl.

[navinl1]

also I ran "dxdiag" on my laptop, to get the graphics card info and this is what I got:

Intel, appx. total mem: 1.7 GB, display mode 1360 x 768 (32 bit) (60hz). I think 60hz is the refresh frequency rate.

any pointers if this is good ?

[Forcen]

Yeah, that sounds like it won't work. Still, you could always build a new PC.

Do this if you want to share more detailed info about your PC:
In Steam, click Help>System Information. Then right click the text and click "copy all text to clipboard" and then paste it in here.
If you don't use steam in english then please switch to english first.

Yeah, that sounds like it won't work.

[navinl1]

ok, reboot did not help, says still NOT READY. tried to compare my specs to other steam users and looks like I am pretty hard hit on my CPU speed (2594 Mhz) and VRAM. also have 2 CPU cores (4 with hyperthreading enabled).

on the other hand with a Iphone 7, looks like I am out of all options :(

can I play this on my laptop w/o any VR experience ? just like any other simple video/movie ?

[Forcen]

I'm not sure, try to launch it on your laptop and see what happens. Looks like a VR focused game so I would guess no but you never know.

Keep in mind that if you leave it running for more than 2h then you can't refund.

If you want something similar but not in VR: https://store.steampowered.com/app/230290/Universe_Sandbox/
This is less a guided experience and more of a sandbox.
and VR should be optional, the first one didn't require it.

[navinl1]

thanks to you and others for all the help. for now, I will sit back and think whats next in terms of $$$ investment :)

to think positive, in the last few hours I went from zero know-how on VR to pretty much a LOT (thanks to side reading understanding mobile/smart VR, tethered etc.), along with all your advise and input. reading about standalone VR's now (and not worried at the moment on how to get my $9.99 value, but I will get that sooner or later :) )

will come back with more Q's next time, have a good one all.