Can we have a better offline mode system?

[Cyber Nyran]

Where you dotn have to click through ALL your games in online mode just to play them offline? If i want to go offline for 6 months. I first if i have over 200 games, have to go through ALL my games online first just to see if they work, then TEST them offline mode to see if they work. Its actually a total hassle. And better integration with other overlay horrid services, like Rockstar and uplay and EA origin. Rockstar is horrific to get games working offline mode and EPIC store is even WORSE when trying to play games offline. It comes up LS 0021 errors on epic store. Its like game publishers are almost trying to make it impossible to play games offline. Its making me hate gaming really. The hassle jus tto play the games you pay for, is becoming a giant hassle if you just want to play offline. Surely there's an easier way to do it. Like an AUTO system that if you go offline ALL your games go into an automatic offline mode without having to go through them 1 by 1 and test them.....

[Supafly]

All down to developers and what security measures the implement. Options are

1. Don't even need to connect to a server,
2. Connect once then never again,
3. Connect every week/month,
4. Permanent connection.

Online only games require a constant connection so that fine and expected.
Game with online components should only need a constant connection for the online component.

For me single player/offline component
1 = ideal,
2 = acceptable,
3 = tedious but reasonable
4 = Get stuffed I ain't buying

I was looking forward to Gran Turismo on PS4 until I learn you needed to be online in order to load/save games. Offline sections should not require an online connection.

I got one of the CoD games free with a hardware upgrade a few years ago. I've played less than 2 hours and uninstalled it. I was playing the campaign and twice it kicked me out because it lost connection to the servers. Alt tabbed out and Blizzard was still connected Steam was still downloading without any loss of connection. CoD pissed me of with the need connection for offline section. I couldn't even say reconnect ingame. I had to close the game completely and reload it. After the second time I uninstalled it.

Bottomline if you don't like the practices developers are making DO NOT support them by buying their products.

[Cyber Nyran]

or they can improve their system. Epic store has been the worse so far with constant errors , im talking errors from games that SHOULD be easily be able to be played offline like WRC 9 etc. Rockstar is pretty bad. Ubisoft has been the best one yet and EA origin. STEAM is pretty good with offline. ALl it needs because many of us have so many games now going through each game 1 by one is a real chore. Some kind of single tick auto check system where it checks it wihout having to start EACH game individually would be good. UPlay is actually pretty good for offline games, ive never had an issue. Steam is pretty good to. But EPIC store, Rockstar, terrible with offline gaming or they at least havent come up with a good system yet.

Secondly the thing is , you dont really know if a publisher is allowing for offlin eplay for example Efootball PES 2021. It clearly states it can be played offline, but if you try it just auto exits offline. So the publishers lie, stating it can be played offline, when it actually cant be played offline. Like PES 2021. All single player games and game modes should ALL be easily accessible offline, if youve paid for it. But you are right, im not supporting epic store anymore until they sort it out. I like to go offline sometimes for a few weeks at a time.

As far as security measures go, 95% of games are pirated. Even the ones with the most hardcore anti piracy measures stil get pirated. They should really be focused on making sure CUSTOMERS that PAY for their games are happy. Not worrying about people that arent customers, like pirates. Pirates are not customers, they are pirates lol.

[JD777]

Yeah the constant updates for single player games I have when Steam decides to throw my client out of offline mode is just too much. Finally about 2 years ago when they got rid of features that made the client bearable I decided it's too much of a hassle to put up with.Steam really doesn't want or care about me being a customer so I stopped using it and switched to another platform that allows me to not update or update since I play SinglePlayer games.

Bought a lot of games there now and even preordered a few new ones which I used to do on here. recently Cyberpunk , Biomutant etc.

This is the only solution to this because people have been spinning their wheels for years about a proper offline mode and auto updates and bloated client memory usage. Don't have to deal with any of that unless I want to access the Steam games here that I already have anchored to this.

Basically if I can't find it their I won't buy it. Shame because there is a space game thats similar to NoMansSky that i wanted but it's only here.

[nullable]

I suspect those people are in a minority. I don't think I've used offline mode since 2009...

The offline mode probably isn't there to be offline perpetually. Steam is DRM after all and once in a while it's going to want to call home. If you don't want DRM buy your games from GoG or games that explicitly DRM free or don't actually require Steam to run.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

You should be able to be offline indefinitely as long as you set it up correctly first and don't even let your PC connect to the net, just in case you want to.

Former employee on the matter...

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/864969953572102601/#c864969953730401285

[JD777]

The whole reason I use offline mode is so that I can play Single(Single) Player games without patches messing things up for me. One example is Biomutant. Biomutant just had a update that changed something I liked and thought was immersive (gibberish and narrator) and made some unfun nerfs. If I was on Steam the only way I could get around this was by putting Steam in offline mode. Fortunately GOG has no such restriction.

Or Fallout 4. I still have updates frozen before the creation club was put in but fortunately I can play that because of a mod launcher. Or GTA4 cutting things out in the radio stations I liked because of licensing. I could go on and on but I will list the few that most people know of.

I understand about multiplayer games for updates.

This is why I constantly use offline mode. But people like me constantly get reasons on why that can't be implemented for Single (Single) Player games so I can't be bothered anymore. Offline mode is/was a refuge from that. Also I might not have internet from time to time and would like to not have to back up tons of appmanifest files so that I can work around this. Too much hassle.

[Cyber Nyran]

time for a NEW offline mode system.

We've got to a point now where people have HUNDREDS of games and if you want to go offline mode you have to go through EVERY SINGLE GAME in the list to make them work offline. its REAL time consuming if you have over 200 games installed. So mayb ea new automated system that goes through all your games is in order these days. If you have EA origin, STEAM, Uplay, Epic store and rockstar dont bother their games are a REAL chore to get going offline anyway. SO when im offline i dont even bother with Rockstar or EPIC Store games. But consumers are having to start hundreds of games to go into offline mode now. We need a quicker system to offline mode and have some kind of automated run through of all your games so you dont have to individually go through each one 1 by one to go into offline mode. Its a real hassle.

[Spawn of Totoro]

O.o

I just go to Steam > Go Offline and can play any game that doesn't require an online connection just fine.

[Brian9824]

I've never had to go into games one by one.... Just click offline and play....

[Yasahi]

Why would you need to do something to every game to go offline?

[Crazy Tiger]

Why a new thread? https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/10/3094515496019340732/

[Cyber Nyran]

ive found the 2 worse ones is rockstar and epic store. I get tons of errors trying to play offline with their games on their launchers. Rockstar has decided to actually connect game saves to their social club, which is super ridiculous for offline play.

[Cyber Nyran]

Publicado originalmente por brian9824:

I've never had to go into games one by one.... Just click offline and play....

thats not how it works, you have to go into the game online at least ONCE in order for it to work. It wont work otherwise. however what happens after a windows update it resets everything or something, so you have to do it all again. You would also if you got a new PC have to go through each gaem 1 by 1 online to make them all work offline also. STEAM isnt as bad as the rockstar launcher however. Rockstar has literally decided its a good idea to attach people game saves to their launcher..absolutely horrific practice. So if you want to play GTA 4 and something happens to social club offline, you are screwed, until you back online.

[Spawn of Totoro]

Publicado originalmente por Cyber Nyran:

Publicado originalmente por brian9824:

I've never had to go into games one by one.... Just click offline and play....

thats not how it works, you have to go into the game online at least ONCE in order for it to work. It wont work otherwise. however what happens after a windows update it resets everything or something, so you have to do it all again. You would also if you got a new PC have to go through each gaem 1 by 1 online to make them all work offline also. STEAM isnt as bad as the rockstar launcher however. Rockstar has literally decided its a good idea to attach people game saves to their launcher..absolutely horrific practice. So if you want to play GTA 4 and something happens to social club offline, you are screwed, until you back online.

For the first run, yes, you need to run the game to install it. This runs the common redistributes needed by said games and installs the proper registry keys. There is no way around this as it needs to be done.

I've never had a Windows update cause that kind of an issue. If a Windows update is causing it, then that is either a local issue or a Windows issue so nothing for Steam/Valve to fix.

Please keep it to a single thread. You don't need multiple threads on the same subject.

[Cyber Nyran]

Publicado originalmente por Spawn of Totoro:

Publicado originalmente por Cyber Nyran:

thats not how it works, you have to go into the game online at least ONCE in order for it to work. It wont work otherwise. however what happens after a windows update it resets everything or something, so you have to do it all again. You would also if you got a new PC have to go through each gaem 1 by 1 online to make them all work offline also. STEAM isnt as bad as the rockstar launcher however. Rockstar has literally decided its a good idea to attach people game saves to their launcher..absolutely horrific practice. So if you want to play GTA 4 and something happens to social club offline, you are screwed, until you back online.

For the first run, yes, you need to run the game to install it. This runs the common redistributes needed by said games and installs the proper registry keys. There is no way around this as it needs to be done.

I've never had a Windows update cause that kind of an issue. If a Windows update is causing it, then that is either a local issue or a Windows issue so nothing for Steam/Valve to fix.

Please keep it to a single thread. You don't need multiple threads on the same subject.

ive found everytime theres a windows update, it resets everything. If you have like 200 games. Its really annoying going through them all, if you are offline for weeks at a time and want access to your library. What i mean , is it would be nice if there was an AUTO game checker system, so you didnt have to do it manually everytime windows has a major update. Yes it does, it resets all your games like theyve never been run before adn if you have over 200 games, you have to go through them all, to play them offline after a major windows update.