Buying HL2 on steam?

[Father]

I wonder whether I should prebuy this game on Steam or not, what happens if I need to reinstall it on the new PC that I will inevitbably end up buying when I run this on my current machine, will I need to download it again?

The main reason for pre-buy is to play upon release not 3-4 days later when it hits the Australian shelves.

[butterfly]

You can burn off the downloaded gcf files and it will only download what it requires.

[Father]

IC, coz if I do the sums for basic Halflife 2 at US $49.95, that is about AUD $68.
The boxed version is $79.95. Plus the boxed version doesn't mention getting Counterstrike source with it.

How big a DL is it btw?

[DePixel8r]

I think it is 4.3GB

Took me 28 hours to get it all - but I only just did it recently - where others like Der0 did it a while ago and got updates since.

It's worth it though - CS is fun, even if there are wall hackers around.

[butterfly]

Since they closed the wallhack exploit I haven't noticed anyone who I would say was hacking but there's been a fair increase in the number of speed hacks I've seen...

[DePixel8r]

I am sure there was a couple last night - after they killed me I viewed on them - and once on one guy I watched him follow or appear to follow something along a wall - and then one of our guys wandered out - he HS'd him.

Too blatant for me. But I CBF yelling - it happens.

I have seen the speed hack too - they blame it on lag - morons.

[Grom]

I bought mine through steam DL to my old PC..Got my new PC and just re-DL it again to my new one..Just need to remember your Username and PW..so no biggie.

[butterfly]

If someone has it on disk already for you you can save time downloading

[Bulgroz]

as far as I know CS:S is included in the boxed version - either on CD or via download.

[KnobGoblin]

The Aussie dollar is improving on a daily basis so I'm going to hold off buying through Steam until the last minute.

The options are:

Bronze (USD 49.95 ~ AUD 65): JUST HL2 and CS:Source
Silver (USD 59.95 ~ AUD 80): HL2, CS:S, DoD:S, HL1:S and entire Steam back catalog
Gold (USD 89.95 ~ AUD 125): Silver plus a pile of crap (soundtrack, cap, t-shirt, play guide etc.)

Retail standard: same as Bronze but costs around AUD $80
Retail collector's ed: same as Gold, similar price.

www.steampowered.com has all the answers.

My friend is buying the collector's edition so if I ever lose my copy I'll install from his DVD and just use my Steam-provided key.