DCS A-10C and Steam

[AVZ]

Will the current users using the normal 'download-off-the-site' version be able to use their given keys to unlock the game in Steam. It would be really worth it if this will be possible, rather than having to download the game and then download and install patches separately as such.

 

I hope my dream will come true ^^

 

Thanks in advance!

[Kuky]

nope, to install the sim from Steam you will have to purchase it there first

[EtherealN]

As Kuky said: generally this is only possible for games that are either developed or published by Valve itself, or that are "Steamworks" games (compare to "Games for Windows Live" etc). Basically, it would be silly (in the business sense) of Valve to pay for servers and bandwidth for something they didn't get any revenue from.

[Lobrau]

You can add non-steam games to Steam if you want to use it as a game launcher. Just go to 'Add game' at the bottom of the library window.

[spn]

Steam is currently offering the DCS - Ka-50 Blackshark using "Steam", will the DCS A-10C Warhog be offered through Steam in the near future???

[112th_Rossi]

22nd April. Is the rumour.

[Sinky]

Check this post for info on the steam version. http://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=1175835&postcount=7

 

I've yet to get the game to launch properly by adding it as a non-steam game.

[EtherealN]

Sinky, then you're probably not setting the shortcut properly.

 

Start Steam, select Library, select "Add a Game" and "Non-steam game", then find DCS:A-10C and add it. Then right-click the entry in the game list and select properties. You'll find two fields with something like this:

 

Target: "C:\Games\DCS A-10C Warthog\bin\Launcher.exe"

Start in: "C:\Games\DCS A-10C Warthog\bin\" <--- wrong, the simulator will not work

 

Compare this to the windows shortcut placed by the installer:

 

Start in: "C:\Games\DCS A-10C Warthog" <--- change the Steam shortcut to this, and it will work.

[Sinky]

Sinky, then you're probably not setting the shortcut properly.

 

Start Steam, select Library, select "Add a Game" and "Non-steam game", then find DCS:A-10C and add it. Then right-click the entry in the game list and select properties. You'll find two fields with something like this:

 

Target: "C:\Games\DCS A-10C Warthog\bin\Launcher.exe"

Start in: "C:\Games\DCS A-10C Warthog\bin\" <--- wrong, the simulator will not work

 

Compare this to the windows shortcut placed by the installer:

 

Start in: "C:\Games\DCS A-10C Warthog" <--- change the Steam shortcut to this, and it will work.

 

Thanks, I've already tried this from the last thread you posted in and it didn't work. I currently have:

 

Target: "C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS A-10C\bin\Launcher.exe"

Start In: "C:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS A-10C\"

 

Nothing will come up on the screen after trying to start the game but it will briefly say that I'm now playing DCS A-10C for about 2 seconds.

[EtherealN]

Do you have UAC active?

 

(I doublechecked just now both with and without the final slash in the Target, and it works on my machine, UAC on - but since I don't have the application installed in Program Files I wouldn't suffer that effect if that is what's blocking you.)

[Sinky]

Thanks, the problem was UAC. If only there was a way to get around it while still having UAC active, without reinstalling or running steam as admin ( which it doesn't seem to like ).

[ToWcH]

i believe the problem has to do with the 64bit version.

single launches fine for however the mp hangs at a black screen.

[EtherealN]

i believe the problem has to do with the 64bit version.

single launches fine for however the mp hangs at a black screen.

 

I did it with Win7 64-bit, running 64-bit version of the application. That is not the problem.

[ToWcH]

I did it with Win7 64-bit, running 64-bit version of the application. That is not the problem.

how did you get the multi-player to launch....i can only get the single player to launch fine?

[EtherealN]

Well, for one - you can launch MP from within SP.

 

Other than that, just make another link from Steam, and ensure that it's settings mirror that of your standard MP shortcut. That is:

 

Target: "C:\Games\DCS A-10C Warthog\bin\DCS.exe" --net-mode gui

Start in: "C:\Games\DCS A-10C Warthog"

 

This is not really arcane in any way: you are creating a completely standard shortcut: any shortcut that works from windows itself will work here, just copy the details. Right-click the icon, select properties,and then view the Shortcut tab - you'll have all the information there.

[ToWcH]

i've done all that and tried even more.

maybe its because i didn't install steam is my main harddrive....maybe

[EtherealN]

No, it shouldn't be. It is literally just another shortcut. If a regular windows shortcut works, Steam shortcut should as well. (Assuming that it isn't being intercepted by the OS due to UAC.)

 

Screenshot the shortcut you have and I can look at it. Possibly also screenshot the shortcut details that the original installer placed in there.

[Raylon]

Looks like I will have to buy another version. It's just too easy to have the game on Steam. Plus A-10 is definitely worth $120 to me.

[luckybob9]

i believe the problem has to do with the 64bit version.

single launches fine for however the mp hangs at a black screen.

 

I did it with Win7 64-bit, running 64-bit version of the application. That is not the problem.

 

Same thing for me. MP hangs on a black screen. Any ideas? UAC is off for me. Games are installed into C:\Games If i alt+tab it shows the icon as if it is running in the bottom.

[armaholicbr]

I'm also trying to make it run the Multiplayer with no success, only works if started from Singleplayer shortcut. Running W7 x64.

 

Also Steam overlay doesn't show up, with it turned ON in Steam options.

[Moa]

Here I'll describe a fix that worked for me for with problems I had with multiplayer login, when I had a downloaded DCS version (pre-ordered during the Beta) and a later Steam purchase.

 

Background

I had a 'download from DCS site' version of A-10C installed and used to run it as a multiplayer client on my server ('stallturn').

 

Since I wanted to run a copy of A-10C as a server instance while running an A-10C client on another machine I needed to purchase a second A-10C license. So I bought a second license through Steam and installed it on the machine that have the 'downloaded from DCS' version on it.

 

I could not get multiplayer working. I couldn't log in to the ED network. It would always give me spurious messages about invalid login/password/email address etc. These messages were in fact incorrect (once I changed the game key they worked perfectly).

 

I did notice that the login panel had the key from the download version and not the Steam version - even when I started from Steam. There was no way of editing the key on the panel (it was displayed in a non-editable field) and I couldn't find any way to replace it. Since there is an (old) key in the Windows registry the Steam version of the game never asks whether the key should be replaced with the Steam version's key, and this appears to cause problems.

 

This is what I did to fix it ...

 

The fix - update the game key

 

1) Try and do a multiplayer login and record the key (if you don't have it written elsewhere already). The key looks like a groups of letters and numbers separated by "-" characters.

 

2) Open your Steam games library and select the Steam key.

 

3) Select "Digital Combat Simulator: A-10C Warthog" from the left hand column that lists your purchased games (the leftmost of the three columns).

 

4) Click on the "CD Key" option on the rightmost column.

 

5) The Steam game key willl be displayed. Choose the "Copy Key to Clipboard" option.

 

6) Copy the Steam key somewhere (eg. a Wordpad window).

 

7) Open Windows registry editor and search for the 'old' key from Step 1.

You need to remove the "-" separators from the key before doing the search.

 

8 ) Replace all instances of the old key with the new Steam key (also with the "-" separator characters removed). There were two instances IIRC.

 

You can now start A-10C and will use the Steam key. Register a new account on the ED network and you'll be able to log in to multiplayer.

 

I found that this worked for me. I use the Steam license key on the stallturn server and use the key from my A-10C pre-purchase (Beta) on a client and they now work together without dropping out (ED network used to kick me off).

 

Hope this helps some of you get going. A-10C is an outstanding sim.

Edited May 11, 2011 by Moa

[armaholicbr]

Is Steam overlay working for any of you?

[armaholicbr]

Edit: For some reason, I've launched DCS: A-10C from Steam and overlay worked as a charm, singleplayer and mp, but....only ONCE...

 

Without changing anything, I can't get it to work anymore...does anyone have a solution? W7 x64 here...

[luckybob9]

I managed to create a batch file that can launch the game. You link steam to that batch file at it will launch fine. However, since steam thinks that the batch file is the game, and the batch file only stays open for a moment, steam overlay does not work and it does not record game time since steam thinks that it is closed.

[Nate--IRL--]

Try using

 

start /wait bin\x86_64\launcher.exe %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6

 

Nate