Porting from Beamdog to Steam

VenoMpie

Is there/will there be a way to port my game from Beamdog to Steam? I really don't like the beamdog launcher and would much rather prefer steam but I pre-ordered the game and don't want to buy it again just for it to show up in my Steam games library.

Deucetipher

Well, you have a couple of options. Generally, I run BGEE straight from the exe, which means no launcher at all. That would be my suggestion.

If you not only wish to avoid the beamdog launcher, but specifically launch from steam, @Aosaw posted a solution in General, which I will go find

Aosaw said:

Trent and the team are still in negotiations with Atari, but in the mean-time you can still add the game to your Steam library and launch it from there. Follow these steps:

1) In the Steam browser window, select the "View" drop-down, and choose "Games List".
2) At the bottom left corner of the window, click "Add Game", and select "Add a Non-Steam Game"
3) Select Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition from the list, and click "Add Selected Programs" (it should show up automatically)

And that's it; the game will launch normally just like any other Steam game, and you can still run it offline if your internet goes out (by running baldur.exe).

VenoMpie

Thanks! I know how to add Non-Steam games but it's not the same as it being in Steam itself (updates, achievements and all that even though BGEE probably won't have achievements in steam?). I'll just wait for Trent and them to finish negotiations.
Do you perhaps know any details of their negotiations with Atari?
e.g. Why Atari specifically? Is that going to be the publisher? Will I get a key that enables me to activate the game in steam? etc.

Deucetipher

I would take a look at these threads for a more complete picture.

http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/14633/steam-key-for-beamdog-buyers
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/14626/bgee-was-just-released-on-steam

Also take a look at Trent's Twitter account: https://twitter.com/TrentOster

In short, in the byzantine licensing relationship, Atari is the digital distribution rights holder for Baldur's Gate. Atari released BGEE on Steam against the will of Beamdog. While Trent is trying to get steam keys for those that pre-ordered, I suspect he has relatively little leverage, save perhaps withholding updates.

Beamdog is updating the game frequently from their side, and updates will need to be pushed from Atari to Steam. If you go Steam, it seems likely you will have a fair bit of lag between updates. Currently, the Steam version of BGEE does not have achievements.

VenoMpie

Thanks man.

Dee

"against their will" makes it sound like Beamdog didn't want a Steam release at all, which I don't think is necessarily the case.

It's more like they did it without Beamdog's input. Which is unfortunate, but not quite the same thing.

Valarioth

The main reason I'd want an official steam release is that all my friends are there, and 90% of my gaming collection. I don't like fracturing my online presence if it can be avoided. Although, adding Baldur's Gate through the "add non-steam game" works really well, and you can still take nice steam screen shots and share with your buddies.

The only thing an official steam release would grant are the option of achievements, the Steam workshop (which, if implemented, would be rather awesome for making modding even easier), and updates without having to go through a different launcher. Oh, multi-player matchmaking would be a lot easier too (click on friend --> invite to game --> done)

Stuart

1)Is it able to take my beamdog-savefile-of-bgee to steam-bgee game?
2)Is it able to make changes in save files of steam-bgee? (use trainers)

bigdogchris

@VenoMpie

I think a better-than-steam solution is just installing the game by itself. Log into your Beamdog account and visit the BG:EE page. You'll see a yellow 'Install' button on the page, where you will be prompted to download the stand-alone installer.

After installing this way, you can update & launch the game by running the launcher, or just create a shortcut to the game's executable to bypass the updater.

RnRClown

I installed the Beamdog client. I then installed BG:EE via that client. Finally, I created a shortcut to the BG:EE executable to be placed on my desktop. The game is never more than a double-click to launch and begin playing. It matters not whether I am connected to the internet, or whether I am logged into the Beamdog client. It's all very quick and easy.

I've never had to update the game, but from what I hear it's little more than logging into the Beamdog client?