Holy Moly, or how valve wants my soul

[ysbreker]

I know I will. But that doesn't make the prices any cheaper on steam... I really wonder why they ask as much on steam as they do in retail.

And maybe my initial rant was a bit harsh on valve. maybe they don't want something as valueless as my soul but just a good chunk of my paycheck.

[Chris]

I really wonder why they ask as much on steam as they do in retail.

Probably the easy answer (and one which won't satisfy you) is "because they can". Also I suspect a lot of people are attracted by the ability to play CS: Source immediately rather than waiting for the retail box. Of course, once the game ships this won't be an issue but I wouldn't be surprised if Valve sold less Bronze packages than any of the other options, simply because if people are paying retail price for the exact stuff that comes in a box then they want a box.

[Marek]

Probably the easy answer (and one which won't satisfy you) is "because they can".

Or maybe "because they have to" (by Vivendi)?

[ysbreker]

Or maybe "because they have to" (by Vivendi)?

And that is what I'm curious about...

[Lindset]

whoops...okay...my 5 sec. google investigation wasn't enough...

http://www.xe.com is great

[MrHoatzin]

1 dollar isn't 1.2 euro's.

1 dollar is about 0.80 euro (yes the euro is more valuable than the dollar)

so 50 dollar x 0.80 = 40 euro

60 dollar x 0.80 = 50 euro

and 130 dollar x 0.80 = 105 euro

And since these prices are without any tax this will only get more expensive. (for me at least)

Dear god, could the US Dollar have slipped that much since the introduction of the Euro?! As I remember, when the Euro "came out" it was $1 = €1. Is this the usual rate of Dollar slippage? I've only been in this country a relative short while.

[Chris]

There isn't really a "usual rate"...

[Tanukitsune]

Dear god, could the US Dollar have slipped that much since the introduction of the Euro?! As I remember, when the Euro "came out" it was $1 = €1. Is this the usual rate of Dollar slippage? I've only been in this country a relative short while.

Suits me fine! I buy more stuff online from the US than from my own country!

[MrHoatzin]

There isn't really a "usual rate"...

I was under the impression that the US inflation is relatively stagnant.

[Erkki]

http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/EUR/hist2001.html

There you can see the history of USD/EUR (or another currency)

[Kolzig]

http://www.xe.com is great

It's not only great, it is the best

[toblix]

I like Babylon Pro. It's not a site, though.

[Marek]

Behold:

The new hi-res graffiti has led to some amusing ideas. One CT was praypainting an image of a terrorist pointing a gun at you, effectively using the graffiti as a decoy.

[Kolzig]

I found this image from somewhere

[Marek]

Hahaha, that's utterly brilliant.

[baconian]

this is wierd:

i saved the image as a jpg from photoshop, and it looks like the transperency is messing with the engine:

[Marek]

What did you do, exactly? Just press F5 in the game and look in the /cstrike/screenshots folder, and you'll find a jpeg...

[baconian]

nOo,...

i saved the jpeg i used for the spray in photoshop..

using the spray seemed to fuck up the engine.

see it?

the tank?

[Marek]

Yeah your spray is cool. Psychonauts etc. Well done

Try saving your spray as a tga, as it doesn't support jpeg. If you want transparency, create an alpha channel for it in Photoshop and save it as a 32 bit tga.

[ysbreker]

Behold:

[snip]

The new hi-res graffiti has led to some amusing ideas. One CT was praypainting an image of a terrorist pointing a gun at you, effectively using the graffiti as a decoy.

Does this eman you preordered halflife 2?

In that case.. I really need to come over to your place and check out cs:source on your pc

[Marek]

Yes I have, and yes you can, on Saturday, before a certain party that I assume you're also going to.

[ysbreker]

yes I will be going to that party. so we have a deal.

[Marek]

Hurray!

[Huz]

Preloaded HL2 earlier this week. Bought it earlier today in anticipating of leaping straight into CS: Source, since it's all, you know, preloaded and shit.

Guess what's still downloading.

Steam is the only gay in the village.

[Huz]

Hmm, OK. Steam may be like a giant distended rectum, strained out of Valve's overworked arse by the irresistable urge to snub all publishers everywhere, but at least the end result of obtaining HL2 seems like it may be worth the battle. CS Source is clearly brilliant - the little physics touches add more than I imagined, and other little effects like the sight and sound of bullets narrowly missing your head and slamming into the wall behind you add so much to the game it's unreal. It even has the good grace to run acceptably on my lowly machine (1.3GHz, woo), but that's with most settings on 'Medium'. I was expecting a 'mere' graphics overhaul but CS Source is much more than that. It even shows enemy players' names when they're hiding behind objects and you can't actually see them. omg wallhax!!!!11 Bet that gets fixed.

One question though - why are people using the office bogs in the middle of a hostage situation? I mean, sure, go in there to avoid simply shitting yourself, but actually flushing is a bit of a giveaway, guys.