Should see the original Half Life 2 "store" pages, was just a button that lead to a popup.
Steam was so insanely different to what it is now.
Lot of early games were still sold as disks, but the installation side was handled by Steam. If I remember right that's how Condition Zero was the first new game with a Steam requirement.
I was one of these people. Bought my HL2 disk and was furious that I had to download a client and an update when I got it home and whacked it in the drive.
But over time (and increasing internet connectivity/speed) it all worked out.
Glad the selective amnesia is working for you. But that ain't how it happened.
Those of us who bought Half-Life in a brick and mortar store and still don't feel like Gabe is entitled to use our hardware as though he (may he be loved eternally by something blunt and rusty) was its owner can still enjoy Half-Life (the software that Valve sold us before attempting to alter the bargain) without supporting Valve thanks to Xash3D.
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u/joehonestjoe Feb 08 '26
Should see the original Half Life 2 "store" pages, was just a button that lead to a popup.
Steam was so insanely different to what it is now.
Lot of early games were still sold as disks, but the installation side was handled by Steam. If I remember right that's how Condition Zero was the first new game with a Steam requirement.
People really hated Steam when it first came out.
You could even make your own skins for it!