Steam OSX Information Topic

[aeria.]

To prevent clutter and frequently asked questions that has been confirmed, I will now sum up everything I know into one topic and I will continue to contribute to it until Steam gets an official release. mkay?

Is it true?
YES, Steam is indeed confirmed for Mac OSX by Valve themselves.

Will all games/tools that are currently in Steam supported?
NO, Games that are confirmed at launch are all major Source-based games by Valve, their SDK, and Dedicated Server software. 3rd party games are confirmed to be distributed through steam at launch however ONLY WORLD OF GOO only Tripwire's Killing Floor and Red Orchestra is confirmed at this time.

UPDATE: Only Portal was playable in the beta. In the video he added a non-steam shortcut so that he can use the the steam in-game overlay.

Which games are Source games?

The only games that are confirmed as of right now are:

• Counter Strike Source
• Team Fortress 2
• Portal series
• Half Life 2 series
• Left 4 Dead series

Games that should make it but NOT confirmed are:

• Day of Defeat: Source
• 3rd Party Mods and Source Games

Valves Games that weren't mentioned AT ALL were:

• All GoldSrc Games (Half Life, Counter-Strike 1.6, Day of Defeat, Team Fortress Classic, etc)

Is this a Wine Port/an Emulator or is this a native port of their games?
No, Valve went to do a native port of their games. Seeing how its origins are in the Quake Engine which is also natively ported, I'm not surprised.

When will it be available?
Sometime in April. That is all we know. Valve has specified May 12th. Hopefully Valve Time won't go into effect here. (Seriously AG; you had time to post that reply but none to update this? -Red) (Shaddup, this is mah topic. --AG)

Will we have to buy our games again?
Only the confirmed Source Games are confirmed to be available if previously purchased.

How's the performance? The visual quality? The stability? The system specs?
NONE of that information is released yet so don't ask.
The only information we can get is by studying this leaked video showing off the beta version of Mac Steam:
Steam for Mac is leaked !

UPDATE: I've tried out the Mac beta myself (No, I will not provide a download link for anyone. Don't bother asking.) From what I've tested, it looks and functions exactly like the PC version of Steam, which is also usable in Crossover Games BETA 9. The only difference I've found so far is obviously the top bar. Overall it's very stable.

The only game I found available in the beta is the Mac version of Portal. Everything seems to function fine, however I did get a performance drop that I wouldn't usually get if I cranked up the video settings. It most likely has to do with the crappiness of OpenGL/the over 9000 background apps running but overall, this is an above average port that would definitely satisfy Mac owners.

Is there cross-platform play?
Only Source games are confirmed at this time to have cross-platform play.
Steam has named this Steam Play.

Does Steam Cloud correspond to the Mac versions of Source Games?
Yes.

Are you sure this Topic is 100% Accurate?
No. This is a topic upon software which has not been released yet. We are simply compiling all the information that we know about it right now. Therefore, facts change and new information comes overtime.

[MjrNuT]

From my other post recently, I would welcome any collaboration with MPC to [FLASH] on this interaction.  Sort of, flog it all, and see what the glitches are that ppl experience and such.

Even do bug reports from ingame (TF2), as that is there for all players.

I thought this response by was related to this topic as it is for compatibility.  But feel free to move if the need arises.

[Jedikiller]

I would be more than happy to work out some sort of collaboration with you guys. I'm sure that a majority of the members here will be getting games on their new platform and having a nice established community to play with and help them into it would be excellent.

[MjrNuT]

I would be more than happy to work out some sort of collaboration with you guys. I'm sure that a majority of the members here will be getting games on their new platform and having a nice established community to play with and help them into it would be excellent.

Give me some ideas of what you'd like.  We are active w/ our own Tf2 server and also have L4D(2) games going.  Some servers are known and used for better dependency.  Meaning, I really hate modded L4D(2) servers b/c of its game play type.

Let me know publically or privately good buddy.

[aeria.]

Updat'd

[Hardcore]

Something more to update it with, Valve has confirmed a May 12th release date for Mac Steam.

[Soap Mactavish]

ok im even madder. First it was April now it is May!

turning into apple...

[Hardcore]

Valve never confirmed a release date to the public, they could have simply ment it would be ready by April, and it was.....for beta.

in anycase it doesn't matter, i'd rather it be done better then sooner.

[Soap Mactavish]

eh, true HC. im not a patient dude tho. when i think about it, i would be willing to wait till June for a chance to get off GR and xfire (macfire).

[Gamer9er]

Or May 12

[Katarn]

I found and downloaded a beta for steam but, once I created a account a message came up that said that is was a closed beta and was unauthorized.

[Hardcore]

That beta had been illegally uploaded by a beta tester, and it was worthless at that because you could do nothing with it unless your account had been authorized by Valve and you given the download link, its worthless.

[Katarn]

How on earth did he get a hold of it then?!

[Jedikiller]

He was probably actually allowed to have the beta, and violated his NDA by uploading it on a torrent site. You are not allowed to get into the beta. So don't download a beta version until Steam officially releases one.

This is why you should not pirate.

[Hardcore]

Likely, he was or knew a beta tester, copied it and uploaded it. the video linked in the first post shows someone using it that is a beta tester, it might be that same guy, who knows.