This is a clear definition of DRM Free, frazap, and it is the one I go by

DRM is usually tied to a client (like Steam or Origin).
Once you buy the game and install it with a key, the game gets tied to your account with that client and that key cannot be used to install it on any other accounts.

A game that is DRM-Free is a game that does not have any DRM scheme. It can be installed as many times on as many different machines as you want and is not tied to any account anywhere. The idea is that the publisher of that game trusts you, as an honest person, to not distribute their game en-masse. It's effectively the logical extreme of the old Shareware model.

That is someone's definition on DRM-free, and I basically agree. But I don't mind using Steam as what can be called a download/install client, as long as the game once installed is not at all tied to the Steam account or the very computer it was first installed on. I'm just trying to say that some games aren't. One example is Contradiction. I bought it on Humble store, which gave me one DRM-free (in the pure sense) version and one Steam key for the game. The DRM-free version turned out to an old version so I installed the Steam one. Once installed you can shut down, even uninstall, Steam and move the folder containing the game to another computer. It still works. Giving me the exact same result as with the version downloaded directly from Humble store (only, in this case, bug free).

Very few games on Steam are like this though and I haven't tried moving the new Barrow Hill installation to another computer. But once installed at least it does not need the Steam client to run.

Well, as has been said so many times, frazap, the using of Steam is by personal decision and for me it is a definite "no"

I certainly respect that! I had that position myself no more than a year ago and I still basically consider Steam a game rental service in disguise. But there are games that I like to play and that are not available anywhere else so a while back I bit the bullet and signed up. But I still of course only buy a game from them if it's absolutely impossible to obtain in any other legal way and it's a game I simply have to play!

I do have a very few games from Steam, frazap, even though I have always much disliked their "invasiveness" but following my purchase of a game from them (a long time ago) that had a massive technical fault and wouldn't run and for which no help whatsoever was forthcoming - not even the courtesy of a reply and certainly no offer of a refund - I decided on principle not to have anything more to do with them

Many people were in the same situation as I was with the game. It wasn't just me. And we were all equally disgusted

Having said that I know there are lots of people who are happy to use Steam - and I wish "good luck" to them all

If you have a Steam account and don't like DRM i can report that The Dark Path is indeed completely DRM free once installed through Steam. Just moved the installation folder to a completely different computer (without a Steam client installed) and it seems to work perfectly.

Thanks for the info, frazap.

I'm glad, frazap, that you found a way to use Steam that works for you

Does it have to be moved to a different computer?

Could you move it to a different drive on the same computer and play it without using the Steam client?

Could you leave it installed in the same location and play it without using the Steam client?

Could you move it to a USB drive for storage, and then move it back at some later time and play it without using the Steam client?

I believe the answer is yes to all three questions. I played it all the way through on the same computer I have Steam installed on but disabled the client. Then only tested the game on another computer briefly and it seemed to work. So the game seems to work without being dependent on Windows' registry or the Steam client.

Thanks, frazap.

Is disabling the client as simple as just exiting from the running program, or is it more involved than that?

Are there any other games that work like this one?

I think you have to rename the steam.exe in order for the game not to "connect" with the client. That's what I do anyway.

I'm replaying The Lost Crown (the enhanced Steam version) right now. It works without the client too (achievements doesn't work of course, but that's only a positive for me). Will try moving it to another computer and report back.

There are quite a few games that don't need the client once they are installed. But I'd guess not many of them work on a different computer from the one they were installed on due to dependency on Windows registry entries.

Is there somewhere else that you can learn little tricks like this? I don't remember seeing many details like this being discussed on this forum.


Is there any way to tell which games don't need the client before you buy them?

I apologize for all the questions, but this discussion keeps getting closer to converting a heretofore dyed-in-the-wool Steamophobe (I think I just coined a new word) like me. Any assistance that you can provide will and already has been greatly appreciated.

Here is a list of a lot of them.

Can we discuss Steam and non-game discussions off of game threads please so that we can discuss the actual games here and not technical issues? How to get things to run is a glitches item. Thank you!

Ana

Well, I've just succumbed to Steam as I couldn't wait any longer to get The Dark Path. Took 2.5 hours to download (my slow broadband connection) but I know it's going to be worth it tonight when I turn the lights off and tell the dog to stop bothering me. The treat of the year in store.

You will love it! And just right for Halloween night...

Hopefully, when the non-STEAM version is released, it will still be cold, dark nights