6 Little-Known Steam Features

Wes Walcott

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/steam-limits-users-who-haven-t-spent-5-to-prevent-/1100-6426742/ Source: GameSpot

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Over the years, Steam has evolved to go from a source of new and innovative PC games to becoming a virtual warehouse for people everywhere to store and organize their own personal gaming library. But as the Steam client has changed and upgraded over time, it has grown to incorporate a lot of new features and options, many of which are not overly conspicuous. If you want to get the most out of your computer gaming experience, you should definitely look into these 6 little-known Steam features.

6. View Individual Game Properties

There’s actually a wealth of information and settings that can be tweaked for each game in your library. To access it, right-click on any game in your library and select ‘Properties’. This will open a new window where you can view and change game settings under four tabs labelled ‘General’, ‘Updates’, ‘Local Files’, and ‘Betas’.

http://www.ghacks.net/2013/12/19/steam-gets-global-download-option/ Source: ghacks.net

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5. Track Friends Name Changes

If you’ve got someone on your friends list who’s constantly changing their Steam handle, simply view their profile and click the arrow next to their name to bring up a list of all the nicknames they’ve used in the past. Or, if you prefer, you can click the triangle next to their name on your friends list and choose the option “add nickname” to give them whatever nickname you see fit.

http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1041622 Source: facepunch.com

4. Find New People Playing The Same Game

Although the search bar referred to in this section is located on top of the friends list, it can search for more than just the people you’ve already met. For example, if you type in the title of a game, it will show a list of people currently playing that game. This makes it easy to jump in on the action rather than having to wait for people to join.

http://www.6aming.com/top-ten-best-games-steam-based-trailers/ Source: 6aming

3. Add Non-Steam Games To Your Steam Library

As expansive as Steams library is, it still doesn’t have everything. But Gabe Newell and the good guys at Valve have still got you covered because they’ve enabled it so you can add non-Steam games to the Steam client. To add a rogue game to your steam library, open the Steam client, go to the ‘Games’ tab and select ‘Add a Non-Steam Game to My Library’. There’s even an option to select a custom thumbnail image for the game.

http://www.tentonhammer.com/guides/elder-scrolls-online/launching-non-steam-games-through-steam-steam-overlay Source: TentonHammer

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2. Update Graphics Cards Drivers

As any hardcore PC gamer knows, having the most current drivers for your graphics cards is paramount. AMD and Nvidia support their products by continually providing driver updates which optimize performance. To update your video card drivers through steam, open the client, go to ‘Steam’ and select the option ‘Check for Video Driver Updates’ under the menu bar. If there are any available updates for your video card(s) the Steam client will notify you and offer to install them.

http://techreport.com/news/19647/catalyst-10-9-drivers-land-are-available-through-steam Source: The Tech Report

1. In-Home Streaming

With Steam in-home streaming you can play graphically intense games on a low end PC or laptop — that is, provided you’re networked with a gaming rig that does have the capability to play them. The streaming ability works by using the power of your main gaming computer to actually run the game and then stream the game to a secondary, likely less capable, computer. To activate, log into your Steam account on your secondary computer while your gaming computer is also running Steam. Make sure both computers are connected to the same network. If successful, a pop-up window should appear to let you know that both machines are aware of each other. You can confirm it’s working if you see a new ‘Stream’ option available next to games in your library.

http://www.legitreviews.com/trying-out-steam-in-home-streaming-with-hamachi-for-remote-play_142609/2 Source: Legit Reviews

Wes Walcott

Wes is a devourer of media. He ravenously consumes podcasts, books, and TV shows with seemingly no regard for review scores or subject matter. If encountered in the wild, Wes is said to respond positively to verbal cues relating to X-Men or the SNES. The subject can be easily captured and tamed using Transformers or Gundam models.