Portal is now free until May 24th for PC & MAC on Steam


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I see a lot of the Mac users didn't know that Steam typically has slower download speeds than your average connection download speed. Well you just found out, the hard way. :shiftyninja:

Well I assume like the PC version of Steam you can go to the Options and make sure the server selected is closest to you and that you are set to the proper bandwith as well.

I ALWAYS max out my connection on Steam downloads, and I get 50 mb from Comcast.

Well I assume like the PC version of Steam you can go to the Options and make sure the server selected is closest to you and that you are set to the proper bandwith as well.

I ALWAYS max out my connection on Steam downloads, and I get 50 mb from Comcast.

You can select the download region in the OS X client as well. I still get relatively low speeds wherever I try... best option I found is the Finnish server.

Well I assume like the PC version of Steam you can go to the Options and make sure the server selected is closest to you and that you are set to the proper bandwith as well.

I ALWAYS max out my connection on Steam downloads, and I get 50 mb from Comcast.

I was not aware of those settings. Thank you. My region was proper (Chicago), but my D/L speed was set to 256kb. I changed it to 10+ but it's struggling even more now. 414kb :(

Did you install Steam first before clicking on that link I listed? Steam has to be installed for it to work obviously. And I don't know if downloading the demo will turn it into the full game, I actually doubt it since you have to go through that link to have it linked to your account etc beforehand.

I did have Steam installed and opened the download link with Steam. Getting roughly a 30kb/s to 520kb/s (On my 16meg connection at home) variable at the moment which fluctuates a lot right now, so not expecting it to download quickly, but at least it is. :)

to bad its FPS... i'd love a good puzzle game, FPS = fail

Then why even post in this thread if you have no intention of getting Portal because it's an FPS based puzzle game? :|

I was not aware of those settings. Thank you. My region was proper (Chicago), but my D/L speed was set to 256kb. I changed it to 10+ but it's struggling even more now. 414kb :(

No problemo, hopefully it speeds up for you soon-ish :D

Hmmm...broke the pipe for a minute. Changed my settings to reflect my true internet speed from their default of 256k and my preferred download server. Was getting about 1.6mb/s then it suspended my download, took a few tries to get it to resume.

ok...it's STILL at "Download Starting" in steam after half an hour. Not terribly impressed.

Pause and restart it a few times if it's just sitting on Download Starting. And don't base your entire opinion of Steam on this current situation, since Steam is utterly getting raped right now and it's a miracle the people who are connected can even stay connected :p

I see a lot of the Mac users didn't know that Steam typically has slower download speeds than your average connection download speed. Well you just found out, the hard way. :shiftyninja:

I disagree.....compared to almost everything I download, Steam is about the only thing that ever maxes out my connection speed (which is only 10Mbit). Its just that right now, there are likely tons of people downloading it at the same time, causing heavy load on their servers.

http://store.steampowered.com/stats/content/

Take a look at the very first graph, notice the HUGE bandwidth increase towards the end? Thats when Portal became free.......their average bandwidth is no more than 100Mbit/s, currently, it is up around 180Mbit/s. It spikes when new games release (or are preloaded), and when patches are pushed out (more-so with large patches).....as a very fun puzzle game was just "released" completely free, its really no surprise that download speeds are slow. I got mine towards its release, when the bandwidth usage was still relatively low compared to now, which is why I got my full download speed.

I got it in less than an hour and it peaked at about 2.4MB/s downloading although I think there was a bug in steam or my internet connection was going wacky, it did say 3.9MB/s at one point on the speed graph even though my connection can download at 2.5MB/s max (20Mb) :wacko:

I've been playing it for 1 hour 40 minutes, it is very addictive and gets more challenging (obviously).

I'm at work :/

Try it out at home later :)

Oh ok, with that said i might just stick to plain senseless violence and keep playing Urban Terror :p Portal sounds too much of a thinker's game.

Well you can sorta kill "friendly" turrets :p

Although they dont blame you :p

to bad its FPS... i'd love a good puzzle game, FPS = fail

This is a GREAT puzzle game. Beats every puzzle game you have ever played.

You = fail.

It's not FPS, It's more FPP (first person puzzler). Sure you dodge lazer beams and have a portal gun but there is no shooting or gunfights.

No gunfights? Turrets think overwise.....

I dont think we should talk much about the game.

BTW, when I played and got Portal, I think it is one of the few games I would actually consider buying. I CANT wait for Portal 2.

I got it in less than an hour and it peaked at about 2.4MB/s downloading although I think there was a bug in steam or my internet connection was going wacky, it did say 3.9MB/s at one point on the speed graph even though my connection can download at 2.5MB/s max (20Mb) :wacko:

I've been playing it for 1 hour 40 minutes, it is very addictive and gets more challenging (obviously).

Do you have an ISP that uses any of that power boost or any similar technology? My max sustained download is around 1.25MB/s, but my peak was 1.9MB/s, which is within my advertised speed including powerboost.....but that speed only lasts for the first 50MB or so of a download, then it drops back down to normal speeds.

Comcast isn't the only company with features such as Power Boost.

No, no of course not. But you used power boost specifically which is trademarked by CC after all :D

Plus, I just wanted to look cool thinking he's from Kent outside the US :)

Do you have an ISP that uses any of that power boost or any similar technology? My max sustained download is around 1.25MB/s, but my peak was 1.9MB/s, which is within my advertised speed including powerboost.....but that speed only lasts for the first 50MB or so of a download, then it drops back down to normal speeds.

No powerboost on my ISP, I wish there was :p

I think it was just a UI glitch as the graph said 3.9MB/s whilst the other details above it said 2.4Mb/s and 2.2Mb/s as the peak. :/

EDIT and oh yes, it's the UK Kent. There are lots of kents around the world so maybe I should be more specific, This is the 'Original' kent though :p

No, no of course not. But you used power boost specifically which is trademarked by CC after all :D

Plus, I just wanted to look cool thinking he's from Kent outside the US :)

"Power boost or any similar technologies" ;)

EDIT: Probably a glitch then if the other areas are showing a peak being around your normal download.

EDIT2: Gah....can't even play TF2 at the moment, the servers are so overloaded. :p

I just tried Portal on my Aluminum Macbook (2.0 Ghz C2D, 4GB RAM, NVidia 9400m integrated). Everything was set to high/very high with 2x AA and it was very smooth, could probably go higher.

As you would expect it doesn't play very well with the trackpad, most first person games don't. Works fine with a standard 2 button mouse.

No powerboost on my ISP, I wish there was :p

I think it was just a UI glitch as the graph said 3.9MB/s whilst the other details above it said 2.4Mb/s and 2.2Mb/s as the peak. :/

EDIT and oh yes, it's the UK Kent. There are lots of kents around the world so maybe I should be more specific, This is the 'Original' kent though :p

Yay, I got it right woohoo! :D

"Power boost or any similar technologies" ;)

EDIT: Probably a glitch then if the other areas are showing a peak being around your normal download.

Hey come on now I'm having a great thread here, don't ruin it for me by adding bolded words! :p

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