Factorio Forums

I bought Factorio via humblebundle.com. There was hassle involved but I won't get into that.

I elected not to link to steam, because I bought Factorio, not a steam key.
Now the question is, how do I get the update service to work? The in-game update dialog asks me for an account, but I don't see any option to create this account, only to log in. I also couldn't find any such options online.

I have highest hopes for this game, it looks like it was made for me. My utmost respect for the developer(s) and all they have accomplished so far. (But don't let it get to your head )

http://www.factorio.com/
You should have a sign up link in the top right.

Thank you. The login worked, at least I think so, because there are no more in-game login prompts. But, there's still no updates. I have *.26 version, and it looks like the current is *.30. Also, factorio.com only offers demo downloads, I don't know if that helps.

edit: I found a "Check updates" button under "About" from the main menu, it reads "No new updates available".

If you bought the game from the Humble store, you got a Steam key.
You need to activate the key on Steam, and then connect your Steam profile with your Factorio profile on the Factorio website, after registering an account there. Then you can download the DRM-free full game on the website and use the auto-updater ingame.

https://www.humblebundle.com/store/p/factorio_storefront wrote:Factorio is provided via Steam key for Linux, Mac, and Windows. For key redemption, a free Steam account is required.

I would rather not use steam... that's why I didn't buy it from steam. I also didn't want to redeem the steam key, just the game. My understanding is that steam takes a hefty cut of the sales. Besides that, I just don't want Valve involved with many (most) of my games.

So the question is still, how do I get the update service to work? I don't want anything to do with Valve or steam, for an independent game.

edit: Even if I have to discover and download and install updates manually, that's fine, but updates are part of the purchase. I just need access to updates.

Aru wrote:So the question is still, how do I get the update service to work? I don't want anything to do with Valve or steam, for an independent game.

daniel34 wrote:You need to activate the key on Steam, and then connect your Steam profile with your Factorio profile on the Factorio website, after registering an account there. Then you can download the DRM-free full game on the website and use the auto-updater ingame.

So, Valve paid off humblebundle.com to not offer the actual game that people buy, but instead to offer a requirement that they install Valve's unrelated software? I'll be sure never to give them any more money, that is disgusting. I could also start quoting things I already said BUT, I'm not a facetious ass. Rather, attempting a rational discourse.

mooklepticon wrote:

Aru wrote:So the question is still, how do I get the update service to work? I don't want anything to do with Valve or steam, for an independent game.

daniel34 wrote:You need to activate the key on Steam, and then connect your Steam profile with your Factorio profile on the Factorio website, after registering an account there. Then you can download the DRM-free full game on the website and use the auto-updater ingame.

The problem is, that he has bought it on humble. And humble only sells factorio with a steam key (which is clearly stated at the humble-site). To get the drm-free version he has to go the way daniel described. After that he can easy deinstall steam and use only the DRM-free version.

If he would not have to do anything with steam he have had to buy it from http://www.factorio.com.

Phillip_Lynx wrote:
If he would not have to do anything with steam he have had to buy it from http://www.factorio.com.

That's the point.
Buy direct, cut out the middlemen and support by that the developers

That's what I thought I was doing. It was my intention to support the developers, now I dislike Valve more than ever. I've been tracking this game for years. I didn't know humblebundle and steam were so intertwined, since they ought to be different companies offering similar services. They ought to be a competitor, not part of the Valve bandwagon trust.

I can't be the first one with this problem. The phrasing is not clear, and the pages are very busy. Some of the pages I examined said nothing about steam. There were one or two which mentioned that they provide a steam key. If they were selling a steam key TO THE EXCLUSION of the game, maybe they should not have advertised that they were selling the game, but that they were ONLY selling a steam key. The word factorio should not have appeared anywhere without steam or Valve being on the same line, certainly not reserved to a vague wording in the heading of the game description. I've heard of games being sold with an encouragement to link to such software, usually I take it as a paid advertisement by that third party, but this is extreme and deliberately misleading, on the part of Valve and humblebundle.com.

I'll try to get a refund (so that I can buy from factorio.com). If I can't, I'm not going to pay a second time.

Aru wrote:That's what I thought I was doing. It was my intention to support the developers, now I dislike Valve more than ever. I've been tracking this game for years. I didn't know humblebundle and steam were so intertwined, since they ought to be different companies offering similar services. They ought to be a competitor, not part of the Valve bandwagon trust.

I can't be the first one with this problem. The phrasing is not clear, and the pages are very busy. Some of the pages I examined said nothing about steam. There were one or two which mentioned that they provide a steam key. If they were selling a steam key TO THE EXCLUSION of the game, maybe they should not have advertised that they were selling the game, but that they were ONLY selling a steam key. The word factorio should not have appeared anywhere without steam or Valve being on the same line, certainly not reserved to a vague wording in the heading of the game description. I've heard of games being sold with an encouragement to link to such software, usually I take it as a paid advertisement by that third party, but this is extreme and deliberately misleading, on the part of Valve and humblebundle.com.

I'll try to get a refund. If I can't, I'm not going to pay a second time.

Humble also sells DRM-free Software. Even the same title for Steam and DRM-free. There are some pictograms by the games. One menas 'for Steam', one means 'DRM-free', one means 'for Windows' etc.. On the humble store it is clearly to see which program is for which systems and platforms. And if one pictogram is missing, it is not sold for this platform/OS. Maybe look the next time closer.

AND, if you follow this game for years, then you should be aware, that you can buy it from them directly.

With a valid Steam key you get a DRM free download from the developer site

I've never used humblebundle before, so I wouldn't have advance familiarity with their nature and practices, and certainly no presumption that the appearance of a steam icon means 'we're not offering the game' instead of 'a steam key is available'. The latter would be a natural interpretation, if it deserves any interpretation at all. I was also previously under the impression that humblebundle was a reputable site.

I didn't see any alternative options, or checkboxes, or buttons on the site, just the one purchase route, no "DRM-free" option. I still can't find such a route. (I don't think steam usually embeds DRM services in games like this anyway, but maybe that's a technicality, I get what you mean. I assumed the game is DRM free, but the distinction isn't directly related to steam.)

brunzenstein wrote:With a valid Steam key you get a DRM free download from the developer site

I did look briefly on the factorio.com site before, but I couldn't find anything like that.

Read again. The DRM free version is offered from the Factorio site. Contact them on the matter,

brunzenstein wrote:Read again. The DRM free version is offered from the Factorio site. Contact them on the matter,

The site said, that the forum is the best way to contact them on the matter, hah. That was the idea.

This isn't totally relevant, but people keep asking why I didn't use factorio.com. Because, the developer site needed a currency conversion, which resulted in a price slightly too high to fit on a gift card which had exactly $20.01 remaining. And it is extremely rare for anything on the internet to offer a split pay option, for some reason.

The whole thing will be resolved if humblebundle.com gives me my refund. But they said it takes 5 days for a reply, which is a bit ridiculous for a commercial site...

Aru wrote:This isn't totally relevant, but people keep asking why I didn't use factorio.com. Because, the developer site needed a currency conversion, which resulted in a price slightly too high to fit on a gift card which had exactly $20.01 remaining. And it is extremely rare for anything on the internet to offer a split pay option, for some reason.

The whole thing will be resolved if humblebundle.com gives me my refund. But they said it takes 5 days for a reply, which is a bit ridiculous for a commercial site...

Even if you do not like steam, for factorio you only need to install steam once, activate the game (no downloading of the steam version of factorio needed), link the steam-account with factorio.com and then delete steam completly from your computer.

Then you are able to download the DRM-free version from here.

Most steam things are also DRM free, which probably includes this game. And, as others have suggested, I'm trying to purchase it through factorio.com. I got an automated reply about the refund already, maybe it won't take 5 days. Though, I'll have to pick another way of paying for it because it costs slightly more on factorio.com.