Hobbies And Interests
Steam
Steam was developed by Valve Corporation in 2003 as a digital delivery service for the widely anticipated "Half-Life 2." Since then, Steam has hosted over 1,000 PC games from virtually every publisher, including Electronic Arts, Activision and THQ. Games on Steam are delivered digitally, and these digital versions have no physical components such as a disc, manual or case. After buying a copy of your game from Steam, you can download it directly to your hard drive from within the Steam client. The game is installed automatically after downloading and will patch itself automatically as patches become available. To play a game after it has downloaded, simply double-click the game name from within the "Library" section of Steam.
"Dawn of War: Soulstorm"
"Dawn of War: Soulstorm," developed by Iron Lore and published by THQ, is available on the Steam digital distribution service. "Soulstorm" is the third expansion pack for the "Dawn of War" series. However, unlike a normal expansion pack, you do not need previous games installed to play "Soulstorm." When playing without previous games installed, you have access to the entire single player campaign but only two factions in multiplayer: the Sisters of Battle and the Dark Eldar. To access the other races in multiplayer, you must have the previous games installed on your hard drive, either through Steam or from a retail disc.
Verify Game Cache Files
If your copy of "Dawn of War: Soulstorm" does not start, crashes or the graphics are corrupted, a problem may have occurred during the download and installation of the game files. By using the "Verify Game Cache Files" feature in Steam, you can scan the installation for missing files and Steam will download any missing files detected. To perform this verification, right-click on the "Soulstorm" entry in the Library section of your Steam client. Select "Properties," "Local Files," and then select "Verify Integrity of Game Cache." The process takes anywhere from five to 20 minutes.
Defragmenting Game Cache Files
If you experience minor stuttering or slowdown with your copy of "Soulstorm" on Steam, whether in the audio or video, it is a good idea to defragment your game cache files. This can be accomplished the same way as verifying the game cache files, described previously, except that you must instead click "Defragment Cache Files" in the Properties window. The process, much like verifying the game cache files, can take anywhere from five to 20 minutes.
Additional Support
If you are still experiencing problems with "Soulstorm" and you are sure the issue is related to Steam and not the game itself, you can file a ticket on the Steam website and a Valve customer support representative will contact you in two to three business days. However, if the problem is game-related, you must file a ticket with the publisher by visiting the THQ support website. Sending your ticket to the wrong company will only delay the time it takes for your issue to be resolved.