Regardless of the networking configuration, all game clients connecting to a Steam game must have a valid ticket to play, which can only be legitimately obtained, as far as I know, by logging on to Steam via the internet. Once the ticket is issued, then the user can disconnect from Steam and the internet and play on a LAN - as long as their Steam ID does not collide with another player's ID in the game.
There is no such thing as license-free game play - unless there is something illegal going on. Of course, that can't be your intent. If you mean that connecting to your LAN server is free, for legitimately purchased and licensed game clients - then that is of course perfectly okay - except just about every game server on the internet has free access too. In fact, the challenge, for both an internet and LAN server, would be to figure out how to charge connecting players. Interesting idea - I must read Valve's EULA ;) I am not sure, but I think VAC requires a persistent internet connection from your server to Valve. I am not sure why VAC is a big issue for LAN play - wouldnt you know all the players anyway? Valve offers an Internet Café licensing model - you might explore that. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Andrey Egorov Sent: Thursday, February 09, 2006 10:43 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [hlds] LAN and Internet Server with VAC We are planning to launch servers on Counter-Strike 1.6 and CS:Source for LAN with an output on the Internet. A servers it is planned to start with VAC. Users from a local network should be connected to a server through LAN that they could play free of charge, and the same server should be accessible in the list of servers from the Internet and users from the Internet could be connected to it. In adjustments of a server it is necessary two variants - LAN and Internet. As we can establish a server for the Internet and LAN with Vac support? _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please visit: http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/listinfo/hlds
