Steam — DUSTNET — Half Life — No Man’s Sky — Discord

Downloading Steam

To access Half Life, No Man’s Sky and DUSTNET you will first need to download Steam. Steam is an online platform for buying, downloading, playing and talking about games.

We strongly suggest you follow these instructions AT LEAST 24 HOURS BEFORE YOUR EVENT. If you have any technical difficulties or are struggling with the download, please email: nick@nowplaythis.net as soon as possible for assistance. The field trip will set off promptly at their start time so we want to make sure you’re ready to go!

  • Go to: https://store.steampowered.com/about/
  • [Windows] Click the blue button that says “Install Steam”
    • If you’re on mac, look for the little Apple logo underneath the blue button and click that
  • This will download Steam Setup
    • Once the download is finished, click the file and follow the instructions to install Steam to your computer
    • The final step will include a check box that says “Run Steam”. Make sure that is ticked, otherwise open Steam once the installer is finished
  • At this point you may have to wait a minute or two for Steam to update to it’s latest version
  • A window will pop up now that give you the option to Create a New Account or Login to an Existing Account
    • Click Create a New Account and follow the steps to create your username and password

DUSTNET

DUSTNET is the last remaining Counter-strike de_dust2 server, join an asymmetrical cross-platform deathmatch as a computer, virtual reality, or augmented reality player. Each version gives the player a different aspect of interaction within the DUSTNET world. 

 

Computer Version (£4.79 on Steam, £5.80 on Itch)
The Steam download can also be launched as the VR version

Itch.io 

  • Go to https://scrnprnt.itch.io/dustnet
  • Click the white ‘Buy Now’ button
  • Go to your downloads folder 
  • Unzip the DUSTNET folder or drag the DUSTNET_PC folder to your desktop
  • Inside the folder click dustnet.exe to run the game
  • On the main menu screen you are prompted to enter a username. Before you do, it will say ‘null’
  • If you see a red ‘connection error’ notice in the bottom right corner click [menu] in the bottom left
    • Click [DUSTNET] so that it the text is white and not grey
  • Go back to the main menu
  • You can now press [ENTER] to start the game

 

Steam

  • If you do not have Steam, please follow the instructions at the top of the page to download Steam.
  • Open Steam
    • Click on “STORE” in the top left (next to “LIBRARY”)
    • In the search bar on the right hand side type in dustnet
    • DUSTNET should appear in a pop-up menu below the search bar
    • Click that to go to the main page for the game
      • You may get a screen that asks you to enter your age here
  • Scroll down a little, below the video and game infomation
  • Click on the green ‘Add to Cart’ button
  • On the next page scroll down and click the button that says ‘Purchase for myself’
  • You will be given a series of payment options
    • Choose the option applicable to you and click continue
    • Review the purchase order and click ‘Purchase’
  • Once this has completed, click on LIBRARY in the top left corner
    • A list of your games will appear down the left hand side
    • Click DUSTNET
  • On the DUSTNET main page click the blue ‘Install’ button
    • Click ‘next’ on the pop window
  • Once the download is complete, the blue Install button will be replace with a green Play button
  • Click this to start the game

  • On the main menu screen you are prompted to enter a username. Before you do, it will say ‘null’
  • If you see a red ‘connection error’ notice in the bottom right corner click [menu] in the bottom left
    • Click [DUSTNET] so that it the text is white and not grey
  • Go back to the main menu
  • You can now press [ENTER] to start the game

 

AR Version (free)

To run the AR version of DUSTNET you must have an AR ready device. Newer phones and tablets will have this already enabled. iPhone 6S and higher, and a wide range of Android devices will be capable. If you are unsure, there is a full list here. You can also download ARCore from the Google Play Store, or ArKit from the Apple App Store.

  • On the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store search for ‘dustnet’
  • Find and install the app called DUSTNET by SCRNPRNT
  • Open DUSTNET
    • You may be prompted to ‘Allow dustnet to record audio’ as it uses the microphone
  • On the main menu screen you are prompted to enter a username. Before you do, it will say ‘null’
  • If you see a red ‘connection error’ notice in the bottom right corner click [menu] in the bottom left
    • Click [DUSTNET] so that it the text is white and not grey
  • Go back to the main menu
  • You can now press [ENTER] to start the game
  • You will see a loading screen for a few seconds, which looks like you are flying through a wireframe structure

Downloading Half Life (Sven Coop)

Sven Co-op is a cooperative variation of the 1998 first-person shooter Half-Life. As well as a series of maps created by fans, it includes a version of the original Half-Life game, which is what we’ll be using for this field trip.

  • Open Steam (If you do not have Steam please follow the instructions above for downloading Steam)
    • Click on “STORE” in the top left (next to “LIBRARY”)
    • In the search bar on the right hand side type in sven
    • Sven Coop should appear in a pop-up menu below the search bar
    • Click that to go to the main page for the game
      • You may get a screen that asks you to enter your age here

  • Scroll down a little on the Sven Coop main page, below the video and game info, to find the button that say Download Sven Coop
    • When you click it, the download should automatically start
  • Once Sven Coop is downloaded to your computer the easiest way to find it again is to click the LIBRARY tab at the top left of the Steam window
    • A list of your downloaded games will appear on the left hand side of the screen
    • Click Sven Coop and then click the green PLAY button

No Man’s Sky

No Man’s Sky is an exploration game set in a procedurally generated universe of literally billions of planets. For this field trip we will all be alighting on the same planet to follow Gareth Damian Martin on a walk to capture the native landscape through photography.

  • Open Steam (If you do not have Steam, please follow the instructions above for Downloading Steam)
    • Click on “STORE” in the top left (next to “LIBRARY”)
    • In the search bar on the right hand side type in no mans sky
    • No Man’s Sky should appear in a pop-up menu below the search bar
    • Click that to go to the main page for the game
      • You may get a screen that asks you to enter your age here

 

  • Scroll down a little, below the video and game infomation

 

  • Click on the green ‘Add to Cart’ button
  • On the next page scroll down and click the button that says ‘Purchase for myself’
  • You will be given a series of payment options
    • Choose the option applicable to you and click continue
    • Review the purchase order and click ‘Purchase’
  • Once this has completed, click on LIBRARY in the top left corner
    • A list of your games will appear down the left hand side
    • Click No Man’s Sky
  • On the No Man’s Sky main page click the blue ‘Install’ button
    • Click ‘next’ on the pop window
  • Once the download is complete, the blue Install button will be replace with a green Play button
  • Click this to start the game

Discord

For the field trips into Half Life and No Man’s Sky you will need Discord to speak to your guide and other participants. A Discord invite link will be sent to you with joining instructions. To be ready, you can go to Discord and sign up for a free account.