Steam newbie question?

[junkmale]

Help!
I recently purchased one of those Indie bundles of games that crop up from time to time.
I foolishly thought that like GoG or Gamersgate it was just a case of downloading them to h/d and off you go?
I have received an email from the publishers with a Steam Key to get the games?
Forgive my crass stupidity but i'm not a member of Steam have never used it and am a bit baffled as to how it works?
I've created an account, logged on but when i go to the games bundle the only option i can see is to re-purchase?
Where do you enter this Key number i received via the email? And do you then just download the games to h/d?
Do you have to be online to play them?

[IronMaidenRule]

I am a bit new to Steam myself....if you have a key already, load Steam and you will see a tab at the top called "Games", click this and the second option down will be to activate a game on steam, follow the wizzard and it will do the rest.

I think once the game has been downloaded and installed, you can right click on it from your library and enable it to be used offline.

Hope this is useful or another member who is more used to Steam can explain things better.

[1980-20..]

What he said.

Was it the humble bundle you bought im almost certain i was able to download them as well as activating them on steam but it was a while ago that i downloaded it.

[junkmale]

Thanks Guys!
Still can't figure it out...but?
It was this bundle i bought - Bundle 3

http://www.indiegala.com/#

The bit about redeemable on Steam was only added today...which was nice of them. If i had known i wouldn't have bothered.
Have to say that the FAQ etc on the Steam site itself are beyond poor. You would think they could make the 'user instructions' a tad more user friendly?

[markopoloman]

If you have an active Steam account - then just follow what Ironmaidenrule said in his post. Remember to highlight and copy the code from the indiegala site and paste it into the steam code box when registering it.

Steam will then install it for you. It really is very simple once youve done it a couple of times. Also, you will see just how awesome Steam really is!

[junkmale]

Thanks again all.
Getting the hang of it now methinks

[HalcyonDaze00]

steam is a pain in the ar5e, annoys me that I have to use it for FM2012

[IronMaidenRule]

steam is a pain in the ar5e, annoys me that I have to use it for FM2012

I know, how much time I spend on the game in even more noticeable now....similar thing happened with Empire Total War GOTY edition too, brought the game...popped disk in, went to install........this game needs to be activated through Steam, , thanks SEGA!

[markopoloman]

But but but .... Steam is simply amazing.

[IronMaidenRule]

But but but .... Steam is simply amazing.

It is a good service, I have got some great games at a very cheap prices, but when you go to the shop and buy a game, pop in the disk, and then to be directed to an online service and made to sign up, is a bit bad in my opinion, especially when the traditional methods worked great for so many years.....apart from FM2009 and the method of DRM,

[Antiriad2097]

Its not Steam's fault some companies sell you a disc for a downloadable game.

[IronMaidenRule]

Its not Steam's fault some companies sell you a disc for a downloadable game.

Nope, not at all, from what the people at SI Games said, it was very good in dealing with Piracy for the first month or so, and they now get regular statistics on how long people are spending on their games, etc...I guess my problem with it all, is with the realization that everything is slowly going towards digital distribution, pre-ordered FM2012, received the disk a few days before release, tried to install and got told no by Steam, but I could download 99% of the game before hand, a few hours before midnight on the release day, the final percent was downloaded and the game was activated.....was just sad thinking, I had a complete boxed copy and didn't even use the disk or anything.