steamthe-witcher-2
I have pre ordered The Witcher 2 some while ago with my Steam client. So far so good.
The game should be released to public on May 17th 2011 – great.
Now for the questions:
Very, very simple answer if you have the time to do this, and an NTFS file system*.
*Don't know what this is? Easy: Do you have Windows Vista or 7? If yes, then yes. If not, then "maybe", and you'll have to poke around to see. Disclaimer: This works on XP systems as well, but I haven't done it for a little while. Process for XP is different.
Enter the command "mklink", and press enter. It'll tell you that you can run a command like:
mklink /d "x:\program files\steam\steamapps\sister's game 1\" "s:\sister's game 1\"
Work out the appropriate file placement, then if it's all lined up right and you've filled in all the info as it should be according to where your Steam is installed, and where your sister's games are, press enter.
Surprise Bonus Round!
Hey kids! Tired of your portable drive that you never unplug from having "performance issues"? This is because Windows tends to prevent disc write cache on any drive it's concerned may be unplugged without warning. By default, all USB drives count as this.
Want to milk better performance from it? Here's some easy steps*:
*Disclaimer: Though this process works on Windows Vista and Windows XP systems, it is slightly different to what is described below. Always use adult supervision when playing with your hardware settings!
This now means that Windows will start using your USB drive as a high-performance drive, like the ones inside the case. This also means that "bad things" can happen if you pull the drive out, without using the built-in Windows "Safely Remove Hardware" button, found conveniently near your clock, in your System Tray.
Thanks for watching, kids! And remember:
Spyware no spying!
This depends on a whole lot of factors. The unlock time differs based on the game, the region you're in and even who you are.
For example, Deus Ex: Human Revolution unlocks August 23, 2011 in the US, August 25, 2011 in Australia, August 26, 2011 in Europe and September 8, 2011 in Japan. This will also mean that it is usually midnight at those dates in those regions.
Also notable, Portal 2 unlocked earlier for some users than others, namely those who got a Golden Potato. (Approximately 9 hours earlier.)
However, you can always just check the store page on Steam. It will have a bar showing when it will unlock. For example, for me the page for Deus Ex shows this:
That's midnight on Thursday in my timezone.
Best Answer
Such games on steam usually allow you to 'Preload' the game. Basically this means upto 2 weeks before the game is released you will be able to download the game but not be able to play it. The fully installed game will then be unlocked on release day allowing you to instantly play it.