>... it's true that you must have Steam running to play games purchased through Steam. I know it's a bit late now, but for the record, you can buy a DRM free version of Osmos direct from the HemisphereGames website.
I was one step even more removed from a purchase through Steam; I actually made the purchase through MacUpdate. I'll keep the direct purchase in mind if the Steam dependency turns out to be too quirky for me.
>Because Steam games must be launched from within Steam, they do not automatically create links in the Applications directory. However, you can create a shortcut from within Steam. Go to the Library pane and right-click on Osmos, then choose Create Desktop Shortcut. You can move that shortcut to the Applications directory.
Now, dat's what I'm talkin' 'bout!
Way cool; quite a satisfactory alternative to what I was looking for.
>You can quit Osmos by typing Cmd+Q within the game, or by pressing escape and choosing Quit from the menu.
Good to know. Is there a set of instructions somewhere that explains things like this? If not, please consider adding that to what I am sure is an ever-growing round tuit list.
>It's true that we intentionally suspend Osmos when it's in the background to save processing power, battery life, and fan noise.
Hadn't thought about that, since I run on an iMac, for which these considerations are virtually moot. I yield on the point, although having it as an option would be a Really Good Thing™.
>We recommend getting the version number by looking at the bottom right of the Credits screen in game....
Until your note prompted me to look more carefully, I had completely missed seeing the "M" in a bubble up in the dark upper right hand corner, which, as you say, does indeed lead to the Game Menu screen, which, in turn, leads to the credits screen where, finally, the version is displayed. It's there, as you advise, but the path seems a little tortuous for information that is not conventionally buried that deeply.
>What other "commonly available methods" do you think we are missing?
The primary one would be the "About Osmos..." menu item under the conventional application name menu (just to the right of the Apple () menu. However, since the word Osmos in the menu bar doesn't produce a drop-down menu, the About... information is not available there. Another common place is to have the version number appended to or imbedded in the downloaded installation filename (e.g., "Firefox 4.0.1.dmg"); but since Osmos doesn't appear to come with any preserved installation material (at least not when purchased the way I did), that source is unavailable as well. Some applications place the version in the introductory splash screen; some (less frequently) append it to the name of the installed program itself.