So following the
steps to downloading an earlier version of a game I tried it with Nier: Automata, since I'd like to try the freecam. Some things I learned from this:
- Steam auto downloads the depot to the drive you've installed the Steam client to, so for most it'll be the C: drive. Make sure you have enough free space (this is made more difficult to judge due to the mysterious way Steam reports the size of things, I ended up needing 20GB less free space than anticipated).
- The download size is larger than the one you usually have when downloading the regular way. Regular download is reported as being 26.6GB, the depot download was 30.7GB.
- While there is no pause/resume ability it does re-connect and resume following a network interruption (confirmed behavior as per guide).
- This method works with Denuvo titles, it simply needs to authenticate with Steam while in online mode prior to initial launch.
I'd suggest the steps as being:
- Find the unpacked size of the game and make sure the drive Steam is installed to (usually the C: drive) has enough free space.
- (Optional) If you haven't already installed the game previously start the regular install from Steam in the desired directory so you know what the directory should be named and where to move the downloaded files to.
- Initiate the depot download of the earlier version as outlined in the guide above.
- Right-click the game in the Steam game list and under the Updates tab change the Automatic Updates to Only update this game when I launch it.
- Once the download is complete (you'll know when the Total counter in the Downloads section stops and the Console tab reports 'Depot download complete') move the files from the depot_<ID> directory into the original game directory.
- Navigate to the Steam\steamapps directory in the drive you selected for the game to be installed to and delete the update files from downloading that correspond to the App ID of the game. Do the same for the empty App ID directory in temp. This resets the state of the pending updates in Steam.
- Launch Steam in Online mode but don't launch the game from the client, instead open the install directory and launch the executable directly as otherwise Steam will attempt to update the game instead prior to launch. Online mode is only needed prior to initial launch to authenticate Denuvo, subsequent launches can be in offline mode if one prefers.
Edit: oh and forgot about the DLC.
It's the same process to identify and download the depots. Once complete place the files in the appropriate location. In this case since Steam doesn't automatically detect DLC itself I had to edit the
appmanifest_<appID>.acf file to include the depot/manifest IDs within the
"InstalledDepots" section (see other app manifest files for formatting reference). Once saved Steam changed from displaying 'Not installed' to 'Installed' under the DLC pane. Also changed the
BytesDownloaded values to match the
BytesToDownload values, though I'm not sure it's necessary. I assume that's all that is required.
Hi there guys. I've been offline due to my father passing away a few days ago.
Also spent the morning in the hospital because the stress from the funeral apparently took its toll on me.
My heartfelt condolences.