Steam Download Game Without Update

Steam Client – is the manager of games and downloads / updates from Valve, Half-Life creators. In Steam, which allows you to buy and download any game from a huge library of other major game developers, as well as free demos and videos.

Install and configure the Steam account is very easy, and the download manager is very stable. Whatever the speed of your Internet connection, you do not need to worry that the injection will stop midway. If you exit from Steam, then all your download will be resumed without any problems at the next startup.

Although you will not get the box and the instructions for buying games from Steam, you will automatically download all the patches and updates.

How to install Steam Client?

  1. Download the latest version of the Steam client on the link below. The file is downloadedfrom the official serversteam,so don’t worrythatthe file has a virus.
  2. Run the downloadedfile.
  3. Log in orregister a new account.
  4. Done!

Steam Client for other platforms

Like we mentioned before, Steam has a date counter. A download or update doesn’t start unless it has a correct time check. If your date or time is wrong according to your region, the time check won’t be possible; hence Steam will not download any game. Press Windows + R button to launch the Run application. Force Steam to Download and Play Games at the Same Time. Keep in mind that if you're playing an online or multiplayer game, downloads might affect your ping, but single-player should be fine. Steam - Free Download for Windows 10 [64 bit / 32 bit] Download Steam latest version 2019 free for windows 10, 8, 8.1 and 7| Setup installer [64 bit, 32 bit]. Manages and distributes and thousands of games with millions of players all over the world. Safe download with no ads and virus free, developed by Valve Corporation (205).

  • Download Steam client for Mac OS
  • Download Steam client for Linux
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2 years ago

How To Skip Updates For Apps/Games Installed Via Steam

I just posted this guide on Steam earlier, but figured it would be better suited to reddit (and that it may get deleted from Steam). I have already posted about similar instructions before, but never so completely or [hopefully] coherently.

A tutorial on how to automagically skip updates for an app/game installed via Steam, or do so manually, and what to do when you have already started the download and because of that you can't skip the update.

——

When there is an update available for an app or game installed via Steam you cannot play it without updating first, or at least that's what we're lead to believe. There is a well hidden feature of Steam that allows just this, though!

  • Click this link or enter the URL as shown into your computer's browser address bar and press enter: steam://open/console

  • Go to the now-available 'Console' tab in the Steam client and type '@AllowSkipGameUpdate 0' (without quotes), and press Enter; then enter '@AllowSkipGameUpdate 1' (without quotes), and press Enter. If the Steam client doesn't try to auto-complete @AllowSkipGameUpdate as you are typing it then they may have removed it for some reason (this is for later when someone sees this post and tries it - currently it should be available on all platforms AFAIK, though I've not yet tried on Linux). The results from [the second aka important part of] this should be that the console shows in red text: ] @AllowSkipGameUpdate 1 and then below that in white text '@AllowSkipGameUpdate' = '1' (with quotes). If this is not the results you get please let me know what it says, and exactly what you typed.

  • If the last step worked then you have temporarily enabled the ability to skip updating games; it will be disabled again once you close the client and reopen it. Also worth noting that if you do this while the Steam client is online it will start the update downloading, or queue it if something is already downloading. This changes the StateFlags value in the appmanifest_#.acf file related to the game, and will effect your ability to use this trick. I will go further into this below. Also note that the update may continue to download while you play, so if you really don’t want it to update then make sure you pause the download before playing the game!!!

  • Now, with skipping updates enabled go to your Library and find the game you want to run and press 'Play'/double click/press enter/find the appid and enter it into your browser like steam://run/#appid/throw things at your keyboard until it starts, or whatever you like to do to get a game going. It will open the dialog you expect, but with an extra button: 'Update Later'. Press it.

Install Games Without Steam

Chapter 2: About the Steam Client's appmanifest_#.acf Files.

The appmanifest_#.acf files in a steamapps folder are used by Steam to store information about apps it has installed on a user's system. Each time Steam is opened it will load each of them and check if there are any updates available, modifying some values of the file accordingly if there are, and to keep track of other states that the app can be in. An example with only the values important to this discussion is below with commentary which likely isn't necessary to read (anything after a # is symbol is a comment; IDK if Steam's ACF files allow comments though, so 'don't try this at home'...or, ya know, in an actual in-use ACF file). If you know what JSON is, the format of these files is basically a bastardized form of that.

And the important parts of the StateFlags value, for this discussion:

StateUpdateRequired 2 StateFullyInstalled 4 StateUpdatePaused 512 StateUpdateStarted 1024

Note: StateFlags value is able to hold multiple states at once - if there are multiple states (game is installed and update is available) then the value of StateFlags will be their sum (6 for the previous example).

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When an app is installed and can by played then it's StateFlags property should be equal to '4'. When an update becomes available for an installed app it's StateFlags property should be equal to '6' and the BytesToDownload property should change to the size of the download in bytes.

Once you start an update it will change the StateFlags value to something like 1542. Let’s figure out what that means using the StateFlags table above:

1542 - 1024 = 518. 1024 = StateUpdateStarted 518 - 512 = 6. 512 = StateUpdatePaused 6 - 4 = 2. 4 = StateFullyInstalled 2 - 2 = 0. 2 = StateUpdateRequired

So, the game is FullyInstalled, but there is an UpdateRequired and it has been UpdateStarted but is currently UpdatePaused.

Another side effect of an update starting is that it will change the BytesDownloaded value as it downloads the update and that it will add at least one file and a folder to the steamapps/downloading folder. The file is a state_appid_depotid.patch file (depotid relates to the 'depots' of each app, which are somewhat explained on SteamDB here (basically they’re the actual downloadable content, whether it be an app/game or DLC/etc other stuff) which I’m guessing is meant to help Steam handle the update it’s downloading. The folder will be the same as the appid listed in the appmanifest file (I think I’ve seen them as the name of the game instead, but my memory isn’t exactly 'good' or 'reliable' for random occurances).

And another a side effect of starting an update is that you will not be able to use the @AllowSkipGameUpdate trick to skip a game update and just play because the download is already started and Steam will no longer let you skip it. This too can be fixed though :) [as Bugs Bunny] Ain’t I a stinker?

——

Chapter 3: It Started An Update And Now I Can’t Skip It And Just Play And I’m Panicking YOU HAVE NO IDEA THE PAIN I CAN CAUSE YOU

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First, calm down! Okay, now panic again. Okay, now calm down again. Aren’t we having fun? Anyways:

  • Find the Steam appid and make note of it. Nothing permanent like a tattoo, but something you can reference over the next few minutes. If you’re not sure how to find the appid there is an answer on gaming.stackexchange.com that explains it pretty well.

  • Open the steamapps folder where the game is installed. If you’re not sure where that is right click the game in your Library or on the Downloads page and go to Properties -> Local Files -> Browse Local Files; once it opens the window go back out of it to the common folder above, and then to the steamapps folder above that. Keep this open.

  • At this point Steam client should be closed. You should never play with Steam’s internal data files while the client is running, kid. Ever.. (at least not until we figure out how to reload the skin while the client is running, for easier skin development - or has that been figured out? Still LF it myself!).

  • Open the appmanifest_#.acf file where the # matches the game’s appid. For example Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has an appid of 730 and it’s appmanifest file is appmanifest_730.acf.

  • Set the value of 'StateFlags' to '6', and the value of 'BytesDownloaded' to '0', and then save the file.

  • Go back to Explorer/Finder/whatever you use to browse your files/folders and go into the downloading folder within the steamapps folder and delete the state_#_*.patch files where the # matches the appid of the game you’re trying to skip the update for and the * part doesn’t matter (it’s the depotid’s described in 'Chapter 2', starts after the word file.. [i]evil laughter[i]. Okay, okay - press Cmd or Ctrl + F and type 'SteamDB' and the text will be near the first 2 results). After that delete the folder with a name that matches the appid (or if it’s a folder by the app’s name then delete that instead).

  • Now you should be able to skip the updates again :) That’s back at Ch 1.

Game

——

Chapter 4: Doing It Manually. No, I Don’t Mean Like That! Get Your Mind Out Of The Gutter!

I’m kidding, I did mean it like that. This is actually a phapter, not a chapter. I’ll BRB.

——

When you have a game installed and there is an update available, but you haven’t started to download the update yet, you can also manually skip the update. This is what I’m doing in my ReliefValve application when the 'offline fix' is applied to an app.

Warning! Perjury ahead. I pirated some of the following text from Ch 3. Please do not tell me, my publisher - me, or my lawyer - me; they would have a field day suing my ass and I simply do not have the time, resources, or apparently sanity to deal with it.

  • Find the Steam appid and make note of it. Nothing permanent like a tattoo, but something you can reference over the next few minutes. If you’re not sure how to find the appid there is an answer on gaming.stackexchange.com that explains it pretty well.

  • Open the steamapps folder where the game is installed. If you’re not sure where that is right click the game in your Library or on the Downloads page and go to Properties -> Local Files -> Browse Local Files; once it opens the window go back out of it to the common folder above, and then to the steamapps folder above that. Keep this open.

  • At this point Steam client should be closed. You should never play with Steam’s internal data files while the client is running, kid. Ever.. (at least not until we figure out how to reload the skin while the client is running, for easier skin development - or has that been figure out? Still LF it myself!).

  • Open the appmanifest_#.acf file where the # matches the game’s appid. For example Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has an appid of 730 and it’s appmanifest file is appmanifest_730.acf.

  • Set the value of 'StateFlags' to '4', '6', and the value of 'BytesDownloaded' to '0', and then save the file.

Happy St. Patrick's Day & good luck!

Steam Download Game Without Updates

TL;DR: Lots of words that you need to read to understand it. I'm doing some testing on ReliefValve, or I would try to Reader's Digest this.

Edit: changed link to new copy of guide which is now posted in the proper Community Hub (thanks to Black3ird!)

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