How do I prevent a StarMade version update?

[Tolnorus]

How do I lock StarMade to a specific version and prevent it from automatically updating to a new release? There is supposed to be infrastructure in Steam to do this, but either it isn't working correctly, it doesn't exist, or I have it setup wrong.

I have tried to set my version to Release, Dev, and Pre, (Archive is always empty) and choose a version earlier than the current version, but no matter which of these settings I select, whenever a new version is available, Steam automatically begins downloading it when I launch StarMade.

In the StarMade properties on Steam, under the Update tab, there is a section for Automatic Updates with a dropdown box containing three choices: Always keep this game up to date, Only update this game when I launch it, High-Priority always update this game before others. NONE of these is what I want. Am I missing something? Steam starts the StarMade launcher, which is what allows me to select a version and launch it. And yes, I can choose a new version at that point, but before that ever happens, Steam spends time downloading and installing the new version that I do not wish to run. In the launcher, I must select an older version, update again, download it, and install it. And every time there is an update, I must repeat this process. How do I avoid this?

 

[-PR-Sandbag]

Are you able to launch the game without steam? I do not have the steam version, but this sounds like a steam limitation rather than a Starmade one.

 

[Valck]

Always keep this game up to date, Only update this game when I launch it, High-Priority always update this game before others. NONE of these is what I want.

AFAIK some time ago Steam decided to deny users the choice of keeping old versions of games, and removed the option.
I don't use Steam to manage StarMade, but if I'd have to guess, I would try copying the StarMade directory to a place outside of Steam's reach, and start either the Launcher or StarMade itself from there.

 

[Top 4ce]

The easiest way is to just install a different directory for starmade. Then when you launch from steam, it doesnt matter what version steam is, the launcher will be looking at the other directory.

You can change the install directory within the launcher, using the gear next to build type. Then changing the install directory.

 

[Tolnorus]

AFAIK some time ago Steam decided to deny users the choice of keeping old versions of games, and removed the option.

There is another tab in Steam game properties called Betas where we can select the version of a game, but the publisher must populate that tab in order for it to be used. StarMade's Betas tab is unpopulated.

As an example, this feature exists for a game called Factorio. Despite the label "Betas," the dropdown box in this tab contains several previous stable releases of the game, as well as the current one and the one in development. If I make a choice here, Steam remembers that choice and that's the version I use every time I launch the game. I think Steam could be configured to do this with StarMade, running it directly instead of starting its launcher.

 

[kiddan]

Try launching the game from this location, you'll be playing from the Steam directory without going through the launcher:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\StarMade

 

[Tolnorus]

Try launching the game from this location, you'll be playing from the Steam directory without going through the launcher:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\StarMade

Thanks! Yes, actually, I did discover this solution and I have been using it. I didn't update my post here because I was waiting for a new version of StarMade to be posted so I could verify my solution.

Someone suggested an alternative / supplemental solution: to create a second installation of StarMade. I have been unable to do this. I created an unassociated directory with freshly downloaded files, but while the launcher that I run from it seems to operate normally, clicking LAUNCH does not run the game, but merely removes the launcher from memory. Feedback, anyone?

 

[MrGrey1]

The launcher seems to like to access the default location and is not easily directed elsewhere. If you launch it from another directory it'll actually launch the game from the default, at least that's what appeared to happen last I tried, I didn't delve too deeply... so if you want two installs you have to get used to renaming your folder. I have a Starmade_pre/dev and a Starmade_rel both in /steam/steamapps/common/. Just copy/paste the entire release version and then update one to dev/pre. I rename which ever one I want to use. I've setup a script that does it for me and if moving from release to dev/pre it'll also sync the BP folder at the same time. Don't sync folders backwards from dev to release as they're not always compatible.

 

[Tolnorus]

The launcher seems to like to access the default location and is not easily directed elsewhere. If you launch it from another directory it'll actually launch the game from the default, at least that's what appeared to happen last I tried, I didn't delve too deeply... so if you want two installs you have to get used to renaming your folder. I have a Starmade_pre/dev and a Starmade_rel both in /steam/steamapps/common/. Just copy/paste the entire release version and then update one to dev/pre. I rename which ever one I want to use. I've setup a script that does it for me and if moving from release to dev/pre it'll also sync the BP folder at the same time. Don't sync folders backwards from dev to release as they're not always compatible.

So I gave this a try. The results were bizarre and confusing.

Trial #1
I changed the name of the original directory to protect it, then moved my new copy to its location. The launcher ran and updated files, but the launch button didn't run the game.

Trial #2
I made a copy of the original directory. Running the launcher and making no changes in the launcher, both the copy and the original worked normally when each had the original pathname.

Trial #3
Using a copy of the original directory, I ran the launcher and updated StarMade to a different version. The game would not launch after an update. The original directory worked normally.

Trial #4
I made a copy of the original directory, renamed the copy folder and set it aside. I ran the original launcher and updated the version. Both the copy and the original launched, each with a different version.


So it seems like only the original folder can be adjusted. A copied directory will run its launcher, and the launcher will happily update files and report readiness to launch a given version, but will in fact not launch the game. A copied directory will work, but its version cannot be changed; any attempt to do so will corrupt the folder and make it unusable. (But what part is corrupted?) So to create a new version, the original folder must be used to update files, then a copy can be set aside.

This is inane, but I suppose it is a working solution. As long as I can rescue blueprints and other server data, it's good enough. Most importantly, it can be used to match versions with a server so I can play different versions of StarMade without reinstalling every time.

EDIT: More information.
Further testing has revealed that apparently I cannot launch v0.200.334. Despite using the above methodology, 334 will not launch under any circumstances. In my tests as described above, I used v0.200.335 and v0.200.334 exclusively. I need to do more trials with other versions.

 

[NTIMESc]

One thing to note about the Steam installation is that there are two StarMade directories. "steamapps\common\StarMade" is really the launcher location, and the game is in a sub-directory: "steamapps\common\StarMade\StarMade".

What you should do is:
1. copy the sub-directory, "steamapps\common\StarMade\StarMade", to any place you fine convenient.
2. Start the launcher through Steam like normal, and click the Build Type gear.
3. Set the installation directory to wherever you copied the StarMade folder to.

Then just launch the game as you normally do through Steam.
When Steam pushes an update, it will only affect the "steamapps\common\StarMade" directory.

You can have several copies for different versions, and it is helpful to include the build type in the directory name as MrGrey1 suggested. To switch between them, just set the build type and installation directory in the launcher, and click Save