Disable auto updates

[xXEustachiOXx]

Option to totaly disable\prevent game updates.

I speak mainly for singleplayer titles, but today I find myself having to play many titles in my library offline just to be able to avoid potentially destabilizing or problematic updates.



Just to make an example, this is written in the last patch update of RE:2 Remake

"【How to toggle automatic updates OFF】
Follow the following steps before the patch goes live.

1. Right-click the title under your Library, and select "Properties..."
2. In the "UPDATES" tab, change Automatic Updates to "Update only when I launch it"
3. Press "Steam" in your steam client, and select "Go Offline"
4. Press "Play" to start the game.

※Please switch to "Go Offline" every time you play this title.
※Please be aware that once the upgrade patch has been applied, the game cannot be restored to the previous version even if the game is uninstalled."

This is simply ridicolous.

[Crazy Tiger]

Has been requested many times and for a long period. The chances that Valve will offer such an option is quite slim.

[xXEustachiOXx]

Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:

Has been requested many times and for a long period. The chances that Valve will offer such an option is quite slim.

Sadly i know that but going offline cant be a solution.
At least create an option for game developers\publisher, a difference between mandatory and recommended \ non-mandatory updates. Something that might be useful for the example above.

[FMP]

Would love it as an option but as Crazy Tiger has said, the chances are slim.

[Nx Machina]

Originally posted by xXEustachiOXx:

Sadly i know that but going offline cant be a solution.
At least create an option for game developers\publisher, a difference between mandatory and recommended \ non-mandatory updates. Something that might be useful for the example above.

The option exists known as version choice via branches. Some developers use it such as Motion Twin, Paradox, Larian Studios.

[wuddih]

Originally posted by xXEustachiOXx:

Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:

Has been requested many times and for a long period. The chances that Valve will offer such an option is quite slim.

Sadly i know that but going offline cant be a solution.
At least create an option for game developers\publisher, a difference between mandatory and recommended \ non-mandatory updates. Something that might be useful for the example above.

they already have that option. Steam provides a branching system.
but as everything else, that is up the the product owner to utilize. Valve can and will not enforce that.
capcom decided not to use it and enforce their update onto everyone, even when it is just a few clicks for them and for you to not do that.

but see it positively, you are now legally eligible for a refund since the system requirements are changed drastically.

[Draeka3]

Originally posted by xXEustachiOXx:

Option to totaly disable\prevent game updates.

I speak mainly for singleplayer titles, but today I find myself having to play many titles in my library offline just to be able to avoid potentially destabilizing or problematic updates.



Just to make an example, this is written in the last patch update of RE:2 Remake

"【How to toggle automatic updates OFF】
Follow the following steps before the patch goes live.

1. Right-click the title under your Library, and select "Properties..."
2. In the "UPDATES" tab, change Automatic Updates to "Update only when I launch it"
3. Press "Steam" in your steam client, and select "Go Offline"
4. Press "Play" to start the game.

※Please switch to "Go Offline" every time you play this title.
※Please be aware that once the upgrade patch has been applied, the game cannot be restored to the previous version even if the game is uninstalled."

This is simply ridicolous.

That'd be very interesting. When a patch breaks stuff you're stuck waiting unlike consoles where you uninstall and reinstall but don't download the update.

I'm also waiting for Resident Evil 2 remake to get a small patch for minor issue before getting to it. For those who bought it a while ago and it was the limit of their setup are now stuck with a game they can't run. It's not a problem for me with 165fps maxed settings but i think that's an issue. Not only for that game only but overall : Imagine other games do the same and someone keeps getting games and every time specs change lol

[Phoenix]

Very unlikely to happen given that this is a core feature of the client which hasn't been changed in nearly two decades.

[RiO]

Originally posted by wuddih:

but see it positively, you are now legally eligible for a refund since the system requirements are changed drastically.

That would iirc only apply to EU consumers.
And in that case it would follow from article 19 of EU directive 2019/770 - which is one of the few articles in that directive that actually does not apply retro-actively to contracts of sale that existed prior to Jan 1st 2022. I.e. unless you purchased RE:2 on or after that date, you're still up a creek without a paddle.

I mean; technically you could try to make a case for the change in system requirements to be so dramatic that it constitutes a change in the core characteristics of the product, and then claim non-conformity. But yeah; good luck with that: getting a vendor to adhere to the new 2019/770 directive's article 19 conditions will be tough enough as is...

All-in-all this is not a hill you want to die on.

I'd take the loss and report Capcom (and Steam for allowing this) to whatever is your local consumer market authority, and let them sort it out.

[rawWwRrr]

The usual white knights will be along to push this suggestion well beyond its means of discussion.

[Start_Running]

OP. The ones who have the power to make these updates non-mandatory is the dev/pubs and they have various mean and methods of doing this.

IF. THEY. WANT.

[Quint the Alligator Snapper]

Originally posted by xXEustachiOXx:

Option to totaly disable\prevent game updates.

I speak mainly for singleplayer titles, but today I find myself having to play many titles in my library offline just to be able to avoid potentially destabilizing or problematic updates.

Franky speaking, multiplayer titles already use their own version checks for version compatibility. Steam's forcing updates doesn't actually ensure version compatibility, so it is not a substitute for such checks.

So you don't even need to restrict the suggestion to singleplayer titles.

Originally posted by xXEustachiOXx:

Just to make an example, this is written in the last patch update of RE:2 Remake

"【How to toggle automatic updates OFF】
Follow the following steps before the patch goes live.

1. Right-click the title under your Library, and select "Properties..."
2. In the "UPDATES" tab, change Automatic Updates to "Update only when I launch it"
3. Press "Steam" in your steam client, and select "Go Offline"
4. Press "Play" to start the game.

※Please switch to "Go Offline" every time you play this title.
※Please be aware that once the upgrade patch has been applied, the game cannot be restored to the previous version even if the game is uninstalled."

This is simply ridicolous.

Yeah, so much for certain people who post frequently in this forum insisting that game devs have absolute freedom to do whatever on Steam and using the update system means they want to force updates.

Like I've said many times before, game devs can't change how the Steam client functions. They can't change the fact that the Steam client locks out people from accessing their games when an update is pending.


To those people who keep saying "version choice via branches", no, branches are just a workaround, not an actual solution. This is because:
1. If an update is applied to a branch, that branch is also forced to update.
2. Switching to another branch means overwriting whatever is already installed to one's computer -- not allowing access to whatever's already installed.

Originally posted by wuddih:

capcom decided not to use it and enforce their update onto everyone

The fact that the public patch notes, written by the publisher, literally include instructions for how to avoid the forced updates directly contradicts what you're contending.

Originally posted by wuddih:

but see it positively, you are now legally eligible for a refund since the system requirements are changed drastically.

I'm pretty sure people who are negatively affected by the technical requirements of a game update are still subjected to the 2 hours/2 weeks refund terms. (If I am wrong about this, please refer me to the appropriate information.)



Anyway, here's the usual list of things to do to actually be able to play stuff without updating:
0. Set the game to only update on launch
1. Try to launch the game without Steam running. First, find the game's executable file and try running that (and see if it throws up and error or forces Steam to start.) This may require tweaking to get to work.
2. run the game in Steam's Offline Mode. This has reportedly been more successful if you use the game's executable or a shortcut.
3. Modify game files, appmanifest files, and/or their file permissions in order to get Steam to not download updates or to think that updates have already been applied. You can find guides for dealing with appmanifest files with a quick search.
4. Back up your game files, then let Steam download and apply an update, then swap your old game files back in. Won't save you from the time and bandwidth needed to get the update, but can at least save your game as-is including mods.
5. Use a Depot Downloader to get old versions of the game. Might not be possible anymore.
6. Buy the game from some store that doesn't force updates -- including, but not necessarily limited to, stores that sell the game DRM-free.

[Quint the Alligator Snapper]

Originally posted by Start_Running:

OP. The ones who have the power to make these updates non-mandatory is the dev/pubs and they have various mean and methods of doing this.

IF. THEY. WANT.

You'll notice that they can't. They literally have to tell people how to use a workaround with Steam's Offline Mode to avoid getting the update. They can't make the Steam client not force the update.

Once again, sir, we've been over this, but despite your insistence, game devs cannot modify the behavior of the Steam client.

[rawWwRrr]

The same tired arguments.

[FOXDUDE69]

Originally posted by Crazy Tiger:

Has been requested many times and for a long period. The chances that Valve will offer such an option is quite slim.

Yeah, looks like the only solution to this problem is for the affected people to switch to GOG which allows you to pause updates. And at this point I imagine it's more likely for EGS to develop that feature before Steam does, considering how much it is requested and ignored.

[Nx Machina]

Originally posted by Start_Running:

OP. The ones who have the power to make these updates non-mandatory is the dev/pubs and they have various mean and methods of doing this.

IF. THEY. WANT.

Exactly by overriding auto-updating with version choice via branches as proven with Dead Cells, Hearts of Iron IV and Baldur's Gate 3 but it is the developers choice to do so.

It also has the added benefit of keeping you on the version you modded and allows to you to continue to play that modded version which in my case is Hearts of Iron IV.

Bethesda could do it for Skyrim but they choose not to because they want you on the latest patch.