Avoiding Steam updates

[scipioafrianus]

Often when a new Rome 2 update is released there will be problems with my campaign due to mods. In some instances the campaign will not be able to load or will become too broken to play properly. I have experienced this several times. In fact I have yet to complete a full campaign as Rome simply because I have to start a new campaign because a new automatically installed update to Rome 2 in Steam results in broken gameplay or unloadable saves.

I have set Steams update option for Rome 2 to "Do not automatically update this game". That works for some of the updates, however there are some updates that are still either automatically installed, or else the update is mandatory not allowing me to play unless I choose to install the update... How do we avoid installation of those updates??

[Ishan]

Thread moved from Rome 2 GD section to tech help.

[crawe1]

Often when a new Rome 2 update is released there will be problems with my campaign due to mods. In some instances the campaign will not be able to load or will become too broken to play properly. I have experienced this several times. In fact I have yet to complete a full campaign as Rome simply because I have to start a new campaign because a new automatically installed update to Rome 2 in Steam results in broken gameplay or unloadable saves.

I have set Steams update option for Rome 2 to "Do not automatically update this game". That works for some of the updates, however there are some updates that are still either automatically installed, or else the update is mandatory not allowing me to play unless I choose to install the update... How do we avoid installation of those updates??

You need to take Steam offline.

High Priority updates and Automatic updates basically means Steam will update even when you're playing another game.
Do Not Automatically Update means Steam won't update the game while you're playing other games. However, as soon as you load Rome 2, Steam will carry out the update.
The only way to avoid updates is to remain offline - potentially for months, which means no multiplayer, etc. It's a real pain. I once remained offline for several weeks. Then my son came home and decided to play CoD multiplayer - took Steam back online and in the process killed my current R2 campaign and outdated the mods I had been painstakingly working on. Honestly, right now, I've decided not to play R2 until after they announce their next game and stop with the DLCs, which probably means I won't get to play again until late 2014/early 2015. This drip-drip of updates is a real pain. So much better if they'd just released a finished game in the first place.

Any problems, try these links on how to go offline:
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_...3160-agcb-2555
http://www.howtogeek.com/117424/how-...ine-mode-work/

[roberts193]

The only way I have found is to avoid opening steam online. Even if you have non auto update enabled if there is a non beta patch available steam will not let you launch the game until you have manually downloaded the patch. The non auto update is doing what it says and not automatically downloading the patch but steam will not let you play it until you download manually. Unfortunately, in my experience anyway, steam does not always give me the start in offline mode option. I suppose this is because having people online and downloading is how these sites make money. In this case I have to be mindfull of if there is a patch waiting to be downloaded if so I have to wait and try again later. For example I am playing a campaign at the moment on Patch 11 I am ok to go online because patch 12 is still in beta form however if my campaign is still going next week I will have to check the non steam forums to see if 12 has come out of beta because if it has and I go online to steam then goodbye campaign I will get the update is required to play the game message.

[roberts193]

Just another thought on mods causing problems. Even if there are no patches to be downloaded when you go online any mods you are subscribed to via the workship will automatically apply any updates for them. This could be a problem if the modders have updated based on say patch 12 beta in preperation for the release of the full patch. Depending on the mod this could cause conflicts with the older patch you are using. So another reason to stay off line (thanks for the usefull links crawe1) or as I do you could download the mods from the Total War Center, and if you want run them through a different Mod Manager. I use Mitch's mod manager which in my opinion is netter than the CA one. I concur with you and crawe1 it is ridiculous that we need to go to all this trouble just to play the game we want.

[riskymonk]

The fact that they're not allowing you to disable auto updates is frightening. What could be the reasons behind this? It's either to do with reputation or money. Because company's don't go to that extreme unless it's for a very good reason.

[scipioafrianus]

You guys confirm my worst fears. But really thank you very much for the suggestions they are the best I can do to avoid a sudden broken campaign. In the future I will make sure not to buy games from Steam (or any other similar service, Origin etc.) if I plan to install any kind of mod.

[LestaT]

You guys confirm my worst fears. But really thank you very much for the suggestions they are the best I can do to avoid a sudden broken campaign. In the future I will make sure not to buy games from Steam (or any other similar service, Origin etc.) if I plan to install any kind of mod.

Well I usually starts to really play with mods (Steam or not) is when the game is basically completed (not big patches etc) and most of the time when mods itself stops developing. Just like the game itself, mods themselves most, if not all the time requires a new campaign to be started with every updates especially if there's a lot of changes to the startpos.