Steampipe - A update to Source MP Engine games, inculding TF2

[Arne]

I heard that Valve is/has developed a large engine update for the games running on the Source MP Engine branch (ex. DOD;S, CS:S).

The update is about upgrading the engine to use VPK instead of GCF. Because to read the files/load faster than reading GCF-files.
This affect all mods, plugins, skins and models. They have to be moved to an other folder. According to the article, steamapps/common/Team Fortress 2/common/addons.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7388-QPFN-2491&l=english

What I caught from the text, I got worried if this would break the contents for our WIP/source versions of maps.

What do you think?

 

[omegasupreme]

As long as mods aren't as restricted with sv_pure as they are in l4d2, I'm fine with it.

 

[LeSwordfish]

I don't think this should affect WIP maps. They don't actually, like, USE the GCFs, i'm pretty sure.

 

[Seba]

I guess this is cool, seeing as it will speed up loading times of SourceMP games. More organization in and easier making of mods is also always nice. I don't think this will affect mapping much, as long as people know what they're dealing with.

 

[fubarFX]

this is most likely an other step in the direction of a tf2 map workshop. soon...
what I'm worried about is tools like vbct and such. it will most likely be fine tho

 

[ForbiddenDonut]

what I'm worried about is tools like vbct and such.

Oh god no. I can't bear the Hammer compiler anymore. They better not ruin my VBCT. =[

 

[Pocket]

Fun.

(I still wish they'd just get off their butts and re-unify the Source engine into a single branch. Having every game use VPK is a big step in the direction of that actually being possible.)

 

[Fruity Snacks]

I'm just wondering if this will affect Psuedomagnetism :/

 

[colacan]

Seems like a good idea, it also makes custom content easier to install with the vpk addon system.

 

[Pocket]

From the looks of things, this conversion actually requires re-downloading the entire 11-gigabyte game, and I am not allowed to pause the download or do anything with Steam until it is done. And now I'm also afraid to put my computer into sleep mode for the night.

Sure would have been nice to know this beforehand.

EDIT: OK, for some reason I was able to manually close the conversion alert window using the taskbar's "Close Window" option (thank you, Windows 7) and access the main Steam window like normal after that. And the download is actually "only" 6.3 gigs. What a relief. *rolls eyes*

 

[Harribo]

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7388-QPFN-2491
All the info on what this engine update means for you guys and us too. This could be the lead up to a TF2 map workshop and maybe even items from the workshop being able to be downloaded as client mods before being made official.

The only thing we need to be worried about is our server plugins and the downtime of the server to convert it and reinstall everything so it's back to normal, not bad timing though, we needed to reset the server just to see if we can fix those constant crashes on map change we all have been dealing with

EDIT: ah, missed the link already being in the OP

 

[PMAvers]

From the looks of things, this conversion actually requires re-downloading the entire 11-gigabyte game, and I am not allowed to pause the download or do anything with Steam until it is done. And now I'm also afraid to put my computer into sleep mode for the night.

Sure would have been nice to know this beforehand.

EDIT: OK, for some reason I was able to manually close the conversion alert window using the taskbar's "Close Window" option (thank you, Windows 7) and access the main Steam window like normal after that. And the download is actually "only" 6.3 gigs. What a relief. *rolls eyes*

From what I've been following on hlds_linux, the full-download thing is only due to the conversion tools to the new format not quite being ready yet for beta. The live version will actually convert your current install to the new format without having to re-download much.

The reduction in the download size was apparently due to them accidentally putting a bunch of duplicate files in the download.

 

[Bloodhound]

[...]not bad timing though, we needed to reset the server just to see if we can fix those constant crashes on map change we all have been dealing with

The 7 tf2 servers of my clan have the same problem. So I don't think it's a problem that the server hosters can fix. i think this is valves fault.

 

[fubarFX]

considering the known issues with sv_pure, I would not make the jump and update our server to beta. that sounds to me like a terrible life choice.

 

[Pocket]

Heh.

For example, if the .zip contains custom player models that look like (heaven forbid) ponies, and one of the files is materials/models/player/scout/scout_head.vtf, then you might make a dirctory such as tf/custom/i_love_ponies. You should unzip the mod such that the custom scout head texture ends up at tf/custom/i_love_ponies/materials/models/player/scout/scout_head.vtf.

 

[PMAvers]

It's coming...

Hello!

Here is the expected schedule for the conversion of Source engine games to SteamPipe:

Day of Defeat: Source: already happened
Half-life 2: Deathmatch: Wednesday, April 3 (DAY AFTER TOMORROW)
Counter-Strike: Source: Tuesday, April 16
Team Fortress 2: Tuesday, April 23

Our goal is to repeat the process that we used with the Day of Defeat: Source switchover last week. The "beta" dedicated server (The SteamPipe version of the dedicated server) is actually the exact same server installation that will host the clients after the switchover. We will try to avoid releasing a dedicated server update near the time of the client switchover, so that SteamPipe dedicated servers can be up and ready, and as clients switchover to SteamPipe, those dedicated servers will be ready to host them.

One note concerning the TF2 beta. As you probably know, it's currently a separate app. (The TF2 beta client is App ID 520 and the TF2 beta dedicated server is AppID 229830.) About a week before the TF2 switchover, we'll initiate a beta process identical to the one used for the other games. We'll release the Steampipe version of the official dedicated server (App ID 232250) and an opt-in client beta available from the "betas" tab for the regular "Team Fortress 2" application (App ID 440). This beta client will have all the same content as the regular game, will talk to the same item server as the regular client, and will have all the same items in your backpack. It will be running App ID 440, not 520. The only difference is that it will be using the new file system with VPK files, it will have a different PatchVersion in the steam.inf file, and will only be able to connect to SteamPipe servers. To avoid confusion between the two different types of TF2 betas, at that time we
will deactivate the beta client app 520 and dedicated server app 229830. We'll have further details on this process when we release the official dedicated server.

If you have questions that are not answered by this FAQ, now is the time to ask!
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7388-QPFN-2491

Thanks,
Fletch

 

[Bloodhound]

*Looks at posting date*

Nice try Valve! Nice try!

 

[Harribo]

fingers crossed the server upgrades to steampipe without breaking a plugin or something

 

[PMAvers]

fingers crossed the server upgrades to steampipe without breaking a plugin or something

Me, I'm preparing for it to break all the things.

 

[colacan]

As long as the update doesn't break my HUD I'm fine. Until we find out that the HUD is the only thing that is still working.