Question about steam release

[Parzival12]

I'm unsure whether or not I will be getting the steam release so I'm worried about something. What if there is a scenario or mod that I want but its only on the steam workshop? How would that work for someone who doesnt have the steam version of the game?

[Jaxxa]

How would that work for someone who doesnt have the steam version of the game?

It would not work.

They would not be able to play that mod / scenario.

[Parzival12]

How would that work for someone who doesnt have the steam version of the game?

It would not work.

They would not be able to play that mod / scenario.

Thats what I thought, thank you. Kinda sucks but I guess thats life.

[Chibiabos]

You could go with GOG (I think you get an option to go with GOG?) and I think you'll still be able to download off owl.

[skullywag]

Just wait for release guys....plz, cant say more but just wait...

[milon]

You could go with GOG (I think you get an option to go with GOG?) and I think you'll still be able to download off owl.

I'm not aware that RimWorld has ever been promised to be on GOG.  It's already DRM-free, so there's no advantage to getting it on GOG.  It's also not complete yet, so I don't think GOG would be interested until then.  (Remember what the O in GOG stands for.)

[Gralad]

Just wait for release guys....plz, cant say more but just wait...

Why wait? He asked a simple question that can be answered.

[skullywag]

Just wait for release guys....plz, cant say more but just wait...

Why wait? He asked a simple question that can be answered.

No, hes asking if mods and scenarios posted to steam will be available to him, the answer is wholly dependant on getting a steam key, same as all the other questions, the answer was to wait until that info is made clear by the only one who knows, Tynan, and as per the support thread, keys will available at a particular url. Now we know.

So the actual answer now we know we are all getting steam keys is if you are willing to get the steam version by using your key then yes you can have those mods and scenarios.

[crazybmanp]

You could go with GOG (I think you get an option to go with GOG?) and I think you'll still be able to download off owl.

I'm not aware that RimWorld has ever been promised to be on GOG.  It's already DRM-free, so there's no advantage to getting it on GOG.  It's also not complete yet, so I don't think GOG would be interested until then.  (Remember what the O in GOG stands for.)

To be honest what players would gain from a GOG release is an open release that uses a better distribution system. Sadly, the send owl system is lacking for a vast majority of players and has its problems. There is obviously reasons though to not release on GOG especially if an easier release is available from steam first. (on a side note, GOG doesn't stand for much anymore with their recent embracement of pre-release games and recently released games; which isn't a bad thing really)

[Chibiabos]

No, hes asking if mods and scenarios posted to steam will be available to him, the answer is wholly dependant on getting a steam key, same as all the other questions, the answer was to wait until that info is made clear by the only one who knows, Tynan, and as per the support thread, keys will available at a particular url. Now we know.

So the actual answer now we know we are all getting steam keys is if you are willing to get the steam version by using your key then yes you can have those mods and scenarios.

Its more complicated than that.  Games available on Steam AND other platforms often can't use the same mods, because Steam modifies the game's .EXE and adds its own DRM.  Mods made for Steam have to be Steam-compatible, which limits options and generally puts a wall between mods made for Steam versus mods made for non-Steam versions of a game such that a mod made for the Steam version won't work for a non-Steam version and vice-versa.

[RayvenQ]

No, hes asking if mods and scenarios posted to steam will be available to him, the answer is wholly dependant on getting a steam key, same as all the other questions, the answer was to wait until that info is made clear by the only one who knows, Tynan, and as per the support thread, keys will available at a particular url. Now we know.

So the actual answer now we know we are all getting steam keys is if you are willing to get the steam version by using your key then yes you can have those mods and scenarios.

Its more complicated than that.  Games available on Steam AND other platforms often can't use the same mods, because Steam modifies the game's .EXE and adds its own DRM.  Mods made for Steam have to be Steam-compatible, which limits options and generally puts a wall between mods made for Steam versus mods made for non-Steam versions of a game such that a mod made for the Steam version won't work for a non-Steam version and vice-versa.

Depends entirely on the game, not every game on Steam gets DRM'ed, Prison Architech was an example of this,for quite a while you could buy it on Steam, download it on Steam, but run it without Steam (although checking just now that appears to have changed)

Secondly, for workshop mods, it really depends on how they're packaged, but unless its done in a convolouted way, its fairly simple to extract them and i dont see a reason why you wouldn't be able to use extracted steam mods on a non steam version. A game like Space Engineers for instance, you need to extract them from the mod file, with something like 7zip, and then you're free to use them as local/offline mods. It also shouldn't matter what .exe its run on, as long as the folder contents, rather than the .exe, are the same.

So, if I have Alpha 14 on Steam and a non steam Alpha 14, as long as the other files are the same (since mods don't change the .exe) I see no reason why mods wouldn't work interchangably with either version (with the way rimworld does mods) So for alpha 14 on Steam I could download a mod from the workshop and have it work, or I could download it from say, here, and put it in the right place and it'll work.

The only downside is, some people might host their mods only on the workshop, and if they do that, unless you have the game for steam, you can't download anything from the workshop, unless, say, you get a friend who has it on steam to send you the mod files.

[skullywag]

the mods go up to steam exactly as they are in the mod directory, so yeah totally interchangeable within reason.

[Zahlea]

It's also not complete yet, so I don't think GOG would be interested until then.  (Remember what the O in GOG stands for.)

Actually, GOG has recently begun with "In development", which is just like Steam's "Early Access" (but better, in my humble opinion), so that the game is not finished isn't a problem. Neither are they only doing old games anymore, as crazybmanp replied

[NolanSyKinsley]

You can download workshop content with steamcmd. I will try to lay out the steps here(I just figured out how to do this myself, no instructions on this elsewhere, so my instructions may be spotty).

First install steamcmd from here https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamCMD

Then you need to make an app manifest for rimworld. Place a file called "appmanifest_294100.acf" in your steamapps folder with all of the other app manifests in it, place this in the file:

Code Select Expand

    "AppState"
    {
      "AppID"  "294100"
      "Universe" "1"
      "installdir" "RimWorld"
      "StateFlags" "1026"
    }

Then you can run steamcmd from the command line as such:

Code Select Expand

steamcmd +login USERNAME +workshop_download_item 294100 MODID#HERE +quit
294100 is RimWorld's AppID, and you will need the mod's ID from the workshop.

You do need to use your username where USERNAME is and the first time you do it will activate steamguard and you will need to verify it(although valve recommends using a dedicated/burner account for steamCMD). No need for password, it uses your stored credentials from steam. It will spit out where it downloaded the mod to and you can move it over to your DRM free game.

Note, this is untested with rimworld, I had to test it on Worms WMD (a game I don't own) to ensure I could grab workshop content from games not in my library. I tried the anonymous login but it always timed out, never gave an error though, your mileage may vary.

[Fluffy (l2032)]

Interesting, I was always under the impression that you needed to own the game to even see it's workshop.

If steam workshop can't be used as a lure for would-be pirates (e.g. you can only get these mods if you buy the game legit), then I really don't see the point of the workshop anymore - it's an utterly horrid release channel for software.