I was reading a thread and it mentioned that some people have a Vanilla Installation of TSC where Steam does it's stuff and they then copy files to their working installation - ok so far. How do you run the working installation without Steam trying to update/change the files to default? Does that not happen when you connect to the Steam Client? Just unsure on how I should set it up. Peter
I'm pretty sure the desktop shortcut should just work. I use GT Legends the same way, it doesn't even run from Steam anymore. It certainly tries to connect to steam or use a steam dll (there is one in library root, although mine is very old), possibly both in some way. If you're unsure just mimic the steam library, or even create a new one, and then detach it. Heck, you can just detach it and see how it goes. The attached state should really only be important to keep managing updates including DLC, workshop and stuff. Plus display installed state. ps.: I suspect it doesn't count as running the game, achievements and stuff that way, though. I have two friends who started sharing TSC screenies and they keep reacting to my screenshots, but they have no record of playing it ever. Although one of them appears always offline anyway.
Steam doesn't (can't) access your working install because it's insular (ie completely segregated) from Steam. As far as Steam is concerned you only have TSC installed within the regular Steam file structure that is defined within the settings of Steam and that will be your vanilla version. Your modded version still requires you to log into Steam for DRM purposes (because of the steam app id file present in your modded Railworks directory I assume) but that's as far as the interaction with Steam goes, you do not launch from Steam or a Steam created Shortcut because that would just launch the vanilla install, instead you launch from a shortcut created from the modded Railworks64.exe. This is how I set it up.. My Steam install is in D:/user/program files (x86)/Steam blah blah (I'm on my phone currently so exact file path is off my failing memory) I then cloned the Railworks folder onto its own drive E:/Railworks I then uninstalled TSC from Steam and deleted any remnants from the Steam D drive Railworks file structure. I then reinstalled TSC and all Steam DLC back into the D drive Steam location. I now have a vanilla with all Steam DLC in D:/user/program files (x86) blah blah and a modded install in E:/Railworks.
Yea, what Reef says makes sense. By the way, I'm not 100% sure about details but you can figure out by cloning, and what happens after, do you have Steam overlay and can you take screenshots with F12 that Steam still accepts (you can copy any file to the screenshot app). My library / folder structure is, I guess it's straightforward without explanation: E:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\RailWorks His mention of uninstall is technically unnecessary, in fact can be dangerous (workshop extract failures) but otherwise helps if you already have mods, or want to otherwise start clean. In my case, on a different PC though, I intend to have just a few DLC. Buying any keeps installing them, so.
How much space does your Railworks folder take up on your Vanilla drive? My current Railworks folder with all the various add-ons is 837Gb so I would need to get a new drive to put the Vanilla Steam on.
With my meagre collection of 254 DLC my vanilla weighs in at 181GB. My main playing install is currently at 447GB. I do have a reasonable amount of storage capability but obviously space is only finite on an ever expanding collection. (in other words 4TB over three SSD's isn't going to last long at this rate).
Building on torfmeister ideas shrared in different places, you can do the following two things. Copy your RailWorks folder to an external drive, then reset it more or less, delete parts of it and verify integrity, or reinstall completely. A backup is useful anyway with such a huge installation. Imagine a drive failure or something. Even a HDD will do. Rename / Move your RailWorks folder, and then before installing, go to DLC and untick stuff. Yes, one by one, inconvenient. Then upon installing, it should only install what you need. If you only really want to participate in contests or replay something. You can also keep toggling DLC if what you play rotates over time. I am lazy and only uninstall finished, but I could also disable installing new as I play a queue. In line with DTG Matt's suggestion, you can even set up multiple installations like this, to make the game faster. To some it's separating the big ecosystems (UK / US / DE, also China, JP, SA, NZ...) but you might also split by era, with overlaps. Just ideas.
Thanks for the suggestions I have identified where I can set up the vanilla installation - by deleting TSW
Booo! (Whether for uninstalling or for having it installed in the first place, let that remain a mystery! ) Forgot to answer mine is about 310 GB across 467 DLC, minus a few scenarios and trains plus a couple workshop things. Size depends on DLC a lot, old stuff can be megabytes (using shared assets) while some routes are nearly 10 GiB.
