SteamPipe update released - what does it

SteamPipe update released - what does it mean for us?

Fluppy

94 Posts

#96035

Posted Jun 25, 2013

So it looks like an update for Portal has been released. It uses the Steampipe distribution system. I haven't tested Portal mods yet, but do we have to install them to another folder now? What about .vpk files? I know in Portal 2 it is very hard to modify existing content (portal gun texture, cube texture) because of .vpk. I always loved how easy was to override these files in older Source games. But it looks like now all of this is gone. Do you have any experience with the new update?

Lpfreaky90

2,842 Posts

#96039

Posted Jun 25, 2013

Replied 2 hours later

vpk's aren't scary; the mods for left 4 dead 2 use 'em and they are great for custom content.
Unfortunately valve broke the addons folder in portal 2 for some weird reason. Afaik they only changed the gcf's to vpk's. And moved the game from /username/ to /common/

Fluppy

94 Posts

#96043

Posted Jun 25, 2013

Replied 3 hours later

So I tried to launch several mods and all of them were broken. Then I tried to move one folder (I used Rexaura mod folder) and put it into steamapps/common/portal/custom (new path for custom stuff). What happens after that is when you launch Portal, it will override the files and Rexaura will load instead. But I haven't tried to install more mods at once.

I would really appreciate if anyone else could take a look at this.

josepezdj

2,386 Posts

#96046

Posted Jun 25, 2013

Replied 51 minutes later

So, Fluppy, you're saying that the mods into SteamApps/sourcemods for Portal don't work anymore, right? Well, since Portal has changed from location, I think that it might be simply a problem in the paths that each od has into their GameInfo.txt files. Check that out, I can't do it myself right now, but I'll do as soon as I get back home (within 3 hours :p) and let you know, mate.

Lpfreaky90

2,842 Posts

#96052

Posted Jun 25, 2013

Replied 2 hours later

also the appid might have changed.

Fluppy

94 Posts

#96054

Posted Jun 25, 2013

Replied 2 hours later

### UPDATE

(Partly) Good news! Good guy and the hero Josepezdj found this Steam discussion where you can find edited gameinfo.txt for some Portal mods. I tried to open their "Rexaura" gameinfo.txt edit and it looks like this:

&quot;GameInfo&quot;
{
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &quot;Rexaura&quot;
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; title&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&quot;Rexaura&quot;
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; type&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; singleplayer_only
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; nodifficulty&nbsp; &nbsp; 1
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; hasportals&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 1
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; icon&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &quot;resource/icon&quot;
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; developer&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&quot;Ben Bryant (Mevious)&quot;
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; developer_url&nbsp; &nbsp;&quot;http://www.moddb.com/mods/rexaura&quot;

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; FileSystem
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; {
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; SteamAppId&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 400
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; SearchPaths
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; {
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game+mod&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |gameinfo_path|.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; platform&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |gameinfo_path|.

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; // We search VPK files before ordinary folders, because most files will be found in
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; // VPK and we can avoid making thousands of file system calls to attempt to open files
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; // in folders where they don't exist.&nbsp; (Searching a VPK is much faster than making an operating
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; // system call.)
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game_lv&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;portal/portal_lv.vpk
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game+mod&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; portal/portal_english.vpk
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game+mod&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; portal/portal_pak.vpk
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_textures.vpk
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_sound_vo_english.vpk
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_sound_misc.vpk
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_misc.vpk
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; platform&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |all_source_engine_paths|platform/platform_misc.vpk

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; // Now search loose files.&nbsp; We'll set the directory containing the gameinfo.txt file
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; // as the first &quot;mod&quot; search path (after any user customizations).&nbsp; This is also the one
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; // that's used when writing to the &quot;mod&quot; path.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; mod+mod_write+default_write_path&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |gameinfo_path|.

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; // Add the mod directory as a game search path.&nbsp; This is also where where writes
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; // to the &quot;game&quot; path go.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game+game_write&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;|gameinfo_path|.

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; // Where the game's binaries are
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; gamebin&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;portal/bin

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; // Last, mount in shared Portal loose files
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |all_source_engine_paths|portal

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; // Last, mount in shared HL2 loose files
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |all_source_engine_paths|hl2
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; platform&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |all_source_engine_paths|platform

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; }
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; }
}

So what does this mean? Well it looks like we don't have to pack mods into .vpk, but we have to edit paths in gameinfo.txt.

You will have to add these two sections:

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game_lv&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;portal/portal_lv.vpk
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game+mod&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; portal/portal_english.vpk
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game+mod&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; portal/portal_pak.vpk
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_textures.vpk
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_sound_vo_english.vpk
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_sound_misc.vpk
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_misc.vpk
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; platform&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |all_source_engine_paths|platform/platform_misc.vpk

and

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; mod+mod_write+default_write_path&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |gameinfo_path|.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game+game_write&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;|gameinfo_path|.
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; gamebin&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;portal/bin
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |all_source_engine_paths|portal
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; game&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |all_source_engine_paths|hl2
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; platform&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; |all_source_engine_paths|platform

(Both of these go into SearchPaths section).

Read the discussion for more info. Feel free to post here your discoveries!

SpAM_CAN

103 Posts

#96066

Posted Jun 25, 2013

Replied 3 hours later

SourceSDK is incompatible, so I'm having a go at getting the Alien Swarm SDK to work with my mod. Not coming along so great at the moment, but I'll get there eventually.

josepezdj

2,386 Posts

#96073

Posted Jun 26, 2013

Replied 6 hours later

OK, I managed to do it... it's easier than before!

Once we have updated the game, Portal, all wehave to do is to launch the hammer editor directly without the tools launcher. We've got all tools into the bin folder:

Steam/SteamApps/common/Portal/bin

So go there and find your hammer.exe file and just execute it It's very cute now: it asks you what game are you going to map for

(I haven't tried any compile or such... please try)

SpAM_CAN

103 Posts

#96084

Posted Jun 26, 2013

Replied 4 hours later

Cool, that works. Building cubemaps doesn't work though, it saves everything as a TGA (this is in a mod rather than in the portal folder)

josepezdj

2,386 Posts

#96086

Posted Jun 26, 2013

Replied 1 hour later

I think that this is similar as when the Portal2 DLC updates broke the cubemaps. From each DLC on, to be able to build cubemaps, it's required to have a copy of the map (and run THIS copy) here: from DLC1, your map needed to be into portal2_dlc1/maps folder, from DLC2 into portal2_dlc2/maps and so this will be like for future DLCs.

So, I bet this is somewhat what's happening here

Can you confirm where is the map you are trying to build cubemaps for?

I'll do some tests later today in order to go deeper into this as well.

SpAM_CAN

103 Posts

#96087

Posted Jun 26, 2013

Replied 7 minutes later

The maps I'm building cubemaps for are in Sourcemods/DestinationEp1/maps. I've fixed the gameinfo.txt to work with the Steampipe version of Portal. Looking at it in PakRat, the maps seem to get cubemaps embedded but each cubemap texture is pure black

EDIT: Doing some googling it seems that all Steampipe source games (before Alien Swarm) fail to compile cubemaps

josepezdj

2,386 Posts

#96090

Posted Jun 26, 2013

Replied 41 minutes later

So you say that you are trying to build cubemaps directly while running your mod? Hmmm... it doesn't seem to be the right way.

I'd suggest you to try first while running Portal, and for a copy of your map located into common/portal/maps to see if that makes any difference.

SpAM_CAN

103 Posts

#96092

Posted Jun 26, 2013

Replied 26 minutes later

Nope, that didn't work. Black cubemaps all over.

< Return to Portal Single Player