Steam/SteamPipe: Difference between revisions

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(Added LAN Caching infro)
(Now redirects to "SteamPipe". New name just recently caused confusion which makes me accidentally moved other langs to SteamPipe/(lang) instead of Steam/SteamPipe/(lang).)
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'''SteamPipe''' is Steam's new content distribution system. It changes the way games (including dedicated servers) are downloaded, updated and stored. More information can be found on the [https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7388-QPFN-2491 Steam Support page].
 
== Benefits ==
 
=== Players ===
 
The benefits to players are:
*Faster and smoother downloads
*Faster game boot times and map load times
*Easier distribution, installation, and management of mods
*Smoother dedicated server distribution and update rollover
 
=== Server administrators ===
 
Instead of a proprietary delivery protocol, SteamPipe uses HTTP, which allows datacenters hosting multiple servers to set up a caching HTTP proxy, necessitating only a single download of an update from Valve's servers.
 
=== Game developers ===
 
Game developers using SteamPipe can [http://garry.tv/2012/08/16/approved-updates/ issue updates themselves]; the previous system required manual intervention by Valve when an update was to be published.
 
=== LAN Caching ===
 
As SteamPipe now uses HTTP it allows not only datacenters hosting multiple servers to setup a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caching_proxy#Caching_proxy_servers caching] but is also very useful for [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_area_network LAN's]. Setting up a caching proxy can significantly reduce the amount of bandwidth required for multiple clients or servers to preform updates.
 
[http://blog.multiplay.co.uk/2014/04/lancache-dynamically-caching-game-installs-at-lans-using-nginx/ LANcache – Dynamically Caching Game Installs at LAN’s using Nginx] is an example of how to setup caching proxy for SteamPipe as used at [http://multiplay.com/ Multiplay's] [http://insomniagamingfestival.com/ Insomnia Gaming Festival].
 
== Downsides ==
 
=== Players ===
 
The only real downside to the Steampipe update is that many Half-Life and Half-Life 2 mods that are now broken, and many that did not make the jump to the update.
 
Fortunately, there are known fixes for many Half-Life 2 mods. [https://steamcommunity.com/app/420/discussions/0/864971765497379056/ Those fixes can be found here.]
 
=== Developers ===
 
The Source SDK Launcher no longer works. Tools for games that used to be in the Source SDK Launcher must now be launched by going to " C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\[game name]\bin "  Example: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Half Life 2\bin
 
== Changes ==
 
* Downloads are performed using HTTP instead of a proprietary protocol.
* Data files are no longer placed into [[GCF]]s but directly into the file system.
** To counteract the performance issues with accessing many tiny files (the reason why GCFs were used in the first place), [[Source]] games distributed via SteamPipe store their assets in [[VPK]] archives.
* Data generated before/during gameplay is no longer stored in user-specific subdirectories of ''SteamApps''; instead, the ''common'' subfolder is used.
* Dedicated servers are no longer updated using [[HLDSUpdateTool]] (known as <tt>steam</tt> on Linux) but using [[SteamCMD]] (a stripped-down version of the full Steam client).
[[Category:Dedicated Server]]

Latest revision as of 23:44, 22 August 2023

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