SteamPipe conversion arriving on April 30th!

[VP :3]

Did you actually read the link in the post?

Yes, but Valve made no sense. >.>

 

[Mr. Monday]

... does Valve EVER make sense?

 

[BooDDEAD]

I hope this quickens the load time for TF2 by a ton since at the moment, it takes like 30 seconds just to start.

 

[hEY]

Yes, but Valve made no sense. >.>

basically, as Spidey said, all of your old customizations are now in a folder called "Download". Move those folders from "Download" to "Custom" and they will work just like before. HOWEVER, if you do too many, this will still slow down your load times. Instead, valve suggests that you take your folders and archive them in a VPK file (there's a tool in the bin folder, I believe, or you could find an online tool). VPK's read faster than a million subfolders, so that will minimize the extra load time. But yea.. I had to read that explanation like 10 times, but the readme was quite useful

I hope this quickens the load time for TF2 by a ton since at the moment, it takes like 30 seconds just to start.

Better than the minute of white screen I sometimes stare at after the 10 minutes of validating. BUt yea, it is noticeably faster, and I'm not in a rush to throw mods and stuff in and slow it down now either haha

 

[Puke-N-Snot]

if your running custom HUD, scripts ect note this:
custom folder found in -steam\steamapps\common\Teamfortress2\tf directory

This folder is automatically scanned when the game boots for VPK files or
subfolders. Each subfolder or VPK is added as a search path, so the files
inside those VPK's or subfolders will overide the default game files.

See gameinfo.txt for more details.

For example, you might have the following file structure:

tf/custom/my_custom_stuff/ <<< This subfolder will be added as a search path
tf/custom/my_custom_stuff/models/custom_model.mdl
tf/custom/my_custom_stuff/materials/custom_material.vmt
tf/custom/my_custom_stuff/materials/vgui/custom_ui_thing.res
tf/custom/some_mod.vpk <<< This VPK will be added as a search path
tf/custom/another_mod.vpk <<< This VPK will be added as a search path


Mounting a VPK to the filesystem is more efficient that adding a subfolder,
because each time the engine neds to open a file, it will need to make a call to the
operating system call to search the folder. VPKs can be searched by the engine much
more efficiently. Each subfolder is a new search path that must be checked each
time the engine tries to open a file. So for optimal load times, always use VPK files
and don't make any subfolders in this folder!


Note that the following directory structure is NOT correct:

tf/custom/models/my_model.mdl

That will add the directory "tf/custom/models" as a search path, in which case the
file my_model.mdl actually exists at the root of the game's virtual filesystem.

 

[frozenfangs]

After a day of playing with the new steampipe I'm in love with it. I haven't noticed a single down side, and it has delivered as promised, it was super simple to transfer my custom reserve shooter skin and hud, not to mention all my load times for TF2 have quickened.
Maybe for once TF2 hasn't broken something else when updating?

 

[whoflungpoo]

FYI, this already happened for DoD:s and CS and for some reason, my admin (and some other people's) was missed up. So, don't be surprised if it happens to you. Just generate a new admin pin.

 

[Prisoner416]

Only problem is I got a lot of custom content that isn't updated anymore, so I have to figure out how to repack them in whatever new format, as well as find a viewer so I can view and delete what I don't need anymore.

 

[Ezekiel]

Ok, after 12+ hours of redownloading TF2, yeah it's about a minute or two faster.

 

[Nix]

Ok, after 12+ hours of redownloading TF2, yeah it's about a minute or two faster.

12 hours? wat?

It took me about 1. Think about how much time that 1-2 minutes will eventually add up to.

 

[Ezekiel]

I live in the far end of nowhere with not very fast internet Honorbound