[X3TC] - DIY NoSteam version!

Akdor 1154 · Post by **Akdor 1154** » Sun, 8. Jul 12, 07:43

Hi guys,

A few of you, me included, have ended up with the Steam version when in fact you may just want the untainted retail exe - (for me, I bought the TC+AP pack from Gamersgate not realizing that the TC in that pack required Steam) - this quick guide will get you running retail in no time. You will use the commandline to do this, but it's pretty simple, so don't fret.

0. Make an empty directory somewhere to muck with, say Downloads\X3TCNS. Download the following files into that directory:
1. Download the latest patch from Egosoft: http://www.egosoft.com/download/x3tc/patches_en.php
2. Download innounp, a tool for extracting files from certain setup archives: http://sourceforge.net/projects/innounp ... urce=files
2.5. Extract innounp.rar into that directory, too.
3. Open a command prompt in that directory - on Windows 7 and Vista, you can shift+rightclick on it and go "open command prompt here".
4. In your new scary black box, type:

Code: Select all

innounp.exe -e "X3TCUpdate3.1.1_to_3.2.exe" *X3TC.exe

- this is just ripping the retail exe out of Egosoft's patch.
5. In your steam directory, (Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\x3tc, I think) rename X3TC.exe to X3TC.exe.steam, and then copy the X3TC.exe you just extracted into this directory.
6. ???
7. Proffttssss!! You obviously can't use any steam tools like this, so you can no longer shift+tab into a browser while waiting for your repair laser to finish fixing that TL, but if you're here you are probably OK with that tradeoff.

NB. I have only tested this to the point of doing it, loading a savegame, undocking, then rushing over here to post of my triumph. YMMV. If you feel like a paranoid Paranid, maybe back up your savegames first - reinstalling/verifying the Steam version is a simple way to undo this if you run in to trouble.

xoxo from Australia

Attacker · Post by **Attacker** » Wed, 18. Jul 12, 16:03

Is NonSteam necessary for Mod?

Carlo the Curious · Post by **Carlo the Curious** » Wed, 18. Jul 12, 18:42

No.

http://www.egosoft.com/support/faq/faq_ ... nswer=2100

Post by **X2-Illuminatus** » Wed, 18. Jul 12, 18:44

@Akdor 1154
Nice tutorial. However, you can also simply install the patch to an empty folder and take the X3TC.exe from it. So, there's no need to download and install another program.

Attacker wrote:Is NonSteam necessary for Mod?

Not necessarily. You can install and use scripts and mods with a Steam installation. However, problems might occur, if you install scripts or mods that replace existing game files or install mods as fakepatch rather than using the game's facilities to use mods by placing them in the "mods"-folder and selecting them from the start screen. In these cases Steam might replace the changed files with the original game files again and additional cat/dat-files might be overwritten when a new patch is released and introduces a new cat/dat pair itself.

Edit: Forgot that we have an FAQ article about that.

Sinxar · Post by **Sinxar** » Sat, 21. Jul 12, 03:15

The problem (at least for me) is by putting them in the mods folder you can only select one to be active at a time.

Thanks to the OP for this. I was reading up on the DRM for TC and its saying that even with the steam version it has to activate and only so many times in a time period or something like that.

Was the DRM removed completely because I tend to reinstall windows fairly frequently in comparison to most people and I have already reinstalled TC 3 times from steam and I don't want to get my game broken from it.

Nedimar · Post by **Nedimar** » Sat, 21. Jul 12, 12:01

You can install the game as often as you want. Steam doesn't have a limit, no game on Steam has one.

Sinxar · Post by **Sinxar** » Sat, 21. Jul 12, 13:02

Armankessilol wrote:You can install the game as often as you want. Steam doesn't have a limit, no game on Steam has one.

http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=230785

Yea i think it was removed completely as I never had to activate it with Tages. Thats the one i was talking about it used to have double drm (tages + steam).

Thanks for prompting me to search more. I wish I had the exe when our net was out for 2 weeks. It was funny because steam offline mode was broken for me and both of my brothers. 2 weeks without a good game to play... Origin offline mod worked though, spent too much time playing Reckoning

warlordfallen · Post by **warlordfallen** » Mon, 11. Feb 13, 02:48

can we use the smaller 9.6mb update? or that not have an exe?

Post by **X2-Illuminatus** » Mon, 11. Feb 13, 08:25

I'm not sure, what you mean. The latest update is already the smallest one with 9.69 MB.

stonedsub · Post by **stonedsub** » Fri, 8. Aug 14, 15:03

Hello all,

When i look the properties of the extracted exe from the update it say version 3.2.0.0,

When i look the properties of the steam original exe it say version 3.2.0.1,

i can't find the update with a 3.2.0.1 exe Inside, what to do ?

Post by **X2-Illuminatus** » Fri, 8. Aug 14, 16:27

You can use the one with the version number 3.2.0.0.

The Steam version of X3TC received some minor updates (patch 3.2a, 3.2b and 3.2c) to localisation files, especially with regards to Chinese and Japanese localisations (textfiles, fonts etc.). Unless, you play the game in Chinese or Japanese, there shouldn't be any problems with using the retail patch exe (3.2.0.0) instead of the latest Steam version exe (3.2.0.1).

stonedsub · Post by **stonedsub** » Fri, 8. Aug 14, 19:06

Ok, thx !

Staja Bepon · Post by **Staja Bepon** » Tue, 16. Aug 16, 02:30

With the latest patch name change, the code needs to be changed according to the new version number. Just wanted to post so others with steams latest auto updated version when you install fresh from now on. Just had to do this myself.