[Steam games only] Cannot delete mods/Updated mod reverts to older version when loading KSP/DLC not showing up

[adsii1970]

These are common problems for newer Kerbal Space Program players who own and play the game through Steam. The most frequently asked questions for these problems are:

• I update my mods manually or with CKAN; why is KSP-AVC (Kerbal Space Program Automatic Version Checker) telling me I do not have the latest update for this mod installed?!
• I deleted this mod (or craft). Now it's back again?!
• My DLC (Missing History or Breaking Ground) isn't showing up in my game?!

Background:

A while back ago, Steam began to offer a feature to create a cloud archive of key parts of the game as determined by the game's publisher. This idea was in Beta for nearly two years before being released sometime in 2016. It was added to Steam for a couple of reasons:

• This feature allows the owner of a game to be able to play flawlessly on various devices providing the game's software supports playing on that type of device. To help make it easier for the player, Steam makes a copy of your local files to the cloud storage linked to your account (everyone has cloud storage linked to their account. There is no way to completely disable the feature from your account). When you log onto your Steam account and download the desired game to your device, the files in the cloud are also copied. This way you can play a seamless gaming experience on your tablet, PC, or laptop. Your saved game data is synced with the cloud each time you load a game or exit a game.
• This feature allows you to be able to permanently delete your Steam library and account from your computer without losing your game's progress, downloaded content, or downloaded mods. You can install Steam, log in to your account, and transfer all your games - with the saved games files - to your new computer and not have to spend hours transferring stuff to an external drive or a lot of flash drives.

For the most part, it does well. But with Kerbal Space Program and a dozen other games I have come across, this feature does not always go as planned.

[adsii1970]

I update my mods manually or with CKAN; why is KSP-AVC (Kerbal Space Program Automatic Version Checker) telling me I do not have the latest update for this mod installed?!

For Kerbal Space Program, there are two folders which get uploaded to the Steam cloud for you. These are the GameData and saves folders. For some reason, when Steam backs up these two folders, it does it twice - it backs up the game as you start it and it backs up the game as you exit the game. In theory, this should not pose a problem until something Steam does not expect to happen actually happens - such as a mod's file structure being reorganized, files within the mod have had their names changed, or a file has been saved with a different extension.

When these things happen, Steam will download the cloud copy, adding back to the updated mod all the files which were in the GameData folder before your updated and from it's most recent cached copy. The result is the time spent updating your mods was wasted time.

This happens especially with ModuleManager, KER, MechJeb2, and other popular mods who have been adopted by the next generation of mod developers.

Steps to prevent this from happening:

Right click on the game's name. This will open up a drop-down menu as shown in the image above.

Click the button marked "Properties" and it will take you to this screen:

By default, the "General" area is the one always opened first. The above image is what you should now be seeing. If not, click the "General" button to get to this screen.

Make sure to deselect (remove the checkmark) from "Keep games saves in the Steam Cloud for Kerbal Space Program."

Press the <ESC> key to exit the screen. It automatically saves your selection.

At this point, you should be able to update your game and start without having the Steam Cloud revert all your mod updates.

WARNING: This does disable the Steam Cloud for Kerbal Space Program only. It does not change the settings for any of your other games. Any file saved within the Steam Cloud for KSP will be deleted once this option is disabled. Also, the deletion does not take effect immediately and can take up to two days to delete the files. If you reactivate this setting during that 48 hour period, your game will more than likely revert to whatever was saved on the cloud.

[adsii1970]

I deleted this mod (or this craft). Now it's back again?!

For Kerbal Space Program, there are two folders which get uploaded to the Steam cloud for you. These are the GameData and saves folders. For some reason, when Steam backs up these two folders, it does it twice - it backs up the game as you start it and it backs up the game as you exit the game. In theory, this should not pose a problem until something Steam does not expect to happen actually happens - such as a mod being removed from the GameData folder.

After you have deleted the mod and start the game, the Steam game launcher does just what it is designed to do - compare the local copy of the game to what was stored for you the last time you quit the game using the menus to exit. When it quickly scans your GameData folder and sees a difference in what the local copy has and what the cloud copy has, it will copy into the local GameData folder the files it has determined is missing. And now the mod is back...

Steps to prevent this from happening:

Right click on the game's name. This will open up a drop-down menu as shown in the image above.

Click the button marked "Properties" and it will take you to this screen:

Make sure to deselect (remove the checkmark) from "Keep games saves in the Steam Cloud for Kerbal Space Program."

Press the <ESC> key to exit the screen. It automatically saves your selection.

For craft: You will now be able to remove any craft from your game either through the game's craft editors (SPH or VAB), the Steam Workshop interface, or by deleting them manually from either the saves\SPH or saves\VAB directory. To save file storage space, be sure to delete the thumbnail to the craft from the Kerbal Space Program\thumbs folder.

For mods: You will now be able to remove mods from your GameData folder either manually through a file manager app or through CKAN. They will not reappear in your game. But sometimes, there is an issue with ModuleManager. It's rare, but if, after deactivating the Steam cloud option and deleting the mod, it still returns, there's one more thing to make sure the mod is totally gone.

In your file manager, locate the ModuleManager.ConfigCache file and delete it. This will force ModuleManager to crawl through your mods and anything not currently in the GameData folder will be skipped.

[adsii1970]

My DLC (Missing History or Breaking Ground) isn't showing up in my game?!

Yes, this, too is a Steam issue but not one related to the Steam cloud issue. Rather than create a different thread for it, it is best kept here - with the other major Steam issues many players encounter.

When you purchase DLC for any game through Steam, it will normally download the new content into your game immediately. If the core game is in the process of updating, the DLC is queued to be downloaded once the core game is patched.

Downloads through Steam always progress from games you play the most (in past versions of Steam, this applied to your top five games), then other games. DLC is downloaded as soon as it is purchased or, if a core game update is being processed, immediately after the patch.

Steps to restore your DLC:

Right click on the game's name. This will open up a drop-down menu as shown in the image above.

Click the button marked "Properties" and it will take you to this screen:

By default, it will open up to the "General" area as shown in the previous posts involving the Steam Cloud. Click the "DLC" button area to be taken to see your purchased DLCs for this game. If you have not purchased the DLC, they will not be available here. You can purchase them from the Kerbal Space Program Steam store page.

Verify the "Install" checkbox is checked next to each DLC.

Press the <ESC> key to save your choices and exit the screen. If the DLC is not already installed on your system, it will automatically begin to download.

Start the game and the DLC will be added to the game.

 

[swjr-swis]

{three four long posts about how to mitigate Steam's brain-dead 'cloud' auto-update process causing issues with KSP, with many elaborate steps]

Orrrr.... just don't ever play KSP from the original install location Steam picks if you wish to play with mods *and* keep your sanity. Instead, copy the entire folder to a different location, and run it from there. Steam will never ever, ever, update or change a game that is not running from its configured install folder.

You wish to keep a cloud copy of your game to use on other computers? Use an actual cloud service, and add the KSP install folder to it (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc etc). Or better yet, take a few moments to learn how github can do this for you, including keeping a history you can return to. Any of those will actually give you full control on when and how your local copy gets updated, if at all.

P.S.: not to minimize @adsii1970's great work to prepare and document this. If for any reason you still want to put your trust in Steam, be sure to follow those instructions.

Edited April 7, 2021 by swjr-swis
one, two, twoandahalf, three!

[Dafni]

4 minutes ago, swjr-swis said:

{three long posts about how to mitigate Steam's brain-dead 'cloud' auto-update process causing issues with KSP, with many elaborate steps]

Orrrr.... just don't ever play KSP from the original install location Steam picks if you wish to play with mods *and* keep your sanity. Instead, copy the entire folder to a different location, and run it from there. Steam will never ever, ever, update or change a game that is not running from its configured install folder.

You wish to keep a cloud copy of your game to use on other computers? Use an actual cloud service, and add the KSP install folder to it (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc etc). Or better yet, take a few moments to learn how github can do this for you, including keeping a history you can return to. Any of those will actually give you full control on when and how your local copy gets updated, if at all.

P.S.: not to minimize @adsii1970's work to prepare and document this. If for any reason you still want to put your trust in Steam, be sure to follow those instructions.

Sound advice right there!  QFT