Steam, KSP, and 64 bit shortcut?

[rdwulfe]

Is there a way to run KSP through steam and force it to run 64-bit? When I run KSP via a normal shortcut, steam doesn't 'recognize' its running. I can run it through Steam's regular interface, it asks me which I want to run, and off I go. If I make a shortcut via steam, it ends up running the 32 bit version. It uses 'steam://rungameid/220200' to do this. Is there a way to force it to run 64 bit, or to have it ask the question when I hit a shortcut? I'd MUCH prefer just to run 64 bit, but with my steam overlay, steam tracking of the game hours, etc... but I'll take what I can get.

 

Thanks!

[Wallace]

You should be able to do it by right clicking on KSP in steam and going Properties > Set launch options.

Then in the box you put something like the following.  But obviously adjusted if your steam folder is somewhere else than the default.  

Quote

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Kerbal Space Program\KSP_x64.exe" %command% 

 

[rdwulfe]

3 minutes ago, Wallace said:

You should be able to do it by right clicking on KSP in steam and going Properties > Set launch options.

Then in the box you put something like the following.  But obviously adjusted if your steam folder is somewhere else than the default.  

 

Perfect, @Wallace Thank you very much!

[KerbMav]

10 minutes ago, rdwulfe said:

 

Maybe add -popupwindow as well for safer and easier alt-tabbing.

[rdwulfe]

16 minutes ago, KerbMav said:

Maybe add -popupwindow as well for safer and easier alt-tabbing.

Already do, @KerbMav, thank you! I have a few options, mostly concerning forcing the game to use a specific monitor, etc. Just things to make it more predictable.

[fourfa]

8 hours ago, Wallace said:

You should be able to do it by right clicking on KSP in steam and going Properties > Set launch options.

Then in the box you put something like the following.  But obviously adjusted if your steam folder is somewhere else than the default.  

 

Hrm.  I typed that exact string, including quotes.  My install is in the standard location.  I have also tried everything I've found in many different web searches on the topic.  Nothing has ever worked, not at all.  It's a recent PC build, Windows 10, standard install of Steam, works great in every other way.

I don't have even the slightest idea where to start debugging that, and I'm not any expert windows user but would like to try

[Wallace]

Not sure about Windows 10 file paths, this one is good for windows 7, maybe check the whole path even if you use default location as the program files folder name etc might be different. 

 

Also, if you use other launch options set, this one should come first.

 

If it still doesn't work tho, an alternate way is to go Add a game > add a non-steam game, and add the 64 bit kerbal exe that way, you'll then end up with a second entry in your steam games list for 64 bit KSP.  The overlay will still work, but probably will not have links to KSP specific guides, news and community hub etc, tho you can still use the browser to get to them. 

Edited October 13, 2016 by Wallace

[SpaceMouse]

I launch it directly from the executable 99% of the time.

[ShawnPhillips]

Every time I launch KSP from Steam I get a popup asking me if I want to launch KSP in 32-bit or 64-bit. Though I have also added the KSP 64-bit executable to my task bar so I can launch it directly if I don't have steam running.

[ThirdHorseman]

Is anyone still using this method successfully?  I've returned to KSP and while this method used to work it no longer does.

In Steam I right-click on Kerbal Space Program and select Properties.  Then I click "Set Launch Options..." and in the text field I put:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Kerbal Space Program\KSP_x64.exe" -popupwindow

Then I click the "Create Desktop Shortcut" button and it tells me it has created a new shortcut.  Note I have deleted the shortcut that used to be on the desktop, and I see a new KSP shortcut appear.  But when I double-click it the 32-bit version continues to run.

If I right-click on KSP in my Steam library I do get a "Launch KSP (64-bit)" option and that does launch the 64-bit version.  So I can run it through Steam, but I'd prefer to get the desktop shortcut working.  Anyone else out there using this method with success?

[kBob]

On ‎7‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 9:24 PM, ThirdHorseman said:

Is anyone still using this method successfully?  I've returned to KSP and while this method used to work it no longer does.

In Steam I right-click on Kerbal Space Program and select Properties.  Then I click "Set Launch Options..." and in the text field I put:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Kerbal Space Program\KSP_x64.exe" -popupwindow

Then I click the "Create Desktop Shortcut" button and it tells me it has created a new shortcut.  Note I have deleted the shortcut that used to be on the desktop, and I see a new KSP shortcut appear.  But when I double-click it the 32-bit version continues to run.

If I right-click on KSP in my Steam library I do get a "Launch KSP (64-bit)" option and that does launch the 64-bit version.  So I can run it through Steam, but I'd prefer to get the desktop shortcut working.  Anyone else out there using this method with success?

Does not work for me either, so here's what I did I went in and renamed ksp.exe to ksp.exe.bak (or you can delete it as you can always verify integrity to get it back) now rename KSP_X64.exe to KSP.exe then rename the folder KSP_Data to something like KSP_Data bak  (or delete it) and rename KSP_x64_Data to KSP_Data  and now when you click on the shortcut the 64 bit will run.  If you want to go back to 32 bit, rename the files back (if you deleted them you'll need to run the verify integrity in steam).

[MaxxQ]

Hmmmm.... I'm running Win10 and have no issues with running the 64bit version.  Of course, I have a folder on my desktop with all my different versions of KSP in it.  I have separate folders for versions 1.0.4 through 1.3.0, and other folders with modded versions of each of those.  1.2.2 and 1.3.0 ALSO have separate folders for Galileo's Planet Pack builds.

All I do is copy the contents of the steam KSP folder to the newly created folder on my desktop, the create a shortcut of the KSP_x64.exe launcher and move it to the desktop.  If I have multiple .exe's on my desktop, I rename them to reflect which version (stock, modded, or GPP) it is.  For example, my current playthrough is a GPP version, so the desktop shortcut is named KSP_x64.exe - GPP 1.2.2.

In short, my setup doesn't go through Steam at all to launch the game.  KSP doesn't require Steam to run it, so you can put it anywhere, and it should still run.

Edit: This way of doing it also has the advantage of an update not breaking your current playthrough, as only the original version is in the Steam folder.  I leave it there as a backup.  When a new version comes out, I delete the entire steam/KSP folder and redownload the game in the new version, then make my copies as noted above.

Edited August 7, 2017 by MaxxQ

[kBob]

4 hours ago, MaxxQ said:

 

KSP doesn't require Steam to run it

Which misses the whole point...some people want it to run through Steam so it logs hours etc.

[MaxxQ]

4 hours ago, kBob said:

Which misses the whole point...some people want it to run through Steam so it logs hours etc.

Okay.  I wasn't aware of that.  I don't particularly care about logging hours.  Just seems a bit ridiculous to have to jump through all these hoops just to set KSP up to run 64 bit through steam.

[kBob]

9 hours ago, MaxxQ said:

Okay.  I wasn't aware of that.  I don't particularly care about logging hours.  Just seems a bit ridiculous to have to jump through all these hoops just to set KSP up to run 64 bit through steam.

Well yeah it is, Steam should make it easier.  There's other things beside time count I believe, but I never use Steam overlay so I don't really know.  I also don't see the point of saving things in "the cloud" but then I only game on one computer.

[linuxgurugamer]

36 minutes ago, kBob said:

Well yeah it is, Steam should make it easier.  There's other things beside time count I believe, but I never use Steam overlay so I don't really know.  I also don't see the point of saving things in "the cloud" but then I only game on one computer.

If nothing elsa, use the cloud as a backup.

computers do break, sometimes.

[kBob]

5 minutes ago, linuxgurugamer said:

If nothing elsa, use the cloud as a backup.

computers do break, sometimes.

I do backups on a regular basis, I don't trust my internet to be there when I need it though I do trust my backups to be available (baring a wide area disaster in which case I doubt I'll care much about my computer).  I'm not really worried about my game saves anyway though, if I lost them I wouldn't care that much.  It doesn't help that my upload speeds are typically the KBS range.  I really don't know why people trust other people's computers to be so safe and secure.

[linuxgurugamer]

1 hour ago, kBob said:

I do backups on a regular basis, I don't trust my internet to be there when I need it though I do trust my backups to be available (baring a wide area disaster in which case I doubt I'll care much about my computer).  I'm not really worried about my game saves anyway though, if I lost them I wouldn't care that much.  It doesn't help that my upload speeds are typically the KBS range.  I really don't know why people trust other people's computers to be so safe and secure.

 

It's not that, it's that if something happens to your local setting (ie:  a house fire), remote backups are untouched by local issues like that.

[kBob]

On ‎8‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 5:43 AM, linuxgurugamer said:

 

It's not that, it's that if something happens to your local setting (ie:  a house fire), remote backups are untouched by local issues like that.

I appreciate what you are saying, but as I said it would have to be an area wide disaster...my most important/critical stuff is periodically put in a safe-deposit box five miles away, when I was writing software for a living a copy was always stored in the car at the end of the day at least (if the car and house burned I'd burn along with them).  Maybe you missed it but when I say Kbps, I mean my uploads are typically in the 20-50Kpbs range...even if I wanted to I couldn't put my 15TB worth of video rips on a cloud storage site (not to mention the cost) which is why they are backed up on to hard drives stored over 250 miles away (no it's not critical data, it's just the time that would be involved re-ripping it all; when I fill up a drive I clone it and send off the copy for safe keeping). 

I've been using computers since 1979 and I never lost any data (other than a few minor things in the five minutes between saves in say WordPerfect) or any client data (veterinarians mostly--very important data) long before cloud storage became practical for some.  I wouldn't trust confidential data to any of those sites anyway.  Cloud is handy no doubt for small businesses without the need for immediate access if something bad happens but large companies with critical data and multiple sites, I just can't see it nor can a fair number of IT people.  Internet connections can be taken away too, by accident, nature or terrorist attack (physical or cyber).  Cloud can also be handy if you play games on multiple computers I stopped doing that after getting a 4k monitor, can't stand playing on small things anymore and like I said I just wouldn't care if even my KSP saves were lost, I frequently restart my careers, I like the early days.

But if you do use Steam cloud storage than all the more reason for you to want  KSP, or any other game to run through Steam, and you'd think they wouldn't make you go through hoops to do it.

[monstah]

Alright, this has gone far enough off-topic.

[kBob]

5 hours ago, monstah said:

Alright, this has gone far enough off-topic.

I tried very hard to bring back on topic, did you read my whole post?  The point is you have to go through hoops to get it to run 64bit steam, do you have a better way?

[ThirdHorseman]

On 8/6/2017 at 11:50 PM, kBob said:

I went in and renamed ksp.exe to ksp.exe.bak....

Thanks, I've played around with re-naming files/folders and it certainly does work, although everything gets messed up when there is an update.  But I guess the updates are pretty rare so it shouldn't be a problem.  I think I'll stick with this method for the time being.

 

Quote

KSP doesn't require Steam to run it

Yea I know, but I like to run through Steam so friends know when I'm online and such.

Until I can figure out why this method that has always worked before has suddenly stopped working I'll either rename the files or just use a right-click in the Steam Library.  Thanks all.