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How to Downgrade or Change the Version of a Game

By Wooden Spirit

A tutorial on how to download and play any version of a game.

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Wooden Spirit
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Category: Modding or Configuration

Languages: English

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Updated

7 Jan, 2021 @ 5:08pm

4 Apr, 2023 @ 12:18pm

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Guide Index

Overview

Step 1 - Installing .NET Core

Step 2 - Getting DepotDownloader

Step 3 - Finding AppID Number of the Game

Step 4 - Finding Depot ID Numbers

Step 5 - Finding Manifest ID Numbers

Step 6 - Downloading the Manifests

Step 7 - Changing the Version of the Game

Enjoy :)

Comments

Step 1 - Installing .NET Core

Go to Microsoft's Website [dotnet.microsoft.com] and make sure to download and install the suitable and latest version for your operating system.

Step 2 - Getting DepotDownloader

Download the latest version of DepotDownloader by clicking the .zip file in this link [github.com] and extract the contents by right-clicking to the zip file to a folder preferably named depotdownloader-2.x.x.

It should seem like this:

Note that, DepotDownloader requires credentials of your Steam account in order to make connection with the Steam servers and download the Manifests of the game.

Do so at your own risk.

Step 3 - Finding AppID Number of the Game

Go to SteamDB[steamdb.info] and search for your game. The first ID you will need is the app ID, which can be found on the game page.

Make sure that you get the AppID of the game not the DLCs' or anything else.

For this guide, I used Sid Meier's Civilization VI as an example, AppID: 289070.

Step 4 - Finding Depot ID Numbers

Navigate to steamapps directory, which in my case, was at

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps

Open the appmanifest (.acf) file ending with your game's AppID number with any text editor like Notepad. In my case, the file's name was

appmanifest_289070.acf

Then, locate the InstalledDepots section. The "numbers" highlighted with the red rectangles in the image below are the Depot IDs, and the numbers next to "manifest" indicates that which Manifest is currently installed to your computer.

You will probably see less Depot IDs there. But don't worry it's related with the size and complexity of the game files.

Step 5 - Finding Manifest ID Numbers

After you get the ID numbers of each Depots installed to your computer related with your game, go to SteamDB[steamdb.info] and navigate to the "Depots" tab.

You need to click on the Depot ID numbers in the "ID" column and each Depot you see there contain different package of game files called Manifests. As you can see in the image above, there are 71 Depots for the Sid Meier's Civilization VI so far. But only 12 Manifests among those are installed to my computer, so I only need to download those.

After that, navigate to the "Manifests" tab. All of the public branch manifests listed there in chronological order and you can see the Manifest IDs next to them. So, you can think them as restore points. For example, if I want to change my Sid Meier's Civilization VI's version to the 1.0.5.11 which was released in September 24, 2020, I need to download all of the Manifests released that date.

Step 6 - Downloading the Manifests

Now go to the folder that you extracted the contents in the depotdownloader-2.4.5.zip file. Make sure the folder contains "DepotDownloader.dll". Then type "cmd.exe" into the address bar and press enter to launch command line from that folder.

Now run the command below to download each Manifest for the whichever game version you need by substituting the relevant values.

dotnet DepotDownloader.dll -app <AppID> -depot <DepotID> -manifest <ManifestID> -username <YourSteamUsername> -password <YourSteamPassword>

This will download the Depots into a "depots" folder, with one subdirectory for each depot ID. And according to my experiences, the download time differs independently of your internet connection. I think it's more dependent to the Steam servers. So, keep in mind that the download time may be longer than you expect.

Remember that if you enabled Steam Guard, you will be required to enter the code afterwards and I actually recommend you to have Steam Guard enabled for your account's safety.

In Civilization VI case, you need to enter all of the commands below one by one because you can't download all at once. And it requires your Steam Guard code each time because after it downloads a Manifests, it disconnects from Steam.

dotnet DepotDownloader.dll -app 289070 -depot 289071 -manifest 632008889948176102 -username <MySteamUsername -password <MySteamPassword> dotnet DepotDownloader.dll -app 289070 -depot 289072 -manifest 2320476321646337662 -username <MySteamUsername -password <MySteamPassword> dotnet DepotDownloader.dll -app 289070 -depot 512030 -manifest 2354480822106252979 -username <MySteamUsername -password <MySteamPassword> dotnet DepotDownloader.dll -app 289070 -depot 512032 -manifest 7331241712592319196 -username <MySteamUsername -password <MySteamPassword> dotnet DepotDownloader.dll -app 289070 -depot 512033 -manifest 1316127157504463983 -username <MySteamUsername -password <MySteamPassword> dotnet DepotDownloader.dll -app 289070 -depot 512034 -manifest 3822373503240742909 -username <MySteamUsername -password <MySteamPassword> dotnet DepotDownloader.dll -app 289070 -depot 512035 -manifest 6533559258032672183 -username <MySteamUsername -password <MySteamPassword> dotnet DepotDownloader.dll -app 289070 -depot 645400 -manifest 3651003853404044335 -username <MySteamUsername -password <MySteamPassword> dotnet DepotDownloader.dll -app 289070 -depot 645401 -manifest 2977611000777000117 -username <MySteamUsername -password <MySteamPassword> dotnet DepotDownloader.dll -app 289070 -depot 645402 -manifest 1919390866604865381 -username <MySteamUsername -password <MySteamPassword> dotnet DepotDownloader.dll -app 289070 -depot 947510 -manifest 4879180249044070026 -username <MySteamUsername -password <MySteamPassword> dotnet DepotDownloader.dll -app 289070 -depot 289089 -manifest 3657061344769467813 -username <MySteamUsername -password <MySteamPassword>

If it successfully started to download the Manifest, you should see prompts like this

And if it successfully download the Manifest, you should see prompts like this

Now, you need to this process for each Manifest as I mentioned above.

My "depots" folder was looking like this after I downloaded every Manifest that I needed.

Step 7 - Changing the Version of the Game

Now it's time to downgrade or change the version of the game. But before you do anything, make sure that backup your game in case something goes wrong or you need it one day.

I recommend you to do it either through Steam by right-clicking the game in the library and selecting properties and then navigating to the Local Files and clicking to the "Backup game files..." or simply copying all of the contents in your game folder to somewhere else.

Then exit from Steam. The Manifests that you downloaded to the "depots" folder can now be copied into your game's folder in \steamapps\common\ directory. In the "depots" folder and folders with your Depot ID numbers, you will see folders named ".DepotDownloader", just ignore or delete them. All you need to do is to replace the game files with the Manifests that you downloaded.

But, keep in mind that you should copy and replace every folder and file to the exact right place and with its exact pair otherwise you corrupt the integrity of the game.

After that, relaunch Steam and you should be able to play the version of the game you wanted.

I also recommend you to backup this "out-of-date" version of the game before an update would make a mess of things. Or you can also prevent Steam from updating your game by following the steps mentioned in this detailed guide.

Enjoy :)

Feel free to leave any kind of comment.

115 Comments

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)»ŠÎñ˜Šhâd¤w˜F¤×«( 10 Jun @ 1:13pm

What is the last stable version of .net for windows 7?

veigotico 16 May @ 9:55am

Existe alguma forma mais facil?
Is there any easier way?

shep7000 3 Mar @ 4:01am

@RiskiVR Just use the steam console. You don't need DepotDownloader anymore.

RiskiVR 3 Mar @ 3:24am

when using depotdownloader to download CSGO manifests, it doesn't seem to download all the files needed for the game to run. any way to fix this issue?

Jett 17 Oct, 2023 @ 1:42am

If you're receiving a "Failed to authenticate with Steam: Authentication failed with result InvalidPassword." It's likely the command line doesn't like the special character in your password. Use double quotations around your password, such as "{password}".

GameGarbage 1 Oct, 2023 @ 12:52pm

for some reason, depotdownloader.exe refuses to open, it just opens then closes immediately

Minuteworld94 10 Sep, 2023 @ 7:35pm

i can do this for skullgirls oh shit thanks

bollweck 15 Jul, 2023 @ 4:10pm

After downloading 2 Depots the 3rd one didn't work because "The Rate Limit was exceeded".
Because of that it couldn't log into my steam account.
What should i do to fix that ?

SuperAgentAlex 11 Jul, 2023 @ 4:55pm

This also works through steam console, the command is depot_download and you can access the steam console by putting steam://open/console/ in your address bar

Sokolov 8 May, 2023 @ 6:39am

You don't have to replace the original files of the game with the old version you've downloaded. It just causes mess for no reason.
Simply make an steam_appid.txt file next to the (old) game's .exe, write the appid of the game in the file, save and doubleclick the .exe file to start up the game (on Steam) from any location on your PC.

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