Steam on 2 PC's

[jacktesterson]

I have steam on both pc's listed below. I keep different games installed on each.

I'm wondering if there is a way to play the same game on 2 pc's with the same game file?

When at home both are on gigabit wired connections on a home network, is there a way to always copy the most up to date gsmefilesbto the other so if I do go away with my laptop I can continue on with same game files?

 

[pontifex]

yes, but not at the same time.

you would have to log in as the other username and either download the game or copy the game files from your steam folder on the one PC to the other.

If the game uses the steam cloud, the saves should always be copied over. otherwise you'd have to manually do it or find some sort of syncing software.

 

[kamikazekyle]

If I'm following you right, keeping everything in sync is pretty easy. Assuming you have a desktop and a laptop, you can share out the steam folder on the network and copy back and forth as you need to. I have a robocopy script set up to automatically sync my steam directory to an external hard drive. If the game doesn't register in steam on your laptop after you copy it, just go to download/install the game, and it'll scan the existing files. Only takes a second. Ditto for syncing up to my laptops.

Heck, you can probably map the share as a network drive and play right off that if you really wanted, so long as the game or steam doesn't check to see if it's a remote share.

For saved games outside of steam cloud, I use Dropbox. I stash all my saved games folders on dropbox, and then create a junction point (mklink command in a command window) to link where the game expects the saves to be with my local cache of Dropbox. That way all my saved games are always backed up online and synced between all my systems, even my girlfriend's desktop. And, because I synced all my games onto her desktop, it saved her from a multi-gig download over a 512 kbit connection when she purchased a game under her account.

The only caveat is that you can obviously only log into steam twice with the same account and be online, and games vary where they stash their saves. I use a different batch file for each game to make things easy.

Of course, if I misunderstood you, I could be WAAAY off base 😛

 

[Texashiker]

Yes - register 2 steam accounts and buy games for both accounts.

In my house, we have 3 steam accounts, my daughters, my sons and my account. I can get a "little" expensive, but that it why you buy games when they go on sale.

 

[jacktesterson]

Yes - register 2 steam accounts and buy games for both accounts.

In my house, we have 3 steam accounts, my daughters, my sons and my account. I can get a "little" expensive, but that it why you buy games when they go on sale.

And how would this help me with fame saves? Did you read my post?

If you want to spend money like that go for it.

I'm not trying to play the game at the same time on the two pc's

 

[Monster_Munch]

The problem you will have is every game puts the save file somewhere different. Not many store the saves in the cloud.

 

[minmaster]

Yes - register 2 steam accounts and buy games for both accounts.

In my house, we have 3 steam accounts, my daughters, my sons and my account. I can get a "little" expensive, but that it why you buy games when they go on sale.

why don't you just use 1 account and use offline login (for games that aren't multiplayer)?

 

[Texashiker]

And how would this help me with fame saves? Did you read my post?

Yes, I read your opening post, and part of it looks like jibberish, "gsmefilesbto"

So went with what I could make out from your post.

why don't you just use 1 account and use offline login (for games that aren't multiplayer)?

Just about everything we play is multi-player, team fortress classic, fortress forever and left 4 dead.

My kids also live with my ex-wife, so having the games portable - where they can play from both locations is nice.

 

[Raduque]

Yes, I read your opening post, and part of it looks like jibberish, "gsmefilesbto"

Don't be a dick, that was clearly a typo. "g(a)me files( )to"


For the OP, I'd go withkamikazekyle's suggestion, but I'd go one further by keeping my Steam folder (with the games themselves) on an external drive, and just sync up the save game folders using a script or manually.

 

[JTsyo]

Can you share your steam folder and have your laptop steam point to the desktop steam folder?

 

[Red Hawk]

You can play on both computers as long as you are in offline mode. However, you won't be able to play multiplayer.

 

[veri745]

You could put the saves in a shared folder, and then use symlinks to link the location that the game looks for the saves (whether it's in steamapps or "My Documents") to the shared folder.

I do this for a couple games to sync game files across my laptop and desktop using dropbox, but I think a shared folder on your network would work the same.

...If you're running Win7, that is...

 

[jacktesterson]

Yes, I read your opening post, and part of it looks like jibberish, "gsmefilesbto"

So went with what I could make out from your post.




Just about everything we play is multi-player, team fortress classic, fortress forever and left 4 dead.

My kids also live with my ex-wife, so having the games portable - where they can play from both locations is nice.

I am typing this from a Iphone at work. Sorry for the grammar.

 

[Texashiker]

I am typing this from a Iphone at work. Sorry for the grammar.

Its no big deal - and I'am sorry for being such a pain. Sometimes I come across as brash, but its not on purpose.

It would be nice if all steam games stored their information in the same place. But they dont. some save their saved games in your my documents folder, some store them in the game folder.

After thinking about it for a little while, how about moving steam to an external drive? Then you can just move the drive from system to system.

I dont know how your going to sync the games that store their info in your "my documents" folder though. Unless there was a setting in the game where you can change the location of the saved games.