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Steam Folder Structure - does it need to be so complicated?

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I used the Steam Move process to relocate my Steam Flight Sim library member from a SSD to the newly installed Intel SSD6 NVMe drive.  Steam did the move and told me it was happy with the results.

Now - when I start the Sim from within Steam - Installation Manager (checking for updates)  wants to download 35 to 125 GB of content because it is a "Mandatory Update".  

I've pointed the install packages path at every possible permutation of folder levels but Installation Manager insists on updating.  

Here is the folder structure the Steam Move created:

I:\SteamLibrary\SteamApps\Common\MicrosoftFlightSimulator  - at this level (MSFS) I find Community, Official, Packages, Published Packages folders  and the FlightSimulator.exe file

The Common level contains folders MSFS, Community, Downloading,Official,Shadercache,temp  with all folders being empty

The MSFS level (in the  Common Folder) contains folders Official, Packages, Published Packages

When I point the install path at the
SteamApps level - it wants to download 111.45GB
Common level -  it wants to download 111.45 GB
MSFS level - it wants to download 30.71 GB
Packages level - it wants to download 111.45 GB

Sim version 1.21.18.0 was working perfectly just prior to the Steam Move.  What do I do?  

I would like to get rid of the top three folder levels so the structure would be I:MicrosoftFlightSimulator

Does that make sense?

 



 

 

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D  / MSI X870 Tomahawk Mobo / 64 GB DDR5 memory / RTX 4070 Super with 12 GB VRAM / AORUS FO48U 4k display
 NVMe for Drive C, an NVMe device dedicated to Flight Sim 2024 and a separate NVMe device for Flight Sim 2020 and an NVMe dedicated to 500GB of addons managed by AddonsLinker   / 1 GB Comcast Xfinity Internet connection / HP Reverb G2 / Tobii 5 Head & Eye Tracking

 

18 minutes ago, TacomaSailor said:

I:\SteamLibrary\SteamApps\Common\MicrosoftFlightSimulator  - at this level (MSFS) I find Community, Official, Packages, Published Packages folders  and the FlightSimulator.exe file

Move only the Community and Official folders to I:\MicrosoftFlightSimulator. (I am assuming that both the Community and Official folders actually contain data).

Start MSFS. At the Checking for Updates screen, it should show that it wants to download a large amount of data. At the bottom right of that screen it should show a path and next to that a browse button. Click the browse button and navigate to the I:\MicrosoftFlightSimulator folder. Select that folder and go. It should find what it needs there and only download whatever might be missing.

...jim

ASUS Prime Z790-E, Intel i9 13900K, 32Gb DDR5 Ram, Nvidia 3090 24Gb, Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500 GB and 1 TB, Samsung Odyssey G9 Ultrawide 49" G-SYNC Monitor.

Ha you think Steam is complicated, you should try it with MS Store encrypting all the folders!

Is there really any benefit to moving the MFS from where you originally installed it, it sounds like pain for no gain? I've got my Community folder sat near the drive root and that's it, don't need to touch the rest so i can stay happily buried.

ckyliu, proud supporter of ViaIntercity.com. i5 12400F, 32GB, RTX4070, more in "About me" on my profile. 

support1.jpg

  • Author
6 hours ago, JimBrown said:

...Start MSFS. At the Checking for Updates screen, it should show that it wants to download a large amount of data. At the bottom right of that screen it should show a path and next to that a browse button. Click the browse button and navigate to the I:\MicrosoftFlightSimulator folder. Select that folder and go. It should find what it needs there and only download whatever might be missing.

I've done all you suggest but the Installation Manager still wants to download 30.71 GB.  

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D  / MSI X870 Tomahawk Mobo / 64 GB DDR5 memory / RTX 4070 Super with 12 GB VRAM / AORUS FO48U 4k display
 NVMe for Drive C, an NVMe device dedicated to Flight Sim 2024 and a separate NVMe device for Flight Sim 2020 and an NVMe dedicated to 500GB of addons managed by AddonsLinker   / 1 GB Comcast Xfinity Internet connection / HP Reverb G2 / Tobii 5 Head & Eye Tracking

 

16 hours ago, TacomaSailor said:

I've done all you suggest but the Installation Manager still wants to download 30.71 GB.  

At this point, I'd just let it do the download. At least it's not trying to download the entire thing. 😉

Don't forget to check your content manager for additional updates...

...jim

 

ASUS Prime Z790-E, Intel i9 13900K, 32Gb DDR5 Ram, Nvidia 3090 24Gb, Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500 GB and 1 TB, Samsung Odyssey G9 Ultrawide 49" G-SYNC Monitor.

  • Author

I took your advice and clicked on the Download 31GB button.  The sim showed downloading for about 4-seconds/3 files and was done.  When I go into Content Manager - I see everything installed and updated.

The sim runs perfectly now

AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D  / MSI X870 Tomahawk Mobo / 64 GB DDR5 memory / RTX 4070 Super with 12 GB VRAM / AORUS FO48U 4k display
 NVMe for Drive C, an NVMe device dedicated to Flight Sim 2024 and a separate NVMe device for Flight Sim 2020 and an NVMe dedicated to 500GB of addons managed by AddonsLinker   / 1 GB Comcast Xfinity Internet connection / HP Reverb G2 / Tobii 5 Head & Eye Tracking

 

1 hour ago, TacomaSailor said:

I took your advice and clicked on the Download 31GB button.  The sim showed downloading for about 4-seconds/3 files and was done.  When I go into Content Manager - I see everything installed and updated.

The sim runs perfectly now

Yay! Have fun!

...jim

 

ASUS Prime Z790-E, Intel i9 13900K, 32Gb DDR5 Ram, Nvidia 3090 24Gb, Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500 GB and 1 TB, Samsung Odyssey G9 Ultrawide 49" G-SYNC Monitor.

I think you were expecting problems and then "over thought" in anticipation. Your install folder is MSFS, all the folders are correct. 

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700F CPU @ 2.90GHz (8 cores) Hyper on, Evga RTX 3060 12 Gig, 32 GB ram, Windows 11, P3D v6, and MSFS 2020 and a couple of SSD's

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