Download steam games without Steam?

[Squishy Senpai]

This is my first post so hopefully I'm doing this right. This requires a little background. I just bought an ROG Ally and want to install games on it. Thing is, I'm a trucker and only go home a few times a year. That means I'm stuck using mobile data for pretty much everything. 

 

I have a 100GB tethering cap on my plan. To avoid hitting that, I download larger files directly to my phone then transfer them to my tablet, laptop etc. Is there a way for me to download a game outside of steam, then import it into steam? Even if it means grabbing a pirated copy (I'm paying in steam) and somehow importing it into steam once I've paid for the game?

 

For the record, I'm wanting to do this with Stray.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

[Isxaly]

I would suggest using public libraries to download your games. Libraries have been one of the most reliable public wifi for me personally.

Some of the state of the art libraries even have private booths to do your business in.

 

Depending on your driving routes, of course.

.

[Squishy Senpai]

3 minutes ago, Isxaly said:

I would suggest using public libraries to download your games. Libraries have been one of the most reliable public wifi for me personally.

Some of the state of the art libraries even have private booths to do your business in.

 

Depending on your driving routes, of course.

 

The harder part is finding a library with a lot big enough for a semi. I was considering doing something similar at a Starbucks when I have some down time. I have an idea I want to try but it'll probably be a few days before I get the chance. I'll post an update once I try it.

[SorryBella]

1 hour ago, Squishy Senpai said:

Even if it means grabbing a pirated copy

Never heard of anyone successfully doing that without going for uncracked uncompressed version which is hard to find because theyre large and quite useless for the community.

[demonix00]

According to steam, stray only requires 10GB which is way less then your data cap.

 

And considering that steam does allow local transfer of game installs, there's nothing stopping you from getting a low power craptop along with a few external SSDs (just not the fake kind from China) and having your own steam game server to install games onto the Ally whenever you need as long as you install the games onto the drives before you head out on the road and if you can find a place to download new games when or after you purchase them then that would be a bonus since where you are away from said access point the only thing your phone will have to play the part of is outside of the locally connected devices is steam authentication and DRM checks.

[Stahlmann]

Download the games when at home and use steam's offline mode when out and about.

 

And you can add non-steam games installed on the device to your library by pressing the plus sign at the bottom left in the library. That includes pirated games for example.

[trufret]

If you have a friend with a decent interent connection( 1 GB fiber), have them download the games onto their PC and then do a backup in steam and put that backup file on an ftp server. Download the backup from the ftp to your phone and transfer the file to the tablet, then do a restore in steam and it will install the game.  Its a round about way of doing things but it works.

[Mark Kaine]

On 6/18/2023 at 4:49 AM, Squishy Senpai said:

Is there a way for me to download a game outside of steam, then import it into steam?

whats the point of that? you'd still be data capped.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

[TomChaai]

It is possible for Steam to discover local game files instead of downloading them directly. 

 

you can ask a friend to download them for you then copy to your computer, this massively reduces the need for you to download directly via your account. 
 

The next step is to obtain such friend and work out the logistics to let them download games at home, but deliver the drive to you. 

[maestro_it]

There is the official SteamCMD command line tool for Steam, which allows you to download games and apps:

https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamCMD

 

but still, you need a PC, not a mobile device. which means you can even have Steam installed rather than using steamcmd.

 

a workaround could be to have an online server somewhere (amazon, linode) where you have ssh access, download the game with steamcmd, compress to a zip file, then open a web server and download it to your phone, long workaround but could work.

[Avocado Diaboli]

On 6/21/2023 at 6:04 AM, Mark Kaine said:

whats the point of that? you'd still be data capped.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Read the original post more closely. They have a tethering cap. That means they probably have unlimited data while just downloading files to their phone but not when using their phone as a hotspot to download files to connected devices. So OP's idea is to download files to their phone with their unlimited data and copy them to the ROG Ally.

 

Honestly, @Squishy Senpai, the best idea is probably to just switch carriers to one that allows unlimited tethering data, instead of looking for workarounds.

[Mark Kaine]

2 hours ago, Avocado Diaboli said:

They have a tethering cap.

yeah, i missed that... makes more sense then... so they would need a device (a tablet maybe?) where they could actually dl steam games (what about steam "app"?), or indeed a provider without tethering cap.

[Squishy Senpai]

On 6/19/2023 at 1:57 AM, demonix00 said:

According to steam, stray only requires 10GB which is way less then your data cap.

 

And considering that steam does allow local transfer of game installs, there's nothing stopping you from getting a low power craptop along with a few external SSDs (just not the fake kind from China) and having your own steam game server to install games onto the Ally whenever you need as long as you install the games onto the drives before you head out on the road and if you can find a place to download new games when or after you purchase them then that would be a bonus since where you are away from said access point the only thing your phone will have to play the part of is outside of the locally connected devices is steam authentication and DRM checks.

That's not really solving my problem. I was looking for a way to download the files directly,using non tethering data to my phone which is unlimited, then transfer it to my Ally or something along those lines. I had some down time and hit a Starbucks while shopping at Best Buy so I'm good for now.

 

On 6/20/2023 at 5:46 PM, Stahlmann said:

Download the games when at home and use steam's offline mode when out and about.

 

And you can add non-steam games installed on the device to your library by pressing the plus sign at the bottom left in the library. That includes pirated games for example.

I think you missed the part where I'm rarely home. I'm there less than three weeks of the year. I've figured out another option, it's just not ideal.

 

On 6/25/2023 at 4:27 PM, Avocado Diaboli said:

Read the original post more closely. They have a tethering cap. That means they probably have unlimited data while just downloading files to their phone but not when using their phone as a hotspot to download files to connected devices. So OP's idea is to download files to their phone with their unlimited data and copy them to the ROG Ally.

 

Honestly, @Squishy Senpai, the best idea is probably to just switch carriers to one that allows unlimited tethering data, instead of looking for workarounds.

Sadly, unlimited tethering is not a thing here. I'm paying extra already to max my cap (100 GB). Just downloading GTA or Cyberpunk, plus regular streaming and video downloads would easily send me over the cap. I've found another option, just requires some money I was trying to avoid spending. But oh well, that's life on the road.

[LogicalDrm]

I think your best option is to setup network drive at your home PC and connect remotely to that. Both the PC to download new games to that network drive and then your phone/Ally to copy any game folders from that network drive. As you need Steam to download Steam games, but it doesn't matter what Steam is the one that does downloads. Or whose it is. Just like the Steam cache LMG uses. All games, regardless of whether account has rights to play or not.

[Gork]

On 6/27/2023 at 2:23 PM, Squishy Senpai said:

That's not really solving my problem. I was looking for a way to download the files directly,using non tethering data to my phone which is unlimited, then transfer it to my Ally or something along those lines. I had some down time and hit a Starbucks while shopping at Best Buy so I'm good for now.

 

I think you missed the part where I'm rarely home. I'm there less than three weeks of the year. I've figured out another option, it's just not ideal.

 

Sadly, unlimited tethering is not a thing here. I'm paying extra already to max my cap (100 GB). Just downloading GTA or Cyberpunk, plus regular streaming and video downloads would easily send me over the cap. I've found another option, just requires some money I was trying to avoid spending. But oh well, that's life on the road.

 

Why hasn't anyone asked you what kind of games you like to play first? I'm going out on a limb here. I suspect knowing more details like:

What kinds of games do you like to play? do you make pitstops places that do have highspeed internet for you to use?

Since you're not at home much have you tried pokemon type games?  Not just pokemongo, but a light to download off steam derpy fun game. That is if oldschool type of games is your thing.

 

And how on earth do you avoid abject boredom looking at nothing but long stretches of road? lol  

[NobleGamer]

 

On 6/17/2023 at 10:49 PM, Squishy Senpai said:

I have a 100GB tethering cap on my plan.

I have 5G home internet with Tmobile, used 200GB so far this month, and can still stream video to a 4K TV. So they haven't throttled me yet.

 

It might be great for downloads (using methods others suggested) & heavy usage during stops. I say stops, because I have no idea if the modem/router works ok on the go like a phone can.

 

Your speeds and coverage may vary from mine (100/10 max mbps) as I live rural. My sign up tip is that if you cannot sign up online, go to a 3rd party store (some have the Tmobile branding but say they're operated by another company), and they'll be more motivated to sell you home internet so they make $, even if you aren't in an ideal service area like me. I have 2-3 coverage bars out of 5 for 5G UC.

[ItsJohnny]

I remember there used to be volunteers who had large collection of game downloads and would be giving the local download files to people who had data caps. So one would visit these gentlemen, get the files on a flash drive, put it on their own Steam folders and let Steam recognize the files. Maybe see if the regions you visit has such a network.