R21 test

Is it possible to install R21 test alongside the regular install?

 

Yes, it is.

Edit: If you play from Steam, you have to switch back and forth, installing either the QA build or the live build. But if you don't play from Steam, you have two separate installations, one for the R21 QA build and one for the live R20 build.

 

Cool. I only used stream until I learned that I didn't need it. I'll check it out when I get home.

 

I'd like to install QA separately and have my regular live version in Steam.
Is the separate installation able to use Steam credentials?

 

If you log in from Steam, you have the choice to use either your steam credentials or you SotA credentials.

If you log in from SotA, you can only use your SotA credentials.

It doesn't matter if you are logging in to live or QA.

Your situation isn't clear as I don't clearly understand what you mean by QA separately. If it means you are using Steam to access both live and QA then you will need to do a download as you bounce back and forth. Running the QA version through steam lets you use either sets of credentials.

There are way to many different install, login, steam versus SotA launcher to list them all here.

 

Thanks! What I meant is that I don't want to mess with my regular live installation, which uses Steam credentials. I want a completely separate QA installation, don't want to bounce back and forth.

In principle that should be possible, as the separate installation is just a set of binaries and associated game data (about 4-5GB total according to these instructions). However the issue is whether or not Steam based authentication is implemented in these binaries as well, and the answer appears to be no, so I'll just ignore the QA server stuff for now.

 

Steam will install SotA into its usual place under ...\steamapps. The standalone installers will install SotA to %programfiles%\SotA or %programfiles%\SotA(QA) folders depending on version. So technically you can have up to three separate installs of SotA: Steam (Live or QA), Standalone Live, Standalone QA. But just know that they might be sharing the same registry keys for settings.

 

So I just started playing yesterday so I have no idea what's going on.
Apparently I'm in 20 and today it seems absolutely deserted.
Do I need to download again from somewhere to play in 21?

 

R21 is due to release this coming Thursday. Currently if your pledge is of Dev+ level you can get in the QA version.

Also, it does seem to slowdown a bit in the days before a release. At the end of each month

 

R21 is only available on the QA server. It is an advance look for to dev+ members make sure that things are working as intended and that bugs are discovered before they reach the live server. This happens sometimes while a couple of weeks before the release to live, but usually the week before the next release is made available for this testing. That is where we are right now, getting ready for a release on Thursday.

Since a release is imminent, not to many people are probably playing right now on the live servers.

 

As @Sean Silverfoot has already indicated, it always gets quiet at the end of the month because most players are waiting for the new release to come out. You need do nothing special to download R21. Whenever a patch or new release is available, it is automatically downloaded when you launch the game.

If you are interested in obtaining the special R20 hat (each release has its own quest hat that players get to keep on their accounts), you have one day to get it and you need to talk to the Mechanical Tour Guide in Soltown. The hats aren't everyone's cup of tea, but they are collectors' items. Other players will be glad to help you out. You can add me to your friends list and whisper to me in-game if you need help.

 

Thanks for the info. The thing is, I have never needed to use SotA credentials for anything, even this forum is accessed using Steam credentials. And I'm generally rather reluctant to add Yet Another Authentication Scheme without a good reason -- the security maxim "if it is not broken, don't fix it" applies, plus my password manager already has so many entries that I sometimes have to use "search" functionality to find the correct one. But...maybe these are just lame excuses and I'm just plain old lazy
OK I'll cave in and just create the separate credentials, can't resist the QA Siren's call

EDIT: Separate installs (regular live on Steam using Steam credentials and QA as a separate install using SotA crededentials) seem to work well, maybe even concurrently (have to install another 8GB RAM stick to test that).