This guide will allow you to install the Public Preview version of Obduction without overwriting the stable version of the game in Steam. It is based on this guide for the game Insurgency, which I have not played. This guide was written for Windows 10 but should work for Windows 7 and 8 as well. Instructions for Mac OS X and Linux will vary.

MAKE SURE YOUR REGULAR STEAM CLIENT IS COMPLETELY CLOSED WHEN INSTALLING/UPDATING YOUR SEPARATE PUBLIC PREVIEW INSTALLATION.

SteamCMD is the command-line version of the Steam client. Download it from this page:

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

Extract the file steamcmd.exe and place it in a permanent folder somewhere. The Public Preview installation will reside in a subfolder.

As an example, you might create a folder named SteamCMD in the root directory of your hard drive. In that case, SteamCMD will be located at C:\SteamCMD\steamcmd.exe.

Launch steamcmd.exe and let it update. When it is finished log in to your Steam account by typing the following:


Replace USERNAME with your username and PASSWORD with your password. If you have two-factor authentication enabled, enter your Steam Guard code when prompted.

Close steamcmd.exe.

Create a text file in the same folder as steamcmd.exe and give it a unique name (like obduction_publicpreview.txt). Copy and paste this text into the file:


Again, replace USERNAME with your username and PASSWORD with your password. Also replace PATH with the absolute path where you want to install the public preview.

For example, PATH might be C:\SteamCMD\steamapps\obduction_publicpreview.

Save the file and exit.

Create a shortcut of steamcmd.exe and place it somewhere easily accessible. Right-click the shortcut, click Properties, and add this to the Target field:


SCRIPT.txt should be the name of the text file you created in Step 3.

For example, your Target field might read:

As stated at the beginning of this guide, MAKE SURE YOUR REGULAR STEAM CLIENT IS COMPLETELY CLOSED WHEN INSTALLING/UPDATING YOUR SEPARATE PUBLIC PREVIEW INSTALLATION.

Launch the shortcut you created, and the Public Preview version of Obduction will download. If an update is released, simply launch the shortcut again, and it will update the Public Preview automatically.

Close steamcmd.exe.

You can launch the Public Preview of Obduction in two ways:

1. Directly: Go to the absolute path you specified in your script and launch Obduction.exe.

2. Via your regular Steam client: Click on the Games menu at the top of the Steam window, click Add a Non-Steam Game to My Library, and use the BROWSE... button to locate your Public Preview installation. It will now appear in your Steam games list. Remember to rename it so you don't confuse it with your stable installation.

Now you have both the stable release of Obduction as well as the Public Preview version! The Public Preview will not update unless you launch the steamcmd.exe shortcut you created. Steamcmd.exe validates the current installation before trying to download again, so it will not try to update the Public Preview unless an update has really been released.

Obduction on Steam has two beta branches: the Public Preview and Version 1.0.1. You may use this same method to install Version 1.0.1 by replacing publicpreview with version1.1 in the script you created. (Yes, writing "version1.1" will install Version 1.0.1.)