As described in our Roundup , due to SteamPipe a lot of Source mods are in a pretty dire state right now. Whilst there is a lot of information on the topic in various places, the aim of this post is to provide a general fix for Half-Life 2, Episode 2 and Portal 1 that you can use to easily patch up the majority of the casualties and get them limping back into action.

The first step is to download and install the mod as usual, placing the folder in the Steam\SteamApps\sourcemods directory. Now load up Steam and try it out, as some mods such as those using an SDK Base and new releases may be unaffected.

If you’re not in luck, this is where things can get tricky. Navigate to the mod folder and open the gameinfo.txt file. Gameinfo.txt tells Steam all the content that needs to be loaded. The issue is that thanks to SteamPipe, the locations of these files have changed.

You need to determine which base game the mod is for – Half-Life 2, Episode One or Episode Two. If you don’t already know, you can look at the SteamAppId tag: 420 is Episode 2, 380 is Episode 1, 400 is Portal and 220 is HL2.

Once you’ve worked that out, select everything from the SearchPaths header downwards, and delete. Copy and paste the code below in its place, choosing the correct one for your mod.

For Half-Life 2: Episode 2

SearchPaths { game+mod |gameinfo_path|. platform |gameinfo_path|. game_lv hl2/hl2_lv.vpk game+mod ep2/ep2_english.vpk game+mod ep2/ep2_pak.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|episodic/ep1_english.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|episodic/ep1_pak.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_english.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_pak.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_textures.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_sound_vo_english.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_sound_misc.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_misc.vpk platform |all_source_engine_paths|platform/platform_misc.vpk mod+mod_write+default_write_path |gameinfo_path|. game+game_write |gameinfo_path|. gamebin episodic/bin game |all_source_engine_paths|episodic game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2 platform |all_source_engine_paths|platform } } }

For Half-Life 2

SearchPaths { game+mod |gameinfo_path|. platform |gameinfo_path|. game_lv hl2/hl2_lv.vpk game+mod hl2/hl2_sound_vo_english.vpk game+mod hl2/hl2_pak.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_textures.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_sound_misc.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_misc.vpk platform |all_source_engine_paths|platform/platform_misc.vpk mod+mod_write+default_write_path |gameinfo_path|. game+game_write |gameinfo_path|. gamebin hl2/bin game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2 platform |all_source_engine_paths|platform } } }

For Portal

SearchPaths { game+mod |gameinfo_path|. platform |gameinfo_path|. game_lv hl2/hl2_lv.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|portal/portal_pak.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|episodic/ep1_pak.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_english.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_pak.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_textures.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_sound_vo_english.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_sound_misc.vpk game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2/hl2_misc.vpk platform |all_source_engine_paths|platform/platform_misc.vpk mod+mod_write+default_write_path |gameinfo_path|. game+game_write |gameinfo_path|. gamebin portal/bin game |all_source_engine_paths|portal game |all_source_engine_paths|hl2 platform |all_source_engine_paths|platform } } }

What this code does is give Steam the various new file locations for Source engine content, inside the .VPK files that are now used to save it more efficiently.

Now, close and restart Steam and load the mod from your Library. With any luck, the mod should now be loaded and and running correctly.

Whilst this method has been tested on a lot of mods, it is far from perfect and there are undoubtedly many mods which will require more work to repair. A working fix for Episode One mods has not yet been found. You can also check the sources at the bottom of this post for further help. Please leave a comment to let us know what mods you have got working, any problems you have encountered, or perhaps a better solution to fixing things.

Article Sources

Steam User Discussions – SteamPipe fix for HL2 and EP2 mods, SourceMods (HL2 & Portal); PlanetPhillip.com – Steampipe and current issues