Bug/Issue [PC-Steam] Can't get the game to launch from a network drive if it hasn't ran the installation steps

Hi,

I've got a Directory Junction on one of my local drives to a network drive and that's where I store my Steam Library since I don't have as much storage on this computer as I'd like (it's a laptop).

So to get to my steam library, I go to \SteamLibrary\<path to games>. However, that path leads to a network drive (i.e. to get to it manually, you'd go to \\<ip address>\<share path>.

A Directory Junction is a feature of the NT File System (NTFS) that Windows uses. It's just a redirect in all intents and purposes. An example use case is that a program will only work if installed to the C:/ drive, but you don't have enough space. So you create a Directory Junction on the C:/ drive with the path C:/path. However this redirects to /path. So the files are actually stored on the / drive, but the program uses them by accessing the C:/path directory.

"Why not just mount that path normally to a drive letter?"

Because Steam doesn't let you create Steam Libraries on Network Drives. It can tell the difference when you mount the path to a drive letter, but it cannot when you create a Directory Junction.

"Why would you expect this game to work with that method?"

Because other games do. Here's a list of games I've tested that work doing this:

• Battlefield Bad Company 2
• Disgaea PC
• Titan Souls
• LISA
• Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition

Etc etc.

However, when I start Stardew Valley after installing it through Steam to this network share, the game doesn't initialize past the final Installation Step. It starts with "Steps 1 of 3" and seems to complete all 3, but then the game closes without the window ever appearing.

Specifically, this is what I see happen when I try to start the game again:

1. I click Play.
2. User Account Control asks if Steam is allowed to make changes to my computer (this is normal).
3. The Steam Game Installation box comes up doing Step 1 of 1 (the first time it did 3 steps).
4. The game in Steam turns green and says "Running" status.
5. A second or two later, the game goes to "Syncing" status.
6. It immediately then goes to white and the game window never appears.

"How do you know it's not your computer lacking the requirements?"

If I install the game to the Steam Library on my C:/ drive instead, it runs just fine and rerunning doesn't make it retry the installation step.

I realize this is a niche use case, but I don't understand why it wouldn't be able to get past the last installation step from the Network Drive.

After running it from my C:/ drive, then moving it back to the Network Drive, the game runs fine since I assume it's made it past the installation step it couldn't complete.