This guide contains info about Testlive and explains how you can switch back and forth between Live and Testlive without having to re-download the game every time.
Contents
Introduction
Skip down to the last two sections for the instructions on switching. The first few sections here explain what Testlive is, why one should play it, and the differences between Testlive and Live server versions.
Conan Exiles has two different versions of the game available to the public:
- Live
- Testlive
What is Testlive?
Paraphrasing Funcom Community Manager Jens Erik, Testlive is a version of the game where we and you, the community, can stress test upcoming game patches before they’re rolled out to the main, live version of the game.
Testlive builds can be played online on an official Funcom server, on a community server (AKA unofficial), or offline locally. The Testlive server may be reset constantly, so don’t get too attached to your progress there.
If you’re an admin on a private server and want to help us stress test these patches you can install the Testlive build to your server. As long as your players are running the same build they’ll be able to get in and play. Keep in mind that you’re running Testlive builds on your own risk. The builds can be incredibly buggy and prone to breaking. They may also destroy your server’s database or make characters unplayable.
Difference Between Testlive and Live?
There are a few differences between Testlive and Live. You have probably experienced the game on Live already so I am going to stick to the Testlive differences here. If you have more questions, feel free to ask in the comments at the bottom and I’ll do my best to answer them!
In comparison to Live, Testlive may experience:
- More frequent restarts
- More frequent resets (wipes)
- More bugs
- More game breaking issues
- Unplayable characters
While a “community” of Testlive players certainly can exist, the game play may at times be quite a bit different than what players on Live experience simply because the Testlive version is prone to more wipes. So rather than being focused on long term goals and BIG building plans, the mindset on a Testlive server is typically more focused on testing, experimenting, trying to break things and having fun in many other creative ways.
Having a group of players can help a LOT in this area! And that’s why we need more players on Testlive — to help test things!
Why Play Testlive?
Because we need your help!
Some things can be tested solo but there are a lot of things that can not be tested without the help of more people! Combat and PVP being the biggest example of that.
On community servers like mine, PVP is done for testing rather than land claim or property disputes. That doesn’t mean that fun is not had by all, it just means that we have fun in a different way on Testlive — in the spirit of testing!
Historically, one of the coolest attractions to playing on test servers is that you get to play new content before anyone else, and that is true with Conan Exiles as well. Even if your main server is a normal server, it can still be really fun to log on to a test server and check out all the new stuff!
Testlive gets patches and updates more frequently, which often means new content before it is pushed to Live servers! Of course, the reason we get this new content first is to help test it. Part of testing is reporting bugs and game play issues.
In this forum Funcom announces new patches and updates that are pushed to the Testlive servers. Our feedback as ‘testers’ are welcome in the thread with the latest patch notes.
There is also a work-around to be able to switch back and forth between Testlive and Live, if the idea of playing Testlive sounds interesting, but you don’t want to fully commit to a Testlive server or spend all of your time there. More on that later!
Can I Play Both Versions?
It’s possible!
I run a community Testlive server so I’m one of the people that are crazy enough to call a Testlive server their “home” server. But I like to visit other players servers too, whether it’s to help admin or lend a hand, to attend player events and capture pictures or video, or just visit a friend.
However, this is where things start to get tricky!
Currently, when you switch versions of the game your steam client makes you download a different version of the game. Which is fine if you plan to spend all of your time on one version of the game.
But if you go to switch back to the other version of the game, you have to re-download that version of the game again. In other words, the way it works right now is you have to re-download the game every time you switch versions.
However, there is a “work-around” for this!
I know, it is not ideal but it’s all we have to work with right now, and it’s not that hard to do.
Here’s the basics:
- Install two versions of the game in separate folders.
- Rename the folder of version you don’t need at the moment to something else.
- Adjust the Beta option in your steam client accordingly.
Sounds easy, right? It is, and I’ll explain how to do that next!
Work-around to Switch Back and Forth
This will require that you install two separate versions of the game (Testlive and Live). While it doesn’t sound ideal for switching back and forth between versions, it’s currently the easiest way without having to re-download the game every time you want to switch versions.
In order to accomplish this, we will start by installing two versions.
Navigate to your Conan Exiles game folder. For example, mine is located here:
- C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Conan Exiles
Right click on the folder ConanSandbox and click copy. Then right click on an open space in the same window and click paste. This will create a complete copy of your current game installation. Once the copy is completely finished, right click on the copy and choose ‘rename’ and rename your folder ConanSandbox(Live) or something similar to distinguish it different from the original folder name.
The important part to note here is that when you click “play” in Steam, Steam will update and load Conan Exiles only from the original folder name (ConanSandbox).
What this means now is that you have two copies of the game, use the original folder name (ConanSandbox) to tell steam which folder contains the version of the game you want to load/play.
This means you’ll have to rename the folder not in use. I use the names ConanSandbox(Testlive) or ConanSandbox(Live) to easily identify which folder is the renamed folder. It doesn’t matter what you re-name it to, as long as it’s different from the original folder name (ConanSandbox).
Remember each time you want to switch versions of the game, you will need to change folder name and the ‘Beta’ game option in your steam library to match which version of the game you want to load before launching..
Directions on how to change your Beta option for the game is in the next section!
How to Switch Beta Options
To switch Beta options:
- Open your steam client and click on the library tab.
- Right-click on conan exiles in your game list and choose properties.
- Click on the betas tab in the new window that pops up.
- Click the drop down menu. You’ll see two options: (“None” is the Live version of Conan Exiles. “Testlive -” is the Testlive version of game).
- Select your preferred option in the drop down menu and click close.
Written by Veronica.
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