PC How to (legally) play old versions of Terraria (even up to 1.0.0)

Treeniks

Treeniks

Terrarian
Outdated Notice
Most of this guide probably still works, but apparently Steam changed the way their Depots work a little bit. For Information on how to fix that, please look in the replies of this post. I haven't tried if any of those work myself, but once I will I might update the guide. Until then, please read through the replies.

What you need

How does it work?
The Terraria GameLauncher allows the downgrading to previous versions (including 1.0.0, 1.0.6.1, 1.1.2 and more), however this downgrading feature does not work since Terraria version 1.3, so the goal is to first downgrade Terraria to version 1.2.4.1, the last version GameLauncher's downgrading worked.

When I searched for ways to downgrade my Terraria version, I came across this nice post on the /r/Steam subreddit which explains how you can use the Steam console to download older versions of games.
Sadly, the versions you can get of Terraria with this method only goes back to December 31, 2013, yet 1.2 was released on September 30, 2013. So we cannot get 1.1 or 1.0 versions with this method, yet we can downgrade to 1.2.4.1, the last version GameLauncher's downgrading feature supported.
For Terraria, according to SteamDB, the App ID is 105600, Depot ID for Windows (sadly SteamDB doesn't seem to have any info on Mac and Linux versions) is 105601.
The different Manifests sadly don't state which version it actually is, however it does say a date. Comparing that to the Terraria Gamepedia Desktop Version history, which states that version 1.2.4.1 came out on the May 15, 2014, the closest manifest there is is from June 16, 2014 with the manifest ID 1270558334791485575.

So by downloading the Terraria 1.2.4.1 version with the steam console download_depot command, then installing the GameLauncher into our 1.2.4.1 Terraria version, we can make GameLauncher's downgrading feature work again.

Step by step
  1. BACKUP both your Terraria Installation and your Terraria Saves!
  2. Open the Steam Console
  3. Input this command:
    Code: 
    download_depot 105600 105601 1270558334791485575
  4. Wait for Steam to finish the download (since it's an old version, the download will be slow, you can see the speed on your downloads page). I would recommend restarting Steam before inputting the command, so you can see how much you've downloaded by looking at the "Total" Network Usage statistic on your downloads page, otherwise the Steam Console will tell you once your download is finished and where you can find it, too. For me it took around 30 minutes.
  5. Locate both your Terraria installation folder (if you don't have one yet, you will most likely have to download the game normally with Steam once since you will want to be able to press Launch inside Steam later on, though it might work without that as well, I haven't tested it) and your Depot download folder (it says where you can find it in the Steam Console after the download is finished).
  6. Clear the Terraria installation folder and copy paste everything from the depot download folder into the installation folder.
  7. Download and Launch the GameLauncher Installer from Tool - Game Launcher 3.2.1.5. It will ask for your Terraria executable, simply direct it to your 1.2.4.1 Terraria.exe you just copied into your Terraria installation folder in step 6. It might also say that it couldn't find a GameLauncher folder in your Saves folder, you can simply ignore that and go on with the installation.
  8. Start Terraria via Steam, it should open the GameLauncher. In there, you can use the "Downgrade Patches" option at the top to download whatever patch you want. It will then show up in the list and you can simply Launch the Game in the downgraded version.

GameLauncher creates a new Saves folder for each version, so your Characters and Worlds shouldn't interfere with any of the versions. However, it's always recommended to make a backup because it might still get corrupted in some weird ways.

EDIT: Changed the download links for GameLauncher
EDIT2: Outdated notice
 
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I want to clarify some things about this.

1. Doing any of the above is completely at your own risk. Do not expect Re-Logic or anyone on this forum to provide assistance or support for older versions.
2. Terraria Game Launcher is unsupported and has not been updated in quite a while. Do not expect help with that, either.
3. This still requires that you own a valid Steam version of the game on Windows. It does not work with the GOG version, nor does it (likely) work for Mac or Linux. 1.2.4 was before those versions existed.
4. The link to download Game Launcher is an AdFly link, and may cause issues with any AV software you have. Malwarebytes complained mightily about the link until I temporarily suspended it. We are not responsible for damage to your game/computer caused by attempting to download this.
5. DO NOT POST ANY PORTION OF ANY CONTENT FROM THESE DOWNLOAD LINKS (including Game Launcher) ON THIS FORUM. That includes but is not limited to: alternative links, archives of various version, executables, and DLLs. Such content will be removed if found and people may received warnings for doing so at the discretion of the Staff.

Once again, you assume all risks by attempting to do this. We do not recommend it for anyone.
 
Thank you man! I've always wanted to play Terraria 1.0.0, but didn't know how to. Yes I just made this account to give you a big thanks. That is how appreciative I am for this guide
 
Tunnel King said:
I want to clarify some things about this.

1. Doing any of the above is completely at your own risk. Do not expect Re-Logic or anyone on this forum to provide assistance or support for older versions.
2. Terraria Game Launcher is unsupported and has not been updated in quite a while. Do not expect help with that, either.
3. This still requires that you own a valid Steam version of the game on Windows. It does not work with the GOG version, nor does it (likely) work for Mac or Linux. 1.2.4 was before those versions existed.
4. The link to download Game Launcher is an AdFly link, and may cause issues with any AV software you have. Malwarebytes complained mightily about the link until I temporarily suspended it. We are not responsible for damage to your game/computer caused by attempting to download this.
5. DO NOT POST ANY PORTION OF ANY CONTENT FROM THESE DOWNLOAD LINKS (including Game Launcher) ON THIS FORUM. That includes but is not limited to: alternative links, archives of various version, executables, and DLLs. Such content will be removed if found and people may received warnings for doing so at the discretion of the Staff.

Once again, you assume all risks by attempting to do this. We do not recommend it for anyone.
Click to expand...

I'm confused. This thread is allowed to remain on the forums yet we are not allowed to share any portion of the content. Is it legal to play older versions or not?
 
Silmaril said:
I'm confused. This thread is allowed to remain on the forums yet we are not allowed to share any portion of the content. Is it legal to play older versions or not?
Click to expand...
I'm not a lawyer, but I don't think it's not legal. We don't think it's advisable, even though it is possible to do.

You're not permitted to share the results of this process on this forum, because that is contrary to the rules of this forum to do so.

What you do with your own computer/device is your business.
 
Tunnel King said:
I'm not a lawyer, but I don't think it's not legal. We don't think it's advisable, even though it is possible to do.

You're not permitted to share the results of this process on this forum, because that is contrary to the rules of this forum to do so.

What you do with your own computer/device is your business.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the extra clarification
 
This is nice. I just don't suggest force changing your Terraria directory if you don't know what you're doing. Aside from that, this is cool and good.
 
When I try to enter "download_depot 105600 105601 1270558334791485575" it does not download and all it says is "Depot download failed : Manifest not available". I have the Steam version of Terraria. Do I have to install GameLauncher prior to this?
 
HorizonAxis said:
When I try to enter "download_depot 105600 105601 1270558334791485575" it does not download and all it says is "Depot download failed : Manifest not available". I have the Steam version of Terraria. Do I have to install GameLauncher prior to this?
Click to expand...
Steam may well have changed how (and whether) this method works any longer. The original post was nearly 2 years ago.
 
Why do I have to still install a separate game launcher just to play older versions?
Why can't I downgrade to 1.4.0.3 manually with official software?
I JUST WANNA PLAY ON A :red:ING SERVER!
 
Steam broke something in Steam which is why it says manifest not available. You have to use another tool for it to work now: DepotDownloader

To use it, you need to edit the bat file provided in the repository like so:


Code: 
@echo off
dotnet %~dp0DepotDownloader.dll %* -username usernameHere -password passwordHere -app 105600 -depot 105601 -manifest 1270558334791485575

If you use Steam Guard, it will likely ask for an auth code from your email. You can enter that in when it asks for it.
 
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KSPortalcraft said:
Well you need depo downloader or old steam both will work
Click to expand...
Come to think of it, I would rather try restore the old classic textures by using a texture pack (if I can find any).

But still, I wish that Re-Logic would give access to older versions of the game, just like how you can download previous/experimental versions of Minecraft Java (using the launcher). A Terraria launcher would be amazing...
 
Screenshot (17).png
 
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