For some speedrun categories such as 209.4%, runners might want to use an older version of FEZ to take advantage of bugs that have since been patched out. Unfortunately, versions other than 1.12 (and 1.11 through the steam betas tab) are difficult to obtain. The old way to do so was to use the 1.07 patch on the speedrun.com resources page, but that requires you to own FEZ on gog, on which FEZ is no longer being sold.
This guide will go over how to get FEZ 1.07 if you own the game on Steam. It will also show you how to get any other version of the game you might want, and for any platform (but this guide focuses on getting 1.07 on Windows).
To be able to get FEZ 1.07, we will use the tool DepotDownloader. This tool allows you to download specific files and versions of games from Steam using an account that owns that game.
DISCLAIMER: I am not the author of DepotDownloader. As you will see soon, you will be required to put your Steam username and password into this tool using the command line. I am not responsible for any damages this may cause. (Though this tool is open source and so it's probably not going to steal your stuff. Just in case though. Not my fault.)
To know which file IDs to use to download FEZ 1.07, we will get that info from SteamDB. By searching for FEZ, we can open its page and get all the info we need. If all you need is the 1.07 version of FEZ on Windows, then you don't need to visit this page. But if you want another version or are on another platform, these pages will be of use to you. Under "Depots" of this page, select which platform you want (Windows = "FEZ Content", Linux = "FEZ Linux", Mac = "FEZ OSX"), and note the Depot ID. Then, on the left, click "manifests" (the page for Windows). From this page, each manifest you see is a different version of FEZ. They are not labelled, but with some trial and error and looking at the dates, you can find which version you want.
For 1.07 on Windows, all you need to know is:
- App ID = 224760
- Depot ID = 224761
- Manifest ID = 2619373023682935989
Ok, so what are the actual steps we need to take? Well, they're relatively simple, but require you to use the Windows command line. It's ok if you're not familar with command lines - I'll guide you through all the steps you need.
- Download DepotDownloader from the releases page. As of writing, the latest version is DepotDownloader 2.4.5, so you'll want to download
depotdownloader-2.4.5.zip. Extract the contents of the zip somewhere, for exampleC:\DepotDownloader. - Open a command prompt. You can do this by pressing the Windows key and typing "cmd" and pressing enter.
- In the command prompt, type
cdfollowed by the path to where you extracted DepotDownloader. In my example, I would typecd C:\DepotDownloader. When you've typed that in, press enter.- Optional - to make sure DepotDownloader is working, just type
DepotDownloader.exeand hit enter. You should see a lot of help text, not a message saying that it is not recognized.
- Optional - to make sure DepotDownloader is working, just type
- Here is where we will type the command to make DepotDownloader download the version of FEZ that we want. The command will look like:
DepotDownloader.exe -app <APP ID> -depot <DEPOT ID> -manifest <MANIFEST ID> -username <YOUR STEAM USERNAME> -password <YOUR STEAM PASSWORD>
Replace all the items in <> brackets with the app id, depot id, manifest id, and your steam credentials as specified.
For FEZ 1.07, the command will look like:
DepotDownloader.exe -app 224760 -depot 224761 -manifest 2619373023682935989 -username <YOUR STEAM USERNAME> -password <YOUR STEAM PASSWORD>
Again, you will need to enter in your actual steam credentials, replacing the text in <>.
- If you have Steam guard enabled, then the command line program will ask you to enter in your Steam guard code. Type it in and press enter.
- Assuming you did everything correctly, it should download FEZ 1.07 (or whatever version) into the
depotsfolder! Go into the depots folder, then keep going in the folders with all the numbers, and you should see the FEZ files withFEZ.exe. In my example, it would be inC:\DepotDownloader\depots\224761\1493264. - Run the game and have fun!
- Note: Even when I had Steam running, it complained to me that "This version of FEZ needs Steam to be running". If you have this issue, then right click on FEZ.exe and create a shortcut. Right click on the shortcut you just created and select Properties. At the very end of the "Target" property, add the text " --no-steamworks" (note the space). So, it should read something like
C:\DepotDownloader\depots\224761\1493264\FEZ.exe --no-steamworks. Running that shortcut should get the game running with no errors!
- Note: Even when I had Steam running, it complained to me that "This version of FEZ needs Steam to be running". If you have this issue, then right click on FEZ.exe and create a shortcut. Right click on the shortcut you just created and select Properties. At the very end of the "Target" property, add the text " --no-steamworks" (note the space). So, it should read something like
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions. I am on the FEZ speedrunning discord, I am thearst3rd#1679. Or, feel free to message me on speedrun.com (might not see that immediately), or on GitHub, or just whatever :)