Is Substance Designer steam version to standalone still possible?

[dmitrys93269390]

Hello. 

I used Steam version back in the day (around 2017), but it had that nasty bug then SD was closing incorrectly and couldn't be started again without manually killing Steam process first. Nice Allegorithmic support folks helped me move to standalone version which didn't have that bug.

While doing my research I was surprised to find a post from 2021 describing this exact same bug at old SD forum.

I'm thinking of getting SD2022 on Steam since it's the only way to keep it and wonder if:
1) is this bug still around in new version?

2) if so, is there any plans to fix it or it's something out of your control, say caused by Steam client and thus will remain in Steam SD version forever?

3) in any case, is it still possible to buy SD on Steam, but use standalone version instead? my concern is that new licence system might have ruined this possibility too and it's simply impossible now or standalone version would "decay" and stop working in 2033.

[Peru Bob]

Moved to the Substance forum.

[Luca Giarrizzo]

Hello Dmitry,

First, thank you for your trust over the years! We hope Substance 3D Designer has evolved in a way which is exciting for you.

1) Please provide more information regarding this bug, such as the exact steps leading to the issue, the state of Designer at the time it is closed, and a link to the post from 2021 you mentioned.

2) I should be able to assess this with the information from 1).

3) We are moving away from our standalone versions to retain the Steam (perpetual) and Adobe Substance 3D Texturing/Collection (subscription) offers only. More information in the FAQ section of the Substance3d.com website. Regardless, I will do my best to assist you in getting the Steam versions running reliably!

I appreciate your patience!

Best regards,

[dmitrys93269390]

Hello, Luca.

I tried to reinstall SD5 to check if it will reproduce on my current system and describe step by step, but it closes on start (right after splashscreen, before loading main window) without warnings and I don't see any logs in installation folder so unfortunately all I can provide is description from memory:

I started SD5, worked for a while and closed it. After this I wasn't able to run SD5 again or close Steam because Steam was sure SD5 application is still running. Judging by my own posts that I found in one of threads linked below, I had to kill Steam process so I guess there was no SD process showing in task manager.

There wasn't anything noticeable triggering it from what I can tell. Program just wasn't closing properly or Steam wasn't aware of it for some reason.

It goes back to 2013 from what I could find. Don't know if it's the same persistant bug or few different issues with similar symptom. Few threads have devs replying so someone should be aware of it (maybe Wes remembers it) or possibly it could be found in your bugtracker.

2021 Steam License - Exit Issues

2019 Substance Designer Steam version shows running even after closing

2015 When quitting, designer.exe continues running in the background.

2013 Substance not closing properly

2013 Substance designer process won't end

Hope that helps.

[Luca Giarrizzo]

Hello Dmitry,

Thank you for the additional information. What kind of graph were you working on when the issue occurred? Was it an intensive Substance graph, a Substance model graph, or something else?

It is possible Substance 3D Designer appears as still running in Steam because a Substance engine calculation is still running in the background, which keeps Designer's process running even when the main window is closed. This calculation may be related to the graph you were working on when closing, or rendering the thumbnails of the Library.

When you experience this issue again, open the Task manager and check if a Substance 3D Designer or sbsrender process is running as well as its CPU usage. This should correlate with a rendering calculation occurring in the background.

Best regards.

[dmitrys93269390 · Accepted solution]

When I had it, it was pretty persistant. Not sure how to measure graph complexity - in my opinion my graphs were always quite simple, though might have been intense for hardware at that time(weak GPU, low VRAM).

Anyways, I bear good news. Just bought SD2022.

Tried starting and closing right after that and running with actual node creating. So far, so good - application is getting closed and runs again after that as expected.

If "exit bug" will occur later on, I'll add more info in this thread.

[Luca Giarrizzo]

Hello Dmitry,

I am glad everything is going smoothly with our latest versions! I appreciate your continued trust in our tools.

Indeed, feel free to get back to me if you experience any issue. Have fun!

Best regards.