HELLO EVERYONE
TL;DR:
Newly uploaded workshop levels can't be played online, the level download function on the server returns with an error code that says "fail".
It does not do this for existing workshop levels, only workshop levels that got uploaded after June 20, it appears.
I strongly suspect this is an issue on Steam's end, and I have opened a support ticket and I'm awaiting their reply.
Long version:
So last friday, the 21st, someone on my Discord made a bug report that they couldn't play their newly uploaded workshop level.
At first I expected this to be a fluke, a weird accident, so I tried it out myself. I made a new level, uploaded it to the workshop, and tried to load it online.
Nothing. I got an error that said "failed to load level".
That was strange, so I dove into the server log.
The way Zeepkist loads levels online is the client (you, the player) sends a Workshop ID to the server, which the server then downloads from Steam, and passes back to the players. This ensures everyone has the exact same level at all times, and it's quicker than having each player individually download workshop levels on their local computer (which also gave other issues in the past).
So Zeepkist does this by calling a function called DownloadItem. DownloadItem then returns true or false, as well as an error code called EResult. In the case of my newly uploaded level, it returned the following error code:
2 - k_EResultFail
The download just failed, whereas all other existing levels worked fine.
I searched the Steam API for further clues, and it described 2 - k_EResultFail as follows:
Generic failure.
Super duper useful (not).
It was at this point that I felt out of options, and I opened a Steam support ticket. It was just the beginning of the weekend so nobody on Steam's end has been online yet.
As of writing I'm still waiting for their reply, and I'll keep you informed of course.
I did some further digging, because the Zeepkist server also keeps special "Steam Workshop Logs". In those, I again found my level's Workshop ID, and found the following errors:
unpack failed (suspended)
unpack failed (corrupt download)
I updated my support request with these new findings.
All I know is the following:
I did not change anything
From one moment to the next, certain workshop levels stopped working
Rebooting the server did not fix it
The server has not run out of storage space (this happened once, I wrote a fix for it)
Workshop levels clearly still work, because the server will download old existing levels happily and fine
For some reason, there's one user on the Discord who seems unaffected by the whole thing, and he can upload new levels fine & everyone can play them fine in online
I strongly suspect Steam broke a tiny little thing on their workshop download servers, but I have no way to confirm that of course. I'll need to wait for support to get back to me.
For the time being, all we can do is wait.
In the meantime, I'm going to carefully start researching ways to circumvent Steam workshop downloading altogether, but I can't make any promises here yet.
I will keep you informed of developments as they unfold.
I'm sorry for the inconvenience :(
- Yannic