Steam + patches + very long running games

[CodeMichael]

I'm pretty sure the answer to my question will be something long the lines of "install AI War outside of steam and patch manually" but I just wanted to check and see if there was another solution that I hadn't thought of.

I have some friends that I play AI Wars with, but due to busy lives we don't always get to play very often or very long.  One problem we've bumped into is that we end up getting patches that modify our play styles mid-games.  We generally like said patches, but when you've been playing a game and relying on certain units to function a certain way (one word: transports), it can be disruptive.  Since steam auto updates we've had this happen at least twice (we've had a game going since march).  It's not a problem beyond that single game.  I just wanted to know if there was another way to deal with the issue besides having a separate install or if that is the best option.

Please note, I love the patches, I love the changes.  This is just an odd problem that arises when you start a map and have the game get patched several time over the course of play.

[rubikscube]

true, even though they just install official patches.

This is definetely a steam problem as they should notice us when they update a game , even it's a "must have update, if you don't you're not allowed to run the game, namely valve games"

As for the solution, well, downloading outside steam is ok  as a good solution.

[Trezamere]

Right click the game in steam -> properties -> updates -> change it to not update

[CodeMichael]

Ahhh, excellent, thank you very much.