Yeah iirc you could use a command line option to prohibit the steam update (step 3 in your process), but this feels very familiar.
For reference I looked up the tool I mentioned
https://steamcommunity.com/app/353370/discussions/1/65161932...
https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images...
But good to know that someone bothered to publish the written down instructions.