So here I am thinking Ive got 20 mins free, Ill play Battlefield from home, go to join a server and realise I need a new patch. That doesnt bother me, after all I have ADSL, so I go the games website, and downlaod the smaller (incrememntal) patch.
Its TWENTY EIGHT MEG.
WTF is going on here? this is an incrememntal patch? what on earth is so wrong with the game that it needs corrections equivilant in filesize to twenty eight copies of War And Peace?
I can understand a few bugs being fixed by a new executable ( 3 or 4 meg maybe?) possibly some new AI scripts (a few hundred k) but what on earth is causing the knuckleheads at EA etc to make patches so huge?
Its not too bad for me being on ADSL but what about the poor sods with 56k modems (or worse).
Ive written whole games (stratgey games too, not just pong clones) that weigh in under 5 megs, I just dont understand what these people are thinking!
I believe the 1.4 BF1942 patch contains a map editor hence the extrememely large size.
-DavidCPA
Then why isnt it made an optional download? for christs sake most of us dont want to edit maps.
One problem is that developers for the most part are no longer using RTPatch. RTPatch would create a small patch file contaning only the differences from the original files. Now they just toss all the changed files willy-nilly into one big installer, I guess because everyone they know has broadband nowadays.
Everyone was freaked out by the Combat Flight Sim 3 patch because it was “too small to fix anything.” Not at all – it turned that beast into something playable. But they used RTPatch, which kept the file down to 4MB despite the fact that they fixed not just code, but graphics textures and more.
Yeah I was gonna get in on some counterstrike but apparently I need to dl a 115 MB patch. Thanks valve you cocksuckers.
Get a subscription to a gaming mag with a CD. They usually have all the patches, sooner or later.
Sod waiting for a CD, the games developers just need to be less lazy and consider downlaod size when they make a patch.
Anything over 5 MB needs to be seriously justified if you ask me…
We still use a run time patching system foe NWN. It does make a big difference.
We’re using it for RON as well, though we’ve already been burned by “patch failures” due to modding, manufacturing variations (!), and other contingencies, so I can certainly see the other side of the argument.
Brian
AOM actually does use RTPatch, so it’s definitely still in use. :-)
One reason some people are moving away from it, though, is that it’s difficult for anti-virus automated verification programs to ensure that you aren’t patching in something horrible. So we’ve gotten some pressure to actually move away from incremental patching on AOM for that reason.
Patches are one of those things where if you screw up, everyone hates you, but if you do it well, most people just think it’s par for the course now. C’est la guerre… :-)
God damn you game developers! Stop giving us so much free shit!
The problem with large patches is that it gets to be a pain to archive them. That and I suspect fewer sites want to mirror large downloads. Then there’s me and my slow net connection, but that’s my own fault. :cry:
- Alan
i’m surprised that no game companies offer patches through something like bittorrent, although it add more tech support issues. perhaps bittorrent and ftp/http - ftp/http for those that can’t use bt for whatever reason, and bt for those that want to get it fast.