Smaller patch files please

[wodinoneeye]

37.5 meg on one patch file -- good way to piss off people who use dial-up.
(I see the 6.5 minimal patch, but then theres no way to get the rest...)

In future it might be more intelligent (and more friendly to your customers)
to break the Patches into logical sections to facilitate successful download.

One Game mechanism patch and then seperate ones for scenarios???


Maybe next game you might come up with a better patch mechanism/scenario file format that can do partial (and much smaller)
patches.

[Keith]

Or you just might want to use GetRight, which lets you stop and resume the download again as many times as you want for as long as it takes to get the entire file. I have finally given up and started using it because the patches for most games are just getting so huge. I even downloaded several 495MB video clips from a public archive site using it with my dialup connection.

[wodinoneeye]

Download just died at 25meg .... boom. (2/3 done)

[wodinoneeye]

Or you just might want to use GetRight, which lets you stop and resume the download again as many times as you want for as long as it takes to get the entire file. I have finally given up and started using it because the patches for most games are just getting so huge. I even downloaded several 495MB video clips from a public archive site using it with my dialup connection.



Should I have to buy another $25 program to patch your game ??????

[angelisis]

there is a few FREE programes out there that can help with download.
if you are a dial up user it is your own fault if you do not use them.
I still use them and i have fast connection now.



I use gozilla by the way.

[wodinoneeye]

If I download the minimal patch (6.5meg) and apply it, will applying the full patch (27+meg) later barf/mess up the files ???? (if and when I get that file downloaded successfully.) Did anyone at TM test this??????



Deficiencies will cost TM $$$$$$$$$$

[angelisis]

ah crap woody
use gozilla and get over it :p
30 day trial http://www.gozilla.com/download_links.htm


cheer up :D

[wodinoneeye]

there is a few FREE programes out there that can help with download.
if you are a dial up user it is your own fault if you do not use them.
I still use them and i have fast connection now.



I use gozilla by the way.



No its not 'my fault'. Its up to the company to make their product & support
as user friendly as possible.

Breaking patches up is not rocket science.

[vic_4]

To wodinoneeye

How do you make with Windows updates? I think, since programs continue to become bigger and bigger, that every time you need an update online, you need to download big files.

[Keith]

Should I have to buy another $25 program to patch your game ??????I"m using the trial version. It's free, but it every once in a while it pops up a small menu that encourages you to buy it, but after a short countdown of a few seconds you can click on the "OK" button and proceed with your download. This only pops up about once in about 10 downloads.

www.getright.com (http://www.getright.com/)

[dreamsoftwilight]

There isnt any nagware or adware with getright, there is a little popup every so often that asks you to register it or something, but Ive only seen that like twice I think... there is also an extension for Firefox (which you should be using!) that allows you to use getright inside the browser. Its called "download with" I believe. Ive used getright for about a year now...

And TM has made the patches VERY user friendly... be glad they arent 75 megs or 200 megs... if you have a fairly reliable dialup, you can download a 30 meg patch without getting disconnected. I can stay online for as long as 8 hours sometimes without getting disconnected, though the usual between-disconnects is 5 hours for me.

Oh, and last time I checked, Download-with only works with version 1.1 of firefox, and you have to get it off the Mozdev site, not the Firefox site. :)

[Josh]

I have dialup and the patch size wasnt even an issue for me, infact I thought it was refreshing that they kept the patch size so small.

go buy battlefield 1942, when it was version 1.0, then try and keep up with the patch process, it think it was near a gig when it was all said and done, try and keep up with desert combat and you would have to download 2 gigs, there were times when I almost got a patch finished by the time a new one was released. (Note: you cant play online without the most current patch, at all)

Go vent at actual problems, 37MB is a very palatable size on any connection, compared to the regular 100MB+ patch sizes out there; would you rather have them Not support their game?

[Keith]

I just spent 6 days downloading a 862MB file. ;)

[wodinoneeye]

I have dialup and the patch size wasnt even an issue for me, infact I thought it was refreshing that they kept the patch size so small.

go buy battlefield 1942, when it was version 1.0, then try and keep up with the patch process, it think it was near a gig when it was all said and done, try and keep up with desert combat and you would have to download 2 gigs, there were times when I almost got a patch finished by the time a new one was released. (Note: you cant play online without the most current patch, at all)

Go vent at actual problems, 37MB is a very palatable size on any connection, compared to the regular 100MB+ patch sizes out there; would you rather have them Not support their game?


If you bothered to read the post (from weeks ago) I was talking about breaking it up into multiple smaller files that might be easier to download (instead of the DL aborting 3 times like it did for me).

As far as other game go, the companies should offer CD mailings of their patches when the files start getting as big as some of the ones you mention (and no doubt much larger in future). Mass producted CDs cost all of 10 cents each and a minor postal charge something less than half a dollar (they could do a minor charge via credit card like some MMORPG updates have been done years ago).

Of course not releasing the product when major problems exist would be even better.....

[MarkDuffy]

I just spent 6 days downloading a 862MB file. ;)

Now that's hard-core, Keith!

I got a friend to burn me a cd with the COTN demo on cable.

As far as dialup patches. Never had a problem. Start it & go to bed. Nothing too big, though.

[Renisenb]

If you bothered to read the post (from weeks ago) I was talking about breaking it up into multiple smaller files that might be easier to download (instead of the DL aborting 3 times like it did for me).

As far as other game go, the companies should offer CD mailings of their patches when the files start getting as big as some of the ones you mention (and no doubt much larger in future). Mass producted CDs cost all of 10 cents each and a minor postal charge something less than half a dollar (they could do a minor charge via credit card like some MMORPG updates have been done years ago).

Of course not releasing the product when major problems exist would be even better.....

I like your CD mailing idea for patches. I have dial-up and took me quite a while to d/l the patch (and got disconnected several times). Although i have to say that i didn't have that much troubles w/ the unpatched version; I finished an easy campaign, and opened all sites in daughter of isis+son of ra scenario, and was able to build pyramids and stuff.. all done without any patch. It is easier to put those darn barge landings w/ the patch though.

I completely agree that a product shouldn't be released if there are major problems with it. Have pity on those of us who don't have the fancy schmancy high-tech computer :D

[Keith]

The game wouldn't have been released the game if there was something major wrong with it. Patches are just a fact of computer programming. The old CB games each had either just one or two patches. TM seems to be carrying on that tradition.

Some game companies never stop patching their game and crank them out on a weekly basis. Now any game that needs THAT much fixing should not have been released. Personally, I prefer fewer patches with a large number of fixes than a endless stream of them.

Mailing CDs sounds great, but remember TM is a new company and funds are limited. Mailing out hundreds or thousands of CDs won't be cheap and probably isn't in the budget.

I dont have problems with patches in the less than 50MB range. As long as I can either get it from a FTP server or use software like GetRight that allows me to to pause/resume the download it's not a big deal.

Many game magazine websites offer FTP access and you can use FTP client software like WS FTP PRO to pause and resume downloads. GetRight works very nicely with HTTP style file links, I haven't tried it with FTP sources yet.

You can get trial versions of either program which will make a dialup user's downloading a much easier task.

[Anguille]

Well Microprose did send me the patch to "Birth of the Federation" on a cd-rom back then as i wasn't able to download it (1999)...that was sweet (I still have it). :p

I hope it's not my fault that they had to disappear after that :o

[tobing]

Just one word: Some of the 'free' versions contain ad-ware. So make sure you use AdAware or SpyBot Search & Destroy to eliminate the spyware components. Or use real Freeware, like GoZilla.

[vic_4]

I used both AdAware and SpyBot Search & Destroy but I never found anything using getright.

[Keith]

I'm just using the trial version of GetRight. No ad or spyware here. It just pops up a little window every so often asking you to buy it. But using a program like Adaware or Spybot regularly is a good idea just on general principle.

[Anguille]

I'm just using the trial version of GetRight. No ad or spyware here. It just pops up a little window every so often asking you to buy it. But using a program like Adaware or Spybot regularly is a good idea just on general principle.

Me too...works very well. I needed it to download the test version of Legion Arena by Slitherine and never had any problems.

[shivver]

It is very likely that using AdAware or Spybot to remove bundled adware/spyware will destroy the software you downloaded. The makers of the bundled programs often create it so that if you remove the adware/spyware, the original program won't run. Your best bet is to find software that doesn't have it. Also, read the EULA thoroughly before installing -- companies are required to state the existence of adware/spyware in the EULA (though it might be well-hidden); if they don't, then it's considered viral.

Another possible solution to this problem would be to make the patch available through BitTorrent. It's not going to be faster than a regular dial-up situation, but interruptions of the download are handled very well (almost completely transparently).

Distribution of CDs for a patch probably isn't economically feasible. While the postage and actual cost of the CD may be low, there's still manpower, equipment, and facilities time you have to pay for (having worked at Sierra, I know that software publishers don't have CD presses in-house), as well as packaging. Factor in the fact that the production of such a CD doesn't generate any profit for TM (after all, they're sending CDs to people who have already bought the game), and we're talking quite a big loss here, especially for a game that is now at a price point of $19.99.

[wodinoneeye]

Distribution of CDs for a patch probably isn't economically feasible. While the postage and actual cost of the CD may be low, there's still manpower, equipment, and facilities time you have to pay for (having worked at Sierra, I know that software publishers don't have CD presses in-house), as well as packaging. Factor in the fact that the production of such a CD doesn't generate any profit for TM (after all, they're sending CDs to people who have already bought the game), and we're talking quite a big loss here, especially for a game that is now at a price point of $19.99.



Thus my previous comment that the companies better excise as many bugs as possible before distributing their products (since the file sizes are going up so large) OR come up with a much cleverer patching mechanism to minimize the data that needs to be transmitted. But then that solution also costs money too (and the rarer design ability).

[Keith]

BitTorrent wouldn't be a good option, because its a distributed download and you have to maintain a up/download ratio to keep the torrent swarm functioning.

It would be better just do as they are now where now uploading to others, thus slowing down the entire process, is required.