I realize that the UrTUpdater is meant to make updating the game much easier, but the process of simply downloading new files is making the game too bloated. There has to be a better way of checking for updates so that only one or two pack files need to be maintained. Every time the version is updated, simply replace the existing zpaks.
Any plans to change the current system?
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too many zpaks
#2
Posted 28 December 2015 - 08:54 PM
Considering the fact that zpaks are just ZIP archives imho it would be worth not to use them at all.
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#3
Posted 28 December 2015 - 10:26 PM
Having several packs allows us to offer small updates to players. If we were to replace a 100MB pack each time we do a small change to the game this would have a huge bandwidth cost for the players and mirror hosts.
Not using packs would mean a total game size multiplied by 2 iirc. This would make updating the game far easier and faster though so there are pros and cons.
UrTUpdater v4 - which hopefully will be distributed with UrT 4.3 - has the ability to remove / replace packs.
Not using packs would mean a total game size multiplied by 2 iirc. This would make updating the game far easier and faster though so there are pros and cons.
UrTUpdater v4 - which hopefully will be distributed with UrT 4.3 - has the ability to remove / replace packs.
#4
Posted 29 December 2015 - 01:56 AM
As a side note, this is one area where Steam distribution really excels. Even if you have only one huge data file that gets updated, Steam will analyse the file, break it into chunks, and only download the chunks in an update that have actually changed. It's pretty impressive. It doesn't work so well of course if your changes change the structure of the entire data file in some subtle way, so having a larger number of smaller data paks is still useful.
#5
Posted 29 December 2015 - 02:09 AM
Just thinking -- maybe the initial download could contain only the latest necessary packs, instead of the files for every single version of 4.2. QVM changes would be the easiest to download quickly, so they can be stored in a single file. I could see it being a hassle and require more development for textures/maps/sounds/models though.
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#6
Posted 29 December 2015 - 03:15 AM
Part of the development of 4.3 is to clean up all those zpak files and condense them down into just a few files. Future updates after 4.3 will probably require additional zpak files but will be kept to a minimum as 4.3 is probably going to be the last release of Urban Terror 4.x unless some major bug is discovered within the first few months after its release.
Now I'm no real programmer (I do web dev) so I'm not familiar with the complexities of creating an updater application, but it seems like it should be fairly simple to simply have a z_update.zpak that stores any updates and any new files overwrite old files within the zpak and instead of requiring a new .zpak for every update, you simply unzip the zpak, overwrite the changed files and folders and add any new ones, and then zip it back up. I can see why simply making more .zpak files is easier, but merging changes within the appropriate zpak is definitely cleaner.
Now I'm no real programmer (I do web dev) so I'm not familiar with the complexities of creating an updater application, but it seems like it should be fairly simple to simply have a z_update.zpak that stores any updates and any new files overwrite old files within the zpak and instead of requiring a new .zpak for every update, you simply unzip the zpak, overwrite the changed files and folders and add any new ones, and then zip it back up. I can see why simply making more .zpak files is easier, but merging changes within the appropriate zpak is definitely cleaner.
#7
Posted 29 December 2015 - 09:53 AM
There are lots of ways to do it tbh and all of them have pros and cons. Also let me remind you that UrTUpdater is fully open-source so please do not hesitate to contribute!
@Zenity unfortunately we cannot put 4.3 on Steam hence the need for a custom Updater. I can't wait to do updates on UrTHD with Steam though. :)
@Zenity unfortunately we cannot put 4.3 on Steam hence the need for a custom Updater. I can't wait to do updates on UrTHD with Steam though. :)
#8
Posted 29 December 2015 - 10:23 AM
You know what's worse than too many zpaks?
[img]http://i.imgur.com/OQ7HC64.gif[/img]
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