How large is this game file?

[L. Ron Hubby]

Shows "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Path of Exile" - one file named content.GGPK is about 25gb.


Now, updating for the newest patch, I have another file "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\downloading\238960" - file named content.GGPK at 26.3gb

Because of the file, which I assume is the patch, I cannot install the patch because my SSD is out of room (I shouldn't have to uninstall everything when I have 50gb alloated for POE.

Anyone else having this issue?

[_Fell]

there are two solutions - get a larger drive, or use the standalone launcher. The way steam updates games, is that it will download whatever files need updating and place them inside a temporary folder during the download. When it is finishes, it then overwrites the files that are in the games install folder. This is a quick painless process when used on a majority of games out there. Unfortunately, GGG decided to develop a custom file system wherein the entirety of the game is stored in a single file, currently weighing in at 26gb.

So, in Path of Exiles case, steam needs to download all 26gb to a temp folder, and then overwrite the 26gb file in the game installation folder. its a lengthy, painful process that literally nothing can be done about.

The only work arounds are to use a larger disk drive, or to use the standalone launcher. As GGG developed their insane file system, only they are able to open it and patch it quickly with small things such as a 12mb hotfix.

[Gralzeim]

Originally posted by <color=#ff9df0>_Fell</color>:

So, in Path of Exiles case, steam needs to download all 26gb to a temp folder, and then overwrite the 26gb file in the game installation folder.

This is false. The last patch, on Steam, was a 200 megabyte download. The patches are frequently far far less than 26 gigabytes.

[Oonue]

Steam is currently at downloading the entire client a third time for me, which is wonderful when on limited data.

[Grumpy]

Originally posted by Gralzeim:

Originally posted by <color=#ff9df0>_Fell</color>:

So, in Path of Exiles case, steam needs to download all 26gb to a temp folder, and then overwrite the 26gb file in the game installation folder.

This is false. The last patch, on Steam, was a 200 megabyte download. The patches are frequently far far less than 26 gigabytes.

it has nothing to do with the size of the patches. steam is not able to patch only the parts with needs patching, therefore it will rebuild the files. this works in games with smaller files, but lead to problems in PoE, especially with the patch frequency

[Gralzeim]

I don't know what's going on with Steam for some folks, but not everyone's experiencing that. The most recent update took seconds to apply. It most definitely did not "copy the entire client" so as to patch it.

[The_Driver]

Originally posted by ᵏᶤᵚᶤ‰:

the steam client copys itself, updates the copy then replaces the original

No, it does not do that. It doesn't update the copy because there is no copy, the new file is assembled on the fly (although it's preallocated with 0s, so there's two complete writes of that file).

[Grumpy]

Originally posted by Gralzeim:

I don't know what's going on with Steam for some folks, but not everyone's experiencing that. The most recent update took seconds to apply. It most definitely did not "copy the entire client" so as to patch it.

then you are using a fast disk, because steam using this patching routine since years. and it not copy the entire client but only rewrites the files affected by the patch:

This is true. Steam uses the space to create a temporary backup copy of each file that is being patched. We do this because we have no idea if your internet or wifi will cut out during the download, or if your PC will shut down, or if Steam will crash for some reason. If any of those things happen and the patch is only halfway done, and we didn't have the backup files, then the game would be in a totally broken state and wouldn't be playable until you got online again and Steam could do a full re-download of the broken files.

Back when games were 5-10 GB this was totally uncontroversial. Now that many games are in the 20-50 GB range, it's kind of annoying. We could add a prompt like "If your computer or internet access shut down for any reason during the patch process, you may have to redownload the game" and make you click the "I'm a Cowboy" button. But I think you can understand that even if we do that, it will generate a lot of angry people saying "I went on vacation and took my laptop and I don't have internet access and MY GAME DOESNT WORK" and asking for refunds.

Source: https://old.reddit.com/r/Steam/comments/650wim/19gb_required_for_200mb_patch_okay_steam/dg7w4ya/

[L. Ron Hubby]

Originally posted by <color=#ff9df0>_Fell</color>:

there are two solutions - get a larger drive, or use the standalone launcher. The way steam updates games, is that it will download whatever files need updating and place them inside a temporary folder during the download. When it is finishes, it then overwrites the files that are in the games install folder. This is a quick painless process when used on a majority of games out there. Unfortunately, GGG decided to develop a custom file system wherein the entirety of the game is stored in a single file, currently weighing in at 26gb.

So, in Path of Exiles case, steam needs to download all 26gb to a temp folder, and then overwrite the 26gb file in the game installation folder. its a lengthy, painful process that literally nothing can be done about.

The only work arounds are to use a larger disk drive, or to use the standalone launcher. As GGG developed their insane file system, only they are able to open it and patch it quickly with small things such as a 12mb hotfix.

that was my issue; I basically need free space on my harddrive equal to the size of PoE. I have 120 GB, so I usually only have 2-3 larger games installed. I will look into this standalone launcher, because PoE basically requires a SSD.

[rudeboy]

Deleting my steam/download folder fixed and let me update.

[userafw]

One thing I have done is gone to the Path of Exile game folder under my steam library, and manually removed the old file. I only do this when it is updating and I cannot move enough other files to other drives to make room. For example, file path Steam/steamapps/common/Path of Exile or SteamLibrary/steamapps/common/Path of Exile. Then from there, I search for the file that looks like Content.ggpk - it is obvious if you view file size in your view settings because it is the one that is 27 GB. Then I delete that file. It will be replaced by the download, or redownloaded from scratch. Since the game is unplayable until updated, and all the information is stored in the cloud for the game (yes, you can uninstall and reinstall the game and all your info will still be there), this works for this game only.. Also, I find I am able to play this game on a standard 2 TB hard drive. Then again, I also have a gaming machine bought 3 years ago.