Notice for preloading, here!

[JoOoKeR]

If you have a high download speed (500 Mbps or more), preloading the game is not recommended, as the download is encrypted. When the game is released and you press play, your PC will have to decrypt it again (which can take a long time). If you have high-speed internet, it's best to download the game on launch day, about 5 minutes after release. It will be much faster and won't be encrypted.

However, if you have very slow internet (less than 100Mbps), then I do recommend preloading.

I leave you the schedule of when it will be available to play
https://x.com/Naughty_Dog/status/1906723245887238525

Thanks, and enjoy the game!

[JoOoKeR]

And for those who say: (What if the download servers get overloaded on launch day and the speed is slow?)

Honestly, I don’t think this will happen with this game (but it is something that could happen).

I’ve downloaded games on launch day before, and they have always gone at my maximum speed. The only game I think could actually overload the servers would be Half-Life 3 or Grand Theft Auto VI.

[CallMeLeonidas]

This is especially important if you have a SATA SSD without DRAM. They're especially terrible at decrypting preloaded games, and just downloading games in general, especially if you're using Windows. I even bought a new NVMe SSD just for Windows, and installed Nobara Linux on a SATA SSD because Linux handles such tasks so much better, as in games download without any throttling.

[JoOoKeR]

Originally posted by Leon V. Winters:

This is especially important if you have a SATA SSD without DRAM. They're especially terrible at decrypting preloaded games, and just downloading games in general, especially if you're using Windows. I even bought a new NVMe SSD just for Windows, and installed Nobara Linux on a SATA SSD because Linux handles such tasks so much better, as in games download without any throttling.

True, you’ll be making unnecessary writes, which is why I don’t recommend pre-downloading on Steam if the files are encrypted.

[Doctor Hades]

Yeah, I agree with the original poster that it makes no sense to pre-load any game on PC if you already have a fast fibre internet connection.

I've pre-loaded stuff many times myself only to have to endure waits of 30+ minutes for the game to decrypt if Steam decides to use an SSD for the copy/decryption process otherwise it can be 2+ hours if I don't have enough space on the SSD and Steam decides to instead use one of hard drives (which usually have the most free space since I don't use them for modern games, only older stuff that doesn't benefit from SSDs).

The reality is that on my 940 Mbps fibre connection, I can download most large games in around 15-20 minutes and as a result I no longer pre-load even when I have the option to.

[episoder]

Originally posted by Doctor Hades:

Yeah, I agree with the original poster that it makes no sense to pre-load any game on PC if you already have a fast fibre internet connection.

I've pre-loaded stuff many times myself only to have to endure waits of 30+ minutes for the game to decrypt if Steam decides to use an SSD for the copy/decryption process otherwise it can be 2+ hours if I don't have enough space on the SSD and Steam decides to instead use one of hard drives (which usually have the most free space since I don't use them for modern games, only older stuff that doesn't benefit from SSDs).

The reality is that on my 940 Mbps fibre connection, I can download most large games in around 15-20 minutes and as a result I no longer pre-load even when I have the option to.

how fast of an ssd did you use for that 30 minute decrypt? nvme? like 3.5 GB/s? i asked in the steam general discussion, but nobody could give me any numbers, just rambling sh!t.

[decizion]

With gen4/5 NVMe ssd the unpacking is very fast. If you have 1gb/s fiber optic download it’s almost the same so no big deal.

[JoOoKeR]

Originally posted by decizion:

With gen4/5 NVMe ssd the unpacking is very fast. If you have 1gb/s fiber optic download it’s almost the same so no big deal.

Even so, it's your SSD, treat it however you want. My opinion is that with that internet speed, it's unnecessary for the SSD to suffer unnecessary writes because it has to decrypt the game.

[Nobleflame]

Is preloading available?

[Lobachevskaya]

Originally posted by Nobleflame:

Is preloading available?

NO

[Nobleflame]

Originally posted by JoOoKeR:

Originally posted by Nobleflame:

Then why is this pr1ck making info posts about preloading?

:cfacepalm: sad that you have to come here to cry

PS: Thanks, I used the report button for the first time on your comment to see what will happen.

This post has literally no point to it.

Plus the only one crying here is you with your little report button.

[Doctor Hades]

Originally posted by episoder:

Originally posted by Doctor Hades:

Yeah, I agree with the original poster that it makes no sense to pre-load any game on PC if you already have a fast fibre internet connection.

I've pre-loaded stuff many times myself only to have to endure waits of 30+ minutes for the game to decrypt if Steam decides to use an SSD for the copy/decryption process otherwise it can be 2+ hours if I don't have enough space on the SSD and Steam decides to instead use one of hard drives (which usually have the most free space since I don't use them for modern games, only older stuff that doesn't benefit from SSDs).

The reality is that on my 940 Mbps fibre connection, I can download most large games in around 15-20 minutes and as a result I no longer pre-load even when I have the option to.

how fast of an ssd did you use for that 30 minute decrypt? nvme? like 3.5 GB/s? i asked in the steam general discussion, but nobody could give me any numbers, just rambling sh!t.

I have a lot of different drives attached to my PC, both internal and external, with my Steam library spend across them.

Most of these drives are SSDs but only four of them are NVMe M.2 drives, the rest are SATA3 ones. 2 are hard drives, mostly used for backups, media and older Steam games. Typically, I reserve the NVMe drives for games that use DirectStorage and use the SATA3 drives for most games since the different in loading times can be marginal.

The 30+ minutes decryption time is for SATA3 SSDs but it can vary depending on whether the drive is internal (faster) or external (slower). Generally, decryption to NVMe drives is fast but, unfortunately, many games now can be 100 GB+ which means that even if a game is on an NVMe drive with, say, 95 GB free, Steam will favour updating that game from one of my hard drives since it has to duplicate the files prior to updating them then copy the files back to the original location.

This is why game install sizes are usually 'exaggerated' because Steam needs additional space to download the pre-loaded files to and space for the files to be copied to (which can double the space requirements temporarily until the game is decrypted. If you are just downloading the game though post-release then the game will just be moved from the download to the game folder so doesn't require as much space. However, games will need additional space if they have to be patched since files have to be duplicated before being updated. I've found that Steam almost always used my hard drive for patching, unfortunately.

[JoOoKeR]

Originally posted by Nobleflame:

Originally posted by JoOoKeR:

sad that you have to come here to cry

PS: Thanks, I used the report button for the first time on your comment to see what will happen.

This post has literally no point to it.

Plus the only one crying here is you with your little report button.

I am not violating any rules or being rude to the Steam community. I am simply informing about pre-downloads for games on Steam and if you have a high-speed internet connection. Don’t you see the many posts with the title "pre-download"?

PS: Thanks for giving me points in rewards.

[Bom de Guerra]

I'm not at my PC right now, can I download it now?

[aetherium.]

Originally posted by decizion:

With gen4/5 NVMe ssd the unpacking is very fast. If you have 1gb/s fiber optic download it’s almost the same so no big deal.

CPU also plays role in unpacking, so it might depend on how good your cpu is

[Jerome Castle]

Where, or when is the option to pre-load TLoU Part 2?