Why do these updates always need to reinstall the whole game?

[hawkhill]

Every time an update comes up for this game, I end up having to wait through as it reserves space for the 75 GBs to reinstall.

[breadman]

cause that's how ue4 games are patched, it doesn't "reinstall the whole game", it just patches all of the game's data

[Sir Walter Loli]

I set one update to install, come back in two hours, and by the time I get back there's another 200mb update that requires 70gb of patchwork to implement. Ridiculous

[ScottishRanger]

Yeah i am not pleased at this as well.

[MJ711]

It does not reinstall the whole game.
If you pay attention, you would see that the game is in "Patching" state which means it has to unpack and repack some game files.
Also if you check your network trafic during patching, you would see that there is no download.

So no, it is not downloading anything exept the patch it self and it is not installing anything.

But this ridiculous patching is just how UE4 engine is. It is very annoying.

[hawkhill]

Originally posted by MJ711:

It does not reinstall the whole game.
If you pay attention, you would see that the game is in "Patching" state which means it has to unpack and repack some game files.
Also if you check your network trafic during patching, you would see that there is no download.

So no, it is not downloading anything exept the patch it self and it is not installing anything.

But this ridiculous patching is just how UE4 engine is. It is very annoying.

This game's patching compared to any other game I played takes so long, well more than 2 hours, that I might as well reinstall. It got stuck during this patch after reserving the space, that I had to restart the PC, and just uninstall/reinstall.

[SamFisher]

Originally posted by breadman:

cause that's how ue4 games are patched, it doesn't "reinstall the whole game", it just patches all of the game's data

It has nothing to do with UE4. This is how Devs approach to making a custom packaging system for their game these days.

I see this becoming a pattern on multiple platforms and with various game engines.

Few reasons why this is done:
1) It's easier for Devs to work on whole game, not worrying about how to bring this content with a patch (custom packaging)
Probably automatic tools just do diff between game builds and generated a patch automatically in binary form.

2) It's cheaper for distributor like Steam, XBox, Uplay, Epic. Traffic cost for sending 200MB off data per client is much different that sending 5GB of data per client.

3) Availability of automatic tools. You don't have to spend time and develop own packaging system and maintain it for a game - it cheaper.


All cons are at client side.
1) Time spend for updating a game.
2) Electricity costs, e.g. PC needs to run 20 - 30 minutes to update a single game.
3) Reduced SSD life span, because whole game gets repacked. Some games have 65GB, some 85GB and the latest ones 100+ GB. And some games release a patch and then a hotfix right away.

Customers usually stop being important after confirming their payment.

[breadman]

Originally posted by Deadlock:

It has nothing to do with UE4.

it has everything to do with ue

ue games are comprised of several big pak files which have to be unpacked, patched, than repacked

[SamFisher]

Originally posted by breadman:

it has everything to do with ue

ue games are comprised of several big pak files which have to be unpacked, patched, than repacked

Well, Devs could have 'big pak files' for patch as well, in fact some games that use custom packaging system use same technique.

So Devs could have path_01_dat.pak, path_02_dat.pak and so on.

In fact I think old UE games did it this way.


Actual patching in UE:
Source UE docs: https://docs.unrealengine.com/5.2/en-US/updating-unreal-engine-projects-with-patches-after-release/

Once you have released your project, you will probably make updates to it after the initial release. This process is known as patching. Patching usually includes new content that addresses known issues, or that fixes vulnerabilities in the original release.
Different Methods for Patching

There are several methods for creating patches, but they all use one of two approaches. One approach keeps files from the original release or previous patches, but adds a pointer to new content. The other approach is to transform the content in the original build using a binary patch.

Note: You can build patches in Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) for many different platforms. However, we do not support distribution of patches for your project. Each platform has their own system for uploading patch files, and for distributing those patch files to users. For information on these platform-specific distribution systems, see the documentation for that platform's Software Development Kit (SDK).
Platform-Agnostic Patching Method

There is a method for creating patches in Unreal Engine 4 that will technically work on any platform. This method packages the entire build with new content, while the changes between the two builds are placed in a sidecar file that is added to the original file. The new PAK file is labeled with a "_p" suffix. For example, if the original build file is called `MyGamesStuff.pak`, your patch file would be called `MyGamesStuff_p.pak`.

[breadman]

Originally posted by Deadlock:

Well, Devs could have 'big pak files' for patch as well, in fact some games that use custom packaging system use same technique.

which would do what? the files would still have to be unpacked, patched, repacked

[SamFisher]

Originally posted by breadman:

Originally posted by Deadlock:

Well, Devs could have 'big pak files' for patch as well, in fact some games that use custom packaging system use same technique.

which would do what? the files would still have to be unpacked, patched, repacked

1) One approach keeps files from the original release or previous patches, but adds a pointer to new content.
Devs need to keep references of pointer in game, e.g. changes to texture will now point to patch_01.pak/textures/door01.tga instead of base.pak/textures/door01.tga

2) The other approach is to transform the content in the original build using a binary patch. (Atomic Heart repacks [transforms] everything. - base.pak/textures/door01.tga. You change everything in place, and really don't care about references to pointer. and to patch history.

But it is Devs choice, and not UE limitation how you insist on.

[breadman]

Originally posted by Deadlock:

1) One approach keeps files from the original release or previous patches, but adds a pointer to new content.

which would increase the physical size of the game and add bloat by having useless assets and code taking up more space with each new patch

what a horrible suggestion

Originally posted by Deadlock:

But it is Devs choice, and not UE limitation how you insist on.

yeah it's why every ue game is patched this way and something ue5 is trying to address, totally not

[SamFisher]

Originally posted by breadman:

Originally posted by Deadlock:

1) One approach keeps files from the original release or previous patches, but adds a pointer to new content.

which would increase the physical size of the game and add bloat by having useless assets and coding taking up more space with each new patch

what a horrible suggestion

Don't release untested and unfinished, beta quality games, not much to patch then.

And besides it you have many unused assets then you can release a patch and repack a game. But repacking a whole game 80GB for example to change a few textures, does not make sense.

[breadman]

Originally posted by Deadlock:

Don't release untested and unfinished, beta quality games, not much too patch then.

what was untested and unfinished about it? did you even play it at launch? cause it's been running great for me since release

and is post-launch content and dlcs also "untested and unfinished" and "beta quality" because it's released after launch?

keep moving goalposts

[Hahli]

Geez, gotta download 70go entirely now ? (compressed it's only 35.5Go but whatever)
I don't care about the reogarnization of the files, but DOWNLOADING that's something else since I'm using a limited 4G sim card.

What is it for ? patches like yesterday ?

If there's no dlc I'm just uninstalling until it comes out, what's the point of downloading all the game for nothing when I already completed it

[6005122851162932]

200mb update, and then 70gb repack. 3rd time this week.
Mundfish could you stop with this crap?