Why do game patches take so long?

[tager12]

I've noticed that every time a game has a patch of... lets say, 100mb, Steam has to patch almost the entire game! like checking 15gb or so, I don't understand this and I don't know why this happend, it wasn't like this not so long ago, what happend?

[Jerry]

It was like this before too. It's just the information about it, that is new. Until a while ago, Steam did only show the download amount, but not the amount of HD files changed by it.
Be happy, when this mass of files can be adjusted with small patches. I know a dev or two, who have not managed this in years and still send out regular updates of full game size.

[J4MESOX4D]

The patch may only be 100mb but the game may require some substantial directory changes/rewriting and this can take time.

[Nx Machina]

From another thread:

Originally posted by Satoru:

This is called delta patching and that depends on how the developer distributes assets in the game. Steam is not responsible if a 1gb patch requires all game files to be patches. Please feel free to go scream at From Software or EA about their data structure

Or would you prefer that every patch requires you to download the entire game from scratch?

[tager12]

So they are simply showing more information? Kinda?

[Protomesh]

I remember when a game was 5GB when I first downloaded it. Few years later, that same game was 20GB, but barely anything had been added.

The first 5GB has massively more content than the follow 15GB... how does that work?

[J4MESOX4D]

Originally posted by Protomesh:

I remember when a game was 5GB when I first downloaded it. Few years later, that same game was 20GB, but barely anything had been added.

The first 5GB has massively more content than the follow 15GB... how does that work?

Could be a variety of factors however you're probably comparing the compressed download size to the unpacked installation/directory file size for starters and there can be huge differences in that alone.

[rawWwRrr]

Originally posted by tager12:

So they are simply showing more information? Kinda?

Patching had been around for a while as an update mechanism but the Steam client's downloads page didn't accurately reflect that it was taking place. All it ever said was "Updating" and people were getting confused why a small 100MB downloaded update was taking so long to update. They would see the download finish but disk activity would continue on. Now the Downloads page is more transparent about any step that is taking place from downloading to patching to verifying. And now that it is more transparent, we have users thinking that patching is something new and different when actually it's been there all along.

[Jerry]

Originally posted by Protomesh:

I remember when a game was 5GB when I first downloaded it. Few years later, that same game was 20GB, but barely anything had been added.

The first 5GB has massively more content than the follow 15GB... how does that work?

Badly optimised engines and assets, mostly. From my experience, especially games based on Unity tend to be blown out of proportions. To a certain degree, it's not even the fault of the developers, but the flaw lies in the tools they use.

Also there is the factor, that games need to work on an increasing range of graphic resolutions, with each higher than the last. This alone can multiply the size easily.
I bet, your 5-20GB game could be shrunk down to 200 MB, if it was released only in 800x600.

[↑↑↓↓←→←→BASelect]

I just had 4 game updates all over 300mb and i had them updated in around 10 minutes.

[Protomesh]

Originally posted by J4MESOX4D:

Originally posted by Protomesh:

I remember when a game was 5GB when I first downloaded it. Few years later, that same game was 20GB, but barely anything had been added.

The first 5GB has massively more content than the follow 15GB... how does that work?

Could be a variety of factors however you're probably comparing the compressed download size to the unpacked installation/directory file size for starters and there can be huge differences in that alone.

No. I'm comparing the file size when I go click download game on Steam. It will show how many GB it is.

It changed from 5 to 20 in like few years, even though the original 5 GB had 10x more content than whatever was added in the coming 15 GB

[Protomesh]

Originally posted by Jerry:

Originally posted by Protomesh:

I remember when a game was 5GB when I first downloaded it. Few years later, that same game was 20GB, but barely anything had been added.

The first 5GB has massively more content than the follow 15GB... how does that work?

Badly optimised engines and assets, mostly. From my experience, especially games based on Unity tend to be blown out of proportions. To a certain degree, it's not even the fault of the developers, but the flaw lies in the tools they use.

Also there is the factor, that games need to work on an increasing range of graphic resolutions, with each higher than the last. This alone can multiply the size easily.
I bet, your 5-20GB game could be shrunk down to 200 MB, if it was released only in 800x600.

This would make sense.

[jasoncollege24]

When downloading patches, you have to consider which files are being patched. If the file being patched is say... 2GB, but the download is maybe 100MB, it may have to decompress the file, patch it, then recompress it. Or it may have to rearrange the file's contents, to be able to properly patch it.

Same goes for adding new content, which goes into existing content files.

[Protomesh]

Yeah most of the time when my game needs an update, it takes more time actually validating the files and preparing the installation than with the actual downloading part.

[gcgspain]

It is ridiculous!!! It is quicker to download the game again in some cases!!

[jasoncollege24]

It also can depend on your hardware. If you have a fast internet connection, and a HDD, your download times may be fast, but your actual patching time may take longer.

If you have an SSD, your patching times will be reduced, and would likely be faster than redownloading the whole game.