steam not shows real update size

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Farzan Jan 29 @ 12:19am

for example steam shows 12 gb for 300 mb update is there any solution for this

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Originally posted by Nx Machina:

In the download list the size indicated is the size of the data to be patched within the game install. It is not the size of the game install.

When you click to download the size of the actual patch is in the top right, with the data being patched below it.

Why was it changed? Because of the posts about the full game being re-downloaded and not understanding about patching.

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Showing 1-11 of 11 comments

76561198407601200 Jan 29 @ 12:21am

I would assume the game is at least 12gb, hence why 12gb is updated.

Farzan Jan 29 @ 12:26am

Originally posted by The Living Tribunal:
I would assume the game is at least 12gb, hence why 12gb is updated.

maybe its calculating size on ssd or hdd but in past was not like this . you know when update was 300 mb it was 300 mb download now shows 12 gb but downloads 300 mb its confusing idon't like it idk it happens to others too or just for me

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Nx Machina Jan 29 @ 12:28am

Farzan Jan 29 @ 12:31am

Originally posted by Nx Machina:
In the download list the size indicated is the size of the data to be patched within the game install. It is not the size of the game install.

When you click to download the size of the actual patch is in the top right, with the data being patched below it.

Why was it changed? Because of the posts about the full game being re-downloaded and not understanding about patching.

thank you

Digul Feb 25 @ 6:12am

Is it possible to return to how things were before in the settings somewhere?
The new system is even more confusing.

Ettanin Feb 25 @ 6:21am

To calculate the difference, the client needs the manifest file, to get the manifest file, the client needs to start the download. Therefore, getting the download size before the download starts is impossible. The client can get a delta between its current installation size and the installation size of the most recent depot version without fetching the manifest file, but that's nowhere near the download size ("entire game redownload" problem).

The server cannot know the precise integrity to the byte of each of the client's files and uploading that information to calculate a download size BEFORE starting the download is impractical.

More info here: https://steamdb.info/blog/steam-download-system/

Digul Feb 25 @ 6:29am

Originally posted by Ettanin:
To calculate the difference, the client needs the manifest file, to get the manifest file, the client needs to start the download. Therefore, getting the download size before the download starts is impossible. The client can get a delta between its current installation size and the installation size of the most recent depot version without fetching the manifest file, but that's nowhere near the download size ("entire game redownload" problem).

The server cannot know the precise integrity to the byte of each of the client's files and uploading that information to calculate a download size BEFORE starting the download is impractical.

More info here: https://steamdb.info/blog/steam-download-system/

Previously, Steam demonstrated the patch download size, but after recent updates, this feature was discontinued. The manifest files are insignificant in size, and it would be advisable to allow the user to decide for themselves whether to upload them or not.

Last edited by Digul; Feb 25 @ 6:31am

Ettanin Feb 25 @ 6:31am

Originally posted by Digul:
Originally posted by Ettanin:
To calculate the difference, the client needs the manifest file, to get the manifest file, the client needs to start the download. Therefore, getting the download size before the download starts is impossible. The client can get a delta between its current installation size and the installation size of the most recent depot version without fetching the manifest file, but that's nowhere near the download size ("entire game redownload" problem).

The server cannot know the precise integrity to the byte of each of the client's files and uploading that information to calculate a download size BEFORE starting the download is impractical.

More info here: https://steamdb.info/blog/steam-download-system/

Steam used to show patch size. After the latest updates, it stopped. Manifest files weight almost nothing. Why not leave the decision to the user to download them?

because of encryption. Scraping would mean the encryption key can be leaked for unauthorized downloads. It would have to be a manual process because the diff calculation is i/o intensive. Having the client locked up because of several diff calcs will cause additional complaints. And it must be stored as a simple value without storing the manifest file after fetching that file for the calculation.

Last edited by Ettanin; Feb 25 @ 6:52am

Ettanin Feb 25 @ 6:38am

Also, it's more cost effective for Valve to let the client calculate locally than to potentially calculate millions of possible diffs from millions of clients at the same time server side.