Look at modern game files in your computer, they are locked and compressed archive files, you can't rummage through them at your leisure. Patch Installer can't simply go inside the file and replace some code or model. It has to replace entire file and they tend to be in GB size range these days.
Look at modern game files in your computer, they are locked and compressed archive files, you can't rummage through them at your leisure. Patch Installer can't simply go inside the file and replace some code or model. It has to replace entire file and they tend to be in GB size range these days.
Although i really appreciate that the devs are working on any last minute bugs for the day one patch, i really hope it's not a 5-6GB one as mentioned above. The only thing i would hate more is to fire up the game on the 19th and have 6GB's thrown in my face 
Especially if the servers go down. It took me more than an hour to download a 300 Mb patch for GTA 5 because of server issues.Although i really appreciate that the devs are working on any last minute bugs for the day one patch, i really hope it's not a 5-6GB one as mentioned above. The only thing i would hate more is to fire up the game on the 19th and have 6GB's thrown in my face
<Fires up his Rent-Boy Implant>
Well, some parts of the industry seem to. In the first couple patches for Pillars of Eternity, Steam users were downloading..I want to say 700 meg patches? Or more? 500 mb just for a hotfix.
We, much superior GoG users, were downloading 80 meg patches. Or smaller. I think the hotfix was 15.
Of course we had to wait an extra day or two, which did suck hard, but still. Some outfits are working ceaselessly to make your life tidier and more efficient. Praises!
Oh and here's the best bit: if you ordered Witcher 3 on GoG, as you should have, you potential heretic, then the patch will have already been optimized before anyone gets it, so, no wait! Isn't that nice. Yes, yes it is.
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Glad I got the GOG version, of course I didn't have a choice as I got the game for free with my new GTX 970 SSC. I have both of the first two games on Steam, no problems with The Witcher 2, but the Witcher is unplayable. I think that I'll be moving my entire Witcher collection to GOG even though it means I'll have to pay for the first two all over again.
Glad I got the GOG version, of course I didn't have a choice as I got the game for free with my new GTX 970 SSC. I have both of the first two games on Steam, no problems with The Witcher 2, but the Witcher is unplayable. I think that I'll be moving my entire Witcher collection to GOG even though it means I'll have to pay for the first two all over again.
No, the first two can be obtained as GoG backups. http://www.gog.com/witcher/backup
Simple, and better (extra free stuff, no unneeded wrapper).
That makes sense, but it does seem silly at the same time. I get the idea of the archives and such, but I also understand that the people distributing the patch are the ones that created that archive in the first place, and the game itself opens that archive. Meaning that they could, if they felt so inclined, include a few small fixed files and a small executable that extracts the archive, replaces the necessary files, and then recompresses everything exactly as the game's executable requires. I'm pretty sure some folks do this already, as mentioned before where changes to some underlying structure cause a significant reduction in the size of later patches.
It's a valid alternative, but it's also important to understand that a patch should have minimal execution requirements. The more complex things a patch has to do, such as replace things in archives, the more likely it is to fail under conditions the sustaining group couldn't or didn't anticipate. Things that are simple for a power user are dangerous in a patch. Patches are in this way one of the strongest arguments for KISS.
I don't mind day one patches. I don't mind big day one patches. Most of the times the patch size is related to the code and program structure. Do you really thing that to solve some bugs 10 gb of code had been reprogramed? The size is most possible cause thanks to resources (images, sounds, etc) in the same file that had been patched. The code is the smallest portion of it all.
What I care for is that the game needs to work well enough with no need of patches. It is the difference of an unfinished and not unfinished product.
So, let's see what happens. I want to believe.
What I care for is that the game needs to work well enough with no need of patches. It is the difference of an unfinished and not unfinished product.
So, let's see what happens. I want to believe.
I don't play on PC, so I wouldn't even know how to guess about that. I know on PS4, they've been all over the place. I've seen some as small as 30MB, and as big as 8GB. Hopefully it won't be too large. It really does suck to be excited for a game you've been waiting for, only to be hit with an insanely large download right before you start.
That's why gog.com exists. And you will also get The Witcher 3 from there since it was forunded by CDProjectRed
When it comes to patches. Yeah big day 1 patches suck. But games get larger in their entirety. So the patches grow with them.
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I was talking about retail. In retail when you buy PC games, you are buying Steam, Origin, Uplay, ect. The Witcher 3 will be sold in retail for PC and you not buying gog. You are buying a PC game.
Gog carters to the online gamers. Just like Steam, Origin, Uplay and the rest caters to the online gamers. Retail needs to cater to the offline gamers. Going online to buy digital games, no matter where, is fine. But retail PC games only catering to the digital distributors / online gamers, is not fine and it cuts off millions of offline gamers.
That's is what I am talking about.
The Witcher 3 is catering to the offline gamers at retail. That is a good thing.
Gog carters to the online gamers. Just like Steam, Origin, Uplay and the rest caters to the online gamers. Retail needs to cater to the offline gamers. Going online to buy digital games, no matter where, is fine. But retail PC games only catering to the digital distributors / online gamers, is not fine and it cuts off millions of offline gamers.
That's is what I am talking about.
The Witcher 3 is catering to the offline gamers at retail. That is a good thing.
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I just wanted to correct you.
Retail Witcher 3 here is cheaper then both GoG and Steam versions
I just wanted to add. This whole vinyl discs and technology marches on argument.
I am talking about the selling of video games to people. Is that a technology.
Vinyl discs are those big ass discs that needs those big ass players. Technology came along and made those discs smaller, compact discs. Then technology took those CD's and added more data to them, dvd. Technology then increased data on CD's by a lot, blu ray discs. Now I guess technology is digital distribution.
I still see vinyl discs being sold to this day. I still see vinyl players sold to this day. CD's, dvd's, blu ray's are still being sold. If vinyl is used to represent the offline gamers, then the offline gamers buying from retail, has not stopped technology.
When CD's came along, vinyl buyers were not cut off. When dvd's came along, CD buyers were not cut off. When blu ray came along, DVD buyers were not cut off.
When Steam digital distribution came along, the offline buyers of PC games were cut off. And that is a bad thing.
Offline retail buyers are not holding technology back. Digital distribution (online gamers) and retail (offline gamers) can work along side each other without cutting off any buyers.
The way The Witcher 3 is being launched is a perfect example of not cutting off any buyers from the product. All video games can be launched the way The Witcher 3 is being launched and we need to fight for that.
Publishers needs to support the offline gamers as well as the online gamers. That is why it's so important to support The Witcher 3. Buy a retail PC copy if you can, even if you can not play it.
I am talking about the selling of video games to people. Is that a technology.
Vinyl discs are those big ass discs that needs those big ass players. Technology came along and made those discs smaller, compact discs. Then technology took those CD's and added more data to them, dvd. Technology then increased data on CD's by a lot, blu ray discs. Now I guess technology is digital distribution.
I still see vinyl discs being sold to this day. I still see vinyl players sold to this day. CD's, dvd's, blu ray's are still being sold. If vinyl is used to represent the offline gamers, then the offline gamers buying from retail, has not stopped technology.
When CD's came along, vinyl buyers were not cut off. When dvd's came along, CD buyers were not cut off. When blu ray came along, DVD buyers were not cut off.
When Steam digital distribution came along, the offline buyers of PC games were cut off. And that is a bad thing.
Offline retail buyers are not holding technology back. Digital distribution (online gamers) and retail (offline gamers) can work along side each other without cutting off any buyers.
The way The Witcher 3 is being launched is a perfect example of not cutting off any buyers from the product. All video games can be launched the way The Witcher 3 is being launched and we need to fight for that.
Publishers needs to support the offline gamers as well as the online gamers. That is why it's so important to support The Witcher 3. Buy a retail PC copy if you can, even if you can not play it.
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