Why are game updates not delivered as a separate patch?

[Big Zeta]

Hi everyone. I'd like to address this major technical annoyance that seems valid for all games I've seen here. Why are new versions (which usually just add a new chapter to the storyline) released integrated in the package so we have to download the whole game. Is it so hard to release the novelty as a patch and save time and data (for those of us who are on metered connections!!)

 

[79flavors]

[...] Is it so hard to release the novelty as a patch and save time and data (for those of us who are on metered connections!!)

Yes.

Well... sort of.

I mostly deal with RenPy games, which includes a [BUILD] function right there on the primary SDK window.
Since it builds a full version of the game... that is what a developer distributes.
More than that... most games will be distributed as .rpa archives (archive.rpa or scripts.rpa/images.rpa/sounds.rpa, etc). Those are single files and are not easily broken up into their constituent parts.

A developer could do things manually. They could avoid using a RenPy archive and create a separate ZIP file containing only the changes... but it's extra effort - effort which, in my opinion, is better spent doing other developer things.

In theory, developers could use tools which creates a patch file by comparing the old version with the new version and automatically dealing with all that. There are numerous software tools out there that already do it... and is how all the really large companies already do it. But... these developers aren't large companies... they use (or barely use) the tools they are given. Since this sort of "create differences list" type tools aren't readily available to them... they don't use them. Sure... someone could. But unless the use of such tools became commonplace, people will take the path of least resistance... distributing the ZIP file created by the RenPy launcher.

Keep in mind, you can't just distribute patch files... since there are going to be (hopefully) a lot of new users playing the game for the first time - even when you releasing version 0.95, etc. They aren't going to want to download 0.1, 0.2patch, 0.3patch, etc., etc. They want a simple download... then play.

Then there is the final factor... and the one I always upset people about when I say it... Users are stoopid. Not most of them... but you don't hear back from the sane/competent ones... instead you end up with the same inane questions and problems over and over again. So now, not only are you wasting valuable development time creating a patch file... you're now having to spend extra time hand holding the hard-of-thinking, who didn't read the installation instructions and can't understand why it works for everyone else except them. I say this as someone who regularly created ~50-70 MB patch files for what eventually became a 1.9 GB game. At first, I distributed both a "patch" and "full version" and did so for at least six months. Eventually though... I just gave up and distributed the whole 1.9 GB version alone. I came to the opinion that anyone who wanted a smaller download, could just down the "compressed" versions instead. Again... a tried and trusted tool which is already in common use.

Ultimately though... it's about what is easiest to do...

Build game -> distribute game.
-or-
Build game -> extract updates -> build patch version -> distribute full game -> distribute patch -> spend time hand holding stoopid users.

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[hiya02]

I guess it is down to the devs saving time by simply omitting this feature.
After all, most games here are still rather small, even if you have to download the whole game over and over and over again...

 

[Winterfire]

It would not work because you would need a server and a patcher, delivering update patches manually is simply not flexible.

Delivering a bug patch for a build? That is doable, however, if you download a v 0.01 of a 2.5gb game and then 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, 0.05 (...) releases, that would mean you'd have to download each and every version to finally have an up to date game, that would be annoying.

 

[79flavors]

[...] by simply omitting this feature.

Except, it's not really a feature devs are omitting - since it's not a function already built into most game development tools.
It's extra work, using 3rd party tools which aren't commonly in use (or doing it manually).

If someone here created a common tool like UnRen or Cruncher... AND that tool became commonplace... then MAYBE there is a chance. But right now, even though other commercial and non-commercial tools exist... not enough people have complained enough for developers to actually care enough to agree on a solution that most people can use easily. Until then... we have full downloads and the rare complaint that it'd be nice if game patches could be done.

 

[Winterfire]

There's no chance tho, even if a dev bothered to have a server and a patcher, I am not sure many people would trust them to download "something, somewhere" without their full control.

 

[79flavors]

There's no chance tho, even if a dev bothered to have a server and a patcher, I am not sure many people would trust them to download "something, somewhere" without their full control.

Hmm. A server would not automatically be needed.

Someone could create a tool that would compared the "before" and "after" versions to create the "content" patch file. Then a "patch installer" could be downloaded with both the "installer" and the "content". The user simply runs the patcher program and is prompted to identify where the main game is installed. The "content" file is then applied to update the main folder (with various checksum and other checks)... and the end result is an updated game.

... and again, there are already tools out there that do this. It's not rocket science. But it's not commonplace for adult games either. My gut feel is that if it were a problem, someone would have already solved it. The fact that nobody has is my indicator that it isn't a problem for most people. Not to play the issue down in any way... just to try to say that clearly downloading large files seems to be as simple as it needs to be for the vast majority.

 

[Winterfire]

Hmm. A server would not automatically be needed.

Someone could create a tool that would compared the "before" and "after" versions to create the "content" patch file. Then a "patch installer" could be downloaded with both the "installer" and the "content". The user simply runs the patcher program and is prompted to identify where the main game is installed. The "content" file is then applied to update the main folder (with various checksum and other checks)... and the end result is an updated game.

... and again, there are already tools out there that do this. It's not rocket science. But it's not commonplace for adult games either. My gut feel is that if it were a problem, someone would have already solved it. The fact that nobody has is my indicator that it isn't a problem for most people. Not to play the issue down in any way... just to try to say that clearly downloading large files seems to be as simple as it needs to be for the vast majority.

It would need to assume that older releases exist somewhere, that is not always the case.
My game's size is around 2gb and since I use free hosting with quite limited space, I always delete my older releases.
The one developing the tool would also need to know the possible location of every game, which is almost impossible.

The closest thing would be to have every dev make such a tool and host patches, but considering that most devs have no real programming knowledge (or can't be bothered), that's almost impossible as well.

 

[baneini]

Devs can't even include a fucking save file to the recent content 99% of the time.
Downloading updates to a gallery file while replacing other game files entirely would need zero effort.

 

[Saki_Sliz]

I think as others probably mentioned (but I'm too lazy to read everything), its a technical limitation with their tools. They can only 'build' their game, they don't have a version management system, or a way for the engine to export a patch only. Renpy I think has a way to possibly do this, but I don't know much about renpy. I know more about unity, and I know for the 2018 and 2019 versions their method for doing this is a bit convoluted. RPGMaker, I don't think it can do anything for patches. Other than trying to use a Version Managment System, which are complicated on their own, the other way is to develop your own engine, and your own techniques for allowing for patches.

 

[anne O'nymous]

I guess it is down to the devs saving time by simply omitting this feature.

It's not an omission. An update isn't just some lines of text and a bunch of images. It's always new piece of codes added to the game.
With engines like Ren'py, that rely on interpreted code, it's more or less possible to proceed that way. Yet it's far to be effectively simple to do it properly and in an user friendly way. But for engines that compile the data, like RPG Maker, or rely on compiled code, it should just be forgot. It's not impossible to do it, but it need to apply a binary diff, which is above the knowledge of most devs on the scene.

 

[Holy Bacchus]

It would not work because you would need a server and a patcher, delivering update patches manually is simply not flexible.

Delivering a bug patch for a build? That is doable, however, if you download a v 0.01 of a 2.5gb game and then 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, 0.05 (...) releases, that would mean you'd have to download each and every version to finally have an up to date game, that would be annoying.

It can work. Dr PinkCake started doing it with the release of episode 5 of Being a DIK and it worked perfectly. If you had the previous version (ep 1-4), you just had to download the patch for ep 5 patch and then install it in the existing game folder, and that was that. It will continue to work this way from now on with each new episode and only new players will need to download the whole game.

So it is possible to release patches for new content in Ren'py games, my guess is that most devs just find it easier not to do that because it probably involves more complex coding than they're used to.

 

[Winterfire]

It can work. Dr PinkCake started doing it with the release of episode 5 of Being a DIK and it worked perfectly. If you had the previous version (ep 1-4), you just had to download the patch for ep 5 patch and then install it in the existing game folder, and that was that. It will continue to work this way from now on with each new episode and only new players will need to download the whole game.

So it is possible to release patches for new content in Ren'py games, my guess is that most devs just find it easier not to do that because it probably involves more complex coding than they're used to.

Exactly, if you had the previous versions... And in that case it was only 4 versions to download (2,3,4,5).
It is still annoying, but in games where there are more builds than simply 4, it would not be flexible.

 

[おい！]

Why should devs give into the demands of freeloaders? Also there are members on here who give up their own free time to compress many games, so people with minimum free space or slow upload speeds can get the games. IMO that should be good enough for any freeloading cunt.

 

[Praisejesus]

Why should devs give into the demands of freeloaders? Also there are members on here who give up their own free time to compress many games, so people with minimum free space or slow upload speeds can get the games. IMO that should be good enough for any freeloading cunt.

A good dev most likely pay attention to what "freeloaders" are saying, everyone is a possible supporter, understanding how to make your game more functional and playable creates a wider audience, and i have seen useful info come from every level of user.

 

[おい！]

A good dev most likely pay attention to what "freeloaders" are saying, everyone is a possible supporter, understanding how to make your game more functional and playable creates a wider audience, and i have seen useful info come from every level of user.

Sorry but unless you are paying IMO you don't have a say, possible supporters are not supporting nothing. Money talks and bullshit walks. For example:
Do you think that ICSTOR cares what freeloaders think?
Do you think that DarkCookie cares what freeloaders think?

 

[Winterfire]

Devs do care about what people (anyone) has to say, there are multiple ways you can support a creator and it does not have to be always about money.

Even if you cared only about money, everyone starts from zero at some point and during that period you'd listen to everybody anyways.

 

[おい！]

Devs do care about what people (anyone) has to say, there are multiple ways you can support a creator and it does not have to be always about money.

Even if you cared only about money, everyone starts from zero at some point and during that period you'd listen to everybody anyways.

For example:
If devs really cared about what people say and not just about the money why do games get abandoned?

 

[Praisejesus]

For example:
If devs really cared about what people say and not just about the money why do games get abandoned?

games become abandoned for multiple reasons other then money, everything from real life issues to lack of time, no different then any other project paid or free, just look at plugins for rpgmaker mv a lot of people make 0$ and yet plugins still keep coming out.

and DarkCookie is a member on this forum and has responded to "freeloaders"

 

[Winterfire]

However, the most common reason is something you can see every day, people starting with high expectations and zero experience.
Once they realize just how much work they should put behind their idea and perhaps be done after a couple of years, they will abandon ship.