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That's not how compression would work. Think about if they are adding a new level. The algorithm would have nothing to compare the files against except what i
by enkid 6y ago
That's not how compression would work. Think about if they are adding a new level. The algorithm would have nothing to compare the files against except what is actually being sent. If the texture appears in each level, and each level comes in a separate update, there's no way for the algorithm to reference or incorporate the files that are already in your computer, so it has to compress it like it's a brand new file. That is unless you have a costume installer which duplicates the file once it runs, but that would probably be a ton more work for the developers.
- foota 6y agoI think AAA games do this now anyway to allow this like smaller patches and playing while the game downloads.
- Dylan16807 6y agoYou have this completely wrong. "there's no way"? It's extremely easy to make a patch file that references existing data. This is a problem that has been solved many times. And that's not relevant to initial install anyway, which can/should be a single download.
- enkid 6y agoBut thats not compression. That's downloading and running an executable that duplicates files.
- smilliken 6y agoWhat's your definition or compression? A .tar.gz will de-duplicate files that will be re-duplicated on decompression.
- Dylan16807 6y agoHaving a reference dictionary is a type of compression. You need a program that decompresses no matter what, and the ability to reference existing files barely changes it. It's not a post-processing stage where files get copied around. It's the ability to reference arbitrary chunks of data inter-file just like it can reference arbitrary chunks of data intra-file. At the most basic level it's like taking a compressed file and chopping it in half. The user already has the first half, then they download the second half and "resume" decompressing.