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Always offer patches -- stop forcing us to download the whole game repeatedly! completed
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Shadowcat Far too often, games are updated and no patch is provided. Instead, users are forced to download the complete installer for the whole game in order to get the update. <br /> <br /> This is unacceptable, and the situation is rapidly getting worse -- games are frequently more than a gigabyte in size (even old games regularly utilised multiple CDs at this point in time), and some modern games are many gigabytes! It is unreasonable to require people to repeatedly download files of these sizes in order to get updates. <br /> <br /> Many users have slow internet connections and capped monthly bandwidth allocations. Downloading a large game can use a very significant proportion of a user's internet resources. Finding that you then need to download the whole thing again to get the new update is absolutely infuriating -- especially if doing so isn't actually an option. <br /> <br /> Back when the GOG catalogue consisted only of old games which were never going to be updated, and which were often very small in size, this problem was less obvious. Today, this is a huge problem with GOG as a game delivery platform, and I see it over and over and over again. I find myself unwilling to download updates for games I have purchased, in case they get updated again! <br /> <br /> I feel that the common excuse that "too much has changed" between versions to provide a patch is misleading. Most of a typical game's size comes from its audiovisual assets, and the chances of MOST of a games audiovisual assets changing from one version of the game to the next are virtually nil. I don't believe this excuse holds up to scrutiny. <br /> <br /> I suspect the more likely issue is when game assets are bundled into an archive format as one large file; but that is not a new approach, and small patches used to be provided for such games. Patches which knew how to update a large archive file with a small number of modified assets. This is an old class of problem for game patching, and solutions have always existed. <br /> <br /> The other problem I can see is that (when patches are provided) GOG likes to have only one single "universal" patch at a time, rather than allowing cumulative patches to accrue. Cumulative patches enable each new patch to be as small a download as possible, whereas a single "universal" patch will get bigger and bigger with every update. If any one of the patches was very large, then ALL subsequent patches are forced to be very large, even if the newer changes are very small. This is also unreasonable. I realise that simplicity is the intent of the "universal patch", but it comes at a heavy cost. <br /> <br /> I do accept that it's a difficult problem, and that the problem can vary from game to game, but it's a problem which needs to be addressed. GOG simply must be capable of providing patches -- and small patches for small updates. <br /> <br /> Of course, wherever possible, the developer should be urged to provide the patches themselves, and GOG should ensure that it always takes advantage of those patches. I get the impression that this is no longer something that all developers do themselves, however, so it is an area which GOG needs to invest in, so that they can provide their customers with a good update service.
GoGoWe Yes can confirm this is still an issue...
VitalViper Still an issue, I just had to download 57.89gb for a cyberpunk "patch" and another 48.78gb for the witcher 3, WHY?? This is especially frustrating for those on a limited bandwidth internet plan <br /> <br /> This wish is NOT completed
Jonny2k5 The first complaints about this are from 2014 and you still force me to download 62GB of Cyberpunk even tho the game was one version behind. "Wish completed" aka successfully ignoring valid customer complaints for 9 years now and still going strong. I´ll go back to pirating your games
svkirk Client keeps re-download whole games for me: Pathfinder: Wrath of the righteous downloads 8 Gb each time. I don't want to buy any more games until this is fixed.
SilentStorm128 This is not complete. No Linux versions have incremental patches available.
badkarma117 How has this wish been completed?! Cyberpunk and Baldur's Gate III are STILL downloading the full game instead of patches and only on GOG! This is a bug and it needs to be addressed ASAP. There is no reason why we need to download full versions of a game to patch them to the latest version. No other publisher does this.
svkirk Didn't know this is such an issue. I am not going to buy any game through gog until this is fixed, redownloading 50 Gb for Cyberpunk or another 50Gb for Baldurs gate is just rudiculous.
fridgeband If IF there's a way they can improve patches and make it more efficient without too much trouble then I would appreciate that. I never use galaxy, only backup offline drm free installers just saying.
fridgeband This sounds really good for good reasons, but I can't vote for this because we have no idea how difficult this would be for <a href="http://gog.com" class="light_un" target="_blank">gog.com</a> to do. Imagine having to release multiple patches and updates and hope they all work with no new issues, hope they all install in the correct location and so on. I think gog staff would not have a fun time since it's not just one, but multiple games they would have to do this for. It's a logistical nightmare for them, so I can't say I would want them to dedicate their time doing something that would take all their effort and make them essentially stress out a lot.
mastromanos I thought that NEXUS MODS had a crowded free server and I paid to unlock premium server access... No noticable increase in bandwidth... <br /> <br /> Then after two hours I noticed in Task manager that Galaxy was downloading a bunch of updates for some games wich were almost 14 GB... <br /> <br /> Now I love the GOG service, their pro consumer policies and even Galaxy, BUT this needs to be addressed at some point. <br /> <br /> Seeing no response from GOG in this thread is dissapointng.I am sure there is a reasonable explanation for this but GOG needs to at least post an answer here.
DyNaer Can't agree more : right now the situation affect also Divinity Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition" : The game was updated october 16 th & 18 th : and each time the whooping offline installer need to be d/l : no patch offered Aaccording to the support it's dues to some technicals limitations . I suspect it's a lie to just push more & more users using the client...GOG could clearly create patches for updating what should be updated, but it seems they no more want to do it for games which have a large installer (AAA): this is a complete non+sense.
goguzr I agree I have requested this feature several times before from GOG, but they don't seem to want to implement it. It is extremely annoying to be forced to use Gog Galaxy when it's advertised as not being forced upon the customer. Patches are clearly available on GOG's website for many games. Sometimes there are single patches, other times multiple, so clearly the support is already built into the website and there is a system in place to do them. There is no reason not to put patches up and leave them up so that users can download them. The way I see it we all benefit if they leave the patches up. Save bandwidth, time and effort. Clearly this is already part of GOG Galaxy, just leave the patches up on the website as well please.
Gekko_Dekko double this. Its fine, if game is so old and update once in eternity. But since GaG now sell new games too - its just pain to redownload them over and over. <br /> <br /> It shouldnt be hard to automatize either (since galaxy already have system with patches)
imranf1 I don't use Galaxy and I haven't had a reason to download updates yet, but... really? If you don't use Galaxy, you're forced to swallow the entire game download again? What the actual duck? Just link the same update that Galaxy uses. Why the duck would you patch the download and then make people redownload the whole thing? Just list down the patches so we can download those!
Oberrill So the 48 games with updates that I have must be downloaded again to install the update? I am wondering because I have all these games that say they have updates, but I see no sign of an actual update.
Harathulan I downloaded Pillars of Eternity 2 the other day, and just got around to playing it. It crashes after the opening cut scene. A patch got released yesterday that fixes the exact issue I'm having. I can't download it. This is ridiculous. I should not have to download a 21.5 gig file for the sake of a patch that's a couple of hundred meg so that I can play the game!
Djaron i am just sick of this kind of joke frankly ! i had to suffer it for titan quest anniversary for 4 times in a row... Today i got to cope with this BS about battletech... Of course that only punish us stupid customers who DARE not using GALAXY ! <br /> Because GOG GALAXY is the messiah, the savior, and games now seems to only be patchable through this OPTIONAL client that seems to become rather mandatory for getting any bugfix updates for games ! <br /> I just keep wondering if all that is on devs fault who are clumsy, on GOG's fault (again from clumsyness) or just another SICK move to push people into using their GALAXY thing ?
gliamonster Currently downloading X3: TWP for the 3rd time, which is another 9GB. This is a serious waste of bandwidth and time for relatively trivial changes (under 100MB).
Kakarot96 Agreed. Battletech, as the other comment said, is now 36GB in my backup, only for the first 2 patches (and not big patches, anyway) In this case, i wonder if the lacy and almost forced release on GOG with no DRM (for the base game, extra content has DRM) is related. Anyway, i had to buy another external disk to be able to backup all these games that don't have patches, and the list of such games is growing, sadly.
Gloranor This is currently happening with Battletech - 2 new versions in two weeks (it just came out and they're busy ironing out bugs and balancing as fast as they can, so that's great), no patches. Installer is 12gb.
Schnuff One point more why I start buying less on GOG. <br /> They try to force this Galaxy thing. There is Kyn with broken Downloader links that they don't want to repair. And more and more games without <br /> a proper patch...Hell, even if they offer patches...if you missed one you must dl the complete game again.
e-ahmet I thought this only happened in mobile games. Anyway, I hate to download a whole game for an update as well. <br /> <br /> Kind of unrelated but I complained on Mortal Kombat mobile game's forum that I had to redownload their game regularly (nearly 1,5 gb) after each update and they should release patches instead of making players download the whole game. Someone erased my post and when I messaged the mods about it they couldn't bring it back. I wish I took screenshots. It is owned by WB games btw.
Blutwurstritter I also agree. Call me paranoid but i get the impression that this is an attempt to push people to use gog galaxy. At least they could provide a patch archive. I was stuck multiple times at a game version which i could not patch although there were patches available to do so. The patches were simply no longer accessable on gog and were replaced by a new version but existed before. Stop pushing gog galaxy please and provide the alternative way via a patch archive.
Wex I notice that I can switch game versions through Galaxy, and the game is upgraded or downgraded quickly. Which means that patches either exist or are generated when requested. I don't see any reason why the same thing should not be possible with regular downloads: user requests a custom patch from version x to version y, and the site generates a temporary exe to download.
zelo86 Same problem here, have to re-download some games (Titan quest Anniversary Edition, for Example) to get the lastest version. That's Annoying!! Please GOG consider to solve that, which is a problem (at least for me)..
gliamonster X3TC was a 9.1 GB redownload due to no patch (and I would've liked to be informed without checking the forum too).
fishbaits Victor Vran added to games that don't get patches.
dAb74 Totally agree, this is beyond ridicolous. 33 Gb to update TW3 from 1.31 to the last version? Give me a break.
lefthandblack Yes. I have noticed this trend and it is becoming annoying. I have already found myself skipping new releases for a few months until I am sure that the heavy patching period is over because of it. <br /> <br /> My bandwidth cap is smaller than the download size for some of the games here. When I bought Wither 3 I had to save up my entire monthly internet until the last day of the month so that I could download half one day and the other half in the new month. <br /> <br /> Please stop doing this.
dremulator i agree with shadowcat we should always be able to download patches instead of the whole game, reason i say this is because i will be giving my isp the heave ho sometime next month (financial reasons + isp putting prices up again and again), and using my mobile for the internet instead, problem with that is, no.1 i only get 1gb of data per £10 or 12.41 US Dollars credit, so any updates have to be small or the cost will be ott <br />
PromZA This is something I fully support. A patch should always just update the assets that have changed and should be able to do so from any other version. It's not something that's hard to do with the utilities available and there are even some that can update a couple of changed bytes in multiple GB files. <br /> <br /> It's even desirable to have a base game that can be patched to any version required. For instance there are interesting bugs in Deus Ex I wanted to try but the exact version would be hard to track down. There are also situations where never versions are incompatible with a person's system but older ones work. <br /> <br /> I realise there are still situations where this would result in large downloads but as has been said these involve content assets which is very rarely the case.
fishbaits Add latest INSIDE & Shadow Warrior2 to the "full patch" DLs too.
fishbaits Titan Quest, screw you for doing this too!
bordeath1 The Witcher 3 is the last big tittle that I'd bought from GOG, I do have slow internet connection and I hate GOG update system. <br /> Steam FTW!!!!
Pastor Haggis Only thing I see about this is if they release multiple patches before you update, the latest patch may not work meaning you'll either have to download multiple patches and run them one after the other (which may not be too big an issue) or you just redownload the game. <br /> <br /> But I do like the idea of being able to get patch updates, so I'll vote for it.
MiteshMS I completely support this. <br /> <br /> Not only will this help users a lot. It will save GOG tons of bandwidth.
ShedoSurashu Steam handles this the same way I think how Galaxy will handle it. But reliance on clients like that isn't very GOG-y. I support the idea of cumulative patches that are small. It makes things easier to update and would probably put less stress on GOG's servers than people constantly re-downloading gigaybytes of data for new updates.
37 comments about this wish