How does DCS handle downloads?

[Skybird]

A quesiton. I have not flown for very long time, and maybe get appetite to try the WWII planes recently released in the DCS, or the WWII package.

Sometimes these sims are on sale in shops, in DVD cases.

My internet conneciton is maximum 3 Mb, so while not being totally lame, also not a speed king. Downloading sims the size of the DCS stuff, is no joy - blocks the rig not just for hours, but the day and the night. I will not walk that way, even more when expecting to do it time and gaain when they upodate.

So my question is, how do they handle upgrades over versions they sell via DVD packs? Is it a partial download of the stuff only, with a limited package size, or is it downloading the whole sim from scratch?

Same is my question for DCS World, which seems to be required by now, yes?

I may buy the P51 on DVD, maybe, but only if it saves me from a download nightmare that later is required. Buying as a complete DLC is out of the question.

[Skybird]

Ah, forget it, I just learned that the recommendation is to install via download (new versions) anyway, and that those required downloads are unacceptably big, 16 GB.

Well, I fold.

[Flamebatter90]

I haven't used the non-steam DCS world in ages, but from what I read there should be a built-in autoupdater.

Where do you get that 16GB size? DCS World is about 8GB, P-51D about 700MB.

[Skybird]

Amazon feedback said 16 GB. Customers complained that after having installed from DVD, the game nevertheless downloaded that after launch. Plus it is not just the P51.

Autoupdater - even worse. You want to fly, start the game - and it starts to download for the next 20 hours instead , blocking the rig. Ultimate fun killer.

No way to go for me, thanks, even more so since it will not be done just once, but several times, whenever World gets updated. This model is for people with reliable 16000 kbit/sec internet connections or more.

Which is not even 2% of users in germany, at least last time I checked. I have 3000 kbit/sec - when the servers play ball. 2000-6000 is still the biggest norm group in Germany, although providers try to hide that fact in their advertising. Some promise 50000+ kbit via the powerlines. Do not expect to find many such users here.

[Oberon]

If only there was a platform that, when it started in the background, automatically scanned and downloaded any update for games that were run through it, thus when you came to play it, it was already updated and ready to run.

If only.

[Skybird]

Oberon, I am one of those queer-minded old-fashioned people who switch their computer off when not using it.

I also do not tolerate software environments full automatically downloading and changing my system, not even Windows Update. I supervise Windows Update manually, and as far as I am aware of it, all other stuff as well.

And finally you did not get the point: having your system downloading such volumes of data at speeds like that, blocks the web access and de facto locks you out from using your computer for whatever a purpose. For hours. For the evening. For the night. For the whole damn day, and if you are lucky: for longer. And if the download messes up, it all starts again from the starting line. Thats why you better do not touch it when it does downloads like that... Has all happened for me, I talk by experience. Nothing beats a 123 hour download of 10 GB of data - and when the progress bar is at 96% the whole thing freezes becasue you opened free Mail to send an email, or you open the browser but the website bogs down. Priceless... I hate Steam and DLC business models.

BTW, for some reason Steam servers do not transport stuff to my part of the internet (where I use Skyrim, Assetto Corsa) at higher speeds than just ~1500 kbit/sec, that is half the speed I could get at maximum with my DSL link. So with Steam things become even worse, regarding downloads. They last twice as long.