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FAQ: Why is Launcher reinstalling the whole 12GB?

AKradianAKradian
Reactions: 40,310
Posts: 6,340
Member, Private Tester
edited August 2018 in General Chat
This is a question we often get, along with a screenshot like this:
unknown.png

So I'd like to explain what we are seeing in this screenshot, and why the Launcher is, in fact, NOT reinstalling the whole game in this case.

What does "patching" or "updating" the game actually mean?

Imagine the game installation as a big fat book of 1200 pages.
The "patch" is a list of corrections or changes to the book. For example:
1. "on page 5, line 20, change the word 'good' to 'well'",
2. "on page 73, after the second paragraph, add the following text: 'blah blah blah'",
3. "on page 135, remove the 3rd paragraph, that starts with 'something something'".

The Launcher downloads the list of changes (in the case of the image above, that list is 435MB of data) and then starts to apply them.
The "install" number shows how far it has progressed in updating.

If we go back to our book example, then at first the launcher will show
Downloaded 3/3 (because we had 3 fixes to apply)
Installed 0/1200 (because it hadn't fixed anything yet)

After applying the first change (change "good" to "well") it will show
Downloaded 3/3
Installed 5/1200 (because we have fixed up to page 5)

After applying the second change, it will show
Downloaded 3/3
Installed 73/1200 (because we have fixed up to page 73)

After applying the last change, it will show
Downloaded 3/3
Installed 135/1200 (because we have fixed up to page 135)

And then it will think for a while because it does all sorts of checks, and then finally jump to "complete".
But really all it did was change those 3 places in the book. It didn't "reinstall" all 1200 pages.

The Launcher does the same thing with its list of updates to the game files. It changes a few bytes here, adds a bunch there, maybe deletes some things, all according to the patch data it downloaded. But the bulk of the 12GB does not get changed, even if it says in its progress display that it's "installing" 12GB.

I hope this makes things a little clearer.
YinYangXSlicedTimeIts2Sharp4UGlatorscholar624

Comments

  • mrskannaxmrskannax
    Reactions: 740
    Posts: 37
    Member
    edited August 2018
    AKradian wrote: »
    This is a question we often get, along with a screenshot like this:
    unknown.png

    So I'd like to explain what we are seeing in this screenshot, and why the Launcher is, in fact, NOT reinstalling the whole game in this case.

    What does "patching" or "updating" the game actually mean?

    Imagine the game installation as a big fat book of 1200 pages.
    The "patch" is a list of corrections or changes to the book. For example:
    1. "on page 5, line 20, change the word 'good' to 'well'",
    2. "on page 73, after the second paragraph, add the following text: 'blah blah blah'",
    3. "on page 135, remove the 3rd paragraph, that starts with 'something something'".

    The Launcher downloads the list of changes (in the case of the image above, that list is 435MB of data) and then starts to apply them.
    The "install" number shows how far it has progressed in updating.

    If we go back to our book example, then at first the launcher will show
    Downloaded 3/3 (because we had 3 fixes to apply)
    Installed 0/1200 (because it hadn't fixed anything yet)

    After applying the first change (change "good" to "well") it will show
    Downloaded 3/3
    Installed 5/1200 (because we have fixed up to page 5)

    After applying the second change, it will show
    Downloaded 3/3
    Installed 73/1200 (because we have fixed up to page 73)

    After applying the last change, it will show
    Downloaded 3/3
    Installed 135/1200 (because we have fixed up to page 135)

    And then it will think for a while because it does all sorts of checks, and then finally jump to "complete".
    But really all it did was change those 3 places in the book. It didn't "reinstall" all 1200 pages.

    The Launcher does the same thing with its list of updates to the game files. It changes a few bytes here, adds a bunch there, maybe deletes some things, all according to the patch data it downloaded. But the bulk of the 12GB does not get changed, even if it says in its progress display that it's "installing" 12GB.

    I hope this makes things a little clearer.

    so are we supposed to do it or not ? o.o
  • YinYangXYinYangX
    Reactions: 3,995
    Posts: 1,353
    Member, Private Tester
    edited August 2018
    mrskannax wrote: »
    so are we supposed to do it or not ? o.o

    Update like normal, yes.
  • RokaniRokani
    Reactions: 1,220
    Posts: 45
    Member
    edited August 2018
    idk about others but me and a friend had to redownload the entire game, though it worked fine yesterday.
  • PoofNoodlePoofNoodle
    Reactions: 300
    Posts: 3
    Member
    edited June 2019
    The best part about this book analogy is how my Nexon Launcher is still consuming ALL of my bandwidth after it finished the "Downloaded" piece of the puzzle. I've been on the "Installed" part of this disgusting mess for a few hours. I have a strange feeling that what you're telling these people is just a farce to cull the masses. In reality, every single person I've known has issues of this level with Nexon.

    The download size makes sense, and I had no trouble getting that piece in no time!
    Everything past that is just not adding up...

    unknown.png

    unknown.png

    So much for the "INSTALLED" section not using data right? It's quite the garbage nonsense when my ISP available in my area charges more and more based on certain set amounts of data used monthly, so bs like this just hikes up my internet bill and for what? 525MB that turned into 10GB.
  • AggraphineAggraphine
    Reactions: 19,415
    Posts: 3,553
    Member
    edited June 2019
    PoofNoodle wrote: »
    The best part about this book analogy is how my Nexon Launcher is still consuming ALL of my bandwidth after it finished the "Downloaded" piece of the puzzle. I've been on the "Installed" part of this disgusting mess for a few hours. I have a strange feeling that what you're telling these people is just a farce to cull the masses. In reality, every single person I've known has issues of this level with Nexon.

    The download size makes sense, and I had no trouble getting that piece in no time!
    Everything past that is just not adding up...

    unknown.png

    unknown.png

    So much for the "INSTALLED" section not using data right? It's quite the garbage nonsense when my ISP available in my area charges more and more based on certain set amounts of data used monthly, so bs like this just hikes up my internet bill and for what? 525MB that turned into 10GB.

    If it was downloading the entire game again, then the "downloaded" line would match that of the "installed" line. The download line is the size of the update, the installed line is the process of the updated files being applied to the existing files on your system