Digital Foundry Article Technical Discussion Archive [2011]

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How do sony conttrol install sizes? If full installs are flat-out denied, what stops a developer putting all the assets on HDD and just loading the game executable from BD? Someone somewhere is drawing a line as to what can and can't be installed on HDD, and I'm wondering who that is and how they pick that line.

Sony had a 4GB limit for game installations, that’s why games like MGS4 had you installing the game once per chapter, recently that limitation was moved up to 8GB with Rage.
 
I thought it was anything less than 5 gig and GT5 was the first that got the 10 gigs install permission, though it does so in the background install..
 
I thought it was anything less than 5 gig and GT5 was the first that got the 10 gigs install permission, though it does so in the background install..

Well apparently it’s not allowed for every one, I remember reading the 4GB limit, let me see if I can find the article.

RAGE: “Kudos to Sony for letting us” do 8GB install on PS3- id Software

When asked about the 8 GB install on the PS3 and why RAGE decided to go with it, Willits said, praising Sony for their developer friendly views: “Sony was great. Kudos to Sony for letting us do that. They don’t allow every game to do that. So definitely, hats off.”

http://gamingbolt.com/rage-kudos-to-sony-for-letting-us-do-8gb-install-on-ps3-id-software
 
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there are definitely many games that has over 4 gigs install, but always remain under 5 or they might be some that are a few hundreds meg higher so I am assuming that the limit was anything under 5 gig. I am pretty sure if Id software would show sony what one version would look like with smaller install Sony will probably just ask them to do whatever they can judging by how the final version turn out.....
 
Considering Sony ahve allowed 25.5 GBs of DC Universe to be downloaded and installed, they should just give up on limits now as long as requirements are clearly labelled, and perhaps warnings included for 40GB owners.
 
Considering Sony ahve allowed 25.5 GBs of DC Universe to be downloaded and installed, they should just give up on limits now as long as requirements are clearly labelled, and perhaps warnings included for 40GB owners.

I'd rather not see this happen. Even a 160GB drive gets full way too fast if you do away with such limitations altogether. I'm fine with Sony being lenient when a developer shows they are doing something useful with the extra space, but lets please prevent the general populace from requiering you to copy the whole disc to the HDD before booting up the game, as for most games that's just ridiculous.

An optional install on the other hand I can live with, though then do it right, with a digital licence that allows you to run from HDD without inserting the disc altogether, making the PSN and BD release of that game the same thing, with the same product code, compatible game-saves, etc. Just basically allow the disc to be the same type of product code that you can use for other types of DLC.
 
I'd rather not see this happen. Even a 160GB drive gets full way too fast if you do away with such limitations altogether. I'm fine with Sony being lenient when a developer shows they are doing something useful with the extra space, but lets please prevent the general populace from requiering you to copy the whole disc to the HDD before booting up the game, as for most games that's just ridiculous.
Sorry, that's what I meant. Rather than having a hard limit imposed on everyone, and then sidestepped by a few lucky devs to the other developers' frustration, have a title-by-title consideration and an optional full install.
 
Ah right then. ;)

I'm actually tempted to give Battlefield 3 a go as a PSN download and see how I like it, just because ... It will be weird having such a huge game as a download, weirdly enough in some ways it doesn't feel right, but it is also really convenient.
 
Yeah, it's almost like you should just get it on PC where you can do that with 99% of games. It is a strange and convenient world indeed. :p
 
Yeah, it's almost like you should just get it on PC where you can do that with 99% of games. It is a strange and convenient world indeed. :p

Oh absolutely. Steam is great in that respect, and I could definitely see it work for the Playstation. I wouldn't mind at all of one day we got an announcement that Steam would be supported from now on on PSN.
 
If you do go for it, let us know how the loading times and texture streaming compare to the boxed version. On another note: I can see the next gen consoles being more PC like in that they require you to install pretty much everything, with the potential for cutscenes, music and DRM to be left on the disc. This will go hand in hand with a full DD service for all games. I don't think we're quite ready to ditch boxed yet sadly.
 
Well right now it would still be faster for me to go buy the game in the store then to download and then install it on PS3 for sure. :)

I'm also worried that after downloading and installing the game, the game will still ask me to install those 3GB or whatever it is that is currently being installed to HDD. :rolleyes:
 
I'm also worried that after downloading and installing the game, the game will still ask me to install those 3GB or whatever it is that is currently being installed to HDD. :rolleyes:

If it does indeed ask you to perform an install, let us know how it runs.

I haven't had a chance to test yet myself (too busy playing UC3 :p) but there's a thread at the battlelog forums claiming that there are issues with high res assets not loading in the 360 version when you have the discs installed versus running it straight off the DVD. This was a concern that I mentioned before the game's release but thought DICE would consider this possibility. Maybe they did and the person who created this forum is clueless, won't know until I test it myself.
 
If it does indeed ask you to perform an install, let us know how it runs.

I haven't had a chance to test yet myself (too busy playing UC3 :p) but there's a thread at the battlelog forums claiming that there are issues with high res assets not loading in the 360 version when you have the discs installed versus running it straight off the DVD. This was a concern that I mentioned before the game's release but thought DICE would consider this possibility. Maybe they did and the person who created this forum is clueless, won't know until I test it myself.

I have both the HD assets and the disc installed. Haven't uninstalled the disc to compare. Do you have a link to the post on the forum, so I can see what problems are being described, so I can watch for them?
 
Not much can be said after Beta analysis and UC2's epic article.

That's not true. He ignored changes to AA, AO, texture pop in, etc.

I just think he's a fan and got caught up writing about the game itself as much as the tech. Edit: Not that I'm saying there's anything wrong with this, he loves games too and the UC series deserves said love. =p
 
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