Wish one could select what zones to download.
…. That’s not a bad idea actually, they wouldn’t even need to select what to download, just an option to NOT download any area until you enter it.
Choose “On Demand” in the General Options tab under “Streaming”.
Beta, Character Select/Create, Enhanced Squad UI, Play for Free, Raids, Streaming Client, & Mac
Choose “On Demand” in the General Options tab under “Streaming”.
A good suggestion, thank you Jon but, what does “On Demand” actually mean?
Could you please tell us what ramifications a player will incur by changing to that setting?
i.e.
- will the game only load the map you are currently in or will it maybe load all maps you have at one time visited?
- will each new map you go to have a noticeably longer load time?
- will the other not demanded content trickle download?
- will personally never used content, like PvP, Raids and Fractals never get downloaded?
Just a bit more information will enable us to make a more personally informed decision.
Choose “On Demand” in the General Options tab under “Streaming”.
A good suggestion, thank you Jon but, what does “On Demand” actually mean?
Could you please tell us what ramifications a player will incur by changing to that setting?
i.e.
- will the game only load the map you are currently in or will it maybe load all maps you have at one time visited?
- will each new map you go to have a noticeably longer load time?
- will the other not demanded content trickle download?
- will personally never used content, like PvP, Raids and Fractals never get downloaded?
Just a bit more information will enable us to make a more personally informed decision.
The On Demand setting only downloads new information as it is needed to display the game in its current state. As such, any maps you have not already downloaded or been to will not be downloaded until such time as they are needed.
General ramifications of using it:
- There is a minimum the game must download after each patch. This is usually small, but entirely required by the game to run correctly.
- Characters/players/mobs can take a little longer to load if they have not already been downloaded. This can depend on your connection speed heavily. Characters/players will typically use a standard model until more information is available.
- Portals to maps you do not currently have will visually be different. When you approach it, the game will ask if you want to download it in the background. You can choose to continuing playing in the current map while the game downloads the necessary information. After completing it will notify you. Alternately you can wait on the loading screen. The UI of the loading screen when downloading shows the current progress of it.
Beta, Character Select/Create, Enhanced Squad UI, Play for Free, Raids, Streaming Client, & Mac
I have tried that, it isn’t really an issue. The game will download the vital stuff but will then postpone the zones updates until you try to enter one. If you do try to enter a zone that hasn’t been updated it will ask, You can then continue in the present zone until downloading is complete and it will then transport you.
That was a bit ago, so may have changed. It seemed to work very well indeed.
Jon: Thank you for the follow up information. I think I may try changing to that setting.
It’s always nice if a programmer takes a little time to respond.
If only anet people posted there would be less complaints. Players almost always respond positively if there is a comment from staff.