Dial-up friendly release?

[Revfan9]

Now, I was thinking about the MP3 encryption thread, and I remember the growing size of the 2.11 betas due to new features. How much larger will the 2.11 final version be over 2.10 (5 megs) !?!?! Not to mention the inclusion of Neofirst.qst, which uses the DoR tileset, bringing its filesize up to 1.98 megs by default! So, if the 2.11 final version is 5 megs like 2.10, then adding in Neofirst will bring up the file to 7 MEGS!!!!!!!!! For those of us who are stuck with Dial-up, we would be kicked off (anyone who has used dial-up knows this, it sometimes disconnects for no reason) before that would ever download!

So I propose that the 2.11 final is released in 2 versions: Full and Neccessities versions.

Full version:

All of the neccessary files for 2.11 to run properly.
The example quests.
ZIP format.

Neccessities version:

All of the neccessary files for 2.11 to run properly
7z format

I say 7z for the Neccessities version because it is more widespread than Ace and superior to ZIP, but is less widespread than ZIP. And, in a test, I packaged the neccessities version with 2.11b10b, and the 7z version came out at 2.99MB, and the ZIP version came out at 3.71MB.

It should also be noted that in the downloads section, the 2.11 full version should be labeled, in big bold letters, as the "main" version of 2.11, while the neccessities version is inferior and is only for those who want a shorter download time.

[ShadowTiger]

I'm pretty sure that NeoFirst will be a seperate download anyway, since it's more of an "Example quest" for 2.11 than anything else, I'd suppose.

Perhaps the Support Package can be individualized as well, with each item able to be downloaded seperately?

[Revfan9]

All compressed of course. The point of this is so that Dial-up users won't have to tie up their phone lines for 3 days just to get 2.11.

And I do remember someone saying that Neofirst was going to be included with 2.11, but that person might have just been false. Could a developer please confirm this?

[ShadowTiger]

... ... I am the developer. (I guess.) Downloading things in excess of 3 MB (OMG!) is going to be a problem, apparently, so why shouldn't it be a seperate donwload? :shrug:

[Revfan9]

Yes, but not everyone is on dial-up. I suggested this so that the people that are on dial-up don't have to put up with incredibly long download times, as well as DSL/Cable users being able to get the full package at once.

[Gerudo]

it'd be just as well to easily put up one download package, be it split or unified. (one package can be a set of files kthx)

alot of users who have dialup have download resuming programs such as Getright (i myself have this).

as a former highspeed internet user, it would not irk me at all to have to download multiple files to form one package.

[Nicholas Steel]

im pretty sure the 2.11 beta 10b exe files arn't compressed with up-x. compress them yourself and see them shrink to like 500k each.

[Revfan9]

I have. They are around 2MB uncompressed.

[DarkFlameWolf]

personally at this point, since cable and dsl and other fast internet services are offering their services for just as much as dial-up if not cheaper, there is no reason why people should be using dial-up anymore.

[ShadowTiger]

Sure there is. DSL was never available in our area. o_o We had to spring for the super-expensive Cable package. A lot of people can't even afford that. Even WE can barely afford it.

[Sir_Johnamus]

I have high speed, but before about half a year ago you couldn't get it for under $1000 in our area. The split download idea is nice.

[Warlock]

I say 7z for the Neccessities version because it is more widespread than Ace and superior to ZIP, but is less widespread than ZIP. And, in a test, I packaged the neccessities version with 2.11b10b, and the 7z version came out at 2.99MB, and the ZIP version came out at 3.71MB.

What the heck is 7z?

Also, try Download Accelerator Plus. You can get a free trial (pretty much same as regular but with ads) all over the place. That has download resume so if your download is dropped because your dial-up cuts you off, you should be able to reconnect and continue where you left off.

[Gerudo]

Warlock, you've never heard of &z (or 7zip)? o_O

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7z

it's a compression algorithm i believe can be superior to both ZIP (definately) and RAR (not sure about that, but eh)

if you use any recent WinRAR, 7z is one of the extensions that it is (or possibly can be) associated with.

[Warlock]

Warlock, you've never heard of &z (or 7zip)? o_O

Nope :P And personally I wouldn't recommend using a format I'm sure many more people havn't heard of, except maybe as a supplement (i.e. get the zip OR 7zip version).

[ShadowTiger]

Well you could always just post a link to the place to acquire such a zipping method right next to the download or something. :shrug: I've seen it done, and it works quite well.

[Warlock]

Well you could always just post a link to the place to acquire such a zipping method right next to the download or something. :shrug: I've seen it done, and it works quite well.

Asking someone to download an application in order to download an application usually results in them not downloading the application :P

[Gerudo]

well, 7zip has been around for a while now (a few years i think), and as i said, if you use a recent version winrar (hell, maybe winzip and winace do it too, not sure though), you're fine. i would have thought 90% of population heard about it since it is an allegedly better form of compression...

a reliable (no broken links, bad files, or virii) rom site i download from frequently uses that format by default.

sorry to have gotten this thread off-topic. :x

[Revfan9]

Not to flame, but DFW is one of these "DSL-abusers" I am talking about.

I'm glad most of your lucky high-speeders feel sympathy for us Dial-up users, and these are very good suggestions. Thanks =)

[Gerudo]

Revfan:
i dont fully understand what you are saying... do you mean that DFW doesn't put her quests into smaller pieces?

if so, then you're out of luck, since it is a questmaker's prerogative how they bundle their quest. honestly, if you dont want to download a large file, then dont play the quest. if you wanna play the quest, then you have to download large files.

its an unfortunate trade-off.

[Nicholas Steel]

revfan... dial-up aint the end of the world... i had it when i downloaded the full version (cd rip) of gazillionaire... it took quite a few days but it got done... i see no problem with dial-up unless your sharing your connection between computers... if so then either get a download manager or just tell the person using the other pc not to use the internet on it.

[Revfan9]

Revfan:
i dont fully understand what you are saying... do you mean that DFW doesn't put her quests into smaller pieces?

if so, then you're out of luck, since it is a questmaker's prerogative how they bundle their quest. honestly, if you dont want to download a large file, then dont play the quest. if you wanna play the quest, then you have to download large files.

its an unfortunate trade-off.


personally at this point, since cable and dsl and other fast internet services are offering their services for just as much as dial-up if not cheaper, there is no reason why people should be using dial-up anymore.

<_<