NwN/NwN2 style updater, please!

[PsychoBlonde]

I just recently reinstalled NwN2, and I'm reminded of just how nice the automatic updater was for it and Neverwinter Nights Original Flavor. Please have an updater like this appended to the game if at all possible. Don't make us manually look up and install updates.

 

Also, kudos to Obsidian that it's still possible to automatically update their older games. Gj you guys. U R OSSUM.

[mstark]

Early IE games did this too, there was a dedicated "update" button before you launched the game. However, these update servers went down many years ago. An eventual problem with all games who offer such a feature. Games generally outlive their game studios.

 

The steam version will be automatically updated through steam, the question is how the GoG version will be updated.

Edited November 3, 2012 by mstark

[Hassat Hunter]

KOTOR2's is down already.

 

Steam supercedes it use, leaving it just for GOG. And I don't think it's too much use for that, since GOG also automatically notifies of updates (unsure on installing though).

 

So, no longer useful in the modern gaming community, it appears to me...

[matthewfarmery]

it seems for gog, they update the installer, (I could be wrong) but there aren't any patches for any of their games as you download the whole package again

 

now concerning PE, if they do the same system, it would be a massive burden for those that have limited bandwidth, especially if patches do come out fairly quickly, (there will always be a few patches) steam version will be fine, as it will auto update, but I think for the gog version, they should offer patches along with the game installer, but as there won't be any DRM attached, then maybe OE could offer these patches? or some gaming site? I'm still not sure which version of the game I'm going for, so would be good to have some ideas on how the GOG version (patches) will be handled,

[AwesomeOcelot]

GOG keep their installer up to date, but you can get the updates from the developer that work on the GOG versions so you don't need to download the whole thing again.

[Carlo]

GOG in fact does have separate patch downloads available on your product pages, at least for some games (FTL for example).

[matthewfarmery]

don't have FTL, so if they do offer patches for the game, then highly likely they will offer patches for PE when its out,

[Duke]

With larger games, GOG tend to update the installer *and* have patches available. So when you download the installer, you get the latest version but you don't have to redownload the whole thing. With smaller games they tend to not bother with patches and just update the installer.

[Joukehainen]

Oh god no. I hated that updater, it would constantly bug out and you'd have to dl the whole thing from the beginning again. Ughghgh

Edited November 4, 2012 by Joukehainen

[Tsuga C]

I'm with PsychoBlonde on this one. The NWN1 updater was wonderfully convenient and made keeping my game up to date as simple a a couple of points and clicks. Anything that eliminates frustration and drudge work, thus giving me more time for roleplaying, is a very good thing in my book.

[Pipyui]

I like an autoupdater, but I can't be the only one who isn't bothered by the thought of having to download patches manually? Maybe I've just gotten so used to mod management for Bethesda games that unzipping archives doesn't bother me anymore, I in fact enjoy the control I get from this. And checking the website for a new patch when I feel one is due is hardly an inconvience for me.

Autoupdaters only ever work correctly half the time anyways.

 

On the other hand, I suppose if you have a large game library (not me), autoupdating is fantastic.

So in the end, I guess I've contributed nothing to this conversation. It's okay, I'll let myself out.

[SoshiGEE]

I absolutely despise auto-updates on anything, so I'm not too interested in this. All I can picture is some annoying screen telling me 'PLEASE WAIT WHILE PROJECT ETERNITY CHECKS FOR UPDATES' when I just want to play my friggin' game already.

[rjshae]

Yes the NWN2 updater is nice, but it's also reassuring that there is a downloadable patching system as an alternative. I've used the latter several times and it worked fine, but some stronger reassurances from the publisher would have been welcome.

Edited November 5, 2012 by rjshae

[Karkarov]

Early IE games did this too, there was a dedicated "update" button before you launched the game. However, these update servers went down many years ago. An eventual problem with all games who offer such a feature. Games generally outlive their game studios.

 

The steam version will be automatically updated through steam, the question is how the GoG version will be updated.

GoG get's their own updates and notifies you when one is available for a game you own. You still have to go to GoG, access your games library, then download it yourself. If you run the GoG installer (I don't) you might be able to get an auto install option there. In all honesty it isn't very inconvenient and is pretty easy even when you do it manually.

[teknoman2]

with the witcher 2, gog had an updater program. you downloaded it, clicked on it and it automatically updated the gog version of the game with the latest patch and dlc (free dlc ftw). with older games they simply do not need separate patch files since they are all included in the installer.

[Amentep]

Oh god no. I hated that updater, it would constantly bug out and you'd have to dl the whole thing from the beginning again. Ughghgh

 

I seem to recall getting stuck in a situation with NWN2 where the autoupdate would fail and it wouldn't recognize the manually downloaded update once you went that route.

[Ynk]

I've been fiddling with Stalker mods lately, some of them, only works on a particular version of the game. You can't go back to a previous patch on Steam can you, or keep two versions of the same game? Sincere question.

[Ieo]

I'm not a fan of any autoupdate in any of my software and proceed to completely disable them forthwith, or tell my firewall to block it; I don't have that many games, but I have a vast collection of utilities, productivity software, and whatever. Zero tolerance for constantly calling home.

 

I would not mind a stepped feature:

* Full autoupdate upon game launch

* Manual check-and-update with internal button

* Auto check and download but manual installation

* Discrete manual patches (external)

 

Even Microsoft has something like that.

 

I do foresee issues with autoupdating and mods, so players must be able to disable any internal autoupdate functionality.

[Pipyui]

Does anybody tolerate autoupdate daemons? We shall have no such thing here. (I couldn't find the "kill it with fire" emoticon)

I think the issue here is that people want an autoupdate feature, and some of us prefer manually patching. I don't think many would argue that an update button in a menu or launcher is a bad idea, I think we'd just prefer the game didn't update itself without prompt from / prompting the user.

[Uomoz]

Or go steam.

[Pipyui]

Steam is perfectly viable for some, but many don't at all like DRM and tethering their game to a client service.

[Uomoz]

One can, like, update the game then go offline mode, if Steam online is such a hassle and still wants autoupdates.

[Malkaven]

Oh god no. I hated that updater, it would constantly bug out and you'd have to dl the whole thing from the beginning again. Ughghgh

 

I seem to recall getting stuck in a situation with NWN2 where the autoupdate would fail and it wouldn't recognize the manually downloaded update once you went that route.

 

Yeah the NWN updater was completely broke. The concept was cool but it wasn't functional. I remember having to send my friends certain files just so the update can proceed with the update.

[Felithvian]

I just recently reinstalled NwN2, and I'm reminded of just how nice the automatic updater was for it and Neverwinter Nights Original Flavor. Please have an updater like this appended to the game if at all possible. Don't make us manually look up and install updates.

 

Are you somekind of Apple idolizer or what?

 

"Nice" & "Automatic" are words for Apple users. Do it manually, do it with style.

[teknoman2]

for those who do not know it, if you right click a game on the steam library and go to properties you can disable autoupdate for that game. and from the settings you can simply disable it for all games. the feature existed since the first day steam came out so i dont see the problem... it doesnt force you to update if you dont want to.