Can of worms

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[sydmichel]

I'm not really trying to open a can of worms, but...

I am quite happy that the program was relieased as a 'work in progress' and that it is going to be progressivly finnished off by way of patches that can be downloaded.  However, I didn't buy a download version; I bought a boxed version.  The reason that I ordered a boxed version is that my internet connection is not very good and where I live we do not have a land-line phone and receive internet by means of a microwave link.  So, if the upcomming patch is large it could take ages to download and if there are interuptions it makes it near impossible. 

So my question is, If VSTEP are completing this product using incremental paches, will they be offering postal customers the upgrade by post?  Okay, I will eventually get the patch completed, but what about the customers that are not on-line or are on 'dial-up'?

[Mad_Fred]

Hi sydmichel,

I don't think an update by post, on a CDROM or DVD is going to happen.

Dial-up connections are a bit of a dying breed, so downloads are the way it's normally done anyway, and have been for quite some time. Of course games and patches get bigger, but connections also get faster and faster. People that are still on 56k are rare I think. At least in Holland, it's probably not even possible to still have it. They discontinued these some time ago, with most providers I have come across. Of course some countries might be 'behind the times' a bit..  so that's apples and oranges, perhaps.. granted.

But, these patches won't be as large as the game itself, so it should not take THAT long.

And, you can ofcouse always use download accelerators, like getright, to make sure a disconnection does not make you start from scratch, but allows you to continue where it left off. Also it can make use of several mirrors at once, speeding up the process aswell.

If your connection is a bit dodgy or not too fast, then I'd advice you take a look at one of those. I personally use getright, when it's needed. It works like a charm!

http://getright.com/   (it's payware, but you can try it out first, and as such, use it for this patch.)


Regards,
Fred

[sydmichel]

Thanks for that advice Fred, and although my question was mainly rhetorical, unfortunatly not all countries are wired up as well as Holland and there are vast areas of Spain that do not have broadband available mainly due to issues such as topography, inferstructure and of course money.

[Mad_Fred]

Yup, very true, hence the apples/oranges remark, but even when I had dialup, I downloaded patches and such, and had to wait a long time to finish them, and they were sometimes many hundreds of megabytes too, and took hours to days to complete. That's why I got to know getright in the first place, and that's why I'd recommend such a tool. It's the best option imho.

Nowadays, I only use it if a source proves to be untrustworthy as far as maintaining a solid connection during the downloading of patches/addons and the likes.

But.. 'postal patching'.. nah.. not going to happen I am afraid. There's a standard way of doing things, and if someone lives up in the mountains and doesn't have broadband, then that's the unfortunate and relatively small issue involved with living in such a stunning and beautiful place. But on dialup, its still available to them. Just takes longer, just like many things take longer if you don't have a 'city-like infrastructure' with all shops and services available to you right around the corner. You can't have it all, all the time, and everywhere. Lots of services from lots of companies are limited in some ways, depending on the things you mentioned. 

And you're welcome!

Fred.

[Aad The Pirate]

Ahoy all,
And what's wrong with asking a member with a broadband connection to download it, then burn it to a CD-Rom/DVD and send it by mail to those unfortunated members who still have to wait ages before a download is completed and hope it got no errors in it due to some strange things which could happen during downloading? PHEEEW, what a sentence 
Kind Regards
Aad

[Chitch]

That's exactly what I was thinking too Aad....that should work fine I'd think.

Jim

[Tavares Junior]

AAD you are right.
I suggest that we can have a extra post on this forum (at the features and request) As requesting a CD with all updated patches.

Then some of us with broadband connection can help the other friends by sendind then a DVD with the lastest patches:

the rules for this assitance can be something like this:

1- the user with a limited connection shall request the DVD with the new patch at the TOPIC (Ask for a patch burned on DVD here)
2- After this msg (reply) the users with broadband which already have the newest patches can directly send a private msg to requester asking his address then stabelishes a contact and make the right help.
3- The requester shall return with the assistance received by posting his local (town) postcard to the sender.


So guys,
here is my idea.