Hio,
is there a possibility to share a torrent file ( like gGg ) before a new large patch, i have only a 5Mbit to work with and probably there are even slower connections out there ( hard to emagine other countrys are slower than germany but probably …)
i think the last patch was rellative fast and “small” but already to download 9GB is a pain, while watching others already play 
would be great
The problem with a pre-patch is just that if they release one, then true offline will be able to immediately start playing/datamining the new content before the launch time.
So they would need to figure a way of updating the game without allowing true offline to have early access to it, which isn’t an easy feat.
Don’t some devs do something similar with releases? Giving a file to download which isnt unpacked/installed/whatever until the relevant time? Could that not be done?
People would just change their system clock to league launch.
What could be done is a sort of pre-patch that adds all the files in an incomplete way (with different names so you can keep playing with the old files) and then on launch time release a smaller patch that will delete the old files, complete the new ones and move them to their place.
Though that might not be a easy thing to pull off. You’d have to intentionally “fudge” your build and then you’d have to create another to fix that.
Not if it checks with steam to do the install. But I’d assume that the companies that do this pre-loading have ways to not let people play early. Though most of it is probably due to being online.
The problem isn’t with doing the install, the problem is after the install is complete but there are still 24h to go on launch time. After that, the client is fully offline, so if the new stuff is readily available in the code, people just change their clock and play the new stuff earlier.
So the only way to really accomplish that is to plug the new stuff in in an incomplete way so it isn’t actually in the game but in a way that also doesn’t break the previous version so you can still play it while waiting for launch.
On the other hand, they could provide the prepatch with the disclaimer that it will be unplayable until the (smaller) launch update.
It’s still a mess to go around your functioning code and purposefully mess it up for a build, but it’s doable.
It’s easier when it’s just online because then the server makes the checks.
That was my point, do the download early but don’t install untill the relevant date.
Sorry, I thought that was fairly obvious given the bolded part.
The thing is, how do you prevent installing? You either send it through steam (in which case steam installs it right away) or you give files to replace in the folder (like PoE does) in which case players replace it right away and steam can’t do anything to prevent that.
PoE just sends the pre-patch because the your game will be unplayable after you install/replace the files and because the server checks for them.
In true offline it’s not as easy.
I’m an accountant, why would I know that? It’s enoygh for me to just say “steam just doesn’t install it”.
If you want to go deeper into the weeds then “steam would give the dev the option of doing preloading & then it works how I want it to”, since we’re talking about hypotheticals.
This would be a great QoL for devs (and for players as well), for sure. It would be a great addition to it. Sadly, that’s up to Valve, not EHG.
With the currently available tools EHG could possibly still pull this off, but not in a clean or convenient way. They would have to jump through hoops to make it work while still letting people play the older version up to the last minute.
Or, like I said, they could just release a pre-patch that wouldn’t work with the disclaimer that players wouldn’t be able to play at all until the launch smaller patch would finish the patch.
I’m sure plenty of players wouldn’t mind this. Not to mention that you can download the pre-patch and only copy it a few minutes before launch as well.
So overall this seems like the easiest solution, but it does require EHG to “scuff” their build. And it would still be vulnerable to early datamining.
TBF, I suspect that’s all already available given LETools has updated data.
Nope not the problem iv said this before as well as on stream this is just plan false.
D4 did a preload D2R did one many fully offline games do them.
Full offline isnt the problem. They absolutely can do pre loads.
The main problem is the servers arent updated for the next season till 24 hrs before the season drops. Servers are also down at that time. Meaning the data that needs to be downloaded isnt even there to begin downloading.
Afaik in order to do pre load the servers would have to be update at least 48 hrs before launch to do so
Edit heres why offline isnt the problem.
even tho you can’t datamine a steam preload.
all steam downloads are encrypted with AES-256, the encryption key will only be released when the game (or EA in this case) gets released
One steam even for full offline games or games with this ability are encrypted and the files wont be unlocked till the set release date.
U wont get to play early nor can u data mine it.
Bro u CAN NOT data mine a steam pre loaded games
Stop spewing false crap.
The files are encrypted and stay that way even on ur SSD. And dont decrypt till the set release date. Then the keys become available
There is no such thing as a “steam pre loaded game”. Dev makes a build, submits them, Steam gets files, Steam install them. Installed files can always be datamined.
Steam doesn’t let you download pre-patches and keep them to the side to be installed in the future. It would be nice if they did, but they don’t.
What some developers do is simply create a non-functional build, so you can have most stuff already downloaded. One that doesn’t call on any of the new stuff or, in many cases, one that doesn’t even work.
If you download the PoE pre-patch, you can’t play until the servers get updated and you get the smaller launch patch.
D4 and D2R don’t do pre-patches, so I don’t know where you got that. It’s been requested often, even as recently as a few months ago, but Blizzard doesn’t provide one. Probably because if they did the game would be unplayable until the actual launch, like what happens with PoE.
U know exactly what i meant by pre load.
Again NO YOU cant datamine steam pre loads.
Heres some info from my research on this.
No, you cannot effectively datamine a Steam preload because the files are encrypted by Steam to prevent access until the game’s release date. While the files are downloaded to your computer, they remain unplayable and protected by this encryption, making them inaccessible for datamining or other modifications until the official unlock time when they are decrypted.
The files are LITERALLY encrypted for steam preloads.
Have u ever pre loaded a game on steam man??? If u have u would. Notice the day the game is unlocked the play button says decrypting.
EHG 100% can do pre loads for seasons.
As for d2r and d4 i was refering to pre loading before the release of the game not after as in seasons
https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/sdk/uploading#Preloading
Please note the phrase: Switching a game to preload mode.
If they provide a preload through steam and then switch LE to preload mode, it becomes unplayable. If Steam even lets them do that after the game is launched.
This is something that is used only for big games’ launches, not for seasonal games that are already live.
Well, but that’s useless isn’t it? What people want is to be able to preload a season. LE already launched.
They want what PoE does, which is to give you the bulk of the data files for you to replace in the game folder, even if that makes the game unplayable.
And those files are 100% dataminable.
Yup i just found this from further research. As well as
Steam doesnt nativity support post pre loading of content/data after a game has launched. And it also sounds like if a big post launch patches such as season 3 is available for download early. These files wouldnt be encrypted at least by steam.
With that ill admit it seems im wrong here. And thats fine nithing wrong with that.
Based on that ur correct data mining could end up an issue.
To be fair, I don’t think datamining is a big issue. It’s an issue, but not a big one. After all, these pre-patches are usually deployed 1 day earlier. EHG already released almost all the info that is worth datamining by then.
Not to mention it would only delay datamining for a single day.
The biggest issue is really the true offline client not requiring a server connection. GGG can do that because the server will refuse a connection since you don’t have the correct files.
But in true offline, the only way to achieve this is to make a non-working build on purpose,with the launch day patch then fixing it. Which is always iffy on the development side.
I can see that. Maybe EHG will find away they could do it. Of course definitely not top priority.
Btw i apologize for saying ur spreading falso info. Which wasnt true. I didnt have all the right info.
That’s ok, we all make mistakes sometimes and we all have bad days where we shoot from the hip quick. I know I’ve had a few reactions like that as well.
But you changed your mind when presented with facts and even apologized, so it’s all good. 
More than plenty of people actually do.