Question for Steam Members Only: Question regarding the update on Dec 11

Leadfoot

Leadfoot
Noted in the last dozen or so updates that as soon as the servers go live, people are playing.

Now, I'm on Steam. Noticed that the servers get updated and then go live.
THEN (about 20-40 minutes later), Steam knocks on my door with an update.

Am I correct in assuming that people NOT on Steam are able to update their copy while the server itself is being updated, or is it just faster for them because I'm on DSL and they might be on broadband?

Just curious.
 

biot

biot
CMDR_Cosmicspacehead said:
Steam is a bit delayed in getting updates, but usually much faster at downloading once it goes live.

FDs own launcher usually crawls to a halt as soon as the update is available. Lol
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Yes, totally this. For my tastes it's a much more convenient and low-touch process.
 

Be4st

Be4st
CMDR_Cosmicspacehead said:
Steam is a bit delayed in getting updates, but usually much faster at downloading once it goes live.

FDs own launcher usually crawls to a halt as soon as the update is available. Lol
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That's the reason I converted my Frontier copy of the game to a Steam copy. The download speeds on Steam are so quick compared to the Frontier servers once people start hogging all the download bandwidth with their updates.
 

varonica

varonica
Leadfoot said:
Am I correct in assuming that people NOT on Steam are able to update their copy while the server itself is being updated, or is it just faster for them because I'm on DSL and they might be on broadband?

Just curious.
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Most updates for me take a very small amount of time due to the beta being installed, if you have played the beta and leave it there until the live update goes out it will use the beta directory as a data cache and only need to download changes made since the beta finished, so yes sometimes players can get in very quick.
 

Factabulous

Factabulous
Console players will be in first as usual. Though they have to wait for the game servers, so I'm not sure it's that great :)
 

gooddoc

gooddoc
I'm just patient. I give myself 3-4 hours of downloading time & go & do something else.

It takes as long as it takes, any sooner is a bonus.
 

Mengy

Mengy
I have a Steam copy but I’ve never used it, I’ve always just played through the normal Frontier launcher.

Does playing the game through Steam have any performance penalties? Are there any differences at all? I’d like to just let Steam auto update my game while I’m at work, then I’d be able to play on patch days as soon as I got home instead of waiting for the Frontier launcher to do its thing!
 

biot

biot
Mengy said:
I have a Steam copy but I’ve never used it, I’ve always just played through the normal Frontier launcher.

Does playing the game through Steam have any performance penalties? Are there any differences at all? I’d like to just let Steam auto update my game while I’m at work, then I’d be able to play on patch days as soon as I got home instead of waiting for the Frontier launcher to do its thing!
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I haven't noticed any. The ED executable is the same for both versions. In terms of a performance hit, running Steam in the background isn't going to impact ED any more than if you ran any other app in the background (e.g. like a web browser). I usually run with the Steam overlay off, not because of performance concerns but I just don't have any use for it. I guess it depends on your machine but even on my creaky 10-year old Win 7 machine (originally a Vista box) I never had performance issues.
 

MottiKhan

MottiKhan
Mengy said:
I have a Steam copy but I’ve never used it, I’ve always just played through the normal Frontier launcher.

Does playing the game through Steam have any performance penalties? Are there any differences at all? I’d like to just let Steam auto update my game while I’m at work, then I’d be able to play on patch days as soon as I got home instead of waiting for the Frontier launcher to do its thing!
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I have two installations per computer. One is Steam and the other is FD. There's no difference in performance.

I have ED set for priority updates on Steam, so it gets done while I'm at work. By the time I get home, it's ready to roll. I usually wait a few days before updating the FD side of things. Otherwise, the game can't be played until the update is finished.
 

Faybs

Faybs
MottiKhan said:
I have ED set for priority updates on Steam, so it gets done while I'm at work. By the time I get home, it's ready to roll. I usually wait a few days before updating the FD side of things. Otherwise, the game can't be played until the update is finished.
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That's what I do. The day the patch is out, I leave my PC running when I go to work. The update usually gets released in the middle of my work day (I live in the west coast of the USA), so by the time I get home in the evening I have the update and the game's live on the servers.
 

jacozilla

jacozilla
Also note on steam it generally queues it to download. If you're away at work or whatever then no big deal.

But if you're at home waiting for the ticking clock and update to go live so you can download NOW NOW NOW...then bear in mind you can force steam to manually download soon as update is available on steam.

Under Steam - Library - Downloads, if the update is available you'll see it queued and the launcher will say something like set to download at XX:XX time. Or you can just manually click the button next to it and have it update right then.

TLDR - you can't get it any earlier than when steam update is available, but when it is available, you can lose time if you ignore launcher and let it queue it up on whatever time slot it thinks vs manually click now.
 

Faybs

Faybs
jacozilla said:
Also note on steam it generally queues it to download. If you're away at work or whatever then no big deal.

But if you're at home waiting for the ticking clock and update to go live so you can download NOW NOW NOW...then bear in mind you can force steam to manually download soon as update is available on steam.

Under Steam - Library - Downloads, if the update is available you'll see it queued and the launcher will say something like set to download at XX:XX time. Or you can just manually click the button next to it and have it update right then.

TLDR - you can't get it any earlier than when steam update is available, but when it is available, you can lose time if you ignore launcher and let it queue it up on whatever time slot it thinks vs manually click now.
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You can set a particular game as high priority, that usually means that it will get put at the top of the queue and start downloading on its own.
 

Anubite

Anubite
Is it true Steam gets a cut of past and future ED-store sales if you attach ED to it? I heard this back when ED on Steam was new, and have refused to add the game.
 

Faybs

Faybs
Anubite said:
Is it true Steam gets a cut of past and future ED-store sales if you attach ED to it? I heard this back when ED on Steam was new, and have refused to add the game.
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Yes, but it's only the base game and Horizons. Not anything from the Frontier store.
 

babelfisch

babelfisch
Mengy said:
I have a Steam copy but I’ve never used it, I’ve always just played through the normal Frontier launcher.

Does playing the game through Steam have any performance penalties? Are there any differences at all? I’d like to just let Steam auto update my game while I’m at work, then I’d be able to play on patch days as soon as I got home instead of waiting for the Frontier launcher to do its thing!
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The only difference is that Steam is faster downloading updates. You can even start your Steam ED installation without using Steam. Simply go to the install folder and create a shortcut to your desktop.
 

Drazkul

Drazkul
Mengy said:
I have a Steam copy but I’ve never used it, I’ve always just played through the normal Frontier launcher.

Does playing the game through Steam have any performance penalties? Are there any differences at all? I’d like to just let Steam auto update my game while I’m at work, then I’d be able to play on patch days as soon as I got home instead of waiting for the Frontier launcher to do its thing!
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I use both a steam and frontier version (2 accounts). Performance wise there is zero difference and if you have set custom HUD colours in the graphics override file you get the HUD changes in both (keybinds are also shared between both)

To reply to the OP:
As others have said the Steam client may get the update slightly behind the Frontier launcher but the speed it updates is lightyears ahead compared to the Frontier launcher.

It feels like it reinstalls the whole game everytime it updates (steam takes under 5 mins, Frontiers takes a minimum of 25 mins I find)
 
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