next »

Constantly running out of space on my laptop (which is my main and only PC), the idea occurred to me that OpenWar games should be playable from CD/DVD, like console games.

Pro:
- less HDD space usage
- no or a small installation

Con:
- slower loading
- content from patches and updates, and custom content, must still be stored on HDD (this could complicate our loading algorithms, but should be doable)

Another option would be to load movies and music from CD/DVD. For example, in CNC3 (5800MB), these files consume more than 4000 MB

What do you think?

No.

First, no one would use it. The last game I remember buying that ran from a CD was either SWAT (The first one) or General Hospital, which is equally as old.

Playing from the CD is not only unhealthy (from what I've heard anyway, I'm not exactly a disc-storage expert) for everything but remarkably slow (and loud). Games may be upwards of 5 gigs, but hard drives are 500 gigs for $200.

Hard drive space is frustrating, I know. I have a 120Gig'er and it's constantly full. But I would never play a game off a CD, even if every piece of information on my computer was critical and I couldn't delete anything to install my game.

HOWEVER, in-game cinematics COULD be. I believe many games do this, when cinematics start my CD always starts up, too. Bandwidth-wise it's possible. However, to load a game off it would be frustrating, especially if you're changing maps constantly.

But then, it all depends on how difficult this is to implement. If it's 3 lines of IFs then go for it. Otherwise, I vote a strong no.

First, no one would use it.

Like I said, at least many a notebook user would.

Playing from the CD is not only unhealthy

Yet consoles survive for years

Please keep in mind that it's not about what you would do. It's about how much people would like this feature, and whether that's enough to justify the little extra effort spent in making it

I know people who go to great lengths so they don't have to use a CD.  It doesn't make a whole lot of sense when hard drives are becoming downright massive.

again, at the moment games grow faster than notebook harddrives

For laptops (I refuse to call them notebooks, I hate that name, it makes no sense) it COULD be used, but most laptop harddrives are a decent size. If you are a person who needs to use all 100 gigs of your hard drive, you're a guy who spends a lot on your hard drive to begin with, thus, space is not a problem, imo.

Like I said, it depends on how difficult it is to implement. Personally, I can't imagine someone making a game that uses it or a player himself using it. If it's simple to do, have at it, it's yet another feature on the list. But I wouldn't personally.

As for the "Running long-term" thing: I've read that somewhere, I have absolutely no idea if it's true. Yes, Consoles do it but I think DVDROM wise they are built for long-term use.

This reminds me of a good idea for a feature though, albeit slightly off topic: smart pre-caching. Usually games only load between levels and such. Sometimes when you're running along an open plain it'll load the place before you get to it, but it's pretty limited. How about a feature that puts memory to full utilization? Might not be that useful for RTS but definitely would for RPGS and maybe FPS'.

Interesting idea, it opens up more possibilities for users of older laptops. I just wonder whether diskspace will still be an issue when the game is actually done... It's also quite possible for people to just buy an external harddrive, or a plain harddrive and an encasement.

While not what you envisioned, it brings up another point. By allowing the game to need only a minimum install, it lowers the barrier to try the game out. Of course, someone would still have to download it, but I could then take the disk along to a friend, install it in a few sec and show him the game. No need to clear up diskspace or wait for the game to be finished installing.

As for disk damage. Any games I have that run anything from the disk are on a CD, which sometimes wear out from the frequent use. DVD's have a better protection layer making them more endurable. So, by using a dvd, disk damage isn't an issue.

Solinx

Just thought of something related to this.

It's becoming increasingly popular to have an usb stick with your favourite portable programs. I'm actually using mine at the moment. How about a usb stick instead of a disc?

Solinx

well a drive is a drive, so if somebody puts the game on a stick it would work without any adaptations

also, apart from the disk space issue, also remember the benefit of console-like puting the cd in and instantly playing
i sometimes want to play an older game with friends, but don't feel like going trough the 30 min. installation time

As far as installation time goes, I can attest that older games are usually in the neighbourhood of two minutes, not thirty, minutes.

As well, generally loading from a disk takes longer, so you may end up just paying for that installation time with longer load times anyways. 

As far as installation time goes, I can attest that older games are usually in the neighbourhood of two minutes, not thirty, minutes.

by older i mean something like C&C generals + expansion. also, "older" applies in my specific situation, but the same might occur with new games

As well, generally loading from a disk takes longer, so you may end up just paying for that installation time with longer load times anyways.

True, but because these are short waiting times, they can be less annoying than one long waiting time that's actually shorter than all short ones combined. It helps that you're already in the game, playing, instead of waiting for the install to wait before you can play.

Solinx