Do Video Game Companies Still Use Data Compression On Video Games?

[oldgamerz]

Google says
the sims 3 for PC only is At least 6.1 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB of additional space for custom content and saved games.Jun 6, 2013.
How much hard disk space does The Sims 3 take up when all of its expansion and stuff packs are installed? I can't give you exact numbers but the base game takes up at least around 20GB. The expansions are probably smaller but not that smaller. Stuff packs are much smaller than EPs and the base game.

OK so  anyone should know that mostly all PC games, have data that is all recorded onto an internal harddrive, So why the fracking hell do so many modern console games  take 20 to 50 gigabyte or more for one stinking game. plus even more gigabyte space for Downloadable content  and don't even include expansions?

Does anyone have any slightest idea of how big any Sims game is on PC is? and how much that game has to offer on the PC version?

Back in the day everything used to be compressed (in the 2000's) and still look and sound vary good. I have a vary old early digital camera with only 1GB of storage space  it records in HD I think with over an hour of video length, and with fantastic quality. both video and sound.


OK maybe because of the hardware or console specs?

(edit)
I think I figured out
 the original kind of Data compression were Lossy Data Compression. In case you didn't know is a process that can reduce the graphical and sound picture quality in order to fit large games or files on a CD, cartridge harddrive, or DVD or Blu ray. Without making much of a difference from it's original format like all compressed data is. In other words with the technology out these days big hard drives are becoming bigger. But so are the files on them since most people consider compression a bad thing, but I use lossless compression, in which still has the file compressed from it's original format, but there is no difference in quality when something claims to be lossless. Making lossless compression better in my opinion. Thoughts?

It is possible on just about all Windows PC OS since XP. To allow you to save hard drive space by compressing files. Should your hard drive ever need more space and you don't want to lose any critical data. And It will hold more data should you ever want to save some space on any harddrive that you are allowed to compress data.

[dashv]

In a lot of ways you answered your own question.

Now days compression is really only important when it comes to network transfers.

Disk space is cheap these days.

Compression is still widely used but in many cases the switch has been to lossless compression.

In addition practically everything now (consoles especially) uses encryption.

Encryption increases data size by roughly 30-40% depending on the scheme used.

Like binary code, encrypted data does not compress nearly as well as text data.

So it’s a combination of a move more towards lossless or even just “less lossy” compression becuase high def displays demand maximum quality. And privacy/piracy concerns requiring encryption.

You can compress your pc hard dive but I don’t recommend it. The performance penalty and chances for data loss are both very high.

Every time you need to use the data it has to be first uncompressed. If part of the disk fails that part now affects multiple files not just one.

Much better to simply buy more drives and have multiple copies of things.

I’m sure there are folks here that can do one better than me, but I remember when a 30mb hard drive was $200.

“Dude you can fit all three episodes of DOOM on there!”

[oldgamerz]

In a lot of ways you answered your own question.


You can compress your pc hard dive but I don’t recommend it. The performance penalty and chances for data loss are both very high.

Every time you need to use the data it has to be first uncompressed. If part of the disk fails that part now affects multiple files not just one.

Much better to simply buy more drives and have multiple copies of things.

I’m sure there are folks here that can do one better than me, but I remember when a 30mb hard drive was $200.

“Dude you can fit all three episodes of DOOM on there!”

OLDGAMERZ REPLY
I didn't previously know about what you just said @dashv not being a good idea to compress the harddrive, I correct my own judgement
the bold needs to followed it is not a good idea after all, to compress the hard drive because you can always get another harddrive cheaply therefore I no longer recommend it

I never actually did try to compress any hard drive lately but I believe everything you just said,  I have on an older computer though

sorry for the caps earlier I wasn't angry at all

[baileykun]

I do believe Nintendo games still tend to be compressed. It's how they fit on the little chips and why many other companies struggle to fit their games on even Blu ray discs (>_> Spyro).

I think compression needs to come back though so we don't have to download our disc based games of the net.

[dashv]

I do believe Nintendo games still tend to be compressed. It's how they fit on the little chips and why many other companies struggle to fit their games on even Blu ray discs (>_> Spyro).

I think compression needs to come back though so we don't have to download our disc based games of the net.

Games on switch only need to support 1080p. Games on PS4 and XB1 now need to support up to 4k.

All three platforms are using compression where appropriate. The same game will vary in size for each platform becuase the level of detail they can each support is very different.

The fact you need to install disc based games to the hard drive actually has nothing to do with if the data is compressed or uncompressed.

The console makers have learned the hard way that relying on the disc reader too much (ie when actually playing the game) is too much wear and tear and they got tired of RMA’ing consoles just becuase the proprietary disc drives failed.

Hard drives are built for speed and to handle abuse. They are also pretty cheap now. So better to let it take the brunt of excessive use and wear. If the hardrive dies, the user can swap it for another one off the shelf, no RMA required.

Custom disc drives are still necessary becuase that’s where a lot of the bootleg prevention magic is.

Of the shelf hardrives can be used becuase encryption makes them useless unless used with an authorized console.

[tripredacus]

Yes. This is the reason why game updates are so large.

[rayne315]

I’m sure there are folks here that can do one better than me, but I remember when a 30mb hard drive was $200.

“Dude you can fit all three episodes of DOOM on there!”

lol there is a guy at work that has old magazine advertisements for computer components pinned to his desk and my favorite one is

"NEW 1 MEGABYTE OF STORAGE NOW FOR THE LOW PRICE OF $800 EACH"

best part about it is its shown in some ones hand and it looks to be about the size of a mother board today.

as for my own memory I remember going to a staples and seeing a 20GB external hard drive for $400 and thinking that was a good deal. just imagine never having to buy another one! lol

[dashv]

I’m sure there are folks here that can do one better than me, but I remember when a 30mb hard drive was $200.

“Dude you can fit all three episodes of DOOM on there!”

lol there is a guy at work that has old magazine advertisements for computer components pinned to his desk and my favorite one is

"NEW 1 MEGABYTE OF STORAGE NOW FOR THE LOW PRICE OF $800 EACH"

best part about it is its shown in some ones hand and it looks to be about the size of a mother board today.

as for my own memory I remember going to a staples and seeing a 20GB external hard drive for $400 and thinking that was a good deal. just imagine never having to buy another one! lol

20gb! That’ll take a lifetime to fill!

[oldgamerz]

I wanted to resurrect this thread because I think it's got some great detailed information on it provided by @dashv I am still angry at both Microsoft and SONY for not using proper file sizes for the modern gamer, I would love to buy an Xbox One if it was similar to the Xbox360, in that games could be played off the harddrive taking up less than 10 gigabytes a piece.

I mean now games are so large you are luck to fit 12 games on a 500 gigabyte internal harddrive, of course you can also buy a large external harddrive but. according to @dashv mentioned that the reason why the files are so large is because of privacy and pirating blockers. things that are not needed in my opinion

[ignition365]

In the PS5 specs video or whatever it was they talked about a new compression method and delivery so updates could be downloaded and installed faster.

[tripredacus]

The reason why updates are so large is due to how the developer packages their files. They do whole replace of archives because their system does not use a differential method of asset loading. Take these two examples:
- Quake engine and derivatives that use the PAK format
- Bethesda engine that use the BSA/ESM/ESP format

With these systems, you can do an update without having to replace the main data archive, which is usually quite large. The game engine is designed to use a load order when loading game data at launch, where it will load the extraneous files before the main data files. In Quake engine games, it will just load anything, which is not particularly ideal for modern games because it allows you to use mods in multiplayer games that can't be tracked by anti-cheat. For the Bethesda games, they use a loadlist and a specified load order to determine which data files to load before the main game data.

Now consider the reason for the large file sizes in modern games: videos and textures. And the texture files include all the different sizes and resolutions any person may want to run. That means that 80% of the files that the game loads, or downloads in an update, are not used by you.

How about a real-world example. A lot of people have been complaining about the update sizes for MW/Warzone. Every time they add something to the COD points store, every time a new battle pass item is created, every new blueprint, you will notice in these sections that there is a video you can watch. Tons of videos and animations barely anyone will watch. And these are all in the updates making it larger.

Perhaps these videos should sit on a CDN somewhere, and if the client wants to play them, they are streamed. So that the video files do not need to be in the game data. Perhaps the initial game installs can be large, but once a user figures out what video settings they are going to use, the game will only update the graphics files that are being used and not everything. If the user were to change the video settings to something where a file is out of date, it would need to do an update.

I'm sure there are multiple ways to get game data sizes down, these companies just have to do it.