Why does a "small" update need to download 916.7MB?

Todays update and the MS Store is downloading 916.7MB just to get the program running. Who knows how much the additional download will be once MSFS is up and running (EDIT: It’s less than 1MB). Why does it do that? Is there any way around that? Am I missing something?

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In the grand scheme of things < 1GB is a small update.

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While it may be less than 1MB more data on your hard drive, the file(s) that was replaced with new code amounted to 1GB download. That’s just the way it works. The installers today are not sophisticated enough to just download the code differences and do a compare and insert each change at byte level. And I would never expect that. Just download the whole changed file and replace the old one with it is the way it works and will ever work.

That’s not what he’s saying. Today we had a 1GB download in the store and then a 1MB download in the game.

Ok… either way, my comment isn’t wrong.

1GB isn’t a large update. Considering that most AAA games these days are well in excess of 100GB, that’s nothing. Maybe by 2010 standards it’s big, but not by 2020 standards.

Now that said, I can understand how that could be a pain for someone without access to good broadband. Be it due to availability or affordability, not everyone has 100+ Mbit connections.

Hi @bioshock4432,
The installer that comes from the MS Store and Steam, will always be around that 1GB. Then that installer will invoke the download in MSFS which will vary in size depending on the size of the update to the sim.

So 2 parts, the installer, then the patch download.

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I suspect that is because the installer is downloaded in its entirety and the 1MB is a patch to the existing game files. Why the installer has got so big is anyones guess, it used to be around 500MB.

That installer, is also MSFS main executable and it has grown over time.

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I remember when 8 MB was considered a huge patch that took ages to download with a 33,600 bps screaming modem :smile:

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33k6? Luxury! :wink:

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Tell that to the newer generations :smirk:

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My very first modem was a 14.4k. At the time people were still mostly using 2400 and 9600s. Despite how fast it was, I still remember how long it took to download a single nudie pic that could fit on a 1.44MB floppy with plenty of space to spare. lol

These days though, 1GB is not even close to being considered a large download. I don’t even consider 20GB to be particularly large. Then again, I have primo-grade fibre. Others with less capable connections would likely disagree.

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Unless your sister tried phoning her boyfriend, picked up the phone and broke your 2400 baud connection. ARRGH!

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Most of the audience completely missed the point, ugh.

I was already well into adulthood and living on my own by the time I got my first computer, (386 woohoo!) so no issues there. Plus I used to run a BBS, so I had 2 phone lines. lol

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