Question abt updates

hey evrybody im plannin to get prophecies but i hav a question abt the updates.I read sumwher that this game has inteligent streaming of updates so wht i want to ask is will i b able to jump straight into the action after purchasin and all the updates will b dl while im playing or will i hav to dl all of them before i play?Thanks.

you will have to download a bit before you can play i believe. Maps and equipment update as you play i think though...not 100%

yea after u have it on ur acc u just load up each area u go into.

if you get prophecies be prepared for a fairly large update before you can actually play the game. As it was release 3 years ago roughly...also when you enter a new town/area you will have to download the data for that area as well. If you are on a fast connection i would suggest you download the whole thing at one time...around 3.6g or so of data to download..although that downloads everyething for all the games...but once you have done so you don't have the slight lag or load times on entering areas...

to dl the entire image... click the properties of your game icon and add -image after ""
should look something like this

"c:\Program Files\Guild Wars\gw.exe" -image

then remove the -image tag and run the game

hey thanks for the quick response guys. but another thing has popped up.I dont hav a very fast internet so wht i wanted to ask if its downloaded a certain amount of updates and then i stop will it resume or continue from scratch?thanks.

if you download a percentage, that percentage will be downloaded. The download percentage bar will still start at 0% because you would be at 0% of downloading the files remaining.

I don't pay too much on spelling myself, but geez, try and buy a dictionary (No offence)

After installing the initial game, your game pretty much downloads every update over the past 2 years when first starting up. Then the first time you load a map, to download an initial 3000-4000 files. (Mainly graphics, I gues).

And then in the beginning about 100 files every time you visit a new area. Guild Wars also runs "hidden" downloads in the background. As far as I know, there is no way to stop them...

As for slow internet, welcome to 2008


SO summed up:

Insalling all the bs, Download all the update + files, you will probably be sitting at your computer for an hour/2 hours downloading (Depends HOW slow your connection is, I pray to god it's faster than 100kb/s, for you anyways).

The game needs a RL [skill]Glyph of Sacrifice[/skill] for instant patching.

thanks for all the quick replies guys appreciate it!!infact i think this is the fastest forum i have come across!!I dont know why but questions keep on popping up.If my pc crashes(does that alot but its been right for a year now think its made its new years resolution loll!!) and i format it and all and re install guilld wars.Will i have to dl all the updates again?If so is there a way to store them(copy) on a dvd?Also,do you think my choice to start with prophecies is good?

PS:I do have a dictionary :P lollll!!

If you want to keep your downloads... just burn the gw.dat (pretty sure thats the name) file onto a DVD, it will not fit on a CD. Then after you format or whatever, just download the client off of guildwars.com - and put your updated .dat file from the DVD into the newly created "Guild Wars" folder in your Program Files.

And yeah, Prophecies is generally a good one to start with.

Sorry if I put up some wrong information there... but I'm pretty sure its mostly accurate. Have fun and good luck!

thanks!!but why should i download lol if i hav the orig cd (soon hopefully)

well you wouldn't need to DL if you install fresh and then exit out and copy your "burnt" gw.dat into the proper dirrectory structure...but if you happen to lose you CD you can download the executable game file from Gw.com

Don't worry about not being able to download everything in an hour or two. Just start your download and then go do something or let it run over night. If you are on dial up...then i suggest you don't follow the advice on the -image thing....or if you do...do it over a period of nights... Good luck and have fun

Going back to the first question, updates are streamed while you play so technically you will be able to jump right into the game after the initial updates. However the updates, as well as much of your original gw.dat(even from a fresh install off the discs) come compressed and you'll have to wait till those files are decompressed first. That usually takes awhile. As mentioned, its best to just use the -image command switch and leave it on overnight, before you try to play.

Also I don't know if they've updated the gw.dat on re-printings of the original disks, yet(though probably not). So installing from those disks leaves your gw.dat at 1.6(?) gigs. You have 2 gigs worth of updates waiting for you. If your gw.dat gets deleted, you will have to download all this stuff once again. You can just burn that file onto a dvd if you want, but I would advise doing it only after it is up to date, as the .dat is updated fairly often.

hey thx so this -image command switch also has pausing and resume download right?

You can close it at any time and run the command again. I haven't run into any issues doing this.

The question im askin is does the above also apply to the -image command thingi?thanks.

PS:The quote above is based on the idea of downloadin the initial updates when i start up the game i think.Can someone clarify pls.

The initial updates happen regardless of the command switch. The only thing the -image command switch does is fully update and decompress your .dat at one time, rather then stream the updates slowly in the background or decompress only as you get to a certain area. And the -image command switch does not have a pause and resume in the traditional sense. You can cancel and close anytime you want. When you start it up again, it'll resume from where it left off.

thanks that cleared everything In Summary:
1)I can start playing when the initial updates finish dl but it will always dl new ones when i enter a new area.
2)If i dl the -image command it will dl everythin so ther will b nothing left to dl even if i enter a new area except new updates when they come around.

Is that right?

correct...and like it was stated above..you don't have to run the -image command till it finishes...you can start/stop it as you want..depending on how quick it downloads for you...

thanks everbody .Now can anyone pls tell which store or site in UK i can get a good deal for guild wars?