June 27 2014 - 8:54 am

PAYDAY 2: Did you know PAYDAY 2 is 20 GB smaller than before?

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Hey everyone,

I’ve received questions about this and since we’re getting a lot of new players, I’m reposting this information from update 28.

A few weeks ago we got a big update for PAYDAY 2 which dramatically reduced the size of the full game by 20 GB. Below is a short FAQ on what that means for you.

Q: What size is the game after the fix?
A: The size of the game is now 13 GB. When you install the game, Steam says it’s 26 GB, but that isn’t correct which you will see after the game is installed. We’re looking into this error with Valve.

Q: Do I have to re-install the game now?
A: No, that isn’t necessary. The game has already automatically updated to the new system.

Q: How did OVERKILL reduce the size of the game?
A: The content system has been restructured to allow some assets to be loaded during loadout and the blackscreen instead of during the loading screen. This eliminates the need for duplicates between bundle files.

Q: How is ingame performance affected?
A: Because of the background streaming during loadout, you might notice drop in framerate. The streaming speed can be tweakd by adjusting the size of the streaming chunk size in advanced video options. After loadout and the blackscreen, the performance is not at all affected.

Q: How is loading performance affected?
A: Loading times from lobby/Crime.net to loadout will become shorter.
But since the loading continues into loadout, the total time will be longer than before.

Q: Will the new system be used on console?
A: No final answer yet. We are still working on it. HDD access speeds on PS3 and Xbox 360 are not as good as on PC.

Q: What was wrong with the old system?
A: The old system did not scale up well and we still want to release lots of content. Patching was slow, due to the size of the files and the install size was too much for a lot of systems.

Q: Why do you not compress the data?
A: If we did that then patch sizes would increase dramatically.

Q: How is gameplay affected?
A: Not at all.

Q: Who wins with the new content system?
A: Winners are those who are short of HDD space, slow internet connections, HDD with average-good access times. Moreover, everyone loads faster into loadout.

Q: Can I switch to the old content system?
A: No. The data is optimized for the new system and using the old system with the new data will be terribly slow.

Q: Will you change the patching system for PAYDAY 2?
A: No, we are not in charge of the patching system, Valve is. We make sure to use the latest and most modern option there is. Valve’s patch system is one of the best if not the best there is.

Have a great Steam Summer sale everyone, all praise Gaben, #leavemywalletalone, keep those helmets flying and so on.

Almir
OVERKILL – a Starbreeze Studio.

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