4.3.2 PTR and New File Optimization Tech

Hi lil confussed

The new tech we’re testing with the 4.3.2 PTR will process these cleanups with no additional hard drive space required beyond what the patch is adding. Because of that you may see them appear more frequently with patches.

So will we see more updates with the new patch or more clean ups?

Thanks

Looks like more cleanups. :)

01/05/2012 09:11 AMPosted by Øtaku

Can you provide any other Backend information about HOW this optimization happens? i, for example, have a defrag program set up to put all of the data in the world of warcraft directory at the beginning of the partitiion the data is on, to help improve preformance. is this new optimization a Defrag type setup? will it be cleaning out old, nonfunctional files?

I can't give any official info (as frankly, I don't know), but after patching the PTR myself, it looks like part of it is at least is consolidating files - theres more folders, but a lot less files. Kodiack (Windows Tech Support MVP) did a comparison image which I can't seem to find right now. Something like 900 less files.. I'd assume they'd remove artwork/sounds they're not using, and compressing others.

Right now, it looks like the optimization reduced the WoW install by roughly ~3GB, and thats with the additions/changes to the game engine with 4.3.2. Not bad considering.

My own comparisons can be seen here
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/3863056739#2
Based on what i found in mac client, i gained about 4.2 gigs.

Part of this optimisation process did involve redownloading 3.7gigs of data though as the optimisation process had to delete obsolete data and download newer versions of it in 4.3.2, so it by no means is going to be a light patching process for slower internet connections.

01/05/2012 11:05 AMPosted by Sorchia

my only hope is this will help some of us who have computers that USED to run world of warcraft great and now suddenly do not. otherwise i stick with my original thesis, you need to reprint your system requirements on the box of world of warcraft to say requirements for 10 man raids and requirements for 25 man raids, because these are clearly different.

This change should only make the game load the files faster, as there are less files, and less to load... It wouldn't cause any real change in playability, or system requirements.

01/05/2012 11:05 AMPosted by Sorchia

you need to reprint your system requirements on the box of world of warcraft to say requirements for 10 man raids and requirements for 25 man raids, because these are clearly different.

25 raids are particularlly brutal on fps, as wow gets bogged down real fast in large crowds of players with a lot of player events firing similtaniously. Zon'ozz and ultraxion particularly are mad killers of performance. Especially 5-6min mark ultraxion on 25 man, even high end desktop computers as much as only 1-2 years old can be brought to a crawl.

But as ressy said, these changes should have no affect on how gameplay runs for assets that are already loaded. It'll just reduce load times for loading assets for the first time, and space requirements.

01/05/2012 11:56 AMPosted by Blodøks

before the combat log update, it didn't hurt computers that much.

I don't think the combat log has much to do with it at all compared to amount of information in it.
That same updated combat log if you log a fight in say BT or another older raid, just has FAR FAR less data then something like ultraxion, which literally has an aoe ability that's hitting entire raid every 1 second, splitting damage between them, all while healers are doing ridiculous heal spam using buffs that increase their haste, double their heals with secondary heal procs etc. Drop a spirit link totem on top of it and oh man. The combat log data amount is astronomical, that is the real factor, not adding a few extra args to combat log which count for very little. The fights just have that much more going on.

Most of the technical complaints on here come from people that have no idea how systems work. This addresses nothing more than physical storage.

I don't know what makes you think that. I've actually done physical tests on the PTR, using a SSD drive even, and noted lower load times entering game world using same exact config as live, even same addons (literally a clone of addons and wtf folder with exactly same char, unpopulated location, and UI). If a SSD can even notice improvement, i'm sure a plated disk will notice some.

01/05/2012 12:55 PMPosted by Yamoto

On a side note, i think there should be an option to "Enable enhanced combat log" with teh alternative (and default selected option) being the original.

I still don't get where people think the combat log itself is the source of the lower fps. Vs the amount of information being thrown around being several dozen time greater. You know how big say a 5 min malygos fight log was compared to a 5 min zon'ozz fight?
The combat log hasn't had a redesign since Burning Crusade. The only thing it's had is a few minor args added to it, not anything that adversely affect overhead in the way you think.

I say 4.3.2 is a nice improvement for optimising data. It's one step toward a more efficent client. I hope they do find ways to address other issues in the future though. Maybe better multithreading and less time spent on cpu wait while many cores or even entire secondary CPUs are sitting idle. We shall see what MoP brings.

01/05/2012 02:17 PMPosted by Øtaku

GET BACK TO WORK ON MAKING DBM SKINNABLE!! *shakesfist*

Ha, :P

Like Ressie pointed out, I did a bit of a comparison before. Don't take these at face value, and please consume with a large grain of salt! Your mileage will vary!!

Live vs. PTR - Root Folder:
http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo20/Kodiack_Film/LivevsPTR.png

Live vs. PTR - Data Folder (excluding Data\Cache):
http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo20/Kodiack_Film/LivevsPTR-Data.png

Live vs. PTR - Data\Cache:
http://i357.photobucket.com/albums/oo20/Kodiack_Film/LivevsPTR-Cache.png

And here's a post that I submitted yesterday regarding this process:

From what I've gathered this seems to be consolidating files more than anything else, such as increasing framerates. It may slightly improve load times or something of the sort, although the biggest thing it seems to have going for it is the large cleanup it's performing on the way the MPQs are stored.

Currently on live (excluding Data\Cache) there are 84 files and 8 folders in the Data folder totaling 15.3 GB. On the PTR the Data folder is only 47 files and 6 folders adding up to 14.7 GB (once again, these numbers exclude Data\Cache).

The Data\Cache folder on live is 10.4 GB spread across 62 files and the localization (enUS) folder. On the PTR, it's 7.23 GB with 104 files and the localization folder. It's also worth noting that on PTR most of the files are sound cache files, while on live there are many patch-base files. I'm not sure whether that would be the same for everyone, though, so take that with a grain of salt.

In the end, this "optimization" process seems to be aimed at trimming out some of the fat. Players running WoW off of solid state drives are probably the ones that will find the smaller file sizes most exciting.

That's about as much information as I have still. Assuming I find anything else interesting out, I'll be sure to share. If you have any questions for me regarding this that are within my realm of knowledge, feel free to ask and I'll answer as soon as possible.

**EDIT
The ability to install updates with limited drive space is also great. :)
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