Distribution types?

[azureXtwilight]

I wanted to ask about distribution, which one takes less size for download? An installer or a .rar file? Basically because the size of my game is very big, and it could exceed 150 MB, so I'm thinking of a better way to distribute it...

Also, I would like to ask your preference to download/upload a game. Would you be okay in downloading a torrent?

[OtomeWeekend]

Er... I don't like torrent very much <_< But that's just my opinion. Besides never seen a game that was downloaded from torrent(maybe there is but I don't know).

I personally like installer since it's not troublesome though

[papillon]

There are legit games that are distributed by torrents, but in general it's hardcore geeks or pirates that have torrent programs and know how to use them (and some ISPs block torrenting I think). A lot of your audience will likely be scared off if that's the only method to download it.

Generally there's not going to be an appreciable difference in size between an installer and a rar. The only benefit of a rar is that you can break it up into multiple pieces so that people with connection issues can get one chunk at a time, but again, it's geeks and pirates who are most comfortable with assembling multi-part files.

[HikkiPanda]

just like everyone says, installer is the best choice. I have some male friends who are gamers (they play Counter Strike, Warcraft etc thought not at a hardcore rate) .. and they don't know how to use torrents .... .

[redeyesblackpanda]

If you're worried about size, I recommend offering something like like torrent as another option, but torrent only will limit your game to the people who can use torrent. Some people aren't computer literate enough to us anything but the simple installer, and I don't think you want to cut them out.

[OtomeWeekend]

and according to my friend... well, seems like torrent slows down computers so I'll need to pass if it's torrent. :'D

I also think that 150mb isn't that big of a file to be that difficult to download...or maybe because my internet connection here isn't bad.

[redeyesblackpanda]

Yeah, it's a couple minutes tops on my internet, but mine is pretty fast... I know that a while ago, we had really bad internet and it would take 3 hours to download something that big though (and even longer if the download failed, which it often did).

[HikkiPanda]

If you're worried about size, I recommend offering something like like torrent as another option

Yes, this is a good solution, do both ^^.

and according to my friend... well, seems like torrent slows down computers so I'll need to pass if it's torrent. :'D

Are you sure? My Pc is old and I didnt notice any slowdown when I'm running a torrent. I'm using utorrent btw. The only thing I notice that slows down is my browsing speed since the torrent eat almost all the bandwith ^^;

[OtomeWeekend]

That's why I said "seems like". I only heard it from my friend, hadn't experienced it myself.

[LVUER]

I don't know other people, but torrent is very slow to download, that's why I always prefer direct download.

I think installer is the best. Some people don't know how to extract a rar file, let alone extracting a multi-part rar files.

[HigurashiKira]

I don't know other people, but torrent is very slow to download, that's why I always prefer direct download.

I think installer is the best. Some people don't know how to extract a rar file, let alone extracting a multi-part rar files.

There are pros and cons to a torrent:
Pros:
-If the download is inturrupted, it won't lead to a corrupted file.
-There's no download limit
-You can get large files without needing to split them.

Cons:
-Relies on "Seeders" (People who have the full file and are uploading it)
-Can't be scanned by an antivirus program until it finishesh downloading the object (By then it could be too late)

[PyTom]

The big benefit to torrents is that they act as a bandwidth multiplier. Most website hosts charge you for the amount of bandwidth your files consume - when you want to send a big file to a lot of people, torrents can help to keep the costs down over having to pay to provide all those direct downloads.

[azureXtwilight]

Hmm, I see. Maybe it's better for me to split it into parts and request for someone who has high-speed internet to combine them into one .rar file and reupload it... Seems like torrenting isn't everyone's favorite XD