[POLL & DISC] loading times and connection speed

[marmotte]

the title might sound confusing, so here are some explanations:

i discussed with another member of this forum about a subject that is interesting...

basically it's about loading time and connection speed; the main question is:
if you are browsing a game site and see 2 links for the same game:

1) "click here to play the lite version of the game"

2) "click here to play the complete version of the game"

^ knowing that the complete version has full sound (mono or stereo, in good quality), and a lot of "useless" background animations (eye candy purpose), opposed to the lite version which is the same game but without sound and without eye candy animation (nothing that changes the playability or the game's length). also let's say that the full version is around 3mb, and the light one 300kb...

> which one would you choose?

of course your choice will depend on your connection speed i suppose, so i managed to separate the poll with that element (though i would like to hear more from the 56K users, it's still interesting to listen to the high speed guys...)

feel free to post a comment if you have one also. thanks!

[JBS103]

Make a nice game, any wait is worth it.

[DominumBelli]

I'm on a 10Mb/10Mb connection at work here....so guess what I'd choose

On a dial-up though, way too impatient to wait for a 3MB file to download.

I've been theorizing how to get a system going, where the "guts" of the game are downloaded first, and the player can start playing, then the bells&whistles stuff keeps coming in while they play, then pops into the game when it's completed downloading. NFI if it'd work in practice, though

[kendude]

I'm on a dial up. Anything over 500k is not cool with me (except for UXB). I guess it depends if the caliber/quality of game warrant the wait. You know I'd scope out your work. Always quality.

[marmotte]

thanks for the votes so far

Make a nice game, any wait is worth it.

i will
more seriously, how do you know before entirely loading it if the game is worth it or not, then? does it depend on the design of the loading screen? does it depend on the site design where it's hosted? does it maybe depend of the developer/team?

DominumBelli
nice theory, i guess that you are talking about preloading a game part that is about to be launched... let's say you loaded world 1 of a game, and when you are playing it, world 2 i slowly loaded?

kendude
thanks for the comments ^_^
well, i think that my games will have a little file size boom, since i'm working with sound artists now... hence that lite or complete game choice...

[Xanthe00]

I think there should be a page with a description of the game and some screenshots to let the player know what it'd be like first.

I have broadband and I'd play the complete version. But if I have 56k, I'd play the lite version first, and if I really like it, I'd play the complete version.

[jonmack]

I'd have to go with the lite version, even though I'm on broadband. BUT, if I liked what I saw on the small version I'd download the full one too. So the lite version is just a demo for me. If it's a bad game, I won't waste my time/bandwidth/hard drive with it ( OK, 3MB isn't that bad for me , but I've seen 1MB pong games... ). Having said that, if I saw your name on it marmotte, I'd know it was worth it.

I think DB's idea was more along the idea of: Say you had a really beasty 5.1 surround sound audio clip that would take ages to download - you'd first get a small low quality sound file that would be used whilst you start playing, and then when the big file has done, it get's used instead. Although that particular example might be a bit weird if all of a sudden the sounds get better Still, it's a nice idea ( if that's what you meant )

[gaming monkey]

I'm on broadband but I would download the lite version first, and if it's any good then I'll probably take a look at the complete version.

Hope that helped.

[yellowman]

I would go for the lite-version, no way I would wait for 3 mb, when testing a game for the first time.. Well maybe if there were some snazzy screenshots and a 'good feeling' about the game.

But I would probably be thinking that it was poorly structured, if I had to load 3mb up front..

Sound is just annoying in browser-games for me. I´m usually listening to music when I sit at my computer. So when a game has sound I go directly for the mute button, so for me it´s just a waste of download. Sound effects can be ok, if they are damn good and relevant.

/klas