downloading compressed map files

[G-Nugget]

Is there any way to have clients download the compressed map files without redirecting them to an external server?

[trewq]

I dont think so...

[G-Nugget]

I just got an idea. Would it work if I was to change the download list for each map to reference the .bz2 instead of the .bsp? I'm going to try this tomorrow, but if someone else has tried this, please share your knowledge.

[css]

What do you mean exactly? That players would download compressed files via in-game without the sv_downloadurl setup? It's impossible - sort of. The files are compressed even if you don't use sv_downloadurl. Take a look at your maps/ directory and see all the *.ztmp files. They are bzip2'd files. The server creates them automatically.

The reason why in-game downloads are so slow is because of the (UDP based) in-game downloading system. I have heard, but not confirmed, that the CVAR "rate" setting on the server affects the maximum download speed. The "rate" is usually set to 20000, which means the fasted allowed download from the server is 20k/s. Try to change it to 100000 or something and see if it helps.

Why don't you want to use sv_downloadurl?

[realchamp]

Nice, information css!

Tyvm!

Now I know what they do

[G-Nugget]

css Wrote:Why don't you want to use sv_downloadurl?

I don't have the bandwisth to do it and I don't want to pay for a server. I've been trying to use urldownload.net, but it's not working and king isn't responding to me. I looked at my maps folder and I saw the the ztmps and the bz2s are different sizes. The bz2s are significantly smaller.

[dualcore1289]

im sure king has a life that he needs to attend to. relax, he will get back to you, give him time to respond. . .

[G-Nugget]

dualcore1289 Wrote:im sure king has a life that he needs to attend to. relax, he will get back to you, give him time to respond. . .

It's been more than a month since I sent him the E-Mails.

[css]

G-Nugget Wrote:I looked at my maps folder and I saw the the ztmps and the bz2s are different sizes. The bz2s are significantly smaller.

Make sure you've updated your server. Do ./hldsupdatetool -verify_all and update your server.

I remember also that around a year ago or it was said that those *.ztmp files were gzipped or compressed (= LZW, could be the most used compression algorithm in the world). I assumed they were gzipped or compressed too, because the *.z* usually means some sort of plain gzip or compress. I didn't verify it then, but I think I have faint memory that I noticed the size difference for bzip2'd files. I'm not sure, though.

Neverheless, my server has automatically compressed the *.ztmp files and they're equal to my Linux's bzip2 (Version 1.0.3, 15-Feb-2005) compressed files. They are exactly the same.

I also compared bzip2, gzip and compress to see what kind of data compresssion difference there is. Here are the results:

Code:

7.2M foo.bzip2.bz2
7.5M foo.gzip.gz
11M foo.compress.Z

In the new Orange engine Valve brought bzip2'd data to the server replies too. They may have updated the old Source engine too, but I haven't seen it in the changelogs.

PS. You could also steal someone else's sv_downloadurl, but you would first have to verify that they've got all the same maps that you do

[dualcore1289]

yea. . . or you can use free webhosting. . . theres some good ones out there, or use the multi server hack that allows you to download from multiple hosts. . . theres many other options. possibly ask around, perhaps someone will be kind enough to give you some free space.

[G-Nugget]

Yes, my server is up to date. I have not been able to find any good free hosting sites. Either they have too low of a bandwidth limit, the file size is too small, or it generates a random link so you can't download the files through the game.

[dualcore1289]

hmm, how much space you looking for, and bandwidth wise?

[G-Nugget]

Currently, I have about 700 MB of custom maps, but I plan to add more when I get a good download server, so I would guess about 2 GB at most. As for bandwidth, I would like at least 500KB/s up, but as long as it's better than what I got, I'd be happy.

[trewq]

Sorry for not replying to you just send me a PM and we can work something out(some hosting)

[Ghost Assassin]

You could use Diino.com. It's free btw.

There are some websites where they have free website hosting and I've been secretly been using it as a sv_downloadurl...but I only did it once cuz it's not really allowed on most web hosts...lol