Helldivers 2's Massive PC Install Size: Why and What's Next
Arrowhead Game Studios has revealed why Helldivers 2 has a substantial PC install size of around 150GB, with consoles requiring about a third of that. The studio explains that this is due to data duplication to enhance loading times for players using hard disk drives (HDDs).
Brendan Armstrong, a deputy technical director at Arrowhead, explains that the 'seek' time on HDDs is a significant performance bottleneck. To mitigate this, the game duplicates data, allowing it to load faster on HDDs by minimizing the time spent seeking different locations on the disk. However, this duplication increases the install size.
Arrowhead is exploring ways to de-duplicate some assets by bundling them into 'very common assets' groups. This could reduce the install size but might slightly increase loading times for HDD users. The studio acknowledges the complexity of balancing loading times and installation size.
Currently, around 12% of Helldivers players are still using HDDs. Until this number decreases, Arrowhead will continue to prioritize reasonable mission loading times for HDD users, even if it means a larger install size. Making 4K textures optional is not a viable solution due to the game not being built with this in mind.
Helldivers 2's large PC install size is a result of data duplication to optimize loading times for HDD users. Arrowhead Game Studios is exploring ways to reduce the install size while maintaining reasonable loading times for HDD users. The studio is aware of the challenge in balancing these factors and is committed to finding a better solution as more players switch to SSDs.
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