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Author Topic:   Demo Downloading

MikeH posted 10-14-98 04:53 AM ET
Is it possible to download the demo in several parts? I know it's not out yet and all that but this might be the right time to start mentioning this sort of thing.
I hate waiting for ages for a 20 Mb demo and then having my connection cut off on 19.99Mb. I have downloaded stuff before where there have been 2 options, say a 20Mb download or 4 5Mb downloads which combine when you unzip them.
I'm guessing at the sizes, but the larger they are the more pertinent this point is.
Roland posted 10-14-98 08:27 AM ET
Good point. An alternative to load down several zipped files just right for disks would be fine, to get the demo to computers without online-access. I know, you can pack them on discs yourself and unpack them, but those programs often mess the files up.
It all depends on the size of the demo. Any guesses ? Any info, firaxis ?
ZanThrax posted 10-14-98 08:58 AM ET
If the file is really huge, I'll download it at school and use winzip to span it across several disks. Even with the time that takes, the T1 at school is still faster than my 56K.
The download should be resumable, most are these days.
Jimmy posted 10-14-98 04:01 PM ET
You can download programs like Gozilla that allow you to resume a download in the middle. Gozilla is excellent because it will look for the fastest site and then you can tell it to download at a specific time like at night so that it is there when you wake up. If it is a big download you can download it in chunks since you can resume a download as often as you need to. Go to www.download.com and search for it, you should find it.
SnowFire posted 10-14-98 04:54 PM ET
Yeah, I just downloaded the huge Railroad Tycoon II demo, and it won't install right, worse I can't even find where it's installing it and I have 70 Mega bytes of wasted space somewhere, probably in temporary files somewhere. (I tried to install it like 3 times, each time it used more hard drive space). If anyone can offer me some way of finding this data and killing it, I'm open to suggestions.
P.S. I know where the main file is that I double click to try and install is, but the things it creates are phantoms it seems. And it wasn't even zipped! No wonder it took so long to dl!
outlyr242 posted 10-14-98 08:10 PM ET
I have had that happen to me a few times before. (I'm assuming you are using Windows95-NT). If there is a shortcut hanging out somewhere, just check its properties. Otherwise goto Explorer and use the find command and search by date. If that does not work, the most teadious way would be to use the find command for readme.txt or *.txt files. Look through them all untill you find stuff for the game then nuke it.
Multi-downloads would be really cool. I would just use the T1 and my Zip at school/work but the option is a great idea.
Cedronian posted 10-15-98 08:10 AM ET
SnowFire: Check out c:\windows\temp or just c:\temp (depending on where you have windows installed, and of course assuming that you run windows :). Temporary install files are often extracted to one of these directories. The may have been put in a subdirectory to one of those mentioned above, and that directory always has a weird name like: .tmp~876873 or something. Just delete it. Hope this helps.
//Ced
MikeH posted 10-15-98 08:16 AM ET
It's not a bad idea to clean out Windows\Temp every so often anyway, every time Win 95 crashes it can leave junk in there and you can free up quite a lot of hard disk space if you've left it for ages.
Cedronian posted 10-15-98 10:50 AM ET
Right you are MikeH.
ZanThrax posted 10-15-98 03:11 PM ET
I downloaded RTII demo 4 times before I finally got it to install correctly. Now I'm addicted to a demo I can't even save! I've finaally got the skills to make my company a success, but I can't get my personal wealth built up quickly enough.
SnowFire posted 10-15-98 05:14 PM ET
Thanks all who helped. I had checked the Temp files before, they were the first place I looked, but Outlyr's idea of searching by date was brilliant, thanks! It was in Program Files/Disk1. I also moved the setup program to the C: directory, and it installed right, I guess it couldn't find the .dll files from the Program Files directory. Now, let's see how this demo plays!
Cedronian posted 10-15-98 06:50 PM ET
ZanThrax: Sure you can save your games in the demo. Just click the diskette-icon in the main game window and click that horizontal bar just above the "OK" and "Cancel"-button in the save-window. Then enter the save-game name you wish, press Enter and then click "OK". Voil�! Game saved.
//Ced
ZanThrax posted 10-16-98 07:38 AM ET
I had tried the save feature. I just hadn't clicked in the name box yet. :} Don't I look foolish now.
Tim Williams posted 10-16-98 01:15 PM ET
I have spent the last two days playing the RTII demo. It is basically the same as RT with a few enhancements. I like it though. Amazing how a game created by Sid so long ago can come back and be as fun as ever. Still waiting patiently for the SMAC demo and game though.
SnowFire posted 10-16-98 09:00 PM ET
Damn, I just quit my "Cape to Cairo" game I was playing. I wish I had kept on checking the forums, but I figured I'd come back to this one later. Too bad, I was making a ton of money off shipping things to and around Cairo & Jerusalem. I was slowly making my way south too, connecting Wadi and a farm near Khartoum. Oh well. Thanks Cedronian for the tip.
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Author	Topic: Demo Downloading
MikeH	posted 10-14-98 04:53 AM ET Is it possible to download the demo in several parts? I know it's not out yet and all that but this might be the right time to start mentioning this sort of thing. I hate waiting for ages for a 20 Mb demo and then having my connection cut off on 19.99Mb. I have downloaded stuff before where there have been 2 options, say a 20Mb download or 4 5Mb downloads which combine when you unzip them. I'm guessing at the sizes, but the larger they are the more pertinent this point is.
Roland	posted 10-14-98 08:27 AM ET Good point. An alternative to load down several zipped files just right for disks would be fine, to get the demo to computers without online-access. I know, you can pack them on discs yourself and unpack them, but those programs often mess the files up. It all depends on the size of the demo. Any guesses ? Any info, firaxis ?
ZanThrax	posted 10-14-98 08:58 AM ET If the file is really huge, I'll download it at school and use winzip to span it across several disks. Even with the time that takes, the T1 at school is still faster than my 56K. The download should be resumable, most are these days.
Jimmy	posted 10-14-98 04:01 PM ET You can download programs like Gozilla that allow you to resume a download in the middle. Gozilla is excellent because it will look for the fastest site and then you can tell it to download at a specific time like at night so that it is there when you wake up. If it is a big download you can download it in chunks since you can resume a download as often as you need to. Go to www.download.com and search for it, you should find it.
SnowFire	posted 10-14-98 04:54 PM ET Yeah, I just downloaded the huge Railroad Tycoon II demo, and it won't install right, worse I can't even find where it's installing it and I have 70 Mega bytes of wasted space somewhere, probably in temporary files somewhere. (I tried to install it like 3 times, each time it used more hard drive space). If anyone can offer me some way of finding this data and killing it, I'm open to suggestions. P.S. I know where the main file is that I double click to try and install is, but the things it creates are phantoms it seems. And it wasn't even zipped! No wonder it took so long to dl!
outlyr242	posted 10-14-98 08:10 PM ET I have had that happen to me a few times before. (I'm assuming you are using Windows95-NT). If there is a shortcut hanging out somewhere, just check its properties. Otherwise goto Explorer and use the find command and search by date. If that does not work, the most teadious way would be to use the find command for readme.txt or *.txt files. Look through them all untill you find stuff for the game then nuke it. Multi-downloads would be really cool. I would just use the T1 and my Zip at school/work but the option is a great idea.
Cedronian	posted 10-15-98 08:10 AM ET SnowFire: Check out c:\windows\temp or just c:\temp (depending on where you have windows installed, and of course assuming that you run windows :). Temporary install files are often extracted to one of these directories. The may have been put in a subdirectory to one of those mentioned above, and that directory always has a weird name like: .tmp~876873 or something. Just delete it. Hope this helps. //Ced
MikeH	posted 10-15-98 08:16 AM ET It's not a bad idea to clean out Windows\Temp every so often anyway, every time Win 95 crashes it can leave junk in there and you can free up quite a lot of hard disk space if you've left it for ages.
Cedronian	posted 10-15-98 10:50 AM ET Right you are MikeH.
ZanThrax	posted 10-15-98 03:11 PM ET I downloaded RTII demo 4 times before I finally got it to install correctly. Now I'm addicted to a demo I can't even save! I've finaally got the skills to make my company a success, but I can't get my personal wealth built up quickly enough.
SnowFire	posted 10-15-98 05:14 PM ET Thanks all who helped. I had checked the Temp files before, they were the first place I looked, but Outlyr's idea of searching by date was brilliant, thanks! It was in Program Files/Disk1. I also moved the setup program to the C: directory, and it installed right, I guess it couldn't find the .dll files from the Program Files directory. Now, let's see how this demo plays!
Cedronian	posted 10-15-98 06:50 PM ET ZanThrax: Sure you can save your games in the demo. Just click the diskette-icon in the main game window and click that horizontal bar just above the "OK" and "Cancel"-button in the save-window. Then enter the save-game name you wish, press Enter and then click "OK". Voil�! Game saved. //Ced
ZanThrax	posted 10-16-98 07:38 AM ET I had tried the save feature. I just hadn't clicked in the name box yet. :} Don't I look foolish now.
Tim Williams	posted 10-16-98 01:15 PM ET I have spent the last two days playing the RTII demo. It is basically the same as RT with a few enhancements. I like it though. Amazing how a game created by Sid so long ago can come back and be as fun as ever. Still waiting patiently for the SMAC demo and game though.
SnowFire	posted 10-16-98 09:00 PM ET Damn, I just quit my "Cape to Cairo" game I was playing. I wish I had kept on checking the forums, but I figured I'd come back to this one later. Too bad, I was making a ton of money off shipping things to and around Cairo & Jerusalem. I was slowly making my way south too, connecting Wadi and a farm near Khartoum. Oh well. Thanks Cedronian for the tip.