How updates reach players

Deltaship updates are small, checked and safe to interrupt. You do not need to configure any of this.

Players download only what changed#

When you publish a new release, each launcher compares it with what the player has installed. Parts of files that are the same are copied from the player's own install; only new parts are downloaded. A few changed assets in a large game usually mean a download of megabytes, not gigabytes.

While updating, the launcher tells players how much of their install is reused instead of downloaded.

Any installed version updates straight to the newest one, so players who skipped several releases do not download each one in turn.

Every update is verified#

• Your release is signed by Deltaship when you publish it. The launcher refuses a release that is not signed, that belongs to another studio or game, or that is older than one it has already seen.
• Every downloaded part, and every finished file, is checked before it is used. Anything that does not match is refused, and the player's current version stays in place.

Interrupted updates pick up where they left off#

Files are updated one at a time. Each new file is built next to the old one and only swapped in once it is complete and checked, so the game on disk is always either the old version or the new one, never a mix. If the computer sleeps, the network drops or the player pauses, the next attempt keeps what was already downloaded.

Disk space#

During an update, a player needs free space for the largest file that changed, plus a small margin. The launcher checks before it starts and says how much it needs. See one huge pak instead of several.

Verify and repair#

Players can choose Verify files in the launcher. It checks every file and downloads again only what is damaged or missing. See The launcher for players.

When players cannot update#