Curse

Yaga Philipe · Apr 13, 2007, 10:51 AM // 10:51

Ok, I don't see this way on here already, so here goes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arena Net Tech Support

Guild Wars saves hard drive space and bandwidth by not downloading certain game files until you need them. For example, if you have never visited a certain zone, the game does not download the files for that zone until the first time that you go there. There are advantages to this, but there are also disadvantages. Downloading the necessary files can lead to higher load times when you first visit a zone. The game will also stream data in the background. If your connection has low bandwidth, this can lead to lag while you play.

There is a way to force Guild Wars to download all available data when launching the game instead of waiting to download it when it is needed. If you wish to do this, please start the game in the following fashion-

1. Click Start and then click Run

2. Click Browse and select your gw.exe program. It will be in "C:\Program Files\Guild Wars" by default.

3. The Run window should now read-

"C:\Program Files\Guild Wars\Gw.exe"

Modify the line in the run window to read

"C:\Program Files\Guild Wars\Gw.exe" -image

4. Press OK to run the game.

This will download all available game data before allowing you to play. Please be aware that you should have at least 4 GB of free space on your hard drive before starting this. The download will take a while.

This solved most of my lag problems, and loading is very quick since you already downloaded it.

bhavv · Apr 13, 2007, 11:06 AM // 11:06

oooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhh........

Erm, downloading 30000 files isnt really gonna happen any time soon on 1 meg broadband

Actually they dont seem to be taking that long, already at 10%

Kuldebar Valiturus · Apr 13, 2007, 12:06 PM // 12:06

Everyone should do a -image or get their hands on an updated GW.DAT file.

It's fairly painful the first time you have to run -image but once you are fully updated, it is very easy to remain so. Of course, backup that GW.DAT file so you don't have to repeat it in the future! Currently, a fully & freshly updated DAT is 2.9 gigs.

The people that benefit the most from a fully updated game are the ones with the least internet bandwidth or speed. Background downloading can bog you down and essentially will throw a wet blanket over your gameplay. Load screens delays and missing graphics can occur as well.

Bite the bullet and do a -image. Run it before you go to bed or work. And remember you can stop it and restart it as needed.

*I'm going to close this thread topic, because this information is widely available but stubbornly elusive to newer players at times. I'll probably be creating a sticky guide post on this and other common technical tips in the next couple of days.