Download optimization advice

[dondoepke]

I have an Ultimate license. I've noticed that it takes my players some time for them to start the demo client on their end when joining the game. I've kind of assumed that it is dependent on my client pushing out whatever modules I have on my master client. If I have multiple players joining at the same time (it's usually 6-8), I'm thinking I'm getting a bit of a bottleneck, and my laptop just has to work his way through it. First off, is that a correct assessment?

I've gone through today and cleaned out the modules directory in the Program Data directory. But I noticed that it only contained the modules that I manually placed there, none of the paid content I have. Where is the paid content stored? I have several modules that I do not need pushed out every session, but can't seem to find where to toggle those.

I also noticed that even though I removed items from the modules directory, they still show in the Library menu. I'm thinking I need to clean up the moduledb directory also?

Anyone have any best practices for making the client side more efficient? I'm not sure if my players would have better performance if they bought their own client, but most of them do not have the discretionary cash I do, and would prefer not to pass on any costs.

Thanks.

Don

[Zacchaeus]

You are correct in that if 6-8 people join all at once then there will be a bottleneck as the player's download the content that you have shared. However in a regular group this will really only happen on the first time that they join when such modules as the PHB etc get downloaded. Once those modules are downloaded they don't do so again at the start of subsequent sessions.

What will get downloaded at the start of subsequent session are items that you have pre-shared such as images etc.

Modules that are shared with players will have a green tick next to them in the module activation window. If you want to stop sharing those then drag the red cross over the tick. this will stop those modules from appearing on the player's view. So in order to prevent sharing you don't delete modules from the modules folder you stop sharing them in the module activation window.

If you delete modules in the module folder - such as the SRD or basic rules they'll just come back when you next update FG. So deleting any official content or content that you have purchased is not the answer. Content such as the PHB and other official modules are encrypted and stored in the vault folder, and again whilst you can delete those they'll just come straight back when you update FG.

If you are having issues with long join times then you may also want to look at what images and tokens you are sharing with your players. generally don't share tokens at all and unshare images once their purpose is served - especially maps. If you click the 'All' button at the bottom of the images window you'll see what has been shared. Click the P or S buttons next to those images that are no longer needed to unshare them.

[Trenloe]

What will get downloaded at the start of subsequent session are items that you have pre-shared such as images etc.
To clarify this statement - *newly* shared/preshared images etc. will be downloaded when a player next connects. Anything shared when in session will be cached locally, along with shared modules that the player has opened, etc.. Shared images, items, story, etc. will not be redownloaded unless the data has changed.

[Zacchaeus]

To clarify this statement - *newly* shared/preshared images etc. will be downloaded when a player next connects. Anything shared when in session will be cached locally, along with shared modules that the player has opened, etc.. Shared images, items, story, etc. will not be redownloaded unless the data has changed.

Ever the sharp-eyed one. :)

Indeed, in my head I knew what I meant.

[Nylanfs]

Also FG is still single threaded isn't it and only downloads to one user at a time in sequence?

[Zacchaeus]

Also FG is still single threaded isn't it and only downloads to one user at a time in sequence?

No, it downloads to everyone at once, although at different rates.

[Trenloe]

FG is single threaded. The confusion here is that, looking from the outside, it appears to be allowing multiple connections and uploading data all at once. There are no multi-thread processing coded into FG. So, the FG app is in the background cycling through each connection and sending bits of data to each player. The current FG network libraries aren't very efficient - so cycling through a lot of different players to push a bit of data here and there can take a while.