Thread: How do I configure my LOTRO client to NOT update with DE/FR files

Very longtime player coming back after an extended break. I see when my client updates I'm downloading German and French (DE/FR) files. I don't want the bloat and it slows down the process. Any way to get EN only?

nope... just have to live with it like the rest of us. But I do agree with you that if you only need the english update you should be able to decide.

the FR\DE file should be splash screens only and will only be a few kb in size so they shouldnt realy be adding much to the "bloat" and they should only take a few seconds if that to download

you could try finding the FR\DE folders in your lotro install folder which defaults to
c:\program files\turbine\the lord of the rings online
program files (x86) on 64bit OS's
find the FR\DE folder > right click > properties and click to tick the read only box
however this will likely cause the launcher to fail

Windows 7 64 bit:
Go to
Userfolder\AppData\Local\Turbi ne\The Lord of the Rings Online\Launcher
Edit "DownloadFilesList.xml"

remove all entries for german and french loading screens.


Also (but only do this if you are absolutely sure you have everything installed) edit "ReqSoftware.xml"
Remove entries for runtimes you REALLY don't want to install. In some cases the game installs them over and over, this is the fix for it.

There are two sets of the French and German localization files. Everybody gets the English, French and German splash screens. They are not very big.

There is the French and German language pack for the game. You enable one of these language packs by selecting the French or German option inside the client. You get a massive download. Best I can tell once you have enabled a language pack, it does not matter what language you are currently using. All the language packs you have enabled will be downloaded when Turbine updates the game.

I use both the English and German language packs switching back and forth. There is very little additional updating after a content update when I switch languages.

What the others are saying is true... the only thing you're downloading are the FR and DE splash screens that we periodically update. They aren't big files, just pictures, and they should update very quickly.

Originally Posted by Neumi

Windows 7 64 bit:
Go to
Userfolder\AppData\Local\Turbi ne\The Lord of the Rings Online\Launcher
Edit "DownloadFilesList.xml"

remove all entries for german and french loading screens.

Thank you! I've been wondering if something like that would work, because

Originally Posted by Celestrata

What the others are saying is true... the only thing you're downloading are the FR and DE splash screens that we periodically update. They aren't big files, just pictures, and they should update very quickly.

maybe I'm on a slooow connection (no maybe about it, rural EVDO and glad to have it), but a big batch of splash screens can take five minutes or so to load in. It's pretty irritating.

And seriously, how hard would it have been to design the launcher to check what language it was set to use, and just download those?

Originally Posted by Mandella

but a big batch of splash screens can take five minutes or so to load in. It's pretty irritating.

Wow, I have a feeling you´re going to love the next expansion.
Close to a thousand files updated, when I remember the rumors from the Testserver correctly.

Originally Posted by Mandella

And seriously, how hard would it have been to design the launcher to check what language it was set to use, and just download those?

Because some people, as posted earlier, want to switch between languages in-game.

Originally Posted by PerfectApproach

Because some people, as posted earlier, want to switch between languages in-game.

You have to switch before you log in. When you switch, you may have to wait for the game to update. The last time I switched to German. There were perhaps 11 files that took maybe 15 seconds to update.

I do get the annoyance if you are on a slow connection. It takes minutes to update the splash screens. How do you cope with a major game update that might be 600 MBs? I downloaded the extended cut for Mass Effect 3. That was over a gigabyte. I think it took 15 minutes.

Originally Posted by Mandella

Thank you! I've been wondering if something like that would work, because



maybe I'm on a slooow connection (no maybe about it, rural EVDO and glad to have it), but a big batch of splash screens can take five minutes or so to load in. It's pretty irritating.

And seriously, how hard would it have been to design the launcher to check what language it was set to use, and just download those?

It works, because the others are right.
It's just a few pictures for loading screens.
You never downloaded the audio files .


What you are asking for is already built in.

Originally Posted by Yula_the_Mighty

You have to switch before you log in. When you switch, you may have to wait for the game to update. The last time I switched to German. There were perhaps 11 files that took maybe 15 seconds to update.

I do get the annoyance if you are on a slow connection. It takes minutes to update the splash screens. How do you cope with a major game update that might be 600 MBs? I downloaded the extended cut for Mass Effect 3. That was over a gigabyte. I think it took 15 minutes.

Since you asked...

I'm on a 5 gig bandwidth cap out here in the sticks, with speeds that only technically qualify as "broadband." So what do I do?

Well, for "small" downloads of just a few hundred megs I'll check my usage, and if I'm good I'll just leave the computer on and updating while I eat dinner or mow the grass or whatever. If it's just too much for my monthly cap I'll take my laptop into my in-town business and download there. Returning home I transfer all the huge dat and movie files over to their proper folders on my main gaming rig. Simple! (Ha!)

For other games I tend to use Steam, since Steam has a wonderful backup games feature. It'll let you backup any game in your library to other media (USB or Optical Disk or whatever). So once again I take the laptop to town (it's going with me anyway) and download there, then transfer files when home.

You did ask...

Originally Posted by Mandella

big batch of splash screens can take five minutes or so to load in. It's pretty irritating.

Ouch. What speed is that line? A dial-up connection would take 5+ minutes, but it's hard to imagine any broadband connection taking that long for maybe 5MB worth of pictures. Good thing they don't rotate the background image for these forums then, I guess... it would take you 30+ seconds to get a new one.

And seriously, how hard would it have been to design the launcher to check what language it was set to use, and just download those?

Probably not that hard, but if the typical user will only see 15 seconds worth of "extra" download once or twice a week, fixing that doesn't justify all that much developer time. These are only downloading when they change.

It used to be that all of these companies designed everything around dial-up speeds (since over half their customers were using dial-up, and bandwidth was more expensive back then). Unfortunately for people still on slow and/or low-volume connections, that's less and less true. Certainly my parents were feeling that pain in the size and complexity of typical web pages before they finally were able to transition to broadband about 4 years back.

Khafar

Originally Posted by Flatfoot789

Wow, I have a feeling you´re going to love the next expansion.
Close to a thousand files updated, when I remember the rumors from the Testserver correctly.

BR updated with 9,000+ files for me and I had the latest Bullroarer build.

thanks for the info, since I usually Alt+Tab the moment the first files start to update, I didn't go check my directories, but since it's only a few screens, all is well.

Originally Posted by Viloxus

Very longtime player coming back after an extended break. I see when my client updates I'm downloading German and French (DE/FR) files. I don't want the bloat and it slows down the process. Any way to get EN only?

The issue is not the "splash screens" (The French and German files), but rather the "extended break."

Each Update and Patch is pretty huge. Usually running about 15-45 minutes on a 6 meg DSL line. "Hot fixes" are usually the only ones that patch in 2-3 minutes (if they weren't server side only.) Major Expansions -- RoI, Update 10, all push "45 minutes" "+".

Depending upon how long you were away, you may have multiple patches to account for. I don't know Turbine's policy/technique for accumulating (consolidating) updates into "one patch," but based on the fact that you must update a newly installed client, I wold assume that they don't consolidate very far back.

If you want to see a chronological summary of the patches, visit: http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Patches

With the release of Rise of Isengard in October of last year (2011) also known as Update 4 Since Free 2 Play there have been
3 "major" updates and 6 "minor" patches.

And one last point -- using Steam won't accomplish anything. Steam, like PMB is providing a distribution service only -- the Turbine game client is still doing all the patching and updating.

However, downloading the files on one machine and updating them to another is fine -- you just need a disk of around 15GB to use as a transfer medium -- better to install the game on a stand-alone drive and carry the drive around.

I wish it were so, I too have no use at all for foreign language clutter on my HD, but advertising is advertising, and apparently we gave Turbine the right to install anything they deem necessary for playing the game.

Originally Posted by Celestrata

What the others are saying is true... the only thing you're downloading are the FR and DE splash screens that we periodically update. They aren't big files, just pictures, and they should update very quickly.

The don't "update very quickly" always, sometimes it takes maybe 5 mins to get past this annoying stage. Yes, but why do we have to suffer delays and increased downloads for languages we don't use? It's irritating and serves no useful purpose.

Link these to the selected langauge! Or else let us opt out of this useless fluff, after all, splash screens simply are there to distract us from the fact the game takes ages to load a new zone.

Originally Posted by Kerin_Eldar

The don't "update very quickly" always, sometimes it takes maybe 5 mins to get past this annoying stage. Yes, but why do we have to suffer delays and increased downloads for languages we don't use? It's irritating and serves no useful purpose.

Link these to the selected langauge! Or else let us opt out of this useless fluff, after all, splash screens simply are there to distract us from the fact the game takes ages to load a new zone.

You can edit the xml file to exclude them from download.

Just be glad, the client won't download all the ingame files

Originally Posted by Neumi

Windows 7 64 bit:
Go to
Userfolder\AppData\Local\Turbi ne\The Lord of the Rings Online\Launcher
Edit "DownloadFilesList.xml"

remove all entries...

Brilliant, thanks for this (+rep), that will save replacing them with smaller files each time they decide to provide new ones. In my case, I run Lotro from a thumb drive, so the writing to it takes longer.

Originally Posted by Celestrata

They aren't big files, just pictures, and they should update very quickly.

Um, but actually the three sets combined total over 15.6 MB, that's not just big, that's HUGE for pictures! Given, typically only a couple are updated at a time, but that's still about 3 MB each time. :-(

In my case, since those pictures are also loaded, I replace them with tiny black files to save time when playing the game.

Edited to add: Nice, that also sped up the launcher noticeably.



"Sometimes survival comes down to not being hit. Actually, most times." -the chicken skill, Bob and Weave

"should"
-Ben Dover

Originally Posted by Valamar

However, downloading the files on one machine and updating them to another is fine -- you just need a disk of around 15GB to use as a transfer medium -- better to install the game on a stand-alone drive and carry the drive around.

My Lotro installation will no longer fit on a 16 Gigabyte thumb drive. I had to get a larger one.

Note: Mine is bloated by having the English and German language packs.

Originally Posted by RJFerret

Um, but actually the three sets combined total over 15.6 MB, that's not just big, that's HUGE for pictures! Given, typically only a couple are updated at a time, but that's still about 3 MB each time. :-(

It isn't like that happens every time you load the client - just when they've changed some of the images. Maybe twice a week. Besides, 3MB hasn't been considered "huge" in almost any context in a decade or more. If you refresh this forum page, how big do you think it is? Answer: over 1MB, for a single web page. 50-60% of that are images, most of the rest are scripts, and the actual forum text is maybe 10%.

Khafar

Originally Posted by Khafar

It isn't like that happens every time you load the client - just when they've changed some of the images. Maybe twice a week. Besides, 3MB hasn't been considered "huge" in almost any context in a decade or more. If you refresh this forum page, how big do you think it is? Answer: over 1MB, for a single web page. 50-60% of that are images, most of the rest are scripts, and the actual forum text is maybe 10%.

Khafar

Which is why I keep everybody's big showy sigs turned off.

But Khafar I'm curious. Are you telling us we're *not* getting the speed improvements we're observing by eliminating these files?

But in any case, I think I'll forward your comments to the various ISP's who promised me real broadband in this area "in two or three years," -- over ten years ago. Because 3MB certainly is considered "huge" to the near half of the country (America, that is) with no worthwhile broadband, leaving us that *will* be playing our MMO's to watch our downloads for every meg we can save.