Is there any Bloat, in DCS World? (that can be safely deleted?)

[Bartacomus]

Are there any folders or files in DCSworld that can be safely deleted?  For the sake of Disk Size?

 

Redundant Files?  Rarely used apps?  Vestigial Code?  Previous Versions?

 

Anything i can do to shave off 1 or 2 gigs, without crippling the software?

 

Extra Credit:  What Windows folders or files can be Nixed as well?  (or does anyone make a stripped down version, or hatchet-job script, that streamlines Windows?)

[Svsmokey]

Search for "Windows Lite"  to answer the windows question . Also , Windows creates a lot of tmp (temporary) files that should be cleaned up now and then . Britec on YT has a vid showing how .

Dcs also creates some temp files as well as keeping "old" files any time you run a repair , unless you tell it to delete them . If you run only sp , there are also a lot of livery files you could delete , although you would have to delete again after  every update .

Best solution is more storage !

 

[Bartacomus]

Yeah, i was looking though "Core Mods"  and the damn F14 is over 7 gigs.. i dont even own the F14.  The China Assets are 5 gigs.. the C101 is 1.6 gigs?  

Yeah, i seriously need a hardware upgrade.

Thanks for the pointers

[Bartacomus]

 

This means DCS and Windows no longer fit on 120 Gigs right?    That kinda changes the "Minimum Requirements" yeah?

[Goffik]

17 minutes ago, Bartacomus said:

 

This means DCS and Windows no longer fit on 120 Gigs right?    That kinda changes the "Minimum Requirements" yeah?

 

Nope. The minimum requirement is 120GB of "free disk space", not the total drive capacity. DCS actually weighs in at somewhat less than 120GB... for the base game. The more content you have, the more disk space you will need. For example, Syria alone is nearly 50GB installed. Persia is another 30+. So even with all my aircraft, removing those two DLC would make DCS 90GB total on my system.

 

Windows 10 is only 20GB, so the total when combined with DCS + my aircraft - the extra maps would be 110GB. But that's not really relevant anyway because it's 120GB "free space" required, not "free+Windows".

Edited May 26, 2021 by Goffik

[Bartacomus]

That image i posted above is a fresh install  (91 gigs).     Deleted the folder, and reinstalled from a new DCSworld 2.7 Open Beta download. 

That should be the Core program.   And DCS has never automatically added my old modules.. when i start from scratch. (thats the only thing i can think of)

 

Now, If this IS only the core program.   It no longer fits (or be installed) on a 120gig drive with an operating system installed. 

 

 

Im not a software engineer, so i dont know why it takes 90 gigs to install 60-65 gigs (stated minimum requirement). 
BUT, its moot if it cant be installed on 120 anyway?

See what im saying? 

 

 

[sigfan86]

You gotta go into dcs with the mindset that you'll need roughly 1 TB total for the game. That will include additional module's you choose to buy,  downloading a patch,  which is technically "downloaded" twice to your hard drive.  Once to be downloaded to your free space as a work bench,  then unpacked and installed into the game itself, then the original download file is deleted after its unpacked and installed into the core game folders. 

[Steel Jaw]

My DCS beta install has a  dedicated 1GB SSD.

[Bartacomus]

Certainly.  Now that i think about it, its really a requirement.

 

Ive been making 120gb work for the last 3 or 4 months (SDD, playing from HDD is just too clunky).  Pretty sure this update puts a coffin nail in the 120gig drives.

 

Question! Mower maybe you can help me this,  I tried to use my d:\ drive as the _download location.   Using MKLINK.

The idea was.. download it to the HDD, extract it to the SSD.  (but it still wasnt enough space.)

Now i have 89 gigs free in the SSD.  Is it still going to take 91 gigs, if i try a fresh reinstall from the HDD to the SSD?

[Steel Jaw]

One thing to be aware of with SSDs is that to extend their longevity you should over provision them (Samsung for example has a free app for this but so does Kingston), in doing so you lose ~15% of drive space.

 

@Bartacomus I think you need a  bigger driver dude.

Edited May 27, 2021 by Mower

[Bartacomus]

Thats the brutal Truth right there.

 

Ill check out that longevity provision too.  Much appreciated guys

[Goffik]

1 hour ago, Bartacomus said:

Now, If this IS only the core program.   It no longer fits (or be installed) on a 120gig drive with an operating system installed. 

 

I guess I don't really see what you're saying... maybe it's too late and I'm too tired to understand?

 

As mentioned, 120GB of "free space" is the requirement. It doesn't matter if your drive's total capacity is 120GB or 2TB like mine. If there is not 120GB of free, unoccupied storage space available then it doesn't meet the minimum requirements for DCS. You may still be able to install it if you don't install much content, and if DCS has room to download the files, unpack them, and put them in place... but no guarantees. Your idea of installing the sim elsewhere and moving the files might also work, but running a drive at it's absolute max capacity may lead to issues in itself.

 

As others have said, the best bet is just to get a bigger drive. Small drives just don't cut it these days, with sims and games getting ever-larger as maps get bigger and graphics get better. The good news is that decent sized SSDs are a hell of a lot cheaper than they were even a couple of years ago. Keep your eyes open for a sale (I got mine in an Amazon sale) and you can get a couple of TB for a pretty reasonable price. It's money that could have gone on content or something I know, but the investment is worth it... you can never have enough storage!

[Art-J]

When DCS installs itself, or any updates, it needs extra space for unpacking, repacking, files shuffling and whatnot. Hence higher space required than the one occupied when the process is ended.

[rayrayblues]

14 hours ago, Mower said:

My DCS beta install has a  dedicated 1GB SSD.

Mine too. I do have both OB and Stable versions. Including all of my modules and mods,

my Stable is 165 Gb and my OB is 175 Gb. With an additional 32 Gb page file I am just under 400 Gb total with nothing else

on this drive out of 931 available. So.....almost half full.  

 

My game used to be on a 500 Gb SSD with a few other games, but finally had to bite the bullet and buy a 1 Tb drive.

It was $130.00 USD, ouch! It's worth it though. All other games are now on the other drive.

There were cheaper options, but I didn't recognize the brand names. I trust Samsung and I'm willing to pay the extra 30 bucks for the latest NvME M.2 980 EVO.

[Nodak]

If you have another drive use a drop link, not a problem splitting a program up on separate drives in win 10.

[MrPickles]

I wish we had an option to only download the "low" textures.  4k textures are nice but they are HUGE and I only run in 2k anyway as in VR I am trying to squeeze every last frame out of it.

 

I bet the program would be less than half if you didn't download 4k textures.

[shagrat]

On 5/27/2021 at 1:46 AM, sigfan86 said:

You gotta go into dcs with the mindset that you'll need roughly 1 TB total for the game. That will include additional module's you choose to buy,  downloading a patch,  which is technically "downloaded" twice to your hard drive.  Once to be downloaded to your free space as a work bench,  then unpacked and installed into the game itself, then the original download file is deleted after its unpacked and installed into the core game folders. 

Actually, it downloads a delta index to verify which files need to be switched, then starts downloading and replacing/decompressing them on the fly... But nonetheless for a current DCS install a dedicated 500GB SSD is a good idea. Better to invest in a 1TB, as with more maps and modules scheduled it will grow quickly.

On 5/26/2021 at 10:22 PM, Bartacomus said:

Are there any folders or files in DCSworld that can be safely deleted?  For the sake of Disk Size?

 

Redundant Files?  Rarely used apps?  Vestigial Code?  Previous Versions?

 

Anything i can do to shave off 1 or 2 gigs, without crippling the software?

 

Extra Credit:  What Windows folders or files can be Nixed as well?  (or does anyone make a stripped down version, or hatchet-job script, that streamlines Windows?)

Definitely worth to look into Saved games/DCS World version/ and clean up under Screenshots, Tracks/Multiplayer. If you run TacView you should clean up the Documents/TacView folder regularly as all TacView files are stored, even Single Player...

[Bartacomus]

Nodak i did try MKLINKing the install files to the D drive.  But unfortunately, it downloaded the file then told me the space was insufficient.  I may have made an error, but its gonna be cheaper just upgrading.

I think ive spent more on data this month than a 500gb WD drive would cost.  10bucks per 100gigs, just trying to sort this out lol.

 

Mr.Pickles, only downloading what you need would great.  Core mods has 5 gigs for ww2 gear (you cant use unless you purchase a module). 7 gigs worth of F14 (i dont own the f14) 2.5 gigs worth of Christen Eagle (dont own it) 3 gigs worth of C101.. (dont own it).  Things like that.   It might make individual installs slower, but whats the difference when we download updates.

Shagrat, yeah that TrackFile adds up quick!  

[draconus]

You can still workaround it. After starting the download you can move temporarily some big map or livery folders elsewhere. It should download and unpack everything, then move the files back to their place.

There are still files in Core mods you can use as AI in your missions and use the all of these liveries for them even if you don't own any modules. Otherwise we'd have to download liveries with the missions. Still the option for one default liveries only would be nice.