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Player Features and Ideas Discussion

 
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Account Based Client Cache Directory
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Jensar Antak
Apotheosis.
#1 - 2013-06-17 20:35:04 UTC
Currently, players running multiple accounts commonly use symlink/junction directories to allow each separate client instance to utilize a different directory for the client cache and settings folders. This improves client performance by eliminating contention for file read/write coming from multiple accounts running from the same machine

This approach has a few downsides:


  1. It requires a level of technical know-how that not all players are going to be comfortable with. As a result, many do NOT take these steps and as such experience a lesser performance from their multiple account play than they could.
  2. The launcher must be closed and re-started between each account login, rather than simply using the "Switch user account" link built into the launcher. If this is not done, all accounts will run from the same instance and not leverage the separate client cache folders that you have set up.


My proposed solution to this would be to dynamically select a cache folder to use based on the account being used.

Currently, cache files on Windows are saved to:

\AppData\Local\CCP\EVE\[dynamic folder name]

The dynamic folder name here is the full path for the EVE client install, with "\" replaced by "_", all lowercase. For example, the folder on my main install is:

C:\Users\JensarAntak\AppData\Local\CCP\EVE\c_program files (x86)_ccp_eve

The only bit of this that I would propose changing would be to change the dynamic folder name to instead be derived from the account name. This would give all players a separated cache and settings folder per-running instance by default (since you cannot run multiple characters from the same client at once) without those players having to have any knowledge of symlink creation, or having to muddle with launching the game multiple times from separate locations.
Ruze
Next Stage Initiative
#2 - 2013-06-17 21:35:05 UTC
I'm a lamen, but I kinda get what your talking about. For me as a workaround, I literally have several client installs.

This doubles up my time for patches (especially since one client wont' update if another client is already running), but allows individual user settings.

Would this speed up this process? And could it handle different caches for different machines as well, for those of us who jump between our desktop and laptops, or individual screens, ad hoc?

If you're driven to threaten others with harm or violence because of what they do in game, you can't separate fantasy from reality. That "griefer/thief" is probably more sane than you are. How screwed up is that?
Jensar Antak
Apotheosis.
#3 - 2013-06-18 01:22:25 UTC
Ruze wrote:
Would this speed up this process? And could it handle different caches for different machines as well, for those of us who jump between our desktop and laptops, or individual screens, ad hoc?


This wouldn't solve anything regarding multiple machines since the cache is stored locally on the machine each client is running from. I'm not entirely sure I understood the multi-machine question either, though.

It would prevent you from needing multiple installs. You can avoid having to install the game multiple times now, but accomplishing that is less obvious and straight forward. Check out the instructions here for a step by step depending on the system you use. The end result of that process is that you will have multiple client shortcuts, and each will behave as if it was it's own client, but there is only actually one EVE install behind it all. This saves you a lot of disc space and allows you to only update once every time a patch comes out.