Hi there,
So i just want to know HOW the ARK team releases updates for their game…
I am struggling VERY hard to figure out how to make updates for my game, I don’t want the players to download the full 5GB every time something changes 
Any help would be MUCH appreciated 
Keep in mind I am new to this and I don’t know how to build in a updater into the game from the start.
Kind regards,
ElridiuS
just release another complete Version of youre game. if you ever archieve to make a game someone wants to update then this is the least of youre concerns
I think that’s actually handled by steam detecting the differences
Kind of like Source Control, if you’ve ever looked into that. You should if not, it’s quite useful. It can store old versions of your game by detecting only changes you push forward, and it only updates files that actually changed.
Anyway like was said, it’s a very far away concern, don’t worry. If you want to be sending your version of a game to a friend or something but can’t use steam yet, and you want to send them new versions, you can use source control for this. If they connect and sync they’ll get the new version. Although that won’t be packaged yet… I’m not quite sure if there’s a free way to do that outside of steam.
While I don’t know the specifics, I do know that Unreal has a patch/DLC system.
These two should get you started. Fairly sure that Steam can’t magically decompile your game and figure out what’s new and what isn’t- there is a process for releasing updates on Steam, but you have to do this first. But I’ve no more actual experience doing this than the others who answered above me.
Thanks a MILLION!!!
Also, I am not looking to release game on steam because I’m not a fan of steam actually, It’s nice, but I dislike it.
On another note, I live in a country with SUPER SLOW internet speeds, I’m like talking about 800kpbs max! So downloading would take AGES.
It can actually. It breaks your content up into chunks, analyses which chunks have actually changed on the binary level, then only downloads the chunks as needed and reassembles the files locally. It’s pretty **** clever. However, it will still result in very hefty downloads if you make small changes which affect the entire file structure of your content packs just a little bit, so it still requires some thought to use it most effectively.