Game is heavily defragmented

[Anonymouse_Captain]

So I was messing around with my defragmenting tool that can also defragment programs so I chose Kenshi (x64) and apparently there was around 500 files that were fragmented, any reason why guys? Or is it just that games in early access usually have fragmented files?

P.S: After defragmenting, the game ran way faster.

[Hatsune_Neko]

with how much the game changes between releases it not surprising its not in any order.

Optimization will come in time though.

[Rices]

on windows and anyother OS it's normal, new files gets an allocation on your harddrive where it has to be in " Fragments",the Harddrive wants the job done ASAP, not checking else if the fragment are placed somewhere better for "optimal" read & Write placement for the programm which is being installed / Updated.

TL:DR

Imagine a Jelly block which is your Harddrive and shotgun bullets representative for your datas( games, programms, Browsercache, videofiles) getting shot in that Jellyblock (with each update or data addition/replacement).
"Specific things" Ex:. a "game" which are placed messy now in the jellyblock needs more time to get them together (loading all files to run the game), so you defragmentate "sort the projectile systemmatical" them to handle the Datas easier which need tobe done regulary.

Ex.: when you observe a Performance decline which depends on the addition and deletion of your files like:" removing 50gb if raw video materials adding a game moving datas from a different Harddrive on that one afterwards etc.
"the new files get "shot" again in that jellyblock somewhere in the previous made holes from the previous removed Datas/Projectiles or remaining freespace - programms which don't get updated and are optimal "sorted" will "never"(<- atleast for the regular user, and if you "play around" with a defrag-tool you should are a regular ) get a performance decline from other progamms which are still fragmented .
at some point it is as optimal as possible placed for the "programmed logics" of your Defragmenting-tool also it's no use to run that Tool everyday regulary
( i do it ~ once per month which suffice on that old HDDs of mine with not so much data shifting ~50gb per Month) and after larger Additions 15+ Gb


BUUUT ENOUGH, i have eaten my Jelly now without any rounds in it !
and a suggestion "read" about what you do/use, understanding the basics what a defragtool is actual doing and why you should use it from time to time should wikipedia explain on the surface with the branching how Harddrives works if there is a confusion.

i need to continue Undertale Papyrus is killing me, if you "talk" him like "larger than life" similar to Brooks from Onepiece with a bossy voice

Papy: i got something in my Eyes.
gram: you are sad aren't you?
Papy: no, it something else...
gram: what is it then?
Papy Teeeaaaarrs! ( with a imaginary raised finger and a shasking head while he speaks it out loud and holding the face with the other hand)


@Hatsune_neko
the "Optimization"( defragmentation) would still need tobe done by the user , or does Steam let a game do run a Defragmentation of your Harddrive? Steam has no build in option for it - also Not so far-) something which i would consider as harmfull or was you meaning the addition / changing / removing of Files/Assets from Lo-fi, which is a natural process for a game in development with live builds for the audience to change regular certain files. which fragmentates the new ones natural

[Hatsune_Neko]

yep
Defragmenting requires the user to do this on there end.
though is not recommend ( currently ) for drives in the terabyte range as it can damage your drives. ( my 3 Hard Drive Manuals tell me it can damage the surface platters. )

[Anonymouse_Captain]

@Hatsune_neko
the "Optimization"( defragmentation) would still need tobe done by the user , or does Steam let a game do run a Defragmentation of your Harddrive (except the Steambuildin option) something which i would consider as harmfull or was you meaning the addition / changing / removing of Files/Assets from Lo-fi, which is a natural process for a game in development with live builds for the audience to change regular certain files. which fragmentates the new ones natural

Wait, what, Steam defrags games also?

[Hatsune_Neko]

Wait, what, Steam defrags games also?

nope.

[Rices]

indeed, spelled it the wrong/build the sentence wrong. Hope the actual phrase is better and clears that part for further readers.

[bk3000]

yep
Defragmenting requires the user to do this on there end.
though is not recommend ( currently ) for drives in the terabyte range as it can damage your drives. ( my 3 Hard Drive Manuals tell me it can damage the surface platters. )

Wait where did you read that? Defragmenting should not hurt a drive. It is a large series of regular read and write commands... nothing more. It does all the reading and writing to put files within the same continuous part of the disk. It is considered to be basic maintenance of sorts.

The only way it would "hurt" the drive is in that it would constitute heavy usage until it completes so maybe a drive could in theory overheat(not too likely and less likely with good ventilation). It would be no worse than cloning a drive, or backup and restore.

I believe in newer windows versions that defragmentation is by default set to happen daily in the background. So actually you're probably already doing it unless you expressly told windows not to do so. The idea that it will harm your drive is nonsense.

As for the title, I can't see how this has anything to do with Kenshi itself. Fragmentation is on the user's end and Kenshi has nothing to do with it. You can't expect the devs to maintain your hardware for you.

Also note that Defragmentation is only a thing on magnetic platter drives. That isn't a thing on SSDs because the location of files is irrelevant and won't affect read/write speed one bit.

[lucidmadness]

My new SSD defrags 200 gigs within a second, so I really don't care about this.

[Hatsune_Neko]

Wait where did you read that? Defragmenting should not hurt a drive.

In my owners manual for my hard drives over 2 TB. it specifically says do not defrag as it can damage the drive and will void my warranty.

[Mattk50]

My new SSD defrags 200 gigs within a second, so I really don't care about this.

defragging files on an ssd is both pointless, because data proximity does not matter on an ssd, and uses up your SSD's lifespan. Never defrag SSDs, ever. Modern OS shouldnt even be letting you defrag an SSD.

[bk3000]

Wait where did you read that? Defragmenting should not hurt a drive.

In my owners manual for my hard drives over 2 TB. it specifically says do not defrag as it can damage the drive and will void my warranty.

The size is irrelevant where fragmentation is concerned. True those drives have high density platters, but that's not a issue of defragmentation at all as much as that's a read/write issue in general (which to say is the only thing hard drives actually do). So unless that 2+ TB drive is an SSD(which presently would cost you a ton), there is no harm in it. I'm going to have to conclude someone was high when they typed out your manual.

The normal use of any hard drive is to read from it, and write to it. That's all defragmentation does. Fragmentation is that a given file is written in separate areas of the disk. So to defragment, it reads that file, then writes it all together to another part of the disk instead. It will then put some more size-appropriate file in the now empty spots where the removed file was. Essentially it is just sorting... like moving things around in your closet to be better organized.

The point of doing that is as follows. Suppose you have part of a document in one box, 2 other sheets in a 2nd box, and the rest in a 3rd box. Obviously reading your document is going to take longer. Put them in the same box, and it just works better. And the idea that moving your files around within your storage boxes causes harm to the storage boxes... that's ludicrous to say the least. That example is directly comparable to what happens on your hard drive.

Likewise your disk would read one part of the fragmented file, then it needs to spin the disk around again and move the read head to read the next part, and so forth. So a more fragmented file system is going to slow you down both when reading and writing, but also will just add that much more wear to the drive.

Again the TL/DR version is... your HD manufacturer was high when they typed that. Or maybe that a terrible translation coming from some sort of oddball Chinese company I've never heard of. I can hardly imagine any major manufacturer making that statement.

I mean that's right up there with claiming video games hurt your video card (and playing them will therefore void your warranty).

[Hatsune_Neko]

I know how computers work. i been playing/building on them sicne 1985.
When your owners manual says do not defrag HHD's past this size or your warranty will be voided.
I dont do it.

simple as that.

[Mattk50]

I know how computers work. i been playing/building on them sicne 1985.
When your owners manual says do not defrag HHD's past this size or your warranty will be voided.
I dont do it.

simple as that.

Just curious, what brand? So i can be sure to never ever buy from them and their insane bullshit policies.

Everyone defrags so they probably just use it as an excuse not to pay for HDDs that fail, they probably have high failure rates.

[Hatsune_Neko]

looks at my sig line.

[Mattk50]

looks at my sig line.

Seagate is a trash company but i never thought they'd go that low. Unless you meant the toshiba?

Actually, do you have an SSHD? One of those fancy hybrid hard drives/ssds? that would explain that part of the manual.

[Hatsune_Neko]

plain old HD's
In the end it doesn't matter to me. i dont defrag my drives. i got to much info on them and defraging a terabyte drive is worse then watching paint dry.

I never had any issues with them. always ran perfectly fine and never had a corrupted HD in my life. only issues i ever had was with MB's and CPU's and GPU's and the occasional bad stick of ram. which reminds me, think my MD or CPU or GPU might be going out. I think its now showing up in my Lets Play Videos.

[Mattk50]

By default some verions of windows automaticly schedules a weekly defrag on hard drives. Which means on most people's computers the warranty on those hard drives will be automaticly voided.

[Hatsune_Neko]

most people dont have terabyte drives yet, they still in the 500 to 800gig range.
I had to have special software to support 3tb and up. ( which came with my MB )

And yes i thought it was odd as well. but hey, i bought the drive, it works fine. never noticed any issues of speed problems with either one.

What i dont get is why the debate about what a manufacture put in their owners manual? i mean seriously. they set the rules on their hardware. plus the issue is with drives 3tb or more. There really is no need for a debate about how it should work and how it says so in a manual. Maybe by now they over came that limitation. my drives are nearly 5 and 3 years old so plenty of time to fix the defrag issue. if its still present in modern 3tb drives and up. take up the issue with the manufacture. if it doesnt come with the warning, then they fixed it.