How to speed up your battle loading time and save some disk space.

[notyourfather]

We all know how large the game is (57+GB) and it surely eats a ton of space.
You might suggest why not just symlink the files. Tried it, didn't work.

My setup:

• 250GB SSD & 500GB HDD
• WOWS is installed on the way slower drive (HDD)

I decided move the game to a bigger drive since it's eating more than 1/5 capacity of my SSD but now I face slower load times.
I found a way to make the game load its files from a faster drive, a SSD to be exact. This is how I did it.

Do this only if you're sure and has the same setup that I have.

Instructions:

1. Create a folder anywhere in your faster drive (SSD). Ex. C:\Wowsfiles
2. Create a backup folder anywhere in the same drive where WOWS is installed. Ex. D:\wows_backup
3. Navigate to World_of_Warships\res_packages and CUT(it's important that you cut and, not copy) these files and paste them inside the backup folder from step 2.

As you can see vehicles_level 6, 6 premium, 7, 8, 8 premium, 9 and 10s are selected since I mostly play T8 and you can encounter Tier 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s & 10s at that tier.
If you play a lot of tier 9s, then you should select 7, 8, 9, 10.
Files basecontent, camouflage, gui and sound_xxxxx are selected too since I think they're loaded every time.

4. Navigate to World_of_Warships\bin\3471783\idx and CUT(it's important that you cut, not copy) these files and paste them inside the backup folder from step 2.

Also, as you can see, I selected files that's correlated with the ones I selected earlier (basecontent_0001.pkg == basecontent.idx), (vehicles_level10_0001.pkg & vehicles_level10_0002.pkg == vehicles_level10.idx) so on and so forth.

5. Navigate to the backup folder that you have created and it should look like Fig. 1. Now COPY all of them and paste them to the folder you created at step 1. See Fig. 2.

Fig. 1. Files inside the backup folder.

Fig. 2. Files inside the folder you created at step 1.

6.  Navigate to World_of_Warships\bin\3471783\bin64\ and modify the paths.xml file with Notepad or any text editing tools you have and paste these lines.

Rename the C:\Wowsfiles if you used a different folder name or drive at step 1.

<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\basecontent.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\camouflage.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\gui.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\sound_banks.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\sound_banks_logic.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\sound_languages.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\sound_mods_official.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\sound_music.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\vehicles_level6.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\vehicles_level6_premium.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\vehicles_level7.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\vehicles_level8.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\vehicles_level8_premium.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\vehicles_level9.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\vehicles_level10.idx</Path>

It should now look like this and also don't forget to save it. Don't edit the nodes with key attribute.

And that's it. You're done!

If the game doesn't load or freezes. Retrace your steps and look for anything you have done wrong.

If you decided "F*ck this! can't find anything wrong!":

1. Move the files from the backup folder back to their respective folders, The *.pkg files goes to World_of_Warships\res_packages and *.idx files goes to World_of_Warships\bin\3471783\idx.
2. Delete the folders you created from step 1 & 2.

Caveats (Please read!):

• If there's an update, the game might patch those files. You need to put the files back and let them get patched. To do that, CUT the *.pkg & *.idx files from the backup folder and paste them to their respective folders within the game installation folder. The *.pkg files goes to World_of_Warships\res_packages and *.idx files goes to World_of_Warships\bin\3471783\idx. Let the game update, wait for it to finish and redo the steps again starting from step 3.
• The numbers from World_of_Warships\bin\3471783\ may change to something else if there's an update. To know which folder to choose from World_of_Warships\bin\, go to World_of_Warships and open the file game_info.xml and look for version node with name="client". The numbers after the last dot from installed or available attribute is your folder name.
   

Tests: (Texture: High, Sound: Ultra)

• Without this method:
• From the game launcher to port*: ~1:26
• Battle loading (30 second countdown)**: 01 second before the battle starts or sometimes the battle is already started.
• Some audio stutters.
• With this method:
• From the game launcher to port*: ~1:02
• Battle loading (30 second countdown)**: 21 seconds before the battle starts.
• No audio stutters.

* Will be affected by Logging-in part (Internet).
** 12v12, mirrored, 2xT10 carrier, 2xT10 battleship, 2xT9 battleship, 1xT10, 1xT9, 1xT8 cruisers, 1xT10, 1xT9, 1xT8 destroyers

Your mileage may vary.

The game is installed in D : drive and it's reading some files from C : drive via the method above.

 

[Andy_Siau]

Upgrade SSD 😅
On 1TB SSD here.

[S4pp3R]

1 hour ago, Andy_Siau said:

Upgrade SSD 😅
On 1TB SSD here.

Yeah I'm sure he's aware...

But many folks don't have a lot of money (and many do obviously) on our server but it's cool to solve an issue like this...

Well done dad! (Get it - because of his name... ahhhhh I crack me up...) Also pretty sure there's a range of games this would be possible in, based on their packaging - I swear I've seen that sort of thing many times before.

[THAI_THIEF]

I use 500GB SSD

For both of live and PTS

[Lowyat]

23 hours ago, notyourfather said:

We all know how large the game is (57+GB) and it surely eats a ton of space.
You might suggest why not just symlink the files. Tried it, didn't work.

My setup:

• 250GB SSD & 500GB HDD
• WOWS is installed on the way slower drive (HDD)

I decided move the game to a bigger drive since it's eating more than 1/5 capacity of my SSD but now I face slower load times.
I found a way to make the game load its files from a faster drive, a SSD to be exact. This is how I did it.

Do this only if you're sure and has the same setup that I have.

Instructions:

1. Create a folder anywhere in your faster drive (SSD). Ex. C:\Wowsfiles
2. Create a backup folder anywhere in the same drive where WOWS is installed. Ex. D:\wows_backup
3. Navigate to World_of_Warships\res_packages and CUT(it's important that you cut and, not copy) these files and paste them inside the backup folder from step 2.

As you can see vehicles_level 6, 6 premium, 7, 8, 8 premium, 9 and 10s are selected since I mostly play T8 and you can encounter Tier 6s, 7s, 8s, 9s & 10s at that tier.
If you play a lot of tier 9s, then you should select 7, 8, 9, 10.
Files basecontent, camouflage, gui and sound_xxxxx are selected too since I think they're loaded every time.

4. Navigate to World_of_Warships\bin\3471783\idx and CUT(it's important that you cut, not copy) these files and paste them inside the backup folder from step 2.

Also, as you can see, I selected files that's correlated with the ones I selected earlier (basecontent_0001.pkg == basecontent.idx), (vehicles_level10_0001.pkg & vehicles_level10_0002.pkg == vehicles_level10.idx) so on and so forth.

5. Navigate to the backup folder that you have created and it should look like Fig. 1. Now COPY all of them and paste them to the folder you created at step 1. See Fig. 2.

Fig. 1. Files inside the backup folder.

Fig. 2. Files inside the folder you created at step 1.

6.  Navigate to World_of_Warships\bin\3471783\bin64\ and modify the paths.xml file with Notepad or any text editing tools you have and paste these lines.

Rename the C:\Wowsfiles if you used a different folder name or drive at step 1.

<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\basecontent.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\camouflage.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\gui.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\sound_banks.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\sound_banks_logic.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\sound_languages.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\sound_mods_official.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\sound_music.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\vehicles_level6.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\vehicles_level6_premium.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\vehicles_level7.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\vehicles_level8.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\vehicles_level8_premium.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\vehicles_level9.idx</Path>
<Path type="PFS">C:\Wowsfiles\vehicles_level10.idx</Path>

It should now look like this and also don't forget to save it. Don't edit the nodes with key attribute.

And that's it. You're done!

If the game doesn't load or freezes. Retrace your steps and look for anything you have done wrong.

If you decided "F*ck this! can't find anything wrong!":

1. Move the files from the backup folder back to their respective folders, The *.pkg files goes to World_of_Warships\res_packages and *.idx files goes to World_of_Warships\bin\3471783\idx.
2. Delete the folders you created from step 1 & 2.

Caveats (Please read!):

• If there's an update, the game might patch those files. You need to put the files back and let them get patched. To do that, CUT the *.pkg & *.idx files from the backup folder and paste them to their respective folders within the game installation folder. The *.pkg files goes to World_of_Warships\res_packages and *.idx files goes to World_of_Warships\bin\3471783\idx. Let the game update, wait for it to finish and redo the steps again starting from step 3.
• The numbers from World_of_Warships\bin\3471783\ may change to something else if there's an update. To know which folder to choose from World_of_Warships\bin\, go to World_of_Warships and open the file game_info.xml and look for version node with name="client". The numbers after the last dot from installed or available attribute is your folder name.
   

Tests: (Texture: High, Sound: Ultra)

• Without this method:
• From the game launcher to port*: ~1:26
• Battle loading (30 second countdown)**: 01 second before the battle starts or sometimes the battle is already started.
• Some audio stutters.
• With this method:
• From the game launcher to port*: ~1:02
• Battle loading (30 second countdown)**: 21 seconds before the battle starts.
• No audio stutters.

* Will be affected by Logging-in part (Internet).
** 12v12, mirrored, 2xT10 carrier, 2xT10 battleship, 2xT9 battleship, 1xT10, 1xT9, 1xT8 cruisers, 1xT10, 1xT9, 1xT8 destroyers

Your mileage may vary.

The game is installed in D : drive and it's reading some files from C : drive via the method above.

 

Thanks dad. It works and my loading is blazing fast now. Added some Windows batch QoL scripts to avoid my human mental fatigue error in remembering the list.

Spoiler

Move to backup:
@echo off
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\res_packages\basecontent_0001.pkg J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\res_packages\camouflage_0001.pkg J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\res_packages\gui_0001.pkg J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\res_packages\sound_banks_0001.pkg J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\res_packages\sound_banks_logic_0001.pkg J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\res_packages\sound_languages_0001.pkg J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\res_packages\sound_mods_official_0001.pkg J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\res_packages\sound_music_0001.pkg J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\res_packages\vehicles_level6_0001.pkg J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\res_packages\vehicles_level6_premium_0001.pkg J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\res_packages\vehicles_level7_0001.pkg J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\res_packages\vehicles_level8_0001.pkg J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\res_packages\vehicles_level9_0001.pkg J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\res_packages\vehicles_level10_0001.pkg J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\res_packages\vehicles_level10_0002.pkg J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\bin\3471783\idx\basecontent.idx J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\bin\3471783\idx\camouflage.idx J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\bin\3471783\idx\gui.idx J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\bin\3471783\idx\sound_banks.idx J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\bin\3471783\idx\sound_banks_logic.idx J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\bin\3471783\idx\sound_languages.idx J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\bin\3471783\idx\sound_mods_official.idx J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\bin\3471783\idx\sound_music.idx J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\bin\3471783\idx\vehicles_level6.idx J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\bin\3471783\idx\vehicles_level6_premium.idx J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\bin\3471783\idx\vehicles_level7.idx J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\bin\3471783\idx\vehicles_level8.idx J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\bin\3471783\idx\vehicles_level8_premium.idx J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\bin\3471783\idx\vehicles_level9.idx J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\
MOVE J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\bin\3471783\idx\vehicles_level10.idx J:\GAMES\Wowsasia\wows_backup\

Move to C
@echo off
set "ssdpath=C:\Wowsfiles"
COPY /Y basecontent_0001.pkg %ssdpath%
COPY /Y camouflage_0001.pkg %ssdpath%
COPY /Y gui_0001.pkg %ssdpath%
COPY /Y sound_banks_0001.pkg %ssdpath%
COPY /Y sound_banks_logic_0001.pkg %ssdpath%
COPY /Y sound_languages_0001.pkg %ssdpath%
COPY /Y sound_mods_official_0001.pkg %ssdpath%
COPY /Y sound_music_0001.pkg %ssdpath%
COPY /Y vehicles_level6_0001.pkg %ssdpath%
COPY /Y vehicles_level6_premium_0001.pkg %ssdpath%
COPY /Y vehicles_level7_0001.pkg %ssdpath%
COPY /Y vehicles_level8_0001.pkg %ssdpath%
COPY /Y vehicles_level9_0001.pkg %ssdpath%
COPY /Y vehicles_level10_0001.pkg %ssdpath%
COPY /Y vehicles_level10_0002.pkg %ssdpath%
COPY /Y basecontent.idx %ssdpath%
COPY /Y camouflage.idx %ssdpath%
COPY /Y gui.idx %ssdpath%
COPY /Y sound_banks.idx %ssdpath%
COPY /Y sound_banks_logic.idx %ssdpath%
COPY /Y sound_languages.idx %ssdpath%
COPY /Y sound_mods_official.idx %ssdpath%
COPY /Y sound_music.idx %ssdpath%
COPY /Y vehicles_level6.idx %ssdpath%
COPY /Y vehicles_level6_premium.idx %ssdpath%
COPY /Y vehicles_level7.idx %ssdpath%
COPY /Y vehicles_level8.idx %ssdpath%
COPY /Y vehicles_level8_premium.idx %ssdpath%
COPY /Y vehicles_level9.idx %ssdpath%
COPY /Y vehicles_level10.idx %ssdpath%

 

 

[notyourfather]

Basically does the same thing as Lowyat's batch script but it will also modify the paths.xml

 

Spoiler

@echo off
SETLOCAL
set pkgs=basecontent_0001 ^
    camouflage_0001 ^
    gui_0001 ^
    sound_banks_0001 ^
    sound_banks_logic_0001 ^
    sound_languages_0001 ^
    sound_mods_official_0001 ^
    sound_music_0001 ^
    vehicles_level6_0001 ^
    vehicles_level6_premium_0001 ^
    vehicles_level7_0001 ^
    vehicles_level8_0001 ^
    vehicles_level8_premium_0001 ^
    vehicles_level9_0001 ^
    vehicles_level10_0001 ^
    vehicles_level10_0002

set idxs=sound_banks_logic ^
    sound_languages ^
    sound_mods_official ^
    sound_music ^
    basecontent ^
    camouflage ^
    gui ^
    sound_banks ^
    vehicles_level6 ^
    vehicles_level6_premium ^
    vehicles_level7 ^
    vehicles_level8 ^
    vehicles_level8_premium ^
    vehicles_level9 ^
    vehicles_level10

set /p folder_faster="Where to create folder? (Faster drive) (Ex. C:\wowsfiles): " || set folder_faster=C:\wowsfiles
set /p folder_backup="Where to create backup folder? (Ex. D:\wowsbackup): " || set folder_backup=D:\wowsbackup
set /p folder_installation="Your WOWS installation path (Ex. D:\Games\World_of_Warships): "
set /p build_number="Build number (Ex. 3471783) (Check caveat #2 on the Topic): " || set build_number=3471783

set bin64=%folder_installation%\bin\%build_number%\bin64

if exist %folder_installation%\bin\%build_number%\ (
    goto :continue
) else (
    echo Invalid installtion folder!
    goto :end
)

:continue
:: DELETE EXISTING FOLDER THEN RECREAT IT
(for %%f in (%folder_faster% %folder_backup%) do ( 
   if exist %%f (
       rmdir %%f /q /s
    )
   mkdir %%f\
))

::BACKUP THE PKG FILES
(for %%f in (%pkgs%) do ( 
   echo Backing up: %folder_installation%\res_packages\%%f.pkg
   move /Y %folder_installation%\res_packages\%%f.pkg %folder_backup%\%%f.pkg >NUL
))

::BACKUP THE IDX FILES
(for %%f in (%idxs%) do ( 
   echo Backing up: %folder_installation%\bin\%build_number%\idx\%%f.idx
   move /Y %folder_installation%\bin\%build_number%\idx\%%f.idx %folder_backup%\%%f.idx >NUL
))

::BACKUP paths.xml
if not exist %bin64%\paths.xml.backup (
    copy /Y %bin64%\paths.xml %bin64%\paths.xml.backup
)

::COPY THE BACKUP FOLDER TO THE FASTER DRIVE
robocopy /s /is /im /it %folder_backup% %folder_faster%

::CREATE NODES TO APPEND TO paths.xml
(for %%f in (%idxs%) do ( 
   echo         ^<Path type="PFS"^>%folder_faster%\%%f.idx^</Path^>
))>lines.txt

::APPEND THE NODES TO paths.xml
(for /f "eol=* delims=*" %%f in (%bin64%\paths.xml.backup) do ( 
    echo %%f
   if "%%f" EQU "        <Path>..\res_mods</Path>" (
		TYPE lines.txt
   )
)) > %bin64%\temp.xml

move /Y %bin64%\temp.xml %bin64%\paths.xml
del /f lines.txt

:end
ENDLOCAL
pause

 

Raw script: gist.github