Xbox 360 NXE Game Install Question

[A-J]

So i'm about to get a 360 HDD, I have an arcade model so i'm relatively new to it. My question is, i've heard that games like Oblivion auto cahce data if they detect an HDD.

But what I would like to do is install it completely to the HDD to shorten load times.

So, if the game caches data itself, and i'm running the entire game image off of the HDD as it is, wouldn't that end up making the load times even slower ? Is it possible for me to disable caching ?

[Branden_Lucero]

i think you hold the "A" button and you'll clear the cache (temporarily, till it starts building itself up again). i remember that happening to me before, i thought it was my disk, so stupid me i go and by another copy. eventually i sold them all (except 1) and bought the PS3 version. stupid me, should of never done that, cause i now i don't play it.

i would just install it anyways, not to just shorten loading times (if it works), but the disk won't spin, so you don't have to worry about a scratched disc later on.

[James]

I'm not sure of the technical issues, but in terms of load times

HDD > Disc

for Oblivion, well, at least in my experience it was. =) But sometimes, I would have a very occasional retardedly slow loading time, which would shoot up from approx 1% (for about 10 seconds) to 100% within a few seconds. It was weird, but might just be a random thing.

But yeah, install it, well worth it. Most games do perform better (except Halo and PGR3)

[Carnivol]

Why Halo 3 isn't on the list of games that refuse to install (like Crackdown) beats me, 'cause Halo 3 is straight out unbearable if installed (unless they fixed that in one of the updates)


But in general, load times in some games are greatly decreased. Stuff like Lost Odyssey gets cut down to 6~8 seconds for each map screen (stuff that previously could reach all the way up to 30 sec)

One of the recent updates cut down on one of the more annoying issues with the HDD installation feature (some games would temporarily freeze or have small hiccups or kill streamed music if the game was auto-saving while the game was streaming something, but that should be fixed now.)

In general, it's a well worth feature for the "active" games you've got. Stuff like Saint's Row 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV is absolutely nice + if you've got an older 360 (or one without a replaced disc drive), the silence of your drive might be a welcome touch too.


Not sure how this affects Oblivion, though, which already caches data to the HDD if you have one, but it might still work flawlessly. For all I know, it might disable HDD detection somehow if you run the game from the HDD, preventing unwanted HDD caching.

[A-J]

alright, thanks for the help guys.

[Vector]

I usually install the game I'm playing the most, and when I'm done with it, I uninstall it. Why? It takes the volume of the 360's fans from 'jet engine' and lowers it to 'dull roar.' Other than that, I haven't really noticed any noticeable difference in loading times.

[A-J]

i'm really excited to get the HDD, the first thing i'm going to install is lost odyssey disc 4, and fable 2 (hope fable 2 improves marginally since it's quiet a hassle because you need to load area's so frequently).

[Carnivol]

i'm really excited to get the HDD, the first thing i'm going to install is lost odyssey disc 4, and fable 2 (hope fable 2 improves marginally since it's quiet a hassle because you need to load area's so frequently).

I've not tried Fable 2 yet, but if I've understood things right, Fable 2 uses a lot of streamed assets as you walk around. Some people said graphics looked better in Fable 2 when the game was installed to HDD... which is something there might be a bit of truth to, as with the HDD the load time of those streamed assets should be increased and they should be more readily available, so less pop-in for streamed assets and such.

Mass Effect is positively affected by the HDD in this type of way with much less pop-in for textures and high detail assets. So you get a general impression of there being a slight graphical boost to stuff in general.


Installing a game is usually a 5~15 min affair, depending on the size of the game. Sucks a bit that there's no proper DB for install sizes of games on Xbox.com or anything, 'cause it wont really tell you what size the install will be until after you've installed the game.

[A-J]

Mass Effect is positively affected by the HDD in this type of way with much less pop-in for textures and high detail assets. So you get a general impression of there being a slight graphical boost to stuff in general.

but what about those god damn elevator rides ?

[Darkmoon]

They're still ungodly long, I'm afraid.

[Kronk]

The problem with the elevator rides is that they're scripted that way. They need ample time to finish the small talk the characters engage in.