SC4 Devotion Forum Archives

Sim City 4 Devotion Tools => Tools - General Discussion => BSC NHP DatPacker => Topic started by: HandsOn on May 08, 2008, 11:59:16 PM

Title: Compressed vs uncompressed size..
Post by: HandsOn on May 08, 2008, 11:59:16 PM
Because of some - unrelated - crashes yesterday, I took another look at my plug-ins folder. Before I ask, let me say that DP works fine and does give me a noticeable difference in game play. Well done.
My question is about compression: Uncompressed, the subfolders in plug-ins ran to 1.96GB. The Plugins_Compressed folder, however, still comes in at 1.87GB, thusonly saving a mere 4.5%. Would "forced compression" reduce this, and if so, would it be advantageous in terms of game play?
Title: Re: Compressed vs uncompressed size..
Post by: xxdita on May 09, 2008, 12:52:28 AM
The main reason for datpacking is to limit the number of files that the game has to sort through to load up, not really compressing the files you have, although that is another benefit.
Title: Re: Compressed vs uncompressed size..
Post by: SC4BOY on May 09, 2008, 03:25:39 AM
Compression will only be an issue if you have lots of overlapping files.. as xx pointed out the key benefit is lower file count.. (often THOUSANDS of files less!!).. this makes a major difference in how your system software sees and deals with the game.
Title: Re: Compressed vs uncompressed size..
Post by: HandsOn on May 09, 2008, 06:43:25 AM
That's fine. I mean it is working, very good indeed. I was simply curious because a previous version had "forced compression" which is no longer an option - I wondered why. No big deal.
Title: Re: Compressed vs uncompressed size..
Post by: Diggis on May 09, 2008, 06:49:42 AM
I think it was force recompression which I believe meant it repacked the whole plugins from scratch and overwrote all the files.
Title: Re: Compressed vs uncompressed size..
Post by: HandsOn on May 09, 2008, 06:55:20 AM
Quote from: Diggis on May 09, 2008, 06:49:42 AM
I think it was force recompression which I believe meant it repacked the whole plugins from scratch and overwrote all the files.
You could be absolutely right. I do that at any rate (time-out to grab a coffee, pacify the glaring girlfriend, et al). BTW, Diggis, left you a note on the brilliant s-menu..  $%Grinno$%