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Announcement : SC4DatPacker 2008

Started by wouanagaine, November 24, 2008, 11:56:38 PM

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wouanagaine

#20
Quote from: cogeo on December 06, 2008, 11:28:49 AM
Wouanagaine, why is it so hard to believe that some folders should better be not datpacked?
Why it is so hard to believe that all folders should be datpacked ? :)

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In many cases the configuration of a pack is determined by the presence or not of certain plugins. And if the configuration can change during the lifetime of the installation,
Do you think someone will pack his files during installation ??? ?
Once it is installed, it is installed

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datpacking a folder (and having a single dat file) has two obvious disadvantages: a) the player is not able to tell if a certain plugin is installed or not
Only if the player is so stupid that he deleted his files instead of moving them out of his plugins folder, and I really won't take it by hand if he is so noob
Another option that I'm using, use the '-UserDir' option

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and b) removing a plugin that is merged into a common datfile is not possible (the player should delete the plugin and install it anew).
And what is the difference with a not packed one ? he should remove it and install a new one. The only next step is to rerun datpacker which should be light as only one folder has changed

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In such cases having the option to skip a folder (and its subfolders) would be preferable.
As I said, the user can specify which one he want to pack

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And if you wonder if such plugins exist, NAM is the first that comes to mind. Surely, a DatPacked NAM will work, but then it's impossible to tell wheteher a plugin is installed or not, and it's also impossible to remove, say, turning lanes for roads. Therefore, to my opinion NAM should not be datpacked.
So lets say a player pack everything but NAM he will have in his final plugins folder
\Compressed_plugins
\NAM

Now what happened if in his original structure he had
\A
\B
\NAM
\OtherStuff
\ShouldLoadedAfterNam

the result will be that files in \ShouldLoadedAfterNam will be packed and put into \Compressed_plugins\ShouldLoadedAfterNam.dat with A.dat B.dat OtherStuff.dat
So the end result will be that it won't work anymore because \Compressed_plugins\ShouldLoadedAfterNam.dat will be loaded before the NAM instead of after

And I want to guarantee that the game will work exactly the same with everything packed compared to nothing packed, because if I can't guarantee that I'll have a freaking numbers of complains


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Many of my plugins can also be configured dynamically:
- RTMT props can be installed/uninstalled at will at any time allowing the props to be selected for each individual plop (eg design #1 along the main avenue, #2 at the suburbs and #3 in the industrial area); this is impossible if RTMT is datpacked - I can post pics if you prefer (I will have to reinstall SC4 first) but I think it's not needed.
- Streetlight colours can be changed at any time.
- Fenced GLR pack is actually based on this, the player can choose the black fences for a part of the city, then change the props and choose the red ones.
- Other packs using this feature is the Ped-Mall transit pack and Suburban GLR Stations, not to mention all packs with MML lots, where the player can install/uninstall the MML plugin; using an MML-controlled set of lots is not very practical, so some players may want to remove the MML plugin temporarily, make say, a waterfront using a set of walls, and then reinstall the MML to reduce the length of the menu.
I do that everyday ( the MML thing ) and I pack everyday, is it so hard to add/move/remove files from original structure and repack ???

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So there are cases where DatPacking could cause inconvenience, and in such cases DatPacking should better be avoided. In some cases I warn in the Description and Readme: "DO NOT DATPACK THIS PLUGIN", but it's questinable how many players will read this, and remember it when they decide to datpack their plugins. It would be much better if this could be specified by the developer (using a text file, as I proposed in my previous post).
I really don't care of people not reading readme, they can blame you, but in the very end, it is their fault

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I hope I have convinced you.
I don't think, even if you raise good points, I don't want to sound bad or flaming, but as I said my 1st priority is to make the game run the same with or without SC4DP.

Quote from: nerdly_dood on December 06, 2008, 01:22:02 PM
Also, from Wouanagaine's screenshot I get the feeling that this version is Vista-compatible... I'll have to try this!
Yes developed under Vista ( 32 bit, Basic version )

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Hey Steph,
  I also believe its up to the player to decide rather to pack or not to pack a certain folder if they so choose, heck I do that!!! I got all my dependencies folder for everything IE BSC prop pack to mega to textures are not dat packed at all... I also haven't dat packed bsc lot files why? Its a personal preferences I guess, or its because I'm DL'ing so much wonderful BSC creations its hard to keep up and why bother lol....

  But I also have to add I keep all of my plugins folders that I had datpacked, I call that "uncompressed folder December" in that folder is all the folders that are the original folders that wasn't datpacked...  Of course the Datpacked files are now in my plugins folder that I play with... So that way I can keep up with any changes I need to in airport lot files or NHP Lot's and misc lotters and so on... But that is my point on it...

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Brandom115

hey i cant download SC4DatPacker 2008 :S how ?