Peter72
Chain commands together using the -m switch in freearc:

-msrep+lolz

example

Thanks for your reply. I added the "-m" before the compression line, but I think I don't get it correctly. So here is my code:

arc.exe a -ep1 -r -ed -s; -w.\temp\setup-3.bin srep:m3f+lzma:176m:normal:bt4:273:mc1000000000:lc8 "D:\Games\Immortals Fenyx Rising\PCK\*"
pause

I have divided the game files, and I am attempting to compress just the .pck files. If it write -msrep+lzma.... , it doesn't compile; it says (Unsupported compression method or error in parameters: srep:m3f). But when I remove it to just "srep+.." it starts compressing. But the thing now that it stops after compressing, leaves me with the .tmp file. It looks like this:

{
D:\Setup Files\oo2recm>arc.exe a -ep1 -r -ed -s; -w.\temp\setup-3.bin srep:m3f+lzma:176m:normal:bt4:273:mc1000000000:lc8 "D:\Games\Immortals Fenyx Rising\PCK\*"
FreeArc 0.67 (March 15 2014) creating archive: srep:m3f+lzma:176m:normal:bt4:273:mc1000000000:lc8 .arc
Compressed 21 files, 1,796,076,026 => 1,685,152,333 bytes. Ratio 93.82%
Compression time: cpu 124.30 sec/real 26.31 sec = 472%. Speed 68.27 mB/s
Copying temporary archive freearc1.tmp to srep:m3f+lzma:176m:normal:bt4:273:mc1000000000:lc8 .arc
Keeping temporary archive freearc1.tmparc.exe: srep:m3f+lzma:176m:normal:bt4:273:mc1000000000:lc8 .arc: open: invalid argument (Invalid argument)

D:\Setup Files\oo2recm>pause
Press any key to continue . . .
}

Keeping in mind that I don't know the use of those commands "a -ep1 -r -ed -s;". So what is the problem here? What am I not understanding or doing wrong?

Peter72

you need :

https://i.imgur.com/Kf5YQ80.png

Okay... I downloaded XTool, copied all the binaries and libraries into the folder, and added the above code in the pack.bat file. Everything is still the same. I am still stuck with a 1.6 GB .tmp file as in the image. Correct me if I am wrong, there are some coding that should be written in the arc.ini file. If so, I have no idea about it? What to do now?https://i.imgur.com/9l0knL3.png

Don't start repacking IFR like games right off the bat.

lzma uses FAZip32.exe which is not present in your folder.
lzma needs to be set in arc.ini before it can be used.

open your arc.ini:

a basic structure is like this. You can't learn it all in one day, just keeping compressing games until you evolve and don't use commands as a beginner, use something like UltraArc or DiskSpan as a beginner.

Peter72
You set your temp folder as setup3.bin instead of the output archive.

Star Wars : Squadrons
 

Possibilities : You can rip Multiplayer files if you don't need them.

Okay... I will slow it down. But the problem is that there is no beginner guide in the whole process. So when I stumble upon something for a beginner, I try it out. But I have no clue what are the things to learn sequentially. If you can direct me to the things to learn, I will be so grateful. So for example,

"You need to learn
1) X, then (Links to 1)
2) Y, then alternate your methods to (Links to 2)
3) Z (coding for instance) (Links to 3)"

Maybe one day, I will make a beginner book.

Mini Car Racing - Tiny Split Screen Tournament
 

Side Notes : I don't know if the game contains any lz4 streams and by the time i was compressing this game, i didn't realized that there was a Unity precompressor plugin for XTool.

I'd recommend reading the pinned posts on this board, plus giving as much information as possible, when posting about any issues or queries. These 2 things have helped me immensely with learning about this hobby/field.

I agree, just start reading this thread from the first page, the problems solved in the past might help you start.

Peter72
A nice place to start is, if you like the steps order:

1. take a look at freearc's command line and see what all your various switches do. Using a custom temp folder is hugely useful if your OS is on an SSD (-w switch). -m switch is for the compression method.

2. Look into using arc.ini to add external compressors. Start with something like XTool or srep. There's plenty of premade compressors in this forum which already have packcmds in the arc.ini, and you can use these to learn the correct structure.

3. Learn about using multiple compressors chained together using the + sign in -m switch, e.g. -msrep+lolz

4. Learn to use multiple methods on 1 archive by using arc.groups to make a mask ( I won't type all this in 1 message, but I will happily explain masks you are interested - just this way I save you some time by looking at building blocks first)

When you have arc.exe in your folder, you can run a .bat file to learn about their parameters.

Copy below and save it as .bat and run it in the same folder as arc.exe.

Help.bat
From here you can learn what each command does.

Thank you very much for these info. It very much useful. And to Masquerade, I will be asking you about the masks when I get there :)

Shift+right click to open command window from context menu? :confused:

Can you suggest something good for Days Gone?

https://fileforums.com/showpost.php?...&postcount=101

He is eventually going to use .bat files in future, taking long methods may help build more experience.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Edit: Do not use bpk. You will get crc errors on unpacking.

Sorry if this is obvious, but what exactly is I'm guessing it's an xtool plugin specific to the title "Mass Effect Legendary Edition", but was just wondering what exactly it does.

Yes. It is the plugin shared by Razor12911 in this #post.
The information shared by KaktoR is information used in DiskSpan_GUI (so it used "xtool_ue3_mele" and "srep_new").

Thank you for this! I wonder why the developers of the title chose to use a different compression technique, (I'm guessing lzo & oodle) when the assets don't seem to have changed all that drastically (although I've only seen trailers for the title so I'm probably wrong)! Seems a bit strange.

I think it's leviathan.

Yep.

Hello, Do you guys know what is the best way to compress The Binding of Issac Afterbirth? I've been having quite some trouble recently with it. Thanks

Optimal method is to unpack the game archives, but currently the unpack tool has outdated file list leading to incorrect data unpacking and missing files meaning you;ll have a broken game.

Aw man, that sucks. What is the next best way to compress the game then?

Does anyone know the size of It Takes Two under LZMA?

Masquerade

I can post the results tomorrow if you would like, its already night here so i will let it run overnight.

Awesome, thanks.

Masquerade

Side Notes : Please don't post this in the INDEX, i will shortly update it in another post.

It Takes Two
 

Hi all,

I recently finally figured out how to properly encode and package .usm files, and I was wondering if anyone who has some experience here might be able to help me out with a little issue pertaining to implementing the new, encoded files. In the title "Batman: Arkham City" every encoded .usm, bar the initial file loaded "0_CW_Intro.usm", soft-locks the title at the conclusion of the video file, the only solution to this is manual user input to skip the cut-scene, which the title enables users to do for every pre-rendered cut-scene (all pre-rendered cut-scenes are contained within .usm files). This isn't a massive issue, as it can be solved by adding additional footage informing the user when to skip, however, I want to minimise this additional user-inputs if it is at all possible. I have multiple other titles I want to test out encoding .usm files on ("The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt", "Batman: Arkham Origins" & "Batman: Arkham Knight", to name a few), and as this is the first title I have attempted to encode .usm files on, I cannot say whether this is a title-specific issue or not.

My current plan is to stitch on a 10 second clip at the end of each effected video notifying the user their input is required, as I don't think there is any other solution.

Days Gone - Precompression

XTool - Kraken is 50% faster than OodleRec - Kraken, while the difference is between their ratio is 5% - 6%

OodleRec - Kraken

XTool - Kraken
Side Notes : It's basically waiting for twice the XTool - Kraken and getting only 10% ~ 15 % ratio.

Final Compressors :

XTool:Kraken + SREP + LOLZ :
OodleRec:Kraken + SREP + LOLZ :
Side Notes : Squadrons Decompression time updated.

Hi all,

Does anyone know if there are any public methods/tools to rip and restore, (however just knowing if it's possible to rip files would be appreciated) files from "id Tech Engine" data files? I'm particularly interested in the 5th and 6th iterations of the "id Tech" engine.

Days Gone - Full Game Precompression

XTool : v0.3.9 Used.
Codec : Kraken.
Libraries : Provided by Razor12911 for Days Gone.

Results :
Initial Size : 59.7 GB
Final Size : 96.7 GB

Days Gone [All Languages][v1.0]
 

unravel 1+2
 

unravel 1 final size 2.04gb
3.17gb to 4.68gb using munravel1 -c64mb without --dedup
then srep+lolz from 4.68gb to 2.04gb nothing rip include trial exe
srep:m3f:d1g:a2+lolz:mt4:mtt1:d128:fba4096:mc1023: pc4:gm20:dtb1:x2

unravel 2 final size 3.5gb
6.76gb to 10.1gb using munravel2 -c32mb without --dedup
then srep+lolz from 10.1gb to 3.5gb...
srep:m3f:d1g:a2+lolz:mt4:mtt1:d128:fba4096:mc1023: pc4:gm20:dtb1:x2

using razor unravel_R1.7z with xtool 0.3.18

*note you can improve ratio by using mt0 and increase d but super slow...

Mass Effect Legendary Edition 43.5gb
 

Mass Effect 1 8.7gb
Mass Effect 2 15.3gb
Mass Effect 3 19.7gb
only english
using razor unreal_R5...

method
mue3:m2+srep:m3f:d1g:a2:lolz:mt4:mtt1:d128:fba4096 :mc1023:pc4:dtb1

edit : compression with cls-bpk pass but give CRC error during decompression,
maybe because of multichannel audio ?
if you edit bik file it may work with cls-bik i remember that i tested it in the past when profargo released on number of games and some give the same error duing compression , need to tested...
ME MISTAKE FOR NOT TESTING CLS-BPK UNPACK, SORRY...

Guys, you can't use bpk for the videos in Mass Effect - crash on decompression...