Best Compression Methods for 'Specific' Games. Q&A

[Masquerade]

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

-msrep+lolz

example

[Peter72]

Originally Posted by Masquerade

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?

[:( Sad8669]

Peter72

you need :

arc.ini - Set methods here 
arc.exe - Execute compression
pack folder - where you need to keep your files that will be compressed
temp folder - where temporary data will be kept by freearc during compression
and the compressors - the compressor itself along with required libraries.

all in the same folder.

[Peter72]

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?

[:( Sad8669]

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:

[External Compressor:X]
header = 0
packcmd = X.exe e {options} <stdin> <stdout>

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.

[Masquerade]

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

[:( Sad8669]

Method : xtool_zstd+srep:m3f:l512+lolz:dtb1:d128:mtt0:mt4:mc1023
Compression Time : 20 Hours
Decompression Time : 1 Hour 39 Minutes
Initial Size : 31.5 GB
Final Size : 20.5 GB

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

[Peter72]

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.

[:( Sad8669]

Method : ZTool+SREP+LOLZ
Compression Time : 49 Minutes
Decompression Time : 34 Seconds
Initial Size : 2.06 GB
Final Size : 284 MB

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.

[L33THAK0R]

Originally Posted by Peter72

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.

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.

[:( Sad8669]

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

[Masquerade]

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)

[:( Sad8669]

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

arc.exe
pause

From here you can learn what each command does.

[Peter72]

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

[Masquerade]

Originally Posted by :( Sad8669

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

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