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

[:( Sad8669]

Method : SREP+LOLZ
Initial Size : 3.17 GB
Final Size : 2.30 GB
Compression Time : 1 hour 15 minutes
Decompression Time : 1 minute+  (4T)

[L33THAK0R]

Hi all, I hate to always ask the most silly questions but could anyone who's been able to successfully compress and decompress "PC Building Simulator" share the options/arguments/commands that they used for srep & lolz? My initial attempt with msc + srep + lolz (msc because of the .mp3 OST files incl.) failed to decompress with an UnArc.dll error of "-1". I re-attempted with just srep + lolz as per the advice of the forum user "Masquerade" and saw a significant (80mb) reduction in the final output, however decompression still failed, with the same error code (-1) as the first attempt given.

[:( Sad8669]

Originally Posted by L33THAK0R

Hi all, I hate to always ask the most silly questions but could anyone who's been able to successfully compress and decompress "PC Building Simulator" share the options/arguments/commands that they used for srep & lolz? My initial attempt with msc + srep + lolz (msc because of the .mp3 OST files incl.) failed to decompress with an UnArc.dll error of "-1". I re-attempted with just srep + lolz as per the advice of the forum user "Masquerade" and saw a significant (80mb) reduction in the final output, however decompression still failed, with the same error code (-1) as the first attempt given.

Yo, i ain't that good but that happened to me recently, and the reason behind these were:

The .dll used for compression and decompression must be same.
The external compressor in arc.ini must be configured correctly.
Try setting the same arguments used in packcmd for unpackcmd.
Try some other scripts just for experimental purpose.

In my case, it was FIFA 20 and the issue for the error was the oo2core_6_win64.dll.

The one used for compression was around 1,061 KB
And the one used for decompression was something 1,041 KB
So i just replaced the .dll and boom it worked.

As for your case, it must be something like CLS-MSC.dll and so on.

Also, if you compressed it using DiskSpan then make sure the .dll matches since there are different versions of DiskSpan.

Please let me know if it helped .

[Masquerade]

Originally Posted by L33THAK0R

Hi all, I hate to always ask the most silly questions but could anyone who's been able to successfully compress and decompress "PC Building Simulator" share the options/arguments/commands that they used for srep & lolz? My initial attempt with msc + srep + lolz (msc because of the .mp3 OST files incl.) failed to decompress with an UnArc.dll error of "-1". I re-attempted with just srep + lolz as per the advice of the forum user "Masquerade" and saw a significant (80mb) reduction in the final output, however decompression still failed, with the same error code (-1) as the first attempt given.

What srep are you using for decompression?

cls-srep, srepinside or srep.exe? Use cls-srep.

For the mp3 soundtrack, use a mask (arc.groups)

arc.groups file (next to arc.exe

$mp3
*.mp3

-msrep+lolz/$mp3=mpz

mpz is mpeg audio compressor.

[:( Sad8669]

Masquerade, i still haven't figured out my question and the problem i am facing is replied to your message. I would really appreciate it if you help a noob here.

[kj911]

The game Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow compressible to fit one CD size?? Use in last modern compression algorithms? Rare REPACKS smaller than 1GB's size, with original videos. My repack 981MB's size with original videos. The videos recompressed in smaller res/size, extra saved ~200MB's. (~770-780MB in full game.) Use Binkpack+reencoding these *.bik videos? Sound its compressibble better than FreeArc? (MSC or any more.)

Few Repacks/rip sizes found from net to comparison:

Repacks:
DODI (v1.31+HD Textures+WS Fix): 1005MB
Elamigos (Multi6): 1.79GB
WWRG: 1.1GB
R.G. Revenants: 924MB
CorePack: 776MB*

Fitgirl: not yet released.

RIPs:
DOPEMAN: 916MB

Scene rip hardly smaller sizes with extreme lossy compression. (~350MB.)

*Note: CorePack version with reencoded/ripped videos, aka lossy repack? Likely make in full lossless version.

[L33THAK0R]

Has anyone given "The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom" a shot? It's using the Vision engine but sadly I can't seem to find much information regarding how/if this engine handles unpacked container files, as well as the most space efficient compression techniques for it and it's container files. I was able to shave off a tiny amount, in language files (~200mb) bringing the total initial size from 5.69gb to 5.49gb. I used msc + xzlib + srep + lolz, but was only able to get it down to 5.30gb. I'll try again without msc, as it wasn't able to open the container (.bba) files during compression.

[L33THAK0R]

Originally Posted by Masquerade

What srep are you using for decompression?

cls-srep, srepinside or srep.exe? Use cls-srep.

For the mp3 soundtrack, use a mask (arc.groups)

arc.groups file (next to arc.exe

$mp3
*.mp3

-msrep+lolz/$mp3=mpz

mpz is mpeg audio compressor.

Can confirm I'm using cls-srep, I'm honestly clueless as to what the cause of the issue is, but this seems to occur exclusively with Unity engine titles for me, with this and "112 Operator" both having issues with decompression. I resolved the latter by splitting the title into 2 archives (2nd archive contained .assets & .resource files which I identified as the files failing to decompress), which I hope may also help with this title. I'll have a look at mpz, as I assumed gains from it were similar, if not identical to that seen with msc, and as such have never tried it to compress mpeg audio. I'll test out my botched solution attempt and report back in a bit.

[Masquerade]

Originally Posted by :( Sad8669

Thanks for the reply, i see two options Main and Comment but there is no sign of any info regarding the methods.

click "info" then "solid blocks"

[:( Sad8669]

Originally Posted by Masquerade

click "info" then "solid blocks"

Got it, thanks.

Actually i was using the wrong version of Freearc.

[L33THAK0R]

Hi all,

Been trying to figure out how to go about compressing "Prey" (2017 release) (Incl. Mooncrash and Pre-Order Bonus DLC). I'm using the GOG release which according to users and the "Prey" .pak decryption tool, the .pak files are already decrypted. Using

xzlib+srep:m3f+4x4:b64mb:lzma:ultra:64m:bt4:fb273:lc8:mc1000000

I'm only able to get the title down 22.5GB, however other users smaller sizes are possible. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

[pratikpatel8982]

Originally Posted by L33THAK0R

Hi all,

Been trying to figure out how to go about compressing "Prey" (2017 release) (Incl. Mooncrash and Pre-Order Bonus DLC). I'm using the GOG release which according to users and the "Prey" .pak decryption tool, the .pak files are already decrypted. Using

xzlib+srep:m3f+4x4:b64mb:lzma:ultra:64m:bt4:fb273:lc8:mc1000000

I'm only able to get the title down 22.5GB, however other users smaller sizes are possible. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Telling the original size is much appreciated. He also used BPK which you didn't use. You never know what impact a particular compressor has on the size of the game.

[L33THAK0R]

Originally Posted by pratikpatel8982

Telling the original size is much appreciated. He also used BPK which you didn't use. You never know what impact a particular compressor has on the size of the game.

My original size is 30.5gb, I didn't include the .bk2 videos as I plan to offer the end-user a choice between the original and encoded videos. All .bk2 videos result in a grand total of 1.46gb (uncompressed) so I don't think (though I may be wrong) my lack of BPK is an issue, unless of course there are additional video files within the .pak container files.

[pratikpatel8982]

Originally Posted by L33THAK0R

My original size is 30.5gb, I didn't include the .bk2 videos as I plan to offer the end-user a choice between the original and encoded videos. All .bk2 videos result in a grand total of 1.46gb (uncompressed) so I don't think (though I may be wrong) my lack of BPK is an issue, unless of course there are additional video files within the .pak container files.

As I said, you never know. I see only two options now:

1. Try again using bpk and see the results.
2. Or you can scan the game for various streams and create algorithm based on it.

[Masquerade]

Originally Posted by L33THAK0R

Hi all,

Been trying to figure out how to go about compressing "Prey" (2017 release) (Incl. Mooncrash and Pre-Order Bonus DLC). I'm using the GOG release which according to users and the "Prey" .pak decryption tool, the .pak files are already decrypted. Using

xzlib+srep:m3f+4x4:b64mb:lzma:ultra:64m:bt4:fb273:lc8:mc1000000

I'm only able to get the title down 22.5GB, however other users smaller sizes are possible. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Can you show your arc.ini?