Please may I have some help starting out?
 

I think it's fair to say I know very little about compression and how it works. I am used to using using 7zip with LZMA2 selected at "Ultra" in order to get the archive as small as possible.

I am posting here because I would like to learn how to make my own compressed files that are smaller than what 7zip can offer and custom installers built with Inno Setup. I hope you guys can go easy on someone who knows very little.

I've learned so far that each type of file can be compressed using a different compressor, but which one do I use and when?

I've seen that external compressors are added to FreeArc through Arc.ini, but how do I know FreeArc will use these compressors?

Also through Inno Setup, how do you go about adding files for the installation so that the setup actually installs the files? I assume you pack the files first then embed the decompression command(s) inside the setup.exe so that the exe takes the archive accompanied with it and extracts it accordingly. How would you go about using an installer template taken from this website (.iss script) and adding the extra commands and files to compile it into an .exe that will decompress the archive? I have already managed to get my head around compiling scripts in Inno Setup.

I have downloaded several tools from this forum in the hope of figuring things out for myself, to no avail. I am only getting more confused. I've seen tools such as XTool, ZTool, srep, cls and others mentioned frequently. I have also looked at installer templates, such as Black Box, ASIS and CIU.

I'm not looking for anything crazy when I'm talking about this, I just wish to gain better compression than 7zip to reduce upload/download time. Install time is no big deal.

If anyone can link me any tutorials for compressing a file and creating a setup, that would be hugely appreciated.

Finally, I'd like to apologise if anything I've said here is horribly wrong. I'm very new to this, and only wish to learn.

Thank you all in advance.

I'm sorry Moderators if this side of the forum isn't designed for help needed style posts.

use mine, complete with the installer and the compressor. (and some app)

look at this link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1N8...3_u1SXMxuPZWJp

can reach up to 600 MB, cause it has many compressors added.

more for B Installer (ASIS): https://fileforums.com/showthread.php?t=99481

see FA.ini inside UltraARC 2900 R6 FULL\Resources for compression methods.

edit Easy Step.bat for *.bin names or -m... methods.

install innosetup-6.0.3.exe files to use as compiler for script.iss.

don't forget to edit Compressor.ini, Settings.ini, and Records.ini before compiling.

(CompactMode is turned on, so you can disable by change 1 to 0 at Settings.ini)

We might to teach for a New user here. Also Entai44 UltraARC is dificult for new user.
They need for first begin with a easy mode like Mini Compressor AIO. :)

Welcome BobRogers22, Before you start anything or else, please check if related any tools of this Conversion Tutorial forum here. :D

Thanks, I will take a look at your compressing tool. I managed to get my head around what around what Entai44 sent with the B installer. I got it to compile and I could edit the ini files to my liking. I am going to try your tool instead of UltraARC for the time being while I learn.

Thank you very much for linking that other thread too!

But my compression is based on .bat files (command line), and just use 3 steps to start compression, no use UltraARC.exe of course cause that so complicated for me.

But yeah, your Mini Compressor is good but complicated and equal to UltraARC.exe

Hi again, I managed to make an archive out of both your methods which is great.

I've managed to make my custom installer and archive, but where do I put my archive and where do I specify in the settings for it to detect that the archive needs to be decompressed by the installer?

If I have multiple archives (say one with main game files, others with language packs) how would I integrate them to be extracted into the same directory during setup, and how do I know the right decompression commands are going to be used?

https://i.imgur.com/SGXV43J.png

I assume that this part of Settings.ini has to do something with it?

--------------------------------------------------------------- Edit:

I got it so far. I managed to get my Payload to be found by the installer, and when I put more work in, I should be able to get other archives into the proces of extraction.

The main issue now is that no matter which compressor I use, I always get Unarc error -6 saying that the archive is not readable. I tried using a different file extension (e.g. .bin instead of .arc) but I still keep getting the same error. Oh, and all archives in the setup folder get deleted if the installer is cancelled. What could be causing these issues?

Your component settings seems ok.

What compression methods did you use for your archives? And what tool?

ALso make sure you set your used compressors in "Compressors.ini" file. For example, if you used XTool, then enable it (remove // before of it) and set OS bit (x64, x86 or DUAL for both versions).

Hi kaktoR! I never realised I had to edit Compressors.ini... that was my bad.

At the minute I am trying just using the default settings in Mini Compressor which you can see here:

https://i.imgur.com/xwRI4lr.png

I'm not too sure on how to word compression commands, so I'm not sure which compressor this command uses. Also when this method runs, the output file won't open in FreeArc. It says the archive is corrupt.

There is also an insane command, but using this breaks the program. FreeArc gets to 16% then crashes.

xprecomp+srep:m3f:a2+exe+lolz:d128m:mt2 - I assume that xprecomp means XTool?

This is the error:

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

I am only using Poly Bridge since it's a small (200mb~) Unity game to test until I have everything working.

I think xprecomp didn't support with your operating system. What is your main support? X86 or x64? :)

Windows 10 Pro x64.

Ok now I saw the second pic. Maybe the output file was exists or something?

Nope, file doesn't exist. Which other compression commands could I use?

See the Method button on Mini Compressor

Thank you very much to Entai44, Carldric Clement and KaktoR for their help!

I am very pleased to say that I'll have my first ever repack finished soon. I cannot thank you guys enough for the tips, tricks and how kind you have been to me.

I wish you all the best for the future,

BR

Edit: Still getting Unarc -6 unable to read archive and other Unarc -6 errors when testing. Error code is same but error message sometimes changes. Editied Compressors.ini to include Xtool for precomp and LOLZ because I used those in UltraARC to make my archive, but still no change.

Feel free to take a look at my installer to see if you know where things are going wrong. This is the template I customised based on ASIS and currently has no custom branding. I moved everything around a bit, and intend to use it in compact mode.

https://mega.nz/#!9wBg3Y6B!ABV_NMgy3...0lRaIJ6EdsNwNE