Newbie Question Thread

[KaktoR]

Ah, I forget to explain a small but important detail about all the numbers in the method "those guys" sometimes share.

First, you have to keep in mind that tools are changing over time. Old tools like "zlib:max:c32m" (which should be this tool or maybe this) are not used anymore nowadays, because some tools are "evolving" over time, new tools are comming and old ones are obsolete.

So, the guy you quoted posted this method on 14-03-2018, which was over 5 years ago. On this time there was no "xtool". Means, methods and tools can (and most likely will) change over time. The method "zlib:max:c32m" belongs to an old tool. No one is using this tool anymore. "zlib" is the codec, ":max" is some other option I don't remember (I guess it has something to do with stream detection) and ":c32m" is the chunk size used for this tool.

Basically you have to "transfer old methods into new methods". So the old method "zlib:max:c32m" is something like "xtool:c32mb:mzlib" in diskspangui.

Edit:
Again I forgot to tell you "how to use this method on GTA4 for your needs" lol, sorry.

Personally I do all of this configuration stuff through the INI file "Resources\DSG_Settings.ini", just because I find it more easier.

So for your example of GTA4 it could look like this:

[Game1Settings]
Name=Grand Theft Auto 4
Exec=
EGPath=C:\Program Files (x86)\Rockstar Games\Grand Theft Auto 4
MethodState=0
Data1.Name=Data<game><data>-01.bin
Data1.Method1=msc|0
Data1.InclText=*.rpf

Data2.Name=Data<game><data>-01.bin
Data2.Method1=xtool:mzlib+srep+lolz|0
Data2.InclText=*.img

Data3.Name=Data<game><data>-01.bin
Data3.Method1=bpk|0
Data3.InclText=*.bik

Data4.Name=Data<game><data>-01.bin
Data4.Method1=srep+lolz|0
Data4.ExclText=*.img|*.rpf|*.bik

Data1 only includes *.rpf (audio) files, so I would suggest msc over srep+lolz, just because for the fact that lolz is not meant to used with audio files at all. lolz is meant to be used especially for texture files. So I would use msc, which is faster and should have near the same ratio. Sometimes it is a good idea to use even msc+srep, but I cannot say for sure here in this case because I don't have this game to test it.
Data2 includes only *.img files, which probably using some compression like zlib or deflate, so you have to use xtool here. If xtool:mzlib doesn't work, try with another codec like xtool:mpreflate or xtool:mreflate.
Data3 includes only *.bik files. I guess it ok to use bpk method only.
Data4 includes all other files, excluding *.img, *.rpf and *.bik, so you can just use srep+lolz if you want.

|0 indicates that this method belongs to freearc, while |1 is 7-zip (.7z) and |2 is RAR (.rar) (freearc methods cannot be used with |1 or |2). I guess using |1 or |2 are special and absolutely rare cases of some sorts.
InclText and ExclText telling diskspangui/freearc, that only given file types/files with paths should be included in given archive, or exclude them of the given archive. In the example above we have 3 archives which includes specific file types. So we need a last archive which includes all other files except the 3 previous archives, otherwise we would missing all other files on installation which are not exclusively included in other archives. Makes sense, does it? PS: In InclText and ExclText you can (or have to) separate file types/files with paths with a | character.
<game><data> are just placeholders or variables. <game> is actually [Game#Settings] (it takes the number # from [Game1Settings] section, so 1), <data> is actually Data#, which takes the number # from Data#. However you can name the archives to whatever you want. Just make sure to not use any super special characters.

[sailwhist]

Originally Posted by KaktoR

Ah, I forget to explain a small but important detail about all the numbers in the method "those guys" sometimes share.

First, you have to keep in mind that tools are changing over time. Old tools like "zlib:max:c32m" (which should be this tool or maybe this) are not used anymore nowadays, because some tools are "evolving" over time, new tools are comming and old ones are obsolete.

So, the guy you quoted posted this method on 14-03-2018, which was over 5 years ago. On this time there was no "xtool". Means, methods and tools can (and most likely will) change over time. The method "zlib:max:c32m" belongs to an old tool. No one is using this tool anymore. "zlib" is the codec, ":max" is some other option I don't remember (I guess it has something to do with stream detection) and ":c32m" is the chunk size used for this tool.

Basically you have to "transfer old methods into new methods". So the old method "zlib:max:c32m" is something like "xtool:c32mb:mzlib" in diskspangui.

Edit:
Again I forgot to tell you "how to use this method on GTA4 for your needs" lol, sorry.

Personally I do all of this configuration stuff through the INI file "Resources\DSG_Settings.ini", just because I find it more easier.

So for your example of GTA4 it could look like this:

[Game1Settings]
Name=Grand Theft Auto 4
Exec=
EGPath=C:\Program Files (x86)\Rockstar Games\Grand Theft Auto 4
MethodState=0
Data1.Name=Data<game><data>-01.bin
Data1.Method1=msc|0
Data1.InclText=*.rpf

Data2.Name=Data<game><data>-01.bin
Data2.Method1=xtool:mzlib+srep+lolz|0
Data2.InclText=*.img

Data3.Name=Data<game><data>-01.bin
Data3.Method1=bpk|0
Data3.InclText=*.bik

Data4.Name=Data<game><data>-01.bin
Data4.Method1=srep+lolz|0
Data4.ExclText=*.img|*.rpf|*.bik

Data1 only includes *.rpf (audio) files, so I would suggest msc over srep+lolz, just because for the fact that lolz is not meant to used with audio files at all. lolz is meant to be used especially for texture files. So I would use msc, which is faster and should have near the same ratio. Sometimes it is a good idea to use even msc+srep, but I cannot say for sure here in this case because I don't have this game to test it.
Data2 includes only *.img files, which probably using some compression like zlib or deflate, so you have to use xtool here. If xtool:mzlib doesn't work, try with another codec like xtool:mpreflate or xtool:mreflate.
Data3 includes only *.bik files. I guess it ok to use bpk method only.
Data4 includes all other files, excluding *.img, *.rpf and *.bik, so you can just use srep+lolz if you want.

|0 indicates that this method belongs to freearc, while |1 is 7-zip (.7z) and |2 is RAR (.rar) (freearc methods cannot be used with |1 or |2). I guess using |1 or |2 are special and absolutely rare cases of some sorts.
InclText and ExclText telling diskspangui/freearc, that only given file types/files with paths should be included in given archive, or exclude them of the given archive. In the example above we have 3 archives which includes specific file types. So we need a last archive which includes all other files except the 3 previous archives, otherwise we would missing all other files on installation which are not exclusively included in other archives. Makes sense, does it? PS: In InclText and ExclText you can (or have to) separate file types/files with paths with a | character.
<game><data> are just placeholders or variables. <game> is actually [Game#Settings] (it takes the number # from [Game1Settings] section, so 1), <data> is actually Data#, which takes the number # from Data#. However you can name the archives to whatever you want. Just make sure to not use any super special characters.

Hello again. Thank you, now there is some more insight into this for me. I copied preset you provided to .ini file and currently it is in a process of conversion. But is it okay that it going that slow, I mean it shows me 6 hours and it's gradually ascending. https://pasteboard.co/U1kdlXT9Qr0b.png

Also I don't understand how to pack it all in installer after compression, I wouldn't mind a detailed explanation of how to create an installer after compressing all the files Thank you