Newbie Question Thread

[KaktoR]

This is a standard FreeArc archive.


You should be able to extract it with FreeArc as long as it is not encrypted. Other then that there are no tools you can use to precompress it.

PS: The "storing" has nothing to do with the actual compression settings used.

[Masquerade]

What game is this?

[phoenix1of1]

Originally Posted by KaktoR

This is a standard FreeArc archive.


You should be able to extract it with FreeArc as long as it is not encrypted. Other then that there are no tools you can use to precompress it.

PS: The "storing" has nothing to do with the actual compression settings used.

Appreciate the clarity, thank you

[phoenix1of1]

Originally Posted by Masquerade

What game is this?

This is "Graviteam Tactics: Mius Front". I literally just took a game from my collection at random to try and "cut my teeth on" and put what I read in to actionable experience.

[KaktoR]

Could you share a sample file in question from this game?

[phoenix1of1]

Originally Posted by KaktoR

Could you share a sample file in question from this game?

My games are from certain groups if you catch my meaning.
The .bin in question is 1.49gb in size.

Happy to share, not sure on the best method to do so as I'll assume that sharing links of that nature would be against forum rules?

I presume that the games being from certain groups wouldn't add any complexity to the process?

[Joe Forster/STA]

Originally Posted by phoenix1of1

Happy to share, not sure on the best method to do so as I'll assume that sharing links of that nature would be against forum rules?

It would; please, don't continue in this direction.

[KaktoR]

Oh ok, so this is actually warez (we aren't allowed to talk about warez, nor sharing it here apparently).

In this case I missunderstood you. I thought the bin files are actually part of the game itself. I looked on steamdb depots for this game and there aren't any file types in this case so I was confused. Now I understand.

Ok so, then this bin/arc archive should be a part of an installer I guess, which contains the actual game files just compressed (like we do if we creating repacks).

The problem now is, that you can't compress this already compressed files further to achive a better ratio. First you have to extract the archive (the game files) and then apply better compression on them to gain a better ratio, simple said.

[phoenix1of1]

Originally Posted by KaktoR

Oh ok, so this is actually warez (we aren't allowed to talk about warez, nor sharing it here apparently).

In this case I missunderstood you. I thought the bin files are actually part of the game itself. I looked on steamdb depots for this game and there aren't any file types in this case so I was confused. Now I understand.

Ok so, then this bin/arc archive should be a part of an installer I guess, which contains the actual game files just compressed (like we do if we creating repacks).

The problem now is, that you can't compress this already compressed files further to achive a better ratio. First you have to extract the archive (the game files) and then apply better compression on them to gain a better ratio, simple said.

No worries, appreciate the clarity and the information.
I will figure this out in time

[shazzla]

Hi all!

In SREP 4.90 WIP there is the -M5R parameter.
Anybody knows what is it?
When and how recommended its usage?
Did some tests ,but i have no valuable results.

[mastercheff]

Hi Guys,

I really am sorry for the noob question, but I am an absolute beginner concerning compression.

I am backing up my Steam Library and thus far have used the Inno setup wizard to create the Installers. What bothers me most is that max limit of roughly 2.2 GB per file.

I would love to know how to create for example one 40 GB *.bin file instead of 17 - 19 of them (like Fit girl's installers).

I think that Freearc is involved, but apart from that i have no idea how to go about it.

Do you compress the Game Directory with free arc and then somehow integrate it into Inno-setup?

I have seen all these custom installing scripts on here but at first glance nothing that specifically helps me with my problem.

I tried the search function but i could not really find anything . But again it could be that i do not know what to search/look for in all of this data.

Thanks in advance and sorry again

[KaktoR]

Yes we use freearc here as a pipe for other compressors.

If you really just want to get rid of the 2GB limitation of those bin files, there is also the possibility to use just 7zip and make a SFX archive, but then without inno setup.

If you want to have inno setup as an installer, use DSG and use 7zip lzma2 compression or go with something other methods if you want to achieve better ratios. Then get a installer script which is compatible with DSG, like this https://www.fileforums.com/showthread.php?t=103408

[mastercheff]

Originally Posted by KaktoR

If you want to have inno setup as an installer, use DSG and use 7zip lzma2 compression or go with something other methods if you want to achieve better ratios. Then get a installer script which is compatible with DSG, like this https://www.fileforums.com/showthread.php?t=103408

Hey, thanks for the quick answer.

Well to be honest, if I could, I would love to get a whole game into a bin, like most of the fit girls installers I tried out (apart from the optional languages/Redistributable and extras bin).

I will take a look at DSG and the script and try to find tutorials or experiment a bit with it.

Thank you very much for the help!

[Tmills]

Hello everyone,

I'm currently using mini compressor tool to compress my games into SFX.exe files. I'm looking for an easy way to quickly identify a good compression method for my games. I'm not looking for maximum compression, just a good balance of compression and decompression/extraction speed that can handedly beat just using 7zip.

is there any kind of tool that can scan a game folder and give you a report of file types found?
is there a common method that will be good enough to just throw at most games?
mini compressor has presets for example:
mxc = xprecomp+lolz1/$bitmapz=bmpz/$bink=bink/$void=void/$photo=jpg/$ogg=ogg/$wavz=wvp/$mp3=mpz

any help would be appreciated. i just want a simple way to store my games and save storage space.

[dyren]

Originally Posted by Tmills

Hello everyone,

I'm currently using mini compressor tool to compress my games into SFX.exe files. I'm looking for an easy way to quickly identify a good compression method for my games. I'm not looking for maximum compression, just a good balance of compression and decompression/extraction speed that can handedly beat just using 7zip.

is there any kind of tool that can scan a game folder and give you a report of file types found?
is there a common method that will be good enough to just throw at most games?
mini compressor has presets for example:
mxc = xprecomp+lolz1/$bitmapz=bmpz/$bink=bink/$void=void/$photo=jpg/$ogg=ogg/$wavz=wvp/$mp3=mpz

any help would be appreciated. i just want a simple way to store my games and save storage space.

wiztree gives you each file types in great detail, i use it myself. there are also plenty of examples in these threads for methods:
https://fileforums.com/showthread.php?t=99554
https://fileforums.com/showthread.php?t=101639

its quite easy to learn the best methods for unity or unreal games, for example. i also suggest that you switch to DiskSpan GUI: https://fileforums.com/showthread.php?t=104507

i used both mini compressor and DiskSpan, and i can tell you that DiskSpan will be much better once you learn how to use it.