Zip Files?!

[Zaffo]

I don't know why people keep using this old an non-efficent format.
Why don't you use new format like UHA WinUHA (http://www.klaimsoft.com/winuha/). Or 7zip (http://7zip.org).
Like this we could download game faster and you will save bandwdith!

Okay Uha is a little messy to use (but still offert better ratio) but 7z is really great!
Even winRar now is compatible with 7z. And 7z is open-source so many program is or will be compatible with it. And on top of that the code for SFX archive is only 5kb!

so get rid of that damn zip format. Its not because this site offert old game that it have to offert them in old archive format.

Or at lest use a format that support solid archive like Rar or Ace but 7z would be really great!

[Eagle of Fire]

The reason why this site use .zip files is extremely simple; it's the most popular compressing method in the world. Especially for newbies since there is a great chance that the first compression method they ever run into (and for most, the only they'll run into anyways) is Zip.

I myself sometime get completely lost when I download something in a strange unknown (for me) format. It happened recently as I had to download a strange .gz file. Having no idea what to use to uncompress it I simply stopped downloading it. It really acted as a con for me since that program I was downloading at the time was not crucial. Since I could not find another file with another compression method it did it for me and I looked for another similar program.

If I, who is moderating the troubleshooting forum, can't be bothered to do a simple search for a strange new compression method for whatever reason... You can bet dizains of new thread (and spam) posts will soon flood the troubleshooting forum asking about how to unrar or un7zip or unsomething the files so they can play the game they downloaded.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Altough I agree RAR archives would be the best choice, Eagle of Fire is dead on the point - most people are just technically illiterate to the point where they would have trouble with anyhting else then ZIP. Heck, some have trouble even with that...
Some are even unable to think of trying to get a different packer program when their default (usually built-in ZIP interface of Windows XP) fails.

[Rogue]

There is a chance that all files on Abandonia will be 7-ziped.

I guess a simple warning next to download to use 7-zip or power archiver to unzip files will be sufficient to solve most of problems with un-zipping. ;)

[The Fifth Horseman]

7-ZIP might be good, but IMHO RAR is far more powerful (altough it takes a lot of time too).

[Rogue]

I tested it my self, and 7-zip had better compression rates.

Another reason to get 7-zip instead of RAR or ZIP is that only 7-zip is free, while you have to pay for other archives or use evaluation version forever.

[efthimios]

Oh come on! Winrar is cheap and once you buy one you get free upgrades for life. And if you are very cheap you can still use it after the 30 days limit.

[Rogue]

Originally posted by efthimios@May 4 2005, 09:16 AM
Oh come on! Winrar is cheap and once you buy one you get free upgrades for life. And if you are very cheap you can still use it after the 30 days limit.
Still cheaper. :D How much? 30-40 bucks? :D

I like WinRAR, but most of emulation stuff (I am interested in that too) has changed to 7Zip because of compression rates. Friend of mine archived close to 200 simillar roms, changing the size from a little bit over 2GB down to less then 20MB.

[Zaffo]

7zip is really impressive when it come to archive similar file into solid archive. but even in raw compression it's still do better ratio than rar. For example i've got an iso of Unreal fist of the name. It weight 645meg , in rar 291meg and in 7zip :275meg. And still it's not the best example cause sometimes it's even more obvious. And as I said before if you use winrar and love it there's no probleme cause the lastest version of winrar can extract 7z file.

And if people can't understand how to use a new Archive program there is good chance that they won't understant how to use Dosbox/vdmsound/bootdisk anyway....

[NrmMyth]

Still, it stands that 7-zip does not produce that much difference than RAR on about 5 MB ordinary game size.

[Zaffo]

On rar maybe not... (but still...) but on zip it sure does a difference!

[NrmMyth]

I wouldn't bet on that 50 k. :rolleyes:

[Zaffo]

Just a rapid test with the first game aprox, 5meg found on my hard drive (wing commander) 5.10meg in zip: 2641kb, in rar:2606 and in 7zip : 2358kb

All format in maximum compression mode

[NrmMyth]

I bow to you, and from now on support 7-zip for abandonia. :ok:

[The Fifth Horseman]

Well, it seems to not be so straight...
Warhammer 40k: Chaos Gate ISO packed with 7ZIP had 50 MB less then with RAR (both on max compression), but Earthsiege II ISO packed with 7ZIP was larger then RAR archive.

7z might be good for big games, but it has its own limitations - therefore always check how 7z archive compares to RAR.

[BeefontheBone]

I have all 3 on my PC, and I tend to use 7z for packing things, but I don't tlike the interface on it for unpacking, so WinRar has taken over that, although WinZip is still used the most often since the majority of things I download come in zip format.

I think 7z generally has a small edge over WinRar, and does have the advantage of being freeware.

[efthimios]

Well, I installed 7zip yesterday and just uninstalled it. It does pack things a bit better than winrar (my personal favourite), but slower. What is worse though, and realy irritates me, that it automaticaly put options in the context menu without asking me. I already have enough programs there and I am very picky to that. They did a great job of not associating archives to the program, pity they remained there.

I am back to winrar (not that I ever left LOL).

[Rogue]

While I was looking for some emu stuff, I came across some statistics:


* * * * * * * * * * * * *# of files * * * * * * * * * * *Size on HD
Name/Version * Raw * *Merged * * * Raw * * * Zip * * * 7-zip
GBA 2.01 * * * * 7108 * * * * 933 * * 34.7G * 18.2G * * 7.89G

[PsyK]

the way i look at it you should never compress them into a format which can't be uncompressed on pure dos or win 3.11. It like defeats the purpose if you do.

[NrmMyth]

Originally posted by PsyK@May 6 2005, 06:26 AM
the way i look at it you should never compress them into a format which can't be uncompressed on pure dos or win 3.11. It like defeats the purpose if you do.
But why it would mean that you are technological backwards. :bye:

[Tulac]

Originally posted by BeefontheBone@May 5 2005, 10:41 AM
WinZip is still used the most often since the majority of things I download come in zip format.

WinRAR can handle zip formats...

[Braindead]

one big advantage of zip files is that they can be read by windows xp without installing an extra program (the compressed folder thingy).

[Rogue]

But often they give an error when unziping files.

There is a learning curve for any hobby, so for DOS retro-gamer should be lerning about compression utilities and about emulation of DOS. ;)