Better Compression Methods?

[vladim0105]

So, as far as I know, modpacks needs to be packed into .zip files which really bother me because it barely compresses the files. On the other hand .bzip2 archives are much more efficient! They can be opened with WinRar and I've seen 100mb being compressed down to about 20mb (although compression takes a few moments). Oh and yes, it is the same .bzip2 as on Valve games.

Now, I was wondering, is there any way around .zip files or are there any alternatives?

-*signature stolen by Signature Gnomes*

[dwwojcik]

Why the need for such compression? How many mods are you trying to fit into your modpack?

[vladim0105]

Why the need for such compression? How many mods are you trying to fit into your modpack?

A modpack can easily become about 100mb (uncompressed, if you include most of the major mods (buildcraft, ic2, Mo Creatures etc...)), and also compressing with .bzip2 compared to .zip will save you TONS of bandwidth!

[dwwojcik]

I did a few seconds of research on bzip2 and apparently it isn't a full archiver, so it wouldn't work.

[vladim0105]

I did a few seconds of research on bzip2 and apparently it isn't a full archiver, so it wouldn't work.

Yea, I never noticed it doesn't compress folders lol, anyway my point is there are a lot of better ways to compress the modpack instead of .zip; like for example .7z (excuse me if I got the extension wrong, I don't usually use it) .

[dwwojcik]

Yes, but zip is universal- all major operating systems support zip natively, wheras 7z is proprietary.

[vladim0105]

Okay, atleast I see why they use .zip. One idea I have in my head right now is that they use the same system as Valve, where you point to a webdirectory which contains: bin, configs and mods folders. Inside those folder all the files will be .bzip2.

1. This will be compressed 2. If a modpack is updated then the launcher can look for changes in the files, and if it finds some then it will download only those files and not the whole modpack all over again...

[dwwojcik]

I'm no expert on it, but as far as I know you've pretty accurately described Technic Solder.

[Mechet]

I'm no expert on it, but as far as I know you've pretty accurately described Technic Solder.

I use Solder for my modpacks, and that is exactly what Solder does.