Is it possible to load ZIP files (mostly untouched GDI Files) in Reicast?
Sadly no, i’ve been mentioning that it would be nice to be able to load redump releases directly without needing to convert or uncompress them, however i think flyinghead has a lot of pressure with other features, so no work has been done about it atm i think.
There might be some usable code at https://github.com/libretro-mirrors/Kronos/blob/extui-align/yabause/src/cdbase.c , since the Kronos core is able to do that (zipped cue+bin+wav in this specific case).
Edit : i opened an issue about it at https://github.com/libretro/reicast-emulator/issues/421
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When you guys mention Zipped roms, redump files are 7zipped, so Kronos can read these directly without decompressing its data? Do you know of any other core that supports this?
A redump release is an uncompressed set of cue+bin+wav files, it’s up to the people owning them to either zip or 7zip them. Kronos is currently only compatible with the zip format, same for mame stv games. Support for 7zip might be added in the future.
Sadly not, priority and bounties were put on chd support instead of compressed cue+bin+wav support, while obviously the later format is what 90% of users actually own, due to the fact it doesn’t need any technical knowledge (let’s be honest here, most people won’t bother reading a iso to chd tutorial, so they just uncompress their iso and use it). Well, i guess that’s the result of non-technical people not manifesting themselves on github.
Sadly not, priority and bounties were put on chd support instead of compressed cue+bin+wav support, while obviously the later format is what 90% of users actually own, due to the fact it doesn’t need any technical knowledge (let’s be honest here, most people won’t bother reading a iso to chd tutorial, so they just uncompress their iso and use it). Well, i guess that’s the result of non-technical people not manifesting themselves on github.
Mm, that’s not quite true, actually, I’ve read threads everywhere regarding ways to compress CD based systems to some kind of format that the emulators could read directly.
Examples are GameCube = GCZ Wii = WBFS PS2 = CSO PSP = CSO PS1 = CHD Saturn = CHD Sega CD = CHD 3DO = CHD Dreamcast = CHD NEO GEO CD = CHD
A person who will basically play a few games won’t mind just using a cue file and play it, but those who actually need space will search for a way not to only save space but to make the best use of a HDD/SSD, let’s say you’ve got games for all the above mentioned systems, not full set but 5TB of uncompressed games, but you only have a 3TB hard disk, knowing you can store all these 5TB compressed in a 3TB isn’t it a smart solution? That’s basically what I did.
There are threads in Reddit, Launchbox, Hyperspin, Libretro forums and a lot of other places devoted to emulation, there’s a lot of interest compressing games.
That’s why I asked about 7z games, because the redump set I found are compressed in 7z, and this would be better than CHD, since we wouldn’t need to change anything to play the games without decompressing, converting, etc,.
I can only agree about this, but using optical media full sets is just the fantasy of a few people who know they’ll only use 5% of their collection at most (i’m not judging, i include myself in those few people).
Most people will use ~20 games at most for a system (i’m pretty sure i’m not that far of when i say 90%), and will use uncompressed isos instead of converting their 20 games to chd.
I meant isn’t it a smart solution, to make a 5TB set fit in a 3TB drive? Anyways, it was only an example on how good the compressed games are, no matter the hard disk size. One more thing to consider besides that, is raspberry pi and the likes as well as smartphones are powerful enough today to emulate a lot of newer consoles and having ways to compress games and save space is a must.
I read some topics here, people asking a lot about compressed ps1, sega cd and saturn games for android devices.
There is only one issue: keep games as 1:1 dump. WBFS for example deletes bits and bytes which cannot be restored anymore. CHD depends on the version. The newest release contains methods to keep the files loseless. Older releases had the issue like wbfs.
Disc games usually have dummy files which are removed when these conversions are applied, there are Wii U games that actually are smaller than 2GB, but a properly dumped game will be 24GB or something, when extracted, the unused data is removed, interesting enough is that the console itself can read the loadiine games (the smaller ones) without any issue, I also read that the disc is usually filled with those empty data to make the laser and loadings faster.
I understand the newer versions of chdman is lossless, but is there any actual comparison, tests or any kind of proof that older versions depreciate audio quality or any other aspect of the original files as a few people have been arguing about?
Keeping 1:1 dumps basically implies you you shouldn’t touch the image files, leave them zipped and you’re good to go.
Kronos seems to read zipped image files without decompressing them, which is really good, if other cores could do the same in the future, that would be great, now if 7z is supported, then it would be the best, I don’t even know if it’s possible or not.
v4 uses a not lossless codec for audio file (i don’t remember which one), v5 uses flac which is lossless (still cutting size by half though). Actually there is barely any compression done on the binary, all size gain is from compressing the audio, which means a zipped audioless iso would probably be smaller than a audioless chd.
It’s definitely possible, reading a 7zipped file as a block is what fbalpha (and probably mame ?) has been able to do for years.
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It’s definitely possible, reading a 7zipped file as a block is what fbalpha (and probably mame ?) has been able to do for years
True, I forgot about those.
Edit: Is it simple to add a feature for Kronos, like some other emulators have, like caching the game into ram?