To zip or not to zip?

[John Rohan]

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I installed version 0171 on my PSP, and it wouldn't run at all. The PSP would simply crash. Version 161 ran fine. So I unzipped the core_0171 file, and then it worked fine. But then I had another problem: certain specific sets of images were missing, even though they looked fine before. I read Wololo's suggestion that zip files must be in "store" or "zero compression" mode. I have no idea how to do that. So instead of figuring all this out, I went the easy route and unzipped them all. And now I can see all my pics.

It got me thinking though - is there really any good purpose behind zipping the files, other than making it faster to initially transfer them to the PSP? If they are in "zero compression" then they won't save any file space, and it seems like the PSP would have to spend a little extra computing power to get into the zipped folder. So, I guess what I'm really asking is, why zip them at all? Doesn't that just make the game run a little slower?

[John Rohan]

Jeez, no one has an answer on why Wagic zips all it's files?

[hsgoetz]

I have e very similar question. If I unzip all the images, will the game run faster?
When I played an older version, all my images were unzipped. Now with the 17.0, I am using zipped images, and the game runs much much slower.
So, I want to know if it's the new version that runs slower, or the zipped images makes the game slower (using the card store and starting a new duel).

[Matt K]

I have e very similar question. If I unzip all the images, will the game run faster?
When I played an older version, all my images were unzipped. Now with the 17.0, I am using zipped images, and the game runs much much slower.
So, I want to know if it's the new version that runs slower, or the zipped images makes the game slower (using the card store and starting a new duel).

The game does run faster with the images unzipped. I'm not sure I'd say a lot faster but there's definitely a difference.

[mnguyen]

I have e very similar question. If I unzip all the images, will the game run faster?
When I played an older version, all my images were unzipped. Now with the 17.0, I am using zipped images, and the game runs much much slower.
So, I want to know if it's the new version that runs slower, or the zipped images makes the game slower (using the card store and starting a new duel).

The game does run faster with the images unzipped. I'm not sure I'd say a lot faster but there's definitely a difference.

We now support zipped files to allow for better management of the resource files. It is true that zipped images will take longer to load in-game. So if you find the game runs slower with the image files zipped vs unzipped, please run the game with unzipped images. The initial copy time for the images with the zipped file format is a time saver if you are using hi-res graphics for Android/iOS devices. The PSP images are roughly 500MB if memory serves, the hi-res graphics run at least 1.5Gb. Being able to transfer those images as one zip vs 1000s of files is a huge benefit. There may be some thresh hold where the device may spend more time searching the zip files for images vs just fetching them straight from the filesystem. That thresh hold is device dependent, so you'll have to see what works best for you.