Question about DB files compression Thread - DoctorX Call of The Zone mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

Hello,

Fo my own modding i usually like to replace files in the game own .db directly instead of using gamedata, the reason is that things will load a -lot- faster than if i had them in a gamedata (especially when it comes to textures and sounds, for configs and script the gain is not obvious).

To do so i have been using the AXRToolset to unpack and the Call of Pripyat XRCompress packer to pack (mostly because i don't know how to configure AXRToolset to make sure my packed files aren't as small and so aren't as numerous) .

Recently, i spotted the Anomaly compressor ( Moddb.com ) that allows me to pack and compress DB files, as a result those DB files are taking less place (near than half the place).

But then i am wondering for the stalker engine, is there a difference (both in performance or in loading time) between a compressed DB and an uncompressed one , or is the engine able to read files from a compressed DB without needing to uncompress it ?

As a general rule, the more work you have to do to extract data from a file, the longer it's going to take. Usually you want to compress a file or db only because you need to keep the file size smaller, ie to minimize download times or take up less footprint on your hd, knowing there will be at least a slight trade-off in performance.

I've never benchmarked the two, so idk if there is any real difference between them. Usually the clue is what is the motivation is for compressing the db in the first place. If it was only done to keep the download size small, there probably will be a performance difference. On the other hand, if they just found a better way to do it and could just pack the data more efficiently, there might not be much difference at all.

Basically, the engine, any engine, at the core level is expecting data to be delivered to it in a certain form. If the data isn't in that form to begin with, it has to be converted to that form, and that extra step will always add an additional amount of time to the process.

Thanks, so i'll continue to not compress my db files (and so still use the CoP XRCompress packer), as long as i have hard drive space of course , hopefully it should help with loading time.