7z Support for 1964

[thedoginthewok]

Hi

It would be great if the Emulator would support 7z Archives containing roms.
Since the 7z format is open source, i think it is not impossible to do that.

I have a whole Good N64 Romset that is archived in 7z format and it would be really good if 1964 would understand to open the roms.

I hope you know what I mean. (I'm german, sorry for possible grammar misstakes)

Greets
Dog

[Zeytok]

I agree.

Since number of other emus (gb, gba, nes, snes, nds, sms, genesis, ...) support 7z, only n64 emus don't support... but n64 have big roms => the advantage is really more important compare to zip.

[microdev]

Well, 7zip is GPL and coded in C++. Thus you can simply download the source code for decompression and add it to 1964. You'll find the source code here (www.7-zip.org/download.html).

[Zeytok]

Well, 7zip is GPL and coded in C++. Thus you can simply download the source code for decompression and add it to 1964. You'll find the source code here (www.7-zip.org/download.html).LOL, we can say same for zip support, why , because we can use any tool for decompression and add it to 1964. =]

[Allnatural]

I agree.

Since number of other emus (gb, gba, nes, snes, nds, sms, genesis, ...) support 7z, only n64 emus don't support... but n64 have big roms => the advantage is really more important compare to zip.
Does it really save enough space to make a difference? Besides, the natural progression in hard drive tech is larger and cheaper, so free space isn't exactly at a premium these days...

[LazerTag]

Does it really save enough space to make a difference? Besides, the natural progression in hard drive tech is larger and cheaper, so free space isn't exactly at a premium these days...

I would agree with this assessment as well.

I do wonder however, ZIP vs RAR vs 7z vs some other archive method, Are any of them better then the other at not being so highly corruptible?

What I mean is I've noticed over time and usage of my systems that I tend to sometimes run into archives I have had laying about for a while that simply are damaged. I assume most likely from other files being copied, moved, erased, etc... from other locations on the drive I store things. Would it matter in these situation if the archive was some other format or actually using less space?

[FloW3184]

did you know that one 7z containing all versions (maybe 10+ incl hacks/translations) of a rom can be smaller than a zip of a single rom of the same game?
i doubt it is that simple to add the code to 1964 since you have many roms in one archive and not every rom in a single zip...

[microdev]

i doubt it is that simple to add the code to 1964 since you have many roms in one archive and not every rom in a single zip...
Simple solution would be to place just one rom into one archive. On the other hand, 7zip provides a kind of an API, as far as I know. Thus, an archive would be accessed similar to a folder ==> It wouldn't be much more complicated because of this. Correct me if I'm wrong.

But: So far I didn't see the point in adding archive support to 1964. However having all available roms placed in one archive (and maybe save-files as well) sounds attracting. This would avoid having hundreds of files flying around. As I think about it - it might even more appealing for hires-packs. I think Glide uses something like this already for caching.

[FloW3184]

no i mean the way 7zip compresses files...
it compares the changes of files in eachother in each single archive and saves only the differences.

Let me take F-Zero X as an example...

as you see in my picture:
http://www.abload.de/thumb/f-zeroxmou1.png (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=f-zeroxmou1.png)
all these roms are saved in one archive that is made of the (E)[!] and only differences between these roms are saved...
and all these roms together are saved in one archive with only 12,4MB

the (E)[!]-Version alone as .zip already takes 12,3MB.
every other version of this rom also uses 12+MB of diskspace.
The 7zipped (E)[!] uses 11,9MB and every other rom of the same game 7zipped in a seperate archive uses this much space, too!

but all roms of the same game together in one 7zip => small size!

this way 7zip is the best method to collect.

so you have to add some kind of tree (or subselection) to the game selection.
and since i'm not a coder i only can give ideas... but i can't do it by myself. :(
(well, i can compile... but who can't compile an error-free source that is already given? xD)

[Allnatural]

did you know that one 7z containing all versions (maybe 10+ incl hacks/translations) of a rom can be smaller than a zip of a single rom of the same game?
I was waiting for someone to bring this up. It provides all the reason one needs to not add 7zip support. Why the hell would anyone want (or need) every version of every rom? If you just gotta catch 'em all (ie. pokerom) you'll just have to pay the piper and buy a larger hard drive.