brz files packing. Advantages?

[nachinus]

I notice that some mods come in the brz package format, but other contain the raw bmps, wavs or whatever. I wonder if there is some advantage / disadvantage in both formats. Any performance differences perhaps?

I hope someone can enlighten me.

[Marco Bergman]

There is no real difference in performance.

Raw files are much easier for the mod author to handle, especially if there are hundreds or thousands or them, or lots or variants. Brzs add work, and have to be redone every time something changes.

The only advantage a brz has is that the end user has just a single file to install (and uninstall), which can be useful (and much more simple) if you change mods often. However people who change mods often are those most likely to want to mix-and-match items, and they almost always un-brz the files anyway...

[Buzz]

Thanks Marco. "no real difference in performance" is what I sense on my Mac as well with GBs of mods (many of yours) in a Z folder.

I hope new CM games offer a built in option for much more flexible mod swapping abilities. It would be zoo easy and cool to set up a HD with a Mali folder or an Urban folder or an Amphibious folder, etc.

[MikeyD]

...offer a built in option for much more flexible mod swapping abilities.

For years now I've had multiple 'Z' folders laying about. Just name your different folders anything starting with 'Z' - Ztest, Zturnip, Zfun-and-games. I swap them in and out of the data folder on a whim. Entire environments from the ground-up. Couldn't be simpler, really.

[Buzz]

Yes that works. Kinda what I do now. It would be more attractive and maybe a little faster selecting the different folders from an in game interface list. Being able to tag or associate a scenario with a specific mod folder in the interface would make it easier (for me anyway) to remember what looks best with what.

[Tempestzzzz]

+1 what MikeyD says.

[Oddball_E8]

Has anyone tested turning their entire Z folder into a .brz file to see if there is any difference in performance?

I imagine there might be a slight improvement if it is the entire folder.

And for CMBN (for now) there is a lull in mod production so it might pay off to have it all .brz'd

[nachinus]

Thanks for the answers!

I too tend to swap and tweak mod files, specially with sound mods. Of course it's easier if you don't have to bother to unpack and repack them, and I wanted to make sure it was ok to have all those raw files lying around there.

[Erwin]

I hope modders stop using .brz folders as one usually wants to unpack to check which mod one may want and/or rename them. There are so many of some mods that would replace each other - like helmets - that one needs to rename so they all appear.

[Badger73]

I hope modders stop using .brz folders as one usually wants to unpack to check which mod one may want and/or rename them. There are so many of some mods that would replace each other - like helmets - that one needs to rename so they all appear.

+1

Me too.

[nik mond]

are brz compressed like a zip file for size?

[mjkerner]

are brz compressed like a zip file for size?

Not for uploading to CMMODS or the Repository...seems to make no difference. I never bother to brz my mods...along the lines of Erwin's comments. It seems pointless.