Compressing ISO or BIN/Cue images

[blakepoet]

Hello,

I have been thinking of compressing some Playstation ISO images to save space on the hard drive. What is the preferred compression format to use (.zip, .rar or .7z) for GameEx that is most optimal for file size vs loading time? Also, which compression setting should I use?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

[snarls]

i am not an expert, but i saw a site - i think it was coolroms? - and they were using a free program called ECM in their zips which seemed to take a 600M iso down to like 520? ive got alot of space so i used UNECM to get the isos back. i imagine you could use gameex's LaunchBefore and LaunchAfter to compress and uncompress on the fly? btw these playstation isos were ecmed inside a zip...

[Draco1962]

GameEx supports .7z and .zip (not .rar). Be sure that your emulator also supports these formats.

[blakepoet]

I just ran some tests by using Resident Evil 2 and the eSPXe emulator. I recorded the load time from the moment i clicked on play in GameEx to the moment the Rom starts on the screen.

Uncompressed Rom: 675mb. Load time: 12 Seconds.

.zip with "normal" compression setting: 428mb. Load time: 21 Seconds.

.zip with "best" compression setting: 428mb. Load time: 21 Seconds.

.7z with "normal" compression setting. 365mb. Load time: 35 Seconds.

.7z with "Ultra' compression setting. 365mb. Load time: 35 Seconds.

It appears the compression level has no effect on the file size, whether its set on "normal" or "ultra." I'm not sure what the differences are in the compression methods for .7z, so I left it at LZMA.

Right now I am leaning toward .zip format because its somewhere in the middle of speed and space. Does anyone know if compression also affects in game loading times (ie cutscenes)?

[fRequEnCy]

I just ran some tests by using Resident Evil 2 and the eSPXe emulator. I recorded the load time from the moment i clicked on play in GameEx to the moment the Rom starts on the screen.

Uncompressed Rom: 675mb. Load time: 12 Seconds.

.zip with "normal" compression setting: 428mb. Load time: 21 Seconds.

.zip with "best" compression setting: 428mb. Load time: 21 Seconds.

.7z with "normal" compression setting. 365mb. Load time: 35 Seconds.

.7z with "Ultra' compression setting. 365mb. Load time: 35 Seconds.

It appears the compression level has no effect on the file size, whether its set on "normal" or "ultra." I'm not sure what the differences are in the compression methods for .7z, so I left it at LZMA.

Right now I am leaning toward .zip format because its somewhere in the middle of speed and space. Does anyone know if compression also affects in game loading times (ie cutscenes)?

Once the file is unzipped, it will stay unzipped till the game is exited. So shouldn't affect anything other than the initial unzipping process.