WinZip alternatives

[Rick]

So it seems WinZip doesn't allow you to use the trial version forever like it used to. What alternatives do you guys use that works with SetZipStreamPassword() if you encrypt it?

 

I tried jZip and encrypted my file with a wav file in it and it doesn't seem to work. If I just drop the wav file as is and run from the editor it works. If I zip it up, encrypted, and rename to filenamehere.pak and call SetZipStreamPassword I don't hear any sound when I start the game.

[Brent Taylor]

I'd recommend either WinRar or 7zip. 7zip is free, WinRar has the infinite trial setup winzip did.

[Rick]

Have you tried either of those encrypted and then used LE's SetZipStreamPassword() to decrypt and read resources successfully?

[Brent Taylor]

I've not tried at all. But I would assume that 7zip does encrypt the zip archive correctly. WinRar probably does as well.

[Rick]

*sigh* nevermind, it's working now. I have no idea what I did differently. I just uninstalled WinZip, then installed it again. Now when I make pak files from both WinZip or jZip and encrypt it's working. That setting pak file password has caused me more trouble over the years lol.

[Canardia]

7-zip is the best. It's free, and comes with full source code. I already made a better 7-zip also, which has the "move" option to move files into an archive instead of just copying them into it. With Ultra+LZMA2 compression in 7-zip you get also the best compression of any archiver. And of course making normal Leadwerks compatible zip files works too, although I would hope Leadwerks3D supports 7-zip format, and the forum uploads too.

[Mumbles]

although I would hope Leadwerks3D supports 7-zip format

 

I think a better method would be to allow loading any type of asset from a char pointer. How you put the data there is up to you. You can store your assets in any type of encrypted and/or compressed file, but the onus is on you to to get it out of the file and into memory...

 

As an addition to the standard loading from files that is, not instead of.

[paramecij]

I think a better method would be to allow loading any type of asset from a char pointer. How you put the data there is up to you. You can store your assets in any type of encrypted and/or compressed file, but the onus is on you to to get it out of the file and into memory...

 

As an addition to the standard loading from files that is, not instead of.

 

+1

This would be killer! ... one of the things I wish for to be (but probably wont) in the new engine...

 

 

Oh, and I recommend peazip (free) or winrar (you can evaluate forever)

[Mumbles]

Thinking about it, the drawback to my idea is: For models, it only loads a single model. No texture(s), no LODs no physics.

 

You'd either need something like:

 

LoadModel(char * LOD0, char * Texture0, char * PhysicsShape, char * Texture1 = 0, char * Texture2 = 0, char * Texture3 = 0, char * Texture4 = 0, char * Texture5 = 0, char * Texture6 = 0, char * Texture7 = 0, char * LOD1 = 0, char * LOD2 = 0, char * LOD3 = 0, char * LOD4 = 0, char * LOD5 = 0, char * LOD6 = 0, char * LOD7 = 0);

 

which as you can see, looks bloated and scary... Or you'd need to be able to something like (just a bit of an idea):

 

struct LE3DModel
{
int NumMeshes;//typically a mesh will be used
LE3DMesh * MeshNum;
LE3DBody CollisionShape;//Working along the lines that all submeshes are designed to occupy the same volume, thus only one copy of the shape is required
char HideShowMask; //Assuming the maximum number of meshes is 8 (the main one and seven lower LODs), a char can be used with the bitwise and (&) operator (when reading) to see which meshes should be drawn, and which should be hidden.
};

LE3DModel * CreateModelContainer()
LE3DMesh * AddMesh(LE3DModel * Model, char * MeshFile, int LODNumber);
void SetMeshTexture(LE3DMesh * Mesh, LE3DTexture * Texture);//Previously loaded with a LoadTexture type command
void SetModelPhysics(LE3DModel * Model, char * PhysicsShape);//Load a serialised physics file (previously copied in to RAM), and apply that physics shape to the model

 

Could be very easily converted to OO at a later stage. Slightly easier to follow, but probably requires a small re-write of the engine, thus I wouldn't be too optimistic to see either of those suggestions included in the first release. Perhaps a later update if Josh feels like the idea has some merit to it...