I'm trying to figure out how to compress my game files on Linux to make them smaller, but I'm running into some confusion. I came across suggestions for using 7z, but wouldn't that just convert my files into .7z format? Do I need to extract them every time I want to play? Also, how does Proton fit into this if I choose to go that route? By the way, I'm using CachyOs.
3 Answers
You're right about 7z; people might be mixing it up with compression algorithms rather than the software itself. But, if they suggest using it, they probably mean utilizing some of its methods like zstd or lz4 instead of just wrapping files in .7z folders. Just be cautious about managing your files as you might be going back and forth unpacking them.
You could consider using a virtual filesystem like fusecompress or fuseZstd. These allow you to add a compression layer without reformatting your storage, making it easy to slip in between your files. However, don't expect miracles—most games already use some form of compression, so you might not save a huge amount of space.
It sounds like you're looking for filesystem compression, which depends on the filesystem you’re using. If you're on btrfs, for example, you can use zstd compression, which works well with modern kernels. It’s a good way to save space and may also slightly speed things up in some situations.
Yeah, zstd is pretty efficient. Just keep in mind that not all filesystems support compression—ext4, for example, doesn’t. So make sure you're using a compatible one!
Good point! And over-compressing could actually slow down performance depending on your system specs, so you might want to weigh the benefits against any performance hits if you have a basic setup.