Is the DatPacker generally recommended?

[Ducio 285]

I recently got the DatPacker because I wanted to try CAM.

Although I appreciate the decrease in loading time, I don't find the DatPacker super convenient as I like to tinker with my Plugins folder and add, remove or rename lots. I also don't keep a ton of content in my Plugins if I'm not using it at the moment. 

I'm wondering how other players manage this, do you just keep re-packing your folder?  

[matias93 7,535]

What I do is to keep a full copy of all compressed plugins in another folder, and just to compress the newly modified subfolders every month or so. That implies a certain lag on using new plugins, or at least on having them compressed and loading faster, but it avoids the whole rewriting process every time, which can be specially troublesome using a cheap SSD, like I do.

[rsc204 21,806]

Generally speaking if you are a tinkerer and use an SSD, I wouldn’t recommend it. But once you get stable ‘groups’ of Plugins, it’s still beneficial. However if you are using a standard HDD, it’s definitely worth the effort. 

[Lucario Boricua 7,027]

Make sure to test your custom content, not everything responds well to DATpacking. Some low-hanging fruit to try first are dependency packs and building packs in which the constituent parts are numerous separate files. Consolidate those into 1 or a few packs and this should decrease loading times considerably.

[Ducio 285]

Thanks everyone, good tips! I have a SSD and like to tinker, so I will save the packing for when there is a larger group of stable lots. 

[rsc204 21,806]

2 hours ago, Lucario Boricua said:

Make sure to test your custom content, not everything responds well to DATpacking.

The first time I tried DATPacking, I sure found this out the hard way. BUT, it's nothing to do with the content, usually more a result of bad modding/file management. Packing certain files with certain other files, removes all but the last loading instances of a given ID of content. This can in essence remove the files you want/need that work, whilst keeping those that don't. With sufficient effort, you can resolve such problems, but this is really just one of those cases that illustrates the advantages of a tidy, organised Plugins folder.