Zandronum

Whenever I try to load this pk3 as a resource I get the following error (as well as numerous other map errors), bold mine:

Unable to load resources from location "C:\Doom\Zandronum\skulltag_actors.pk3". Please make sure the location is accessible and not in use by another program. The resources will now be loaded with this location excluded. You may reload the resources to try again.
NotSupportedException when creating data reader: Compression method not supported

Now the fact that I haven't seen anyone else complain about this makes me think that something may be wrong on my side. Any ideas?

Maybe reinstall DB? Or might have something to do with file associations, dunno.

Hypnotoad wrote:

NotSupportedException when creating data reader: Compression method not supported

Sounds as if Doom Builder doesn't support the compression algorithms used in skulltag_actors.pk3. Try uncompressing and recompressing as simple zip.

Torr Samaho wrote:

Hypnotoad wrote:

NotSupportedException when creating data reader: Compression method not supported

Sounds as if Doom Builder doesn't support the compression algorithms used in skulltag_actors.pk3. Try uncompressing and recompressing as simple zip.

That seemed to fix it, the pk3 that comes with zandronum should probably be compressed this way too.

Hypnotoad wrote: That seemed to fix it, the pk3 that comes with zandronum should probably be compressed this way too.

I don't think we should switch to an inferior compression to work around a limitation of Doom Builder. If DB can't read skulltag_actors, it also won't read zdoom.pk3 and zandronum.pk3. IMHO DB should be updated to support the compression techniques ZDoom has been using for 4 years+.

skulltag_actors.pk3 is 39kb compressed as a simple zip compared to 30kb compressed using the current method, that is only 9kb difference, not a big deal.

Also, I just tried loading zandronum.pk3 as a resource and I did not get any problems.

You shouldn't really be using skulltag_actors in new maps anyway, it only exists for compatibility. The real fix would be to add whatever actors needed into the mod.

These are old maps I am opening in DB2 which require skulltag_actors for compatibility.

Hypnotoad wrote: Also, I just tried loading zandronum.pk3 as a resource and I did not get any problems.

That's strange. skulltag_actors.pk3 and zandronum.pk3 are generated using the same mechanism.

Gzdoom.pk3 also does not produce any warnings, are you sure skulltag_actors is compressed properly?

Hypnotoad wrote: are you sure skulltag_actors is compressed properly?

Of course. Otherwise Zandronum wouldn't be able to read it.

I'm not sure, but I don't immediately see anything in Zandronum.pk3 that Doom Builder would need to read and is also compressed using LZMA. skulltag_actors.pk3, on the other hand, has a few DECORATE files compressed with LZMA.

Slade 3 is also unable to open skulltag_actors.pk3.

edit: although it also cannot open zandronum.pk3

What I do is use the old Skulltag.wad file as the reference file in Doom builder 1/2 (I use both). It has a lot of what is in the .pk3 files. The References are usually the same too so most maps made with Doom2.wad and Skulltag.wad resources will work with Skulltag PK3s.

Bumpity-bump.
I can't help but notice that the new version of skulltag_actors is out for a long time, and it has the same damn problem. I'm not sure who is a person in charge of maintaining that, but if there will be a next version, may it pretty please have those 8 small jpg's of something weird and I think unused? and 6 tiny text files compressed in a more standard way? Even WinRAR won't read it. The gain of space is unnoticeable, but every person who will want to use them in their map, or edit existing old maps, will have to lose time to figure out what's wrong and how to fix it. Just, let's make world a better place without unnecessary small annoying things to deal with :)

Problem is, that some files are compressed in LZMA (7-zip) algorithm. DB2, WinRAR and Slade 3 have problems with reading those. Try using 7zip to extract those files and then re-compress them as ZIP (DEFLATE), and rename the extension to PK3. There shouldn't appear any authentication fail issues.

Here you can see what I mean: