How to store mod on the computer.

[marius851000]

We need to store mod on the computer. Here is my idea:

How to store them :

• As a compressed file (like a zip): can be compressed, but will need to be decompressed at run-time. Should also add some compexity.
• As a decompressed folder: may take a bit more size (althought we can expect most of the game with important asset have their own compression method). It is simpler and doesn't need to be decompressed at run-time, but need to be decompressed ahead of time.

In which folder:
In lock file, we lock a certain package identifier and a version, so we expect every package with the same identifier and version are identical. So we can have the format <identifier><separator><version>. The identifier and version would need to be escaped or prohibit character so that they :

1. do not conflict with separator
2. doesn't use an illegal character

For this, I propose restricting the identifier and version field to a certain list of character (keep in mind that the identifier is not the displayed mind). I haven't yet made a list of such character, but this would most importantly prevent /, \, [, {, (, ], }, ) (the separator itself may just be a subfolder, a.k.a a / or \)

I'll start experimenting with this idea.

[marius851000]

Additionally, having atomic operation would be a good plus. Journalised file system work good for this, so, when unpacking a folder, unpack it in a tempory folder, then move/hardlink it to final folder. This way, we can expect the file system to either have a complete folder, or no folder at all.