I apologize if this is already answered somewhere but I’m curious what exactly a fitgirl repack is? I know it’s a pirated version of a game but like is it just an installer or something? And if you imported the game into steam for example can you be “banned” or VAT (idr the term)

  • heckypecky@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    The compression was already explained - I would add that if you’re not deep into scene groups, popular repackers are in general a safe choice, i.e. no malware included. Of course it’s never 100% safe, but in my opinion safer than picking from a list of torrents what could be the scene release.

    I never had issues with fitgirl and Dodi, maybe other users can drop some more names that have proven to be reliable over a long time.

  • Yote.zip@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    I’ll add that if you want to archive games forever, storing repacks is a good idea because of their extreme compression. From what I’ve observed, Fitgirl trends towards heavier compression while DODI trends towards faster install times.

    KaOsKrew is another respected repacking group that you can trust.

      • psmgx@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Has anyone done a true up between those and a system specific hw monitor? If I was going to hijack CPU and download a shit ton of malicious binaries I’d want to obfuscate that, and adding a CPU monitoring window with fake values is a great way to deflect/create false confidence

        • Yote.zip@pawb.social
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          1 year ago

          Any sort of malicious activity that’s not bitcoin mining can be disguised easily within the background noise of normal CPU usage. If you’re getting pwned, assume you’re getting pwned for longer than the duration of the install program - any strenuous pwning could be spread out across hours or days if they really wanted. If you’re ultra-worried about whether repackers are trustworthy, you can always source clean game files and crack the game yourself.

    • ColdWater@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Idk man dodi’s releasees seem to have the same size as fitgirl while also install faster and less CPU intensive when installing

      • cyanarchy@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        No way we’re downloading the same repacks, it’s rare to see anything as small as fitgirl’s releases in my experience. Your CPU had better be ready to step up to the plate though.

      • JadenSmith@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        I’ve had random errors, lock ups, etc. with Fitgirl’s repacks, however Dodi’s repacks have been incredibly smooth. Miles Morales installed in less than 4 minutes, using his repack.

      • Yote.zip@pawb.social
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        1 year ago

        They’re available as an option. You can source from any of Fitgirl, DODI, or KaOs if they have the game you want. Other repackers do exist and they’re all generally trustworthy, but those 3 put out a lot of content and have a good track record. ElAmigos is another good one that puts out a lot of releases.

          • Yote.zip@pawb.social
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            1 year ago

            Yeah. What repackers do is they source the game, source all the updates, source the DLC, and source the cracks, then put it all together, make sure it works, compress it into an installer, and distribute it. As an end-user you run the installer to decompress the game and then click play. Repackers don’t actually do any of the cracking themselves, they just put it all in one package and make it easy. The installer will run CPU-heavy while it decompresses their heavy compression so don’t be alarmed by that.

  • singinwhale@lmy.singinwhale.com
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    1 year ago

    It’s a cracked version of the game that has been heavily compressed to reduce download size. This is why the installer will eat a lot of CPU resources during installation. While you probably won’t be banned, I would generally avoid playing these games through steam as a precaution. Usually multiplayer doesn’t work normally anyways.

    • SeekPie@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Playing through steam might be useful for linux users, because proton is on there (but idk if it works with self-added games).

      • BastingChemina@slrpnk.net
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        1 year ago

        It works amazingly well for me, I install fog games with proton and it just works.

        I tried with lutris and bottles but I was always having issues.

          • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            I’m sure they work for some but if you check online (Reddit for example), there’s loads of issues and the general recommendation is against them because of the issues

            • lenan@sh.itjust.works
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              1 year ago

              That’s because you get an error a lot of times if you use proton-ge or wine-ge in lutris or bottles when installing. The trick is to use system wine for installing and then switching to wine-ge when the install is done.

              • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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                1 year ago

                I’ve just had poor success with any wine, it just has that error. Others might be more successful but it’s definitely a common problem, which is why I think DODI repacks are preferred

    • DAMunzy@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      +Patches provided with the one installer versus having to download multiple torrents with some of the patches not being actively shared.

      +Lots of people sharing FitGirl repacks so better chance of finishing for those a little bit harder to find releases. This could just be a function of me using only public sites.

      +Ease of install. It just works. I don’t think I’ve ever had a FitGirl install go bad. Or Dodi. But it can take for-fucking-ever especially if you choose the low ram option (I’ve tried it a couple of times).

      If you get from a reputable site like 1337x.to you don’t have worry as long as you are also downloading from one of their reputable uploaders.

    • heckypecky@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 year ago

      Fair point if you have a high speed connection. But if your system overheats during decompression, the fault lies with your shitty technical skills instead of the repack. Clean your rig, man.

    • stillwater@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      fitgirl repacks attempt to stress your cpu/gpu to the maximum and try to overheat your beloved PC,

      Bold choice to start with such a stupid fucking lie.

      Also what kind of shitty computer do you have? My hardware is nearly ten years old and it does not have this kind of trouble uncompressing files.

      • Mixel@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        Well to be fair compression/decompression is EXTREMELY CPU intensive even on newest hardware. It was always that way and will always stay that way probably. The more you compress the longer and more CPU intensive it is to decompress No matter if your pc is 10 years old or if it’s a rack server with newest hardware

        • stillwater@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          The thing is that it takes a complete ignorance of the concept of compression to suggest that a Fitgirl repack is designed to overheat a CPU when that’s just how decompression works.

          Fitgirl repacks also aren’t nearly as lengthy as he says. Between the time and the inane take on decompression, evidence points to this guy having a shit computer and thinking it’s everyone else’s fault.

          • Mixel@feddit.de
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            1 year ago

            Well yeah computer works computer gets hot that’s how it works😂

            I think everyone has different opinions about fitgirl repacks back when I hat a more shitty pc it was really sometimes hell to unpack it sadly it took for a couple of games more than 24 hours. But it was getting there I guess the main reason was obviously an old slow HDD for that but at that time I had no clue 😅

            • stillwater@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              Right, but you’re at least honest about the quality of your PC there. OP above is not. He’s the same kind that complains he can’t run a game on Max graphics 4k resolution while using mid-tier hardware from six years ago.

        • Maxy
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          1 year ago

          The more you compress the longer and more CPU intensive it is to decompress

          I believe this is becoming less and less true with modern algorithms. Take for example ZSTD: while the compression speeds differs by several orders of magnitude between the fastest and slowest modes, the decompression difference is only about 20%. The same holds true for flac, where the decompression speed is pretty uniform across all compression levels.

          These algorithms probably aren’t used by repacked like fitgirl (so your answer is generally correct in the context of repacks). I do believe it is still interesting to see these new developments in compression techniques.

          • Mixel@feddit.de
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            1 year ago

            Definitely! I cannot even imagine what compression algorithm we have in a couple of years. They are probably much better and less CPU intensive while also giving other benefits I can imagine. But as always that’s for the future ;D

    • セリャスト
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      1 year ago

      Depends on one’s downloading speed and cpu, Id much rather use a repacker on ADSL with a good pc