why use .pbo

[Relemar 10]

why does BI use .pbos, while other game companies just use .rars im not quite sure.

anyone got any ideas??

[maturin 12]

Most games seem to have unique extension names for their data archives.

[NeMeSiS 11]

I have never seen a game that uses .rar? Do you have an example?

[Maddmatt 1]

Easy way to keep a massive number of files together. Also, unlike rar, it doesn't compress the files. Compression would make load times longer and since the game relies on streaming (constant loading in the background as you move around the map, since it's to big to load at once), that could be a huge performance hit.

When distributing mods it's also easier to install for users. And then there is the signature system for MP to restrict what addons people use.

There are other reasons probably.

[da12thMonkey 1943]

I have never seen a game that uses .rar? Do you have an example?

Games that use the iD Tech engines have game data packed into .pk3 files which are just renamed .zip files IIRC. i.e you can open them with winrar

I think the same is true for Infinity Ward's .iwd format, but that's based on .pk3.

Most other games I can think of have a proprietary file formats for game data though.

Edited August 11, 2009 by da12thMonkey
forgot to quote

[Relemar 10]

I have never seen a game that uses .rar? Do you have an example?

sorry i mean .dat i think

[tobmic 10]

Who knows maybe the .pbo files can be a performance brake : (

[R0adki11 3949]

I think the opposite, .pbo allows for the game to load happily in the background without any issues, it all depends on how you binarize the addon. Also having .pbo means its unique and means addons cant be used in other games.

[STALKERGB 6]

the .pbo is a pretty modular way of doing things (or at least my experience of it), it also can make things easier for MP; if you were playing a vanilla MP game and had extra PBOs the game just wouldnt use them so even though essentially your game is different you can still play together :)