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)

  • Neshura@bookwormstory.social
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    10 months ago

    is it just an installer or something?

    It’s a compressed installer to be precise. Usually crackers only put up the patch files, which is pretty useless for anybody wanting to pirate a game. Fitgirl repackages (and compresses) the game files together with the crack patches into a cracked installer, hence “repack”.

    And if you imported the game into steam for example can you be “banned” or VAT (idr the term)

    Nope, though it will look funny in your Steam Status there is nothing to worry about. After all for all Valve knows you could be using a renamed version of a legitimate App, for non-steam entries in steam only the .exe name is known, nothing else.

    Just a word of warning: be careful when torrenting the games, while Valve will not ban you for using them game publishers are known to sue when catching you torrenting them (usually the upload part in the torrent is what gets people but the downloading is not 100% safe either). You should definitely look into how to safely torrent stuff before committing to it in order to avoid any nasty cease-and-desist letters flying in your door.

    • cryptix@discuss.tchncs.de
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      10 months ago

      The warning part totally Depends on where you are . I’m not American nor Europeans. I’ll continue sailing the high seas 😎

  • BrownianMotion@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    10 months ago

    Do you want a simple answer?

    fitgirl repacks attempt to stress your cpu/gpu to the maximum and try to overheat your beloved PC, by making the data for the game astronomically compressed to the point where the decompression time can actually take longer than the time to download the original crack on USENET by as much as 4-8x.

    If you have USENET, don’t even bother. If you have unlimited Data on your ISP, just torrent the un-“packed” version. You will thank me in the longer time. Its not worth it in most cases.

    Here is an example of a 75GB repack that makes it 56GB:

    Did the time it took you to save <20GB download save you the additional 1.5 hrs to decompress?!

    Okay, if the repack is under 20-30GB, its probably worth a shot. But even then…

    • heckypecky@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      10 months 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.

      • Mixel@feddit.de
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        10 months 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

  • Yote.zip@pawb.social
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    10 months 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.

    • ColdWater@lemmy.ca
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      10 months 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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        10 months 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.