7z is the best format and 7z can unzip rar files and zip, and has best compression method... if you don't want to pay fr winrar, get 7zip, opens it all the same.

I suppose that's a fair point, and I will do that. Still, WinRAR is essentially free, so it's not as if a .rar would shut people out of using the mod.

Originally posted by Un67:

I suppose that's a fair point, and I will do that. Still, WinRAR is essentially free, so it's not as if a .rar would shut people out of using the mod.

winrar is a "paid program" but 7zip is 100% free and includes .rar unpacking.

.. winrar is free . nuffsaid .

Originally posted by Eziky1982:

.. winrar is free . nuffsaid .

as free as things you find on the internet that are normally paid software, it's expected you pay for it after 40 days, it's not "free", but 7zip IS 100% free and supports rar format.

Actually winrar still works even after the 40 day trial. A window talking about the trial just pops up annoying you everytime you open a winrar window which I close then continue using it normally lol. There are theories about why this is the case but no one seems to know actually why.

Originally posted by Un67:

I suppose that's a fair point, and I will do that.

Thank you very much! Much appreciated. And sorry about the extra trouble.

Originally posted by Eziky1982:

.. winrar is free . nuffsaid .

WinRAR is clearly not free, in any way, shape or form. If the people behind the software and file format don't enforce payment after the 40 day trial period, beyond the annoyance of a nag screen, it doesn't make it free even as in beer. Free as in speech, it is not.

As for the file format itself, RAR files can be unpacked also within the context of truly free and open software, like 7-Zip for Windows or within Linux. However, the actual unpacking is then still performed by UnRAR code (within or on the free software) which is proprietary, even if free-of-charge, owned by the RAR people and allowed to be used for unpacking only.
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I can fully understand it if people grab whatever archiving tool they have closest at hand, or are most used to, without giving it further thought. My post here was meant only as friendly reminder, to call attention to the plain and simple fact that there just isn't any archive file format more instantly accessible than ZIP.

Basically all operating systems nowadays come with built-in, out of the box support for ZIP. Whereas the unpacking of RAR files, on the other hand, will require the installation of some extra software. Depending on the system, this installation may be a simple process, perhaps. But why make it a requirement for using your mod?

I would assume that the whole point of using any archive file format at all in the first place is to simplify the transfer of mods from modder to user. I.e. the point of the archive file is to serve merely as a container for the mod files, nothing more. The compression rate hardly matters for these small files, does it? (And if it does, why would you want RAR? Shouldn't you prefer 7z instead then? Which also is open and free, like ZIP, but unlike RAR.)

Of course, if a modder, even after this reminder, for new uploads wants to stick with a requirement that users of his mod be able to handle closed and proprietary RAR files – larger than 7z files and less widely accessible than ZIP files – just because RAR is what all the cool kids on the block are using, or whatever reason, I won't argue about it.