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  3. Why FitGirl won't die: The repacker millions of gamers depend on in an age of surveillance

Why FitGirl won't die: The repacker millions of gamers depend on in an age of surveillance

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  • prioritymotif@lemmy.worldP prioritymotif@lemmy.world

    I have zero trust installing pirated software, especially when they go out of their way to break it when using wine on Linux or running it in a vm.

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    atherel@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    wrote on last edited by
    #27

    They don’t go out of their way to break it, they just don’t pay attention to it (yet). There was an interesting interview here a few months ago: https://lemmy.world/post/32441387

    1 Reply Last reply
    8
    • G grimy@lemmy.world

      Proton can handle the game files but not the installer. So you have to install in wine and it’s a hassle. I install the games on my windows pc, zip them and then transfer them to my deck.

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      minnels@lemmy.zip
      wrote on last edited by
      #28

      Huh? I add the installer to steam, use proton and install. No problem.

      G 1 Reply Last reply
      1
      • F Fiestorra

        I wouldn’t really say that. The kind of extreme compression Fitgirl does comes with the tradeoff of really long decompression times. Depending on which games, nearly 45 minutes (with a 7800x3D)

        Some games lack compression but I would not want those long install times by default, if you have a speedy internet connection they usually take longer to install than to download. Don’t get me wrong, for people with really slow internet those repacks are a godsend but they are not “better” on every aspect.

        K This user is from outside of this forum
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        kieron115@startrek.website
        wrote on last edited by kieron115@startrek.website
        #29

        Steam gets around this problem by doing the decompressing on the fly as you download. Go check out your CPU usage next time you install a game.

        Edit: I think this is also why it defaults to not downloading while you game. Steam doesn’t want you to have a bad experience from the decompression.

        T L 2 Replies Last reply
        41
        • A apprehensively_human@lemmy.ca

          What’s your process for running the unpacker executable? Maybe it depends on the game, but I set up a wineprefix through Lutris and always seem to run into issues getting it to complete properly without any unpacking errors.

          M This user is from outside of this forum
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          Malgas
          wrote on last edited by
          #30

          The last time I used one, I had to edit some paths in a .md5 file to get the hash verification to work.

          1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • R Rentlar

            I’ve had a lot less of a desire to pirate games after moving to Linux full time a few years ago. But FitGirl has been the one reliable place for public torrents, compaed to chancing it on the third Google Link or scrolling through the Russian CS-Rin-Rulette forum to find links.

            kairubyte@lemmy.dbzer0.comK This user is from outside of this forum
            kairubyte@lemmy.dbzer0.comK This user is from outside of this forum
            kairubyte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            wrote on last edited by
            #31

            Why would you ever use google to find torrents?

            R 1 Reply Last reply
            4
            • M minnels@lemmy.zip

              Huh? I add the installer to steam, use proton and install. No problem.

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              grimy@lemmy.world
              wrote on last edited by grimy@lemmy.world
              #32

              The fitgirl unpacker and installer? Tbh I never tried, everyone on the web simply said it didn’t work.

              M 1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • kairubyte@lemmy.dbzer0.comK kairubyte@lemmy.dbzer0.com

                Why would you ever use google to find torrents?

                R This user is from outside of this forum
                R This user is from outside of this forum
                Rentlar
                wrote on last edited by
                #33

                It was 5-10 years ago, not too hard to find and a little before Google intentionally made things harder to find. I’ve used many public and private trackers, but it’s just that these days my interest in movies has disappeared almost completely, and I’m happy with most of the games I have.

                kairubyte@lemmy.dbzer0.comK 1 Reply Last reply
                2
                • A anguo

                  It’s harder to use on Linux, and lower-performance devices. I would prefer prefer having dumps of the pre-installed game folder to use on a steam deck, for example.

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                  doleo@lemmy.one
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #34

                  I also have problems on Linux. I’ve tried a few different methods, but ultimately, they always end up seeming to freeze and make no further progress after a certain point.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • Gary GhostG Gary Ghost

                    If you can afford it

                    Link Preview Image
                    IsThereAnyDeal

                    favicon

                    IsThereAnyDeal (isthereanydeal.com)

                    Might be a better option, or least send the devs some support while using repacks. It’s sort of like a thrift store when you find something you really wanted maybe a game you didn’t even know of, and it means a lot more because it feels like finding a treasure.

                    I actually didn’t know that the whole point of fitgirl was for compression, I’ve been blessed with massive hard drives. I think I took my 4tb ssd for granted. Not everyone has even an extra $5 .

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                    timbits@lemmy.ca
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #35

                    The best option is piracy. Do not engage in capitalism where you can avoid it.

                    SpazS 1 Reply Last reply
                    14
                    • K kieron115@startrek.website

                      Steam gets around this problem by doing the decompressing on the fly as you download. Go check out your CPU usage next time you install a game.

                      Edit: I think this is also why it defaults to not downloading while you game. Steam doesn’t want you to have a bad experience from the decompression.

                      T This user is from outside of this forum
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                      timbits@lemmy.ca
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #36

                      More like check your hdd. Steam goes like this for me download, download, download, pause downloading to extract and smash my hdd, download, download, downloand.

                      A B D 3 Replies Last reply
                      15
                      • alessandro@lemmy.caA alessandro@lemmy.ca
                        This post did not contain any content.
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                        Why FitGirl won't die: The repacker millions of gamers depend on in an age of surveillance

                        Ask almost any PC gamer from Asia to South America, and they will tell you the same thing: FitGirl is the one name in piracy that everyone recognises

                        favicon

                        The Business Standard (www.tbsnews.net)

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                        toneswirly@beehaw.org
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #37

                        God bless Fitgirl

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        21
                        • R Rentlar

                          It was 5-10 years ago, not too hard to find and a little before Google intentionally made things harder to find. I’ve used many public and private trackers, but it’s just that these days my interest in movies has disappeared almost completely, and I’m happy with most of the games I have.

                          kairubyte@lemmy.dbzer0.comK This user is from outside of this forum
                          kairubyte@lemmy.dbzer0.comK This user is from outside of this forum
                          kairubyte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #38

                          If you ever get back into it, look into jackett. Consolidates a large number of trackers (some some setup) which makes life so much easier.

                          P 1 Reply Last reply
                          1
                          • Lvxferre [he/him]L Lvxferre [he/him]

                            Note plenty FitGirl repacks are lossless; as in, she isn’t taking less important files out of the game, she’s compressing it better. 90GB→35GB seems accurate; you often see ~1/3 of the original size, like this. And it shows plenty game devs

                            1. do an extremely bad job at basic tasks like compression.
                            2. give no flying fucks about players, who might have really slow connections.

                            And then those same developers get amazed at the fact FitGirl is so popular. “Maybe we’re doing something wrong? …nah.”

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                            auli@lemmy.ca
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #39

                            No it’s making a choice. Faster decompress times. Considering a lot of their customers have fast speeds it doesn’t really matter.

                            Lvxferre [he/him]L 1 Reply Last reply
                            6
                            • T timbits@lemmy.ca

                              More like check your hdd. Steam goes like this for me download, download, download, pause downloading to extract and smash my hdd, download, download, downloand.

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                              auli@lemmy.ca
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #40

                              Is this why steam is so insanely slow to download games.

                              F K 2 Replies Last reply
                              3
                              • O omarfw@lemmy.world

                                It’s more likely that the devs are not being given the time or resources to do this kind of thing properly. Their bosses are too concerned with what will save money and generate shareholder value.

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                                auli@lemmy.ca
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #41

                                This implies fitgirl is doing it properly. Which it’s trade off faster download longer install times or vice versa.

                                tatterdemalion@programming.devT 1 Reply Last reply
                                7
                                • Gary GhostG Gary Ghost

                                  If you can afford it

                                  Link Preview Image
                                  IsThereAnyDeal

                                  favicon

                                  IsThereAnyDeal (isthereanydeal.com)

                                  Might be a better option, or least send the devs some support while using repacks. It’s sort of like a thrift store when you find something you really wanted maybe a game you didn’t even know of, and it means a lot more because it feels like finding a treasure.

                                  I actually didn’t know that the whole point of fitgirl was for compression, I’ve been blessed with massive hard drives. I think I took my 4tb ssd for granted. Not everyone has even an extra $5 .

                                  alessandro@lemmy.caA This user is from outside of this forum
                                  alessandro@lemmy.caA This user is from outside of this forum
                                  alessandro@lemmy.ca
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #42

                                  I actually didn’t know that the whole point of fitgirl was for compression

                                  The whole point of view of the article is about people from countries that can’t afford the modern AAA price, internet bandwidth… and even PC capable to run the game decently (AAA the full price always take in account hardware that runs on “Ultra settings”; not the customers running it at very low).

                                  As aside note, piracy isn’t even about piracy itself anymore: someone who buy an AAA videogame on “exclusivity store” (such as Epic)… soon or later will discover that’s easier to store a fitgirl copy of his purchase to run the same game seamelessly across all the PC in their household (good old: Install > Next > Next > Finish) … rather having set up those 2+3 launcher per PC.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  21
                                  • A auli@lemmy.ca

                                    Is this why steam is so insanely slow to download games.

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                                    foobarrington@lemmy.world
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #43

                                    It can be, spinning iron has pretty bad throughput.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    8
                                    • F Fiestorra

                                      I wouldn’t really say that. The kind of extreme compression Fitgirl does comes with the tradeoff of really long decompression times. Depending on which games, nearly 45 minutes (with a 7800x3D)

                                      Some games lack compression but I would not want those long install times by default, if you have a speedy internet connection they usually take longer to install than to download. Don’t get me wrong, for people with really slow internet those repacks are a godsend but they are not “better” on every aspect.

                                      T This user is from outside of this forum
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                                      thejoker954@lemmy.world
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #44

                                      Honestly I can’t remember the last time a fitgirl release took longer to install than an ‘official’ copy.

                                      And pretty much as long as I’ve had a computer it’s been “bottom of the barrel” hardware.

                                      1 Reply Last reply
                                      3
                                      • ronnyzittledong@lemmy.worldR ronnyzittledong@lemmy.world

                                        I only use DODI when there is no Fitgirl release. DODI torrents are always behind spam/scam link gates and the installer is horrible. In the DODI installer to start it for some reason you have to press the up arrow or something. Just… why? It’s like he saw that feature on his phone lock screen and decided to add it without asking himself what purpose it serves. The installer is also totally broken if you have changed windows scaling so every time I want to use it I have to go into the properties and disable scaling.

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                                        damage@feddit.it
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #45

                                        DODI works better on Linux tho

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        2
                                        • T timbits@lemmy.ca

                                          More like check your hdd. Steam goes like this for me download, download, download, pause downloading to extract and smash my hdd, download, download, downloand.

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                                          B This user is from outside of this forum
                                          bitwolf
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #46

                                          Yeah I think it ends up waiting for slower storage if your cpu or HDD are too slow. I experience that with slower sdcards on the Deck.

                                          But on a decent NVMe with a balanced CPU the download and disk are full bore and the CPU usage goes really high.

                                          K 1 Reply Last reply
                                          7

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