Question Packing loose files into a var without meta.json?

[nsfwthrowaway77]

If I have some loose clothing files for example, can I just zip them up with the .var extension and use them as a var? VaM seems to complain about them in the error log ( Exception during zip file scan of [...]: ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.Zip.ZipException: Cannot find central directory ), but they otherwise show up fine in the clothing tab. Are there any other issues with not having the meta.json file? Also, would there be a way to quickly generate a basic meta.json for loose files without going through all the steps of making a var in-game?

 

[SlimerJSpud]

Short answer, no. It's better to follow the standard packaging guidelines. Just make one scene with Lexi wearing one or two items of clothing and include the rest as options. There's a packaging guide.

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[MacGruber]

Having a VAR package doesn't mean it does need to contain a scene. In fact it should not have a scene if that's not what you want to share, because it will clutter up everyone's scene browser. Just add whatever files/folders in the packag builder. Process through VaM is pretty quick....certainly way better than doing that by hand, which is just calling for weird issues. Don't make VARs by hand, ever. For example VaM will choose the optimal compression algorithm for the ZIP. If you do that by hand it may optimize file size...but what you actually want/need is optimal performance when extracting single files (e.g. meta.json).

Even if you want to add a demo scene, the best approach is to make two VARs: On with the clothing and another separate one with the demo scene. That way you can have whatever dependencies (looks, hair, plugins, background assets, ...) for the demo without making that a "required" dependency for your clothing. When posting a resource on the Hub, it allows you to upload multiple files/VARs.

 

[nsfwthrowaway77]

Thanks for the replies. I should have specified - I don't plan on sharing these vars. These are random loose files (probably from before vars existed) that I don't want cluttering my install, and would rather manage using the var system. They weren't made by me, and if I package them they'll all be named using me as the creator I assume? Also I figured it would take waaayy longer to package them correctly within vam, rather than just zipping them up with the var extension.

For example VaM will choose the optimal compression algorithm for the ZIP.

I didn't consider this and it does make a lot of sense. I suppose I'm sacrificing performance by zipping them at all in the first place though.