PodZip is a program by Larryboy for removing unnecessary files from your .POD files.
Did you know that MTM2 only needs one copy of any and all files for a track or truck to work? This means that individual tracks and trucks do not need their own copies of, say, the stock texture or model files in the .POD files that came with the game, as long as those stock .PODs are mounted. PodZip is designed specifically to remove any and all of these stock files from custom .PODs quickly and painlessly. This is especially useful in the case of .POD files created using Tracked2, which throws in absloutely everything plus about 500Kb of junk. This can all add up and take up valuable hard drive space, and PodZip is ideal for trimming those .POD files down and reclaiming some space. "It's like liposuction for your .pods..."
PodZip is unusual in the fact that, in this age of point-and-click Windows interface, it is desgned to run through MS-DOS commands. However the commands are easy to learn and even easier to write down for quick reference, so even the most timid user can use it.
Firstly, PodZip should be placed in the same directory where all your .POD files are kept (note that .POD files don't need to be kept in the MTM2 directory). Let's say that your .POD files are in a folder called PODS on your C:\ drive, thus in the C:\PODS directory. You can simply replace this with whatever your directory really is.
Open a DOS window by clicking Start, going into Programs and clicking MS-DOS Prompt. This will put you in a DOS window sitting at the C:\WINDOWS prompt. Change to your .POD directory by typing cd\pods and pressing Enter. If your PODS folder is on a different drive, for example D:\, you will need to change to that drive first by typing d: and hitting Enter.
Then enter the PodZip command podzip oldfile.pod newfile.pod, where "oldfile.pod" is the file you want to shrink and "newfile.pod" is the name you want the file to have when the process is finished. If you want to replace the old .POD with the new PodZipped file, then "newfile.pod" will be the same name as "oldfile.pod".
There is also an advanced procedure that allows you to PodZip all your files at once! It's complex, but here it is:
Say you have all your .POD files and PodZip in C:\PODS. Create a new directory called C:\PODS\ZIPPED, then launch your DOS window (or you can create the directory using the DOS window if you know the commands). Enter the cd\pods command to change to your PODS directory. Then enter the following command EXACTLY as it appears and every POD in the directory will be converted and placed into C:\PODS\ZIPPED:
for %c in (*.pod) do podzip %c .\zipped\%c
When the dust settles, all your PodZipped .PODs should be in C:\PODS\ZIPPED. This is very useful when you have a large number of .PODs to convert.
Three notes (the first involves basic MS-DOS, so if you're adept at that then skip to the ones below):
A simple one, but it sometimes cause problems: MS-DOS only operates with eight-character file and folder names. If you look at the Properties of a file or folder in Windows you will see that it often has two names: its full name and an MS-DOS name of eight characters or less. For files or folders with names over eight characters, the MS-DOS name is shortened to eight characters with the last two characters as ~# where "#" is a number that seperates the file from any others that may have the same truncated name. To change to a directory which has folder names longer than eight characters, you will need to learn the truncated names as MS-DOS often will not recognise long names and especially names with spaces.
As an example, my MTM2 directory is the install default,
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Monster Truck Madness 2
However, to change to this directory through the DOS window in order to use PodZip, I must enter the command,
cd\progra~1\micros~3\monste~2
Here the numbers indicate which and order for the folders. "PROGRA~1" is the first folder that existed on my C: drive with the trucated name "PROGRA". If a second folder were created whose truncated name was also "PROGRA", it would be assigned the MS-DOS name "PROGRA~2". It is the same for any other folder. I used to have MTM1 installed when I installed MTM2, so there was already a folder called "Monster Truck Madness" in the "Microsoft Games" (or "MICROS~3") folder before "Monster Truck Madness 2" was created. The MTM1 folder's truncated name was "MONSTE~1" so the MTM2 folder received "MONSTE~2".
As with any program that deals with your .POD files, PodZip will sometimes turn out a corrupt and unusable .POD file, so you should always test your zipped .POD files to check that they work. A quick way to check is to use WinPod to open the zipped .PODs: if it gives an error, that .POD won't work in the game. If a converted .POD is broken, simply delete it and go back to the un-converted .POD.
The other thing is that PodZipped .PODs will only work if your stock MTM2 .PODs are mounted - if not, then the game will be unable to find the files it needs to run them, since those files have just been removed from the .PODs! Although it is accepted that nearly everybody has their stock .PODs mounted (Truck2.pod and so on), some people unmount their stock track and truck .PODs to make way for even more addon .PODs. For these people a PodZipped .POD will not work.