Duplication of R* Files
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We all know the R* update process brings grief and sorrow to many of us, from simple things such as waiting for a new SHV to more bothersome issues such as falling through the ground, or worst, the game no longer loading at all.
All that to say what a crap process. What intrigues me is the extent of (apparent) duplication in GTA5 between common.rpf, game dlcpacks, and game dlc_patch. Is it really necessary? Add the mods folder and you now duplicate even more.
I fully understand that some folders have priority over others, and even individual files will let you tweak load order of game assets. For example, there are 3 dlclist.xml files in a standard setup. There is 1 in the game version of update.rpf, 1 in game's common.rpf, and the 3rd one in the mod folder's version of update.rpf. If you also have a copy of common.rpf in mods, then you have 4.
The one in your mods update.rpf will take precedence over all the others.
Now these are very small files, about 20KB, and although it sounds like I'm contradicting myself, I have over 15 versions of dlclist.xml (all different) for what I think are sound reasons.
X64 folders are another one. Easy to lose count of how many of these there are, I don't mean the hundreds of X64 folders you find with your addons, I mean the game one in the root folder, the one in Update folder, the one in the update.rpf archive, and the ones in your Mods folder - probably missing some, didn't count.
Dlc is one other issue. I understand dlc_patch takes precedence over dlcpacks (talking game files) but how much duplication is there?
Same question regarding common.rpf vs game update.rpf. These two archives seem fairly duplicated except for dlc_patch and an X64 folder only found in update.rpf. The size difference is important.
Anyway going to research this a little when I have the time and post back if I find anything interesting.