Dolphin, the GameCube and Wii emulator - Forums

So I'm looking to shrink my NGC and Wii collection. I'm not looking for archive quality compression more so compression ratio, looking for what is the best method for removing dummy files and padding and compares games down while still keeping games playable. For NGC I settled on original ISO > GameCube ISO Tool > Dolphin's built in compressor. I have heard stories that some games don't run right after being trimmed like animal crossing (but then again I can't seem to find any sources to prove that is a thing besides what I've read on an emulation wiki). Any suggestions that might work better for NGC or Wii?

If your primary use is just Dolphin, I would settle with GCZ for the best results. For Wii games, Dolphin's built-in compression will scrap all unused contents before creating the GCZ file, but for GC games the random padding data will still be present and thus the savings will be small. A third option (and that's what I personally do) is using Wiimms ISO Tools to compress the ISOs into GCZ, that way you'll get the smallest size possible regardless if the input file is a GC or Wii ISO and still guarantee 100% compatibility with Dolphin...