diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6bf060c47..f3d39d296 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -32,6 +32,9 @@ yarn.lock
 ## windows
 desktop.ini
 
+## OSX
+.DS_Store
+
 ## parcel
 .parcel-cache/
 
diff --git a/project/package.json b/project/package.json
index feaa7d500..9e749eece 100644
--- a/project/package.json
+++ b/project/package.json
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
         "node": "20.11.1"
     },
     "scripts": {
+        "postinstall": "node scripts/fix-7za-permissions.js",
         "check:circular": "madge --circular --ts-config tsconfig.json --extensions ts ./src/",
         "lint": "npx @biomejs/biome lint ./",
         "lint:fix": "npx @biomejs/biome lint --write ./",
@@ -31,7 +32,9 @@
         "gen:types": "tsc -p tsconfig.typedef.json --resolveJsonModule",
         "gen:docs": "typedoc --options ./typedoc.json --entryPointStrategy expand ./src",
         "gen:items": "ts-node -r tsconfig-paths/register ./src/tools/ItemTplGenerator/ItemTplGeneratorProgram.ts",
-        "gen:productionquests": "ts-node -r tsconfig-paths/register ./src/tools/ProductionQuestsGen/ProductionQuestsGenProgram.ts"
+        "gen:productionquests": "ts-node -r tsconfig-paths/register ./src/tools/ProductionQuestsGen/ProductionQuestsGenProgram.ts",
+        "database:compress": "node scripts/databaseCompress.js",
+        "database:decompress": "node scripts/databaseDecompress.js"
     },
     "dependencies": {
         "atomically": "~1.7",
@@ -68,6 +71,7 @@
         "@vitest/ui": "~2",
         "@yao-pkg/pkg": "5.12",
         "@yao-pkg/pkg-fetch": "3.5.9",
+        "7zip-bin": "^5.2.0",
         "cross-env": "~7.0",
         "fs-extra": "~11.2",
         "gulp": "~5.0",
@@ -77,11 +81,11 @@
         "gulp-rename": "~2.0",
         "madge": "~7",
         "minimist": "~1.2",
+        "node-7z": "^3.0.0",
         "resedit": "~2.0",
         "ts-node-dev": "~2.0",
         "tsconfig-paths": "~4.2",
-        "typedoc": "~0.26",
-        "typemoq": "~2.1"
+        "typedoc": "~0.26"
     },
     "targets": {
         "default": {
diff --git a/project/scripts/databaseCompress.js b/project/scripts/databaseCompress.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..80b3b0a50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/project/scripts/databaseCompress.js
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+// This script compresses the locations database into a 7z archive.
+
+const Seven = require("node-7z");
+const path = require("node:path");
+const { path7za } = require("7zip-bin");
+
+const archivePath = path.resolve(__dirname, "../assets/compressed/locations.7z");
+const locationsDir = path.resolve(__dirname, "../assets/database/locations/*");
+
+let hadError = false;
+
+console.log(archivePath);
+console.log(locationsDir);
+
+const myStream = Seven.add(archivePath, locationsDir, {
+    recursive: true,
+    $bin: path7za,
+    method: ["0=LZMA2"],
+    compressionLevel: 9,
+});
+
+myStream.on("end", () => {
+    if (!hadError) {
+        console.log("Compression completed successfully.");
+    }
+});
+
+myStream.on("error", (err) => {
+    hadError = true;
+    console.error(`Error compressing locations: ${err}`);
+});
diff --git a/project/scripts/databaseDecompress.js b/project/scripts/databaseDecompress.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..695bcb1e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/project/scripts/databaseDecompress.js
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+// This script removes the contents of the locations directory and then decompresses
+// the locations database from a 7z archive.
+
+const Seven = require("node-7z");
+const path = require("node:path");
+const fs = require("fs-extra");
+const { path7za } = require("7zip-bin");
+
+const archivePath = path.resolve(__dirname, "../assets/compressed/locations.7z");
+const databaseDir = path.resolve(__dirname, "../assets/database/locations");
+
+(async () => {
+    try {
+        const archiveExists = await fs.pathExists(archivePath);
+        if (!archiveExists) {
+            console.error("Error: Archive file does not exist:", archivePath);
+            process.exit(1);
+        }
+
+        const locationsDir = path.join(databaseDir, "locations");
+        if (await fs.pathExists(locationsDir)) {
+            await fs.remove(locationsDir);
+            console.log("Existing locations directory removed.");
+        }
+
+        let hadError = false;
+
+        const myStream = Seven.extractFull(archivePath, databaseDir, {
+            $bin: path7za,
+            overwrite: "a",
+        });
+
+        myStream.on("end", () => {
+            if (!hadError) {
+                console.log("Decompression completed successfully.");
+            }
+        });
+
+        myStream.on("error", (err) => {
+            hadError = true;
+            console.error(`Error decompressing locations: ${err}`);
+        });
+    } catch (err) {
+        console.error(`Error during decompression: ${err}`);
+        process.exit(1);
+    }
+})();
diff --git a/project/scripts/fix-7za-permissions.js b/project/scripts/fix-7za-permissions.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e166bbc90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/project/scripts/fix-7za-permissions.js
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+// This script sets the execute permission on the 7za binary if you're on macOS or Linux.
+
+const fs = require("node:fs");
+const path = require("node:path");
+const os = require("node:os");
+
+const platform = os.platform();
+const arch = os.arch();
+
+let sevenZipPath;
+
+if (platform === "darwin") {
+    // macOS
+    sevenZipPath = path.join(__dirname, "..", "node_modules", "7zip-bin", "mac", arch, "7za");
+} else if (platform === "linux") {
+    // Linux
+    sevenZipPath = path.join(__dirname, "..", "node_modules", "7zip-bin", "linux", arch, "7za");
+} else {
+    // Windows (or other)
+    process.exit(0);
+}
+
+fs.chmod(sevenZipPath, 0o755, (err) => {
+    if (err) {
+        console.error("Failed to set execute permission on 7za:", err);
+        process.exit(1);
+    } else {
+        console.log("Execute permission set on 7za.");
+    }
+});