I tried the same thing with Gibbed tools Rev 96 to see if it worked for me and it also crashes before I reach the main menu screen. Unpacked the modded preload_anim.vpp_pc I use, repacked it right away without changing anything about it, renamed the newly packed file from preload_anim_packed.vpp_pc back to preload_anim.vpp_pc and kept a back-up of the one I originally used. Crashes with the newly packed one but works as usual with my original one. Maybe it's because those tools are kinda outdated even though the still work for the other mods I made for this game.