Again, thanks for your input there marmot

In the end, though, the simpliest options are often the best. IO::Compress::Zip is probably the easiest to use for what I need. It appears that my intended audience have the right tools to deal with Zip64 files(always a good thing to do the research in the first place, instead of heading into tangent land).

So, on that note, I am assuming that this is case closed! Thanks to everyone who gave me their input!

hoffy