Dragon UnPACKer / News: Recent posts

Time for a long due version of Dragon UnPACKer (an "unstable" one but nonetheless): 5.7.0 Beta!

So what's new?

• Bug fixes, LOTS of memory leaks fixed...
• Performance enhancements everywhere
• New theme feature (currently ugly...)
• Added support for Aliens vs. Predator (2010) .ASR file format.
• Added support for Star Wars Starfighter .PAK file format.
• Added support for The 7th Guest .GJD file format.
• Added Ghostbusters: The Video Game conversion ability for .TEX to .DDS/.BMP/.PNG/.TGA
• Look at the change log to know the details about what is new!... read more

This version brings many changes, but mostly behind the scenes one (for end users you won't see much of a difference).

I haven't tested much this time, so don't hesitate to contact me if something is wrong! :-)

What's in this new version:

• No more HyperRipper plugins (the only plugin ever created was merged in the main program)
• Cleaned the code and added a lot of exception catching where due.
• Removed use of JCL & JVCL as much as possible (now using standard VCL).

Plus many small fixes and enhancements I don't remember in detail.

Want to test it? Go grab it there:
http://www.elberethzone.net/dup-download.html

Aftermore 5 months without much work on Dragon UnPACKer, I decided the small bug fixes I made here & there deserved a small update, so here is 5.4.0a!

Look at the change log to know the details about what is new (nothing terrific)!

Download:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=108923&package_id=117643&release_id=677974

Additionnaly a new version of Duppi was released today, it brings many optimization which should make the user life a little better.... read more

Aftermore than 2 years (and 4 unstable releases), here comes stable version 5.4.0 !

HypeRipper 5.5d: Much faster and reliable than previous version!
Preview of images and textures.
Many bug fixes and usability enhancements.

New games file formats supported:
Ascendency .COB
Act of War .DAT
AGON .SFL
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay .XTC and .XWC
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion .BSA
Enclave .XTC and .XWC
Entropia Universe .BNT
F-22 Air Dominance Fighter .DAT (partial support)
Florensia .PAK
Sinking Island/L'Ile Noyée .OPK
Super EF2000 .DAT (partial support)
UFO: Aftermath, UFO: Aftershock and UFO: Afterlight .VFS .PAK (very basic support) ... read more

Here is the preview feature! Finally!! Version 5 is getting really close to be on par with the features of version 4.

I tested it as much as I could, it was working very fine (and fast) but I will let you judge! :-)

What's in this new version:

• Preview feature
• Added support for AGON series .SFL (without folders, I will try to figure out how they work) thanks to XentaX Wiki.
• Fixed HyperRipper bug (missing some entries) --> Thanks to Psych0phobiA for the patch.
• Added Truevision Targa TGA support to HyperRipper --> Thanks to Psych0phobiA for the patch.... read more

Dragon UnPACKer is a game archive (Quake PAK, etc..) unpacking tool. It is plugin based making easier to add new archive file formats. It has convert ability and raw search function for known material (audio, video and pictures).

I fixed a bunch of errors in the HyperRipper and further increased the speed. I also added some features/options that were present in Dragon UnPACKer 4 but were missing yet in v5 (See Association & Advanced options).... read more

My domain elberethzone.net is moving hosts and (of course) I made a mistake with the nameservers so there might be a few hours to 72h unavailability of the website. Sorry for that. Everything is corrected now so it will be back soon.

During this week, I fixed some nasty bugs in the HyperRipper so I thought it was time for a release.

Next version will have new features, this one was for bug fixing. ;)

Back from the graveyard is Dragon UnPACKer! :p

Wow 1 year more since my last news and you know what? I just felt like coding again Dragon UnPACKer 3 days ago. You guessed correctly that was 2 years without coding for it.

I must say it was fun coding all sunday, yesterday after work and today! :)

Looking at my code after so much time showed me some huge mistakes in what I wanted to do. That lead to fixes to Duppi (the package installer), Dpackc (the package maker) and more importantly for everybody the HyperRipper.... read more

Well, you have noticed it is already one year now without any version of Dragon UnPACKer released? The fact is: I don't even have looked at the code since last release.

I am just not interested anymore in programming Dragon UnPACKer, it was fun doing it, but not anymore. I prefer to spend time with my wife. :p

This is not a final "end", I might someday work again on Dragon UnPACKer, who knows (time permitting). If someone wants to continue the project, or maybe create a new project based on current sources, do it. I would be glad to help with the source if needed.... read more

Hi! Happy new year to everybody!

Here is a fix for a bug I introduced in 5.2.0a and also missing translation keyword OPT203 (in the drivers plugin option screen) :
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=108923&package_id=117643&release_id=389411

Again this is a very minor release. :)

Regards,
Alexandre

Just a small release! Read the release notes for more info.

Finally version 5.2.0 got released! Look at the release notes & change log to know what is new!

Sorry for the 24h delay but it was awfully difficult to upload the files from here.

Added support for:

• LEGO Star Wars .DAT (only SFX.DAT afaik)
• The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth .BIG (which are almost identical formats of the already supported Command & Conquer: Generals .BIG files)

Version 5.2.0 is ready, release tag "rel-52040-cinthia" was created on CVS for it. The source tarball is already uploaded (not yet visible). Everything is compiled, I still need to update documentation. Should be done in the next hours.... read more

As the subject suggest:

• Added support to The Movies .PAK files
• Added support to F.E.A.R. .ARCH00 files

I have still 2 or 3 games to check before release! :) But I am already happy with the new games for 5.2.0.

Check CVS if you don't want to wait.

I added support for Civilization 4 .FPK files (actually there is only one file like that in the game afaik).

Still more games to come before a release of 5.2.0. If needed the driver is on CVS, it should work correctly with 5.1.2 WIP.

I added support for the following files (in drv_default):

• Age of Empires 3 .BAR
• Black & White 2 .STUFF & .LUG
• Fable: The Lost Chapter .LUG
• The Movies .LUG
  (And probably any other game using Lionhead game engine since Black & White)

The driver is on CVS is needed, I am still planning to add some more games before releasing v5.2.0.

Well here we are, v5.2.0 works fine, everything I was planning is done. I will be holding the release until I had some games support to newly released games (well during that 9 months of inactivity from me).

Current stable release is on the HEAD branch of CVS if needed.

In worst case scenario I would release 5.2.0 for Christmas.

Hi everybody! :)

I was amazed yesterday, you know why? Because I started Delphi and fixed some stuff here and there in Dragon UnPACKer. And I actually loved it. It was a long time since I was happy doing that. Might not be the end of the story after all.

Well, I fixed a small bug, updated all libraries, merged 5.1 branch to the HEAD one, changed version number to 5.2, updated the UT driver plugin to DUDI v4 (speedy conversion), etc...... read more

Hi if anybody read this.

Sorry, but I have lost any will to work on Dragon UnPACKer.

To be direct, for me it achieved the status I wanted to reach went I started almost 10 years ago.

I will try to release 5.2.0 that will most likely be the last stable version from me. If someone is willing to continue, go ahead, that's why I made it open source in the first place.

Well, cya!

EDIT: Fixed awful english mistakes...

If you are a game modder or programer, be sure to check http://wiki.xentax.com/ a collective work (XeNTaX, WATTO and myself to start) of game file formats specifications.

This is a Wiki so if you are willing to help you are more than welcome.

As promised.. here is a new version of Dragon UnPACKer WIP.
Consider this version as a release candidate for v5.2.
Still need some work but it is almost done.

Most noticeable feature is ability to search in more than 2GB files and everything is now linked for the new faster convertion method.

You can get binary (as setup or 7z archive) and source file there :
https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=108923&package_id=127752&release_id=315908

Please test and report any bug you may encounter in this release!

Hi from Brussels!

I have dropped Delphi 9 which was super slow on my laptop (512MB of RAM P4-M 1.7ghz). Back to Delphi 7.

Now I am working on a bug in the convert plugin.

So the TO DO list for v5.2.0:

• I am planning to look at the 3 open bugs that I should be able to correct (but the Cyberbikes one seems difficult to me).
• Work on the Default Driver plugin v2.0.0 (merging support of files of v1.x branch).... read more

Hi there!

I just switched reallife jobs this week. I will be traveling a lot now. But the good thing is : I've got a laptop! :-P What good is that you might say ? Well I installed Delphi 9 on that computer and the CVS stuff. So everything is ready for me to code Dragon UnPACKer during my trips! :-)

By the way... v5.1.2 WIP will be released as soon as I get everything working with Delphi 9 (which is not as easy as it sounds). The program will hopefully still be compatible with older versions of Delphi. Anyway I am thinking in trying Lazarus/Freepascal for Dragon UnPACKer. I may do that when VirtualTreeview is ported completely to that platform.... read more

Hi! Merry Christmas and Happy New year to everyone!

I have been very busy lately... I haven't touched Dragon UnPACKer code for months now. The version 5.1.2 WIP is almost ready (but I need to check where I left things). To be honest I lost some interest in working on it, but it is not dead.. I work like this.. sometimes I work non-stop on Dragon UnPACKer for some days and then I don't touch it anymore for months.... read more