unfBig v1.42 - Big Extractor/Creator & Lua Decompiler

[unfunf]

I've seen a lot of big file extractors around and did not really like any of them. The best one I came around was BigX and it had dependencies (due to it being a visual basic executable) that gave some users problems, as well as limited funcionality.

I decided to go ahead and program a fully functional big extractor that allows the user to extract the contents of multiple big files into a folder by that big's name in the directory of unfBig.exe.

This is a very quick compilation so I am not sure if there are any bugs; however, I was able to extract both FSNA.big and PDS.big at the same time without any problems.

Paths are not a problem and you can extract the program anywhere as long as it is coupled with Archive.exe in the same folder (I included Archive.exe in the .rar).

Added a log, crappy one heh.

Any comments or suggestions for improvement / bug reports are welcomed.

Enjoy: http://www.unfunf.game-deception.com...ams/unfBig.rar

[Sumillius]

Well a big improvement, in my opinion, would be the addition of a good working lua decompiler that automaticly decompiles the extracted files...

[unfunf]

Alrighty, ill get started on that later today. Thanks for the suggestion.

[unfunf]

LuaDC really needs a recursive decomile feature so i dont have to manually recursively compile multiple filetypes in children drives. Quite bothersome. Anyway, only have had 5 mins to work on it so far but i should be done pretty soon, though im about to leave.

[unfunf]

Anyway, new version released. I included the *option* to LuaDC the extracted contents of a big file(s) (just selected the name(s) from the listbox in unfBig and hit LuaDC or go to File->LuaDC). The reason I made it an option and not an automatic feature is because it takes quite a bit of time to decompile all the lua compiled (.wepn, .ship, bunch of others) in a big mod, and some mods may already have all the lua stuff decompiled, so it would be a waste of time to rerun the program.

I have not tested luadc with multple mod folders at one time; however, code wise, everything should work fine.

[Deathblow]

this is nice. haven't had a chance to use it yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

[unfunf]

I am in the process of making as more efficient way of decompiling all lua compiled files in a big files extracted contents; however, it's reasonably complex so it will take another 30 minutes or so. When I am done I shall release a revised version.

[unfunf]

Alrighty, released the new version. It should decompile the lua compiled files (any lua compiled file format from .lua to .events) quite quickly now. I made a pretty interesting search routine for it in my code.

Anyway, the link in the first post has been updated.

[unfunf]

Well I assume its working well since there have been no bug complaints and such and plenty of views. I have been considering adding a data -> .big file maker as well and I may go ahead and do that sometime over the weekend. If there are any other features anyone wishes to suggest be my guest.

[unfunf]

Alrighty, added a Create BigFile function. Releasing version 1.3. Tell me what you all think.

[raptorx]

Wow unfunf. Thanks for making this tool. First extractor I've found that actually worked the first time.

Thanks again.

[unfunf]

That was the idea, heh. Anyhoo, no problem. I will be happy to add other features people come up with.

[raptorx]

Is there a way to specify the output directory when extracting a .big file?

[unfunf]

No, I did not think that was necessary so I just had it extract to the folder of the program. If you wish to choose a directory I can do that in another version.

[unfunf]

Alrighty. I released v 1.4 which is basically just two tiny fixes and one additional feature.
I was thinking about adding output directory selection but it makes no sense to me because it would prompt you for each big file, and if you are doing 5 big files at once (which is sort of how this program is intended to work) then it woulget in the way. If a lot of people want the feature then I guess I can add it.
What I did do is add a 'main output directory' function which is saved in an ini file.

[unfunf]

Do not download the current release just yet I accidently only updated part of the code. One moment please.

[unfunf]

Alrighty the tiny error was fixed, the file can be downloaded now and should work 100%

[raptorx]

Thanks unfunf

[Locutus]

Thank you very much, now I don't have to figure out how to use LuaDC

Note: There is an "edit" button on this forum.

[unfunf]

I realize that; however, I only use the edit button when correcting mistakes as that is what I consider 'edit' to be for. I've never been bothered about it, and I am a senior mod of quite a large forum, so I am pretty well aware of forum rules. If it is considered a type of spam in this forum I will use edit in a more general fashion.

[Locutus]

I will forgive you any amount of spam in return for that rather sweet program of yours, but yes, generally for something like this the first post is edited many times to include updates and stuff.

Could you add a button to do both functions at once too please? I realize it takes longer, but then I can just let it run for a while rather then having to go back part way into the process.

Thanks a lot for adding the .big compile feature, couldn't get the relic mod packager to work, now I don't have to run PDS decompiled any more. (Custom tweaks to beta 11 mean I can't use the generic .big version)

[unfunf]

Hmm... Ill see what I can do with that. I think Ill have just the right way to make everyone happy with the luadc feature... Ill release an updated version in a few minutes.

*EDIT* Releasing, replying in order to inform users of new release.

[unfunf]

Version 1.41 has been released. It's only a sub release as I simply changed how the user interfaces with the luadc option. Now all someone must do is select the big file(s) they want to extract and check off the LuaDC menu option in the File menu.

[unfunf]

due to VB runtime requirement in LuaDC program I am including the file mscp70.dll in the rar file now. If you have a runtime problem due to that file not existing just redownload the rar and extract again, the dll file will be included.

[adamstrange]

Ok, How do you get it to create a BIG file?

[unfunf]

Simply click the Open Folder button (top right), select your mod data folder, and click Create Big File(s) button. It will output the big file to whatever output directory you chose, the default being the program's directory.

[triplenickle]

this is just one of the errors i keep getting, wish I could get the thing to work im pretty sure its something i did not your program LOL

ERROR: Failed To Initialize Archive
Invalid switch - /Q

along with archive has caused an error in MSVCR70

[unfunf]

Oh... thought i fixed the MSVCR crap, hmm... But yeah the /Q thing is due to an incompatibility with your OS... What os are you on?

[DeathWish]

I haven't tried it yet though I think I will soon (will be quite handy for packing up mods I don't want to play at the moment but will want to later without having to mix em all, keep RW seperate from the rest of my stuff, etc). It does remind me of a program I'd been thinking of writing though and it may not be a big change to what you've got going here already; a mod patcher! select big file, select data files, click update, or select source big file, select destination big file, click update. This could also be used for merging multiple big files *shrugs* sort of a mod manager if you will. Does that sound doable? hmmmmm...

[triplenickle]

Im using ME LOL I happen to like it, the last time I loaded XP on half of my software wouldnt work. Thanks for the reply.

[unfunf]

Yeah, I don't think me accepts /Q in cmd.exe not sure though.

[triplenickle]

your right about that, Im wondering if the /p command can be used. the verfiy each file Del.

[DeathWish]

is there a readme anywhere on how to use this? I opened my data folder and told it to create a big file and nothing happened. A little dos box popped up and vanished before could read it. Any ideas? A log output would also be nice.

[Unbekannte]

Hm. I have first extracted the English.big file, and then just repacked it, to see if it works or not. It dosen't works. I can send you the English.big, if you want.

[PsionicArchon]

finaly I cant tell you how frustrating it was to find one of these thanks

[angelfallen]

:blink: Hey i am new at this i have the .rar file from unfunf but what program do i use it with? :argh:

[Unbekannte]

What is the name of that rar file?

[angelfallen]

unfbig.rar

[angelfallen]

i am just tryin to add the pru update but they are vauge on how to acomplish this

[Unbekannte]

I dont really understand, what are you want to do. Do you want to open the rar file? Use winzip, or winrar, they can be freely downloaded.

[angelfallen]

i thought i was dloading a program to upack the pds.big file when i got the .rar i got confused.

[Unbekannte]

???

You got a rar file, named Unfbig.rar? Well, unzip it, then install the program. With that, you can unpack big files.

[Zatch]

unfbig.rar is an archive containing the files necessary to extract things from pds.big (and all supported *.big files, for that matter...) WinZIP, WinRAR, WinACE will all work, as Unbekannte suggested.

[Homdax]

Unfunf:

How would You go about to creat a .bat file command syntax to do this:

1. Unpack [previously specified] big file
2. Copy/overwrite data\folder contents with new, given content, even partial
3. Repack big file overwriting previous, same name.
4. Delete previously unpacked data\folder contents

The copy is easy, the tricky part where I need help is a command line syntax for unfBig.
The procedure decribed is a "patch" procedure, updating an existing big-file with new data\content, even partial. Relevant for all HW2 Mods in BIG format that undergoes updating by the Modders.

For more info about WHY this is wanted see my thread here:
http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?t=60985

[unfunf]

Death: A log output would be nice... but I am pretty sure the program is bug free and the only errors I have seen have been user errors. The error you experiened was because you did not chose your input / output folder correctly.

Tell me your data folder path, conents, and where you selected your output, and I can tell you what was wrong.

Unbek: English.big works fine for me I just tried what you did. It's possible there was some file corruption or you stopped the dos console before it finished.

HomeAGAIN: Look at hwtiki or whatever that site was called. All I needed to know about archive.exe commands I found from that site.

[Homdax]

Thanks

BTW. Yesterday had probs with this.
Path: D:\Games\Homeworld 2\data\pds5

Tried to extract the pds5 to that mentioned directory.
Could it be the space in "Homeworld 2" path?

Will try again.
I am hosting Your utility, see Downloads at the link in my sig.

BTW2. ThoughtProcess has an old version at his site: http://hw2.tproc.org/wiki/ThoughtProcess

[unfunf]

It should not have problems with spaces in path names, as I designed it to convert all paths into short paths to avoid that problem. I am not sure why it is doing that... I will make a new version soon that will just include a status screen taking you through each step. That way you can report exactly what the error is to me and I can figure out why that error occurs.

[unfunf]

Is there anything else anyone wants added to this or a suggestion? I can recode it in asm/cpp, i can add anything, I'd love to keep this project open so any suggestions are welcome.

[ITCHYfiend]

Everything wokrs great except......

The dang thing Cant take the extracted files and make them back into a big file after ive edited them (i edited PDS5 mod unit caps) i dont know all tyhe fancy names and what not bla bla bla, but isnt it supposed to do tha?t :dolt:

if not could u tell me how to do that/what mgiht be wrong,

i put the decompiled files in one folder and then selected that folder in the window, i then slected make .Big file and it opens for a second and then closes producing no .big file

[Deathblow]

hm..... something to add........ *scratches chin*

honestly, I really can't think of anything. Works ideally, easy to use, LuaDC works great. perhaps an idea will pop up laters.

on a side note, I did notice a slight bug in the LuaDC. Ran unfBig from my "My Documents" folder, the LuaDC could not find the files to decompile. Moved the unfBig to my C:\ drive and ran it from there and worked like a charm. Wasn't a big problem, just something I noticed.