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New Version Of My Vfs-tool


flux

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For those who don't know the old one, here's what's old and still in:

Browse archive contents (no GUI, but UI) (i'm a poet...:rolleyes:)

Export (single files, whole folders, all)

Import (expanded, see below)

Update checksum

 

What's new:

Import now supports adding files/folders (instead of replacing single files)

Deleting files/folders

Create new archive

Defrag

 

There is also a somewhat lame, but useful backup-mode (can be activated/deactivated), that will simply export files to a backup folder when they are going to be overwritten by an import. It keeps track of all backupped (and all added) files in a logfile, so it won't backup the same file more than once. If you then use the restore function, it will delete all added contents and restore backupped files by just importing the backup folder.

 

Mail me if you see any bugs.

 

Edit: The 0.2a version in the mods section is the old one - i just mailed the new 1.0b.

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It's been added to the mods section here. But I have a question.

 

It is great that you and sigget are making these fine modding tools. But why are you not working together? I am sure you could make better tools if you worked together. Now you are "inventing powder" all over again both of you. You add more or less the same features to your tools, and none of them have a GUI. Your UI is better then nothing, but it still seems somewhat ridicules to make two versions of the same tool.

 

So here's what I would like to see: You and sigget working together on a tool if you have skills in similar programming languages, so that it would be possible. And to make the tool even better, Fulby should join your team and add his plugin engine to the tools (and if Binman and/or HydroNom would add the savegame editor as well, it would be more or less perfect! :rolleyes:) This would make for a great tool I believe! So, what do you, sigget and Fulby think?

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I would like to contribute to sth like this, it was my first thougt when i saw sigget's tool released. But as things are, that seemed unlikely to me. The reason is i only know Perl (useless here) and have basic knowledge in C (not C++). About compiling stuff - well, i know how to compile an exe, but that's about the only thing i know.

Working together would require us to use the same language, make specific agreements on the functions that one creates (so that the others can tailor their contributions to correctly use it) and how the tool should be structured. Testing would be somewhat more difficult as you need to be in contact all the time, etc.

This might all be viable if we were talking about a bigger project here, and there were much more things still to do and to combine in a possible uber-tool. Currently i don't see any essential functions lacking for modders, except for a GUI (i have no possibility to contribute to this) and the nice plugin concept from Fulby.

 

I had begun working on my tool maybe 2+ weeks before the first import-tool (sigget's) was aviable, and it was more for getting some practice in C. I got hooked to it as i made progress, and wanted to finish it (as i had already invested so much time in it) to a tool that would actually be useful to me, which i have more or less done with this version (at least feature-wise). I don't plan on going any further with it ATM - in fact i already dedicated much more time to it than was healthy for my real life :rolleyes:

 

A combination with sigget's tool doesn't seem possible (now that would be reinventing the wheel two times), and for Fulby's plugin-creator - well, sigget is much more experienced in this stuff.

 

About reinventing the wheel: If i had any knowledge to share about the VFS format, i would do that, but i haven't found anything that would be new now. The rest is only programming, and as i said things look incompatible here...

 

Sigget is doing a nice job and i think he will go much further. If i see anything where i might contribute something useful, i would love to do so (if you have anything for me, post me!). Well, i hear your words - i think i will go introduce myself at the modder's index now.

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It is great that you and sigget are making these fine modding tools. But why are you not working together? I am sure you could make better tools if you worked together. Now you are "inventing powder" all over again both of you. You add more or less the same features to your tools, and none of them have a GUI. Your UI is better then nothing, but it still seems somewhat ridicules to make two versions of the same tool.

Three versions if you include my somewhat limited VFSExtract tool which I just finished for ALPine :rolleyes: Huge thanks to sigget for publishing the documentation on the VFS format, I would have been completely lost without it.

 

I don't have much idea of what to contribute to the VFS programs, VFS Tool 1.2 does pretty much everything ALPine needs with VFSExtract used for exporting individual files. I think the question is maybe more what modders want in the way of tools/features, which would give tool creators a direction to go in.

 

Fulby

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I feel we've gone as far as we can in the current style of tools. What is needed is a more easily used gui-version. But i dont think i will ever complete the gui-tool ive been working on. It's going painfully slow and it's not the kind of programming im into. Instead i hope that someone else will continue on my work. Therefor i have decided to release my source code in the coming days. The source was designed to be modular since i wanted a library that i could use in my GUI-tool aswell as from my command line util. I never really considered the source mine to hold on to since the format belongs to altar and without the support from you guys on this forum and especially fnurg, it would never have been written. I hope this will be of value.

 

And to you guys developing savegame editors, prepare to extend your programs to adding stuff, not just simple editing. I would like to see a tool where i can design a complete savegame from scrath and then load it in the game.

 

// sigget

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