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Left4Dead *.vpk Extraction Tools Test

Thursday, November 13th, 2008

Here are some test binaries for extracting data from the *.vpk packages recently seen in the Left4Dead demo. Edit: See this newer post for a newer build of tools.

To use:

Extract the *.dll and *.exe files to a directory, it doesn’t matter where.
Click + dragdrop a _dir.vpk file onto Gibbed.Valve.ExtractPackage.exe.
Files will be extracted to the directory the file you dragged is in, or the current directory if you invoke ExtractPackage in a console window.

I will probably get around to making a tool with a UI, but for now, this works. Source will also be provided pretty soon.

If any of you encounter any bugs please leave a comment here with information. This tool was tested with the most recent version of the Left4Dead demo, and may break with the full game files once it is out.

Tags: File Formats, Hacking, Tools
Posted in Left 4 Dead, Steam, Valve | 4 Comments »

Steam Achievement Manager 4.0

Monday, November 10th, 2008

With a recent update to Steam, Steam Achievement Manager was broken again due to a change in the Steam API which requires a valid application ID in order to initialize the API. I’ve redone Steam Achievement Manager from scratch (well, reusing the older code in a new project) to reorganize it into a functional state again. There’s been a good amount of changes since 3.1, that include, but not limited to:

The game picker now downloads a list of games that have achievements from my site which allows me to update the list of games without having to release a new version.
The game picker downloads game logo images from the Steam website, and it looks pretty snazzy.
It’s been broken up into two executables, SAM.Picker.exe and SAM.Game.exe, Picker is what lists and allows you to select a game, when a game is selected (double-clicked), it launches Game which allows you to alter the state of your achievements.