Problem building exult

[Walter Gress]

Ok. I found expect, but its only available for Windows?

So, using Windows, what is the syntax for expack to unpack a VGA file?

[Dominus]

No, you have the source and when you build Exult expack gets built as well as it is used for making the flx files. And the syntax is shown in the readme, vga files are flx files...

[Walter Gress]

OK..right. So there is no way to actually extract the individual image files in a format like .tga or .bmp etc.

[Dominus]

No, only in the original format shp which you can then use in gimp (if you compile the shp plugin).
It's easier to use export to png in exult studio for those files that you actually want.

[Dominus]

To elaborate a bit:
Flx or vga files of U7 are merely containers which can hold different kind of files (in the case of our flx files, waves, shapes, text files).
The vga files contain shape files which are the format of the U7 graphics. Shape files can have different frames (which are actually different graphics in one graphics file).
Expack is just there for managing the containers, making or extracting them.

A tool that would extract the shapes in different graphics formats would require much more work than it would be worth for using. Because you would need to extract the shapes and then the frames and then save them in a way that makes sense.
But since we have Exult Studio that can save frames to png or whole shapes with all the frames, and also a Gimp plugin that allows direct working with shapes, you can already do everything and much more precise than extracting everything...

[Walter Gress]

Ok. Is there documentation on expect anywhere?

Also you say that with Exult Studio you can save frames to png or whole shapes with all the frames how do you do so? I noticed that I can save individual images to png, but I"d like to dump the entire VGA block of shape files into a bunch of shape files do edit in GIMP? Possible? Yes,no?

[Walter Gress]

Ok. Say I want to take Exult Studio and extract the shape files out of the VGA files. Not one at a time, but all of them at once. Is that an option or do I have to export them one by one as png files in Exult Studio,

[Walter Gress]

So the frames contain the shape files which make up the animations?

[Dominus]

The shape files contain the frames that make up the animations. If you want to dump all shapes of a vga file at once, use expack. It dumps the contents of a flx file, in the case of a vfa flx file, it dumps shape files (as per the documentation of expack it dumps u7o files which you need to rename to shp).
The documentation of expack is both in the source and in the Exult Studio docs that I linked two days ago.

[Walter Gress]

Ok. Expect is dumping vgas from the flx. But its not dumping shapes from the vgas??

[Dominus]

Seriously now. Are you trolling me? It seems either that or you are not reading what I post, what I link to nor are you looking in the source for solutions.
In this case: reread my last post.

[Walter Gress]

NO I'm not trolling you. Seriously, I just don't understand how this is arranged.

You said:
"in the case of a vfa flx file, it dumps shape files (as per the documentation of expack it dumps u7o files which you need to rename to php)."

That is what I am trying to do but when I use expack on a via fax file it does nothing.I don't see what is so ridiculous about that question.It doesn't dump any u7o files.

[Dominus]

That is what I am trying to do but when I use expack on a via fax file it does nothing.I don't see what is so ridiculous about that question.It doesn't dump any u7o files.

Please copy/paste what it is you are doing in terminal and what the output is. Btw. I advise you to copy the vga files into an empty folder first or you fill your static folder with u7o files...
Just tried and expack is dumping all shapes from shapes.vga for me.

Ridiculous seemed to me:
me:

If you want to dump all shapes of a vga file at once, use expack. It dumps the contents of a flx file, in the case of a vga flx file, it dumps shape files (as per the documentation of expack it dumps u7o files which you need to rename to shp).

you:

Expect is dumping vgas from the flx. But its not dumping shapes from the vgas??

This sounds not as if it doesn't work for you, it seemed as if you thought that you can dump vga files from flx files but not shapes from vga files.
SO I thought you must be trolling me when you write this right after I wrote that vga files ARE flx files and shapes are dumped from vga files...

[Walter Gress]

If you want to dump all shapes of a vga file at once, use expack.

So, trying to use expack on a vga file:


PS C:\Program Files (x86)\Exult\data\sprites vga> expack -x sprites.vga
PS C:\Program Files (x86)\Exult\data\sprites vga> dir


Directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\Exult\data\sprites vga


Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
-a--- 3/22/2016 11:37 AM 218 sprites.vga


PS C:\Program Files (x86)\Exult\data\sprites vga>

[marzo]

sprites.vga is 282054 bytes in BG/FoV, 985714 bytes in SI and 1076426 bytes in SS. In contrast:

Code: Select all

$ mkdir /tmp/sprites_vga
$ cd /tmp/sprites_vga/
$ cp /usr/local/share/exult/forgeofvirtue/static/sprites.vga .
$ ls
sprites.vga -l
-rw-r--r-- 1 marzojr marzojr 282054 Apr  9 12:41 sprites.vga
$ expack -x sprites.vga 
$ ls -l
total 608
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr   1098 Apr  9 12:41 00000.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr  45118 Apr  9 12:41 00001.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr   6468 Apr  9 12:41 00002.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr  28346 Apr  9 12:41 00003.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr  36995 Apr  9 12:41 00004.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr  13093 Apr  9 12:41 00005.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr    144 Apr  9 12:41 00006.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr  15612 Apr  9 12:41 00007.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr  23386 Apr  9 12:41 00008.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr   1146 Apr  9 12:41 00009.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr  21524 Apr  9 12:41 00010.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr    502 Apr  9 12:41 00011.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr   9849 Apr  9 12:41 00012.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr   2925 Apr  9 12:41 00013.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr    316 Apr  9 12:41 00014.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr  13198 Apr  9 12:41 00015.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr    631 Apr  9 12:41 00016.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr  18558 Apr  9 12:41 00017.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr   2522 Apr  9 12:41 00018.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr   4024 Apr  9 12:41 00019.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr      0 Apr  9 12:41 00020.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr   1404 Apr  9 12:41 00021.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr  25553 Apr  9 12:41 00022.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr   7267 Apr  9 12:41 00023.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr   2007 Apr  9 12:41 00024.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr      0 Apr  9 12:41 00025.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr      0 Apr  9 12:41 00026.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr      0 Apr  9 12:41 00027.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr      0 Apr  9 12:41 00028.u7o
-rw-rw-r-- 1 marzojr marzojr      0 Apr  9 12:41 00029.u7o
-rw-r--r-- 1 marzojr marzojr 282054 Apr  9 12:41 sprites.vga

[Dominus]

Walter, stick to OS X terminal or in Windows don't use a subfolder of the Program Files folder. Unless you operate with admin rights you cannot write there. Things you write go in some subfolder of your user folder, that's why the files aren't there.

[Walter Gress]

Ok. Got it extracting the shop files. Need a palette though.Dominus, where is that stored?

[Malignant Manor]

For the GIMP plugin? Just cancel and it will use the default palette.