Modding Help Can i get help for unpacking .pak mod files?

Discussion in 'Starbound Modding' started by DellTheNovakid, Aug 18, 2019.

  1. DellTheNovakid

    DellTheNovakid Space Hobo

    Hello i'm having trouble unpacking these starbound mod .pak files i downloaded and i'm not sure how to unpack them. I have already tried modifying .bat files to extract them but it didn't work and i'm not the best coder or script maker either so any help or step by step pictures will be appreciated. Thanks :DD and sorry if my grammar is weird lol
     

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  2. Zaakari

    Zaakari Pangalactic Porcupine

    I am assuming you are on Windows 10.
    1. Press the start button (or the windows key).
    2. Type in powershell.
    3. Open powershell (not ISE).
    4. Type in the path to the asset unpacker (for example: "C:\GOG Games\Starbound\win64\asset_unpacker.exe").
    5. Press space, and type in the path to the pak file you want to unpack (for example: "C:\Users\you\Downloads\PortableMechDeployer.pak").
    6. Press space, and type in the path where you want the unpacked files to go (for example: "C:\Users\you\Documents\starbound\mods\portable_mech_deployer").
    7. Press enter.
    8. Wait for the program to finish.
    If you have purchased Starbound through Steam, then the path to the asset unpacker will be in Steam's folder somewhere (something like "Steam\steamapps\common\Starbound\win64\asset_unpacker.exe").

    Note: when typing in paths in powershell, you can press the "Tab" key to autocomplete directory and file names (speeds up typing).
     
  3. DellTheNovakid

    DellTheNovakid Space Hobo

    It didn't work all i got was this and i made sure i followed your steps please let me know if i did something wrong also is it mandatory to use win64? because i couldn't find an asset packer or asset unpacker it was only in win32
     

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    Last edited: Aug 19, 2019
  4. Zaakari

    Zaakari Pangalactic Porcupine

    No, the win32 asset unpacker should be fine as well.

    You are close. But because "Program Files (x86)" has spaces in it, the whole path needs to be enclosed in quotes (all three of the paths, actually). However, if you press the tab key to finish each directory/file name in each path, then it will put the quotes around the paths for you.

    For example:
    Code:
    c:\prog  ->  tab   ->   'C:\Program Files\'   ->  tab  ->   'C:\Program Files (x86)\'
    
    'C:\Program Files (x86)\Ste'    ->   tab   ->  'C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\'
    Using the tab key this way also makes sure that the paths are spelled correctly. For if you spell something wrong, tab won't be able to find the right file/directory names. In this case, backspace to a point you know is correct, and try pressing tab again.

    Also, when you finish the first and second paths, make sure you use the right arrow key to leave the ending quotation mark before you begin the next path.

    Here are some pictures for reference. In the first one, I have typed part of the path to the "GOG Games" directory.
    In the second one, I used the tab key to complete the path to that directory.
    In the third one, I have typed out the complete command, and executed it.
    Note: the powershell looks a bit different than yours, because I have modified its colours. Also, I blanked out my username where it occurred.
    powershell_example_01.png powershell_example_02.png powershell_example_03.png
     
    Last edited: Aug 19, 2019
    DellTheNovakid likes this.
  5. DellTheNovakid

    DellTheNovakid Space Hobo

    Well it did do something this time but it had a error and i'm not for sure what it means And thanks for the help so far
     

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  6. DellTheNovakid

    DellTheNovakid Space Hobo

    Or this error would happen
     

    Attached Files:

  7. Zaakari

    Zaakari Pangalactic Porcupine

    Your second post is basically correct.
    As the error message is indicating, you need to create the directory where you want the files to go (portable_download), before you use that command. The asset unpacker is not able to make the destination directory on its own. I'm sorry I didn't mention that before.

    Also, I would suggest extracting the files to somewhere in your user folder (like "Documents\starbound\mods"). That way steam won't be trying to load the mods twice. Then, when you are finished with your mod, you can move (or pak) a copy of it into steam's starbound/mods folder.

    If you open file explorer, you can create the folder by going to your documents folder, right-clicking and selecting "New -> Folder".
    You could also create the folder using powershell by doing something similar to the following:
    Code:
    mkdir 'C:\Users\NIKKI''S LAPTOP\Documents\starbound'
    
    mkdir 'C:\Users\NIKKI''S LAPTOP\Documents\starbound\mods'
    
    mkdir 'C:\Users\NIKKI''S LAPTOP\Documents\starbound\mods\portable_download'
    mkdir stands for: make directory


    Also, (and I don't mean to make this too complicated), when you open powershell, you may notice that you are all ready in your user's directory. You can tell because it says this before the cursor:
    Code:
    PS C:\Users\NIKKI'S LAPTOP>
    So a shorter way to run the mkdir commands would be:
    Code:
    mkdir .\Documents\starbound
    
    mkdir .\Documents\starbound\mods
    
    mkdir .\Documents\starbound\mods\portable_download'
    The dot "." represents the directory your are currently in. Which, in this case, is: "C:\Users\NIKKI'S LAPTOP".


    And one more tip: if you press the "up" arrow key in powershell, you can cycle through commands that you have previously run, which should save you a lot of typing. This way, you can find the one that you want, and simply press the "enter" key to run it.
     
  8. DellTheNovakid

    DellTheNovakid Space Hobo

    Well nothing really worked i still got the same error but i discovered the pak files work fine without unpacking them So thanks for all the help and sorry if it was a little troublesome to provide it but how would i pack a big mod such as Frackin' universe so it wouldn't crash my game?
     
  9. DellTheNovakid

    DellTheNovakid Space Hobo

    I also made a new thread for the packing thing if you could possibly help with it
     

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