New .DTA extractor for H&D2 and Sabre Squadron

Hi everyone,

I would like to introduce you a new DTA extractor made by my friend, MeToX a.k.a Nebulus.

Easy to use with a click of a button!

Check it out at:
https://github.com/M3tox/HD2unpacker

Download page:
https://github.com/M3tox/HD2unpacker/releases/tag/1.00

Have fun unpacking!

Old dta unpacker works fine...only thing it cannot unpack Demo games

But can this new program re-pack files back to dta ??

Original rw_data.dll has all functions needed, maybe just use them:

Did the old one also work for Sabre Squadron? I remember that you had to use keys in a command line.

No it can't, it doesn't use any .dll's.
May I ask why you would pack .dta's?

dta repack might interest someone who likes to create mod in a compact form.

Old unpacker is this:


It there a command line version ? never seen it.

Stern wrote: Old dta unpacker works fine...only thing it cannot unpack Demo games

But can this new program re-pack files back to dta ??

Original rw_data.dll has all functions needed, maybe just use them:

whats inside the demo?

Hello,
I am the creator of the unpacker this topic was initially about. I felt the need to step in here to provide further information and get direct feedback.
First of all I want to thank my friend culticaxe for mentioning my tool in here.

@Stern:
I never saw that unpacker you have shown but I assume it also needs the DLL.
The one culticaxe ment, the console version, is this one: https://github.com/jovan-s/DTAUnpacker
But for a regular user the handeling might be confusing.

I am aware of the functions of the rw_data.dll but one of my goals for my HD2unpacker was, to be completely independent from ANY dynamic library.
This gives benefits to me but also to the user:
- HD2unpacker.exe can be executed from anywhere and without extra data
- .dta archives can be anywhere, you could even unpack them if the game isnt installed, since it only needs this .exe and the .dta

Not really .dll dependet but might be neat to know:
- archives can be named how you please, e.g. instead of "maps.dta" something like "textures.dta" or "maps_backup.dta", HD2unpacker does NOT use the file name to identifiy the files to apply the right key

Well, now I need to know one thing from you:
Making a program which can pack files back to the .dta format is possible, but how would that be pracitcal for mods?
It would be if you could put all mod related files into one .dta archive, like maps(textures), missions etc. and call it "Xmod.dta" but Hidden & Dangerous 2 would obviously not read that, if it is not defined in its HD2/HD2SS.exe.
The second possibility would be to just add the mod content to the original archives, which is also possible, but how would you merge mods then?
Imagine you have a mod which provides a mission.dta and maps.dta with a custom map. If you want to play another custom mission, defined by the same means, you would need to keep changing the archives or you would have to make a mod pack, where everything is inside.

These are the only options I see, if custom .dta archives would be used. You either have to modify the original executive that runs H&D2, or modify the original archives. Both is not ideal in my opinion, or am I missing something?


@JonnySniper:
There are 3 demos I am aware of:
- Singleplayer demo (Normandy2)
- Multiplayer demo (Normandy3 / Czech3)
- Sabre Squadron demo (Sicily2) which provides single- and multiplayer

I uploaded 3 lists. One for each demo. These lists show all files names included, so you can have a look what is inside these demos.
If you want to have a closer look, I suggest you to download the demos and unpack their demo.dta with my HD2unpacker.