MPQEditor and MPQMaster

[Seeyabye]

Hi,

I had this problem today which makes me wonder why MPQEditor does not work properly, where as MPQMaster works fine. MPQEditor uses storm.dll which means it should be able to read any MPQ no matter how badly it is corrupted. Consider this file with the following conditions:

- MPQ is not corrupted. Opened fine with both MPQEditor and MPQMaster
- contains (attributes)
- war3map.j located in Scripts folder

Doing the following steps to add in a CP, I opened up this map with MPQEditor, located war3map.j, extracted it to a folder called Cheats. Now, I did not edit the war3map.j. Instead I readd the file back using MPQEditor, Compact flush it, and ran it with War3. I obtained an error which says that "file data corrupt".

Now, I repeated the above steps, but instead of using MPQEditor, I used MPQMaster this time. In this case, the map worked fine.

Can someone explain why?

Regards,
Seeyabye.

[Senethior459]

Interestingly, I've been having the same problem lately. Unfortunately, Ladik's MPQ Editor is the only one that actually works under WINE (MPQMaster crashes when I open a map, WinMPQ doesn't open; nothing but Ladik's), so... I usually just go over to a Windows machine nearby and use MPQMaster. I haven't had any maps that needed to be opened with something stronger, and if I did, I'd either manually rebuild with RMPQEx or use ACP 3's rebuild function.

[haxorico]

i had those problems too. i asked some staff members and i got the answer "u dunno how to use it properly"

and 2 reasons why.
i never followed those 2 ways to "not crash" MPQ coz i didnt need to after i got those tips. but still.

1) dont use a megasized listfile, MPQEditor has a maximum file listfile it can take or it crashes (smthing like that not sure)
2) dont compact flush when u hack a .w3x map

if ur asking how to get a listfile that isnt mega sized here is how to get the best not mega sized listfile i can think off

1) run the map with x-dep -> get in the .temp folder and take the .txt files that are inthere (i have a folder called listfile for those kind of stuff) and put them in a folder
2) open RMPQEx with NO listfiles > autosearch > extract listfile > a new .txt file u make in the same folder with the other listfiles u got from x-dep
3) run MPQRecover > browse the map > deep scan > brute force > scan > extract listfile > a new listfile in ur previus listfile extracted folder
4) open Ladiks MPQEditor (dont open the map yet) tools > merge listfiles > merge ur listfiles > use that listfile to open ur map with Ladiks MPQEditor.
5) *optional* merge ur mini-listfile with ur mega-sized listfile just incase u want.

[No-sense]

I tried without compact flash , still doesn't works . I will try the way u say :

1) dont use a megasized listfile, MPQEditor has a maximum file listfile it can take or it crashes (smthing like that not sure)

Edit : Normally , skip this way :

1) run the map with x-dep -> get in the .temp folder and take the .txt files that are inthere (i have a folder called listfile for those kind of stuff) and put them in a folder

Q: Why would you use Ladik's MPQ Editor but not MPQMaster?
A: Because it cannot open by MPQMaster / Crashed X-dep.

Edit#1 : Haxorico , tested for you . Next time test yourself but not just talking .
Doesn't works.

[haxorico]

i didnt test it. coz i had no map to test on. i just said what other staff members have told me.

[Seeyabye]

@haxorica,

If you read closely my post again, it was simply extract and re-add the file back. So I doubt it has anything to do with the list files.

@O-sense,

I think (I'm not too sure), but running X-Dep is not a very good option unless we have a complete listfiles for it? Oh btw please check out my request on the thread that you have created, http://forum.wc3edit.net/warcraft-map-d ... 19-10.html . Thanks, would appreciate if you had the complete list file for that particular map that you attempted to deprotect.

The real answer,

The answer was quite simple, it was not Lardik's MPQ Editor that suck, instead it was how the it should be used. It was the compression that matters when you decide to add a file in the MPQ. It seems that only the default, (bzip) compression was the culprit to the fatal error. So instead of selecting bzip compression, we should be using zlib compression. After the re-add is completed, compact flush it. The map worked normally.

PS: I only tried it like how I wrote in my first post. I did not made any test on files that were modified. In other words, the file extracted out was war3map.j and the file that was added back in was war3map.j (original).

In short, this is what I did,

1. Extract war3map.j using Lardik's MPQ Editor
2. Re-add back war3map.j
3. When prompted, select zlib as the compression method.
4. Compact flush

My conclusion, I obtained the same and exact file size as it was supposed to initially. eg. Initial file size, 180 kB. After re-add, 188 kB. After compact flush, 180 kB.




I hope this helps those who faced this problem in future.

Regards,
Seeyabye

[Senethior459]

You can use RMPQEx to get the listfile. It does a better job of it than XDep does.