Dragon UnPACKer • History

On this page you will learn how was created Dragon UnPACKer and which were the steps that lead to the current version.

Quake UnPACKer v1: The DOS era

It was first made to open and extract files from Quake PAK files. The name of the program was therefore Quake UnPACKer. A DOS program written in QuickBASIC. The last version (1.10 from 1997) is still downloadable: qupak110.zip

Dragon UnPACKer v2 & v3: Windows tentatives

When it started supporting more game file formats it was renamed Dragon UnPACKer. Because I was at that time the Sysop of a BBS named Gold Dragon.

Version 2 was a first Windows try, some alpha versions where released (but mostly lost). The interface was simple and I didn't like it. It was a simple list of entries in the opened files. IIRC it was written in Visual Basic 3. There is still a remnant of what would become the version 2 in the following tool: w2v-t1.zip (WAD2 Viewer)

Version 3 development started while version 2 was still in alpha. It was a UI rewrite with the goal to have an Explorer like interface (directories in the file at the left side and entries in the selected directory at the right). This is the same layout actually used in both version 4 and 5.

Both version 2 and 3 where in development under the Windows interface when a crash disk stopped everything for quite long time.

Dragon UnPACKer v4: The bug nest

Version 4 was a total rewrite after 2 years when I had enough courage to start again (after the *£$@ crash disk). Written in Visual Basic 5.

This program was never made in the goal of modifying game files, only extraction. But version 4 added the ability to create/edit PAK files (because there was a shareware tool named PAK Explorer which did the same thing).

The biggest problem of this version 4 is that it was really buggy and difficult to maintain... I had to recompile everything to add just one new game file format

Here are all versions ever released (please note I offer no support for those versions), if you ever download a version download the VB DLLs needed to run it (setupVB5.zip for all versions from 4.10 included, setupVB6.zip for 4.00 and 4.01):

Dragon UnPACKer v5

Version 5 is again a full rewrite from scratch written using Borland Delphi. It was a language I learned quite well at University (well Pascal to be honest) and I wanted to use what I learned (pointers, etc..).

The main advantages of version 5 codebase over version 4 are:

• Plugins handle game file formats and convert
• Much faster
• Easy to maintain

It was very long until version 5 was on par with the version 4 features. The only missing feature is: The Packing ability.

Version 5 is also when I decided to go for open source under the Mozilla Public License 1.1 (2.0 since 5.7.0).

Developpement is sometimes very slow because this is done for fun and during my spare time. Sometimes I do not feel like coding for months (even years!).

Archive of v5.0.0 to current

Here are all versions from 5.0.0 I ever released (again, please note I offer no support for those versions), you should be using the latest available version:

Archive of v5.0.0 betas and RCs

Here are all betas and release candidate versions of 5.0.0 I ever released. Those are here for archival purpose. You should be using the latest available version:

Archive of v5.0.0 alphas

Here are all alpha versions of 5.0.0 I ever released. Those are here for archival purpose. You should be using the latest available version:

Archive of v5.0.0 pre-alphas

Here are all pre-alpha versions of 5.0.0 I ever released. Those are here for archival purpose. You should be using the latest available version: