This program will allow you to split Dark Forces' GOB files into their component parts or join a group of files into a GOB file that Dark Forces understands. It is similiar in functionality to "GobIt" but it is (hopefully) much more robust and certainly much faster.
If you find errors, e-mail me at bradman@primenet.com
Who needs it?
Anyone interested in making and taking apart Dark Forces' GOB files.
What's next?
This program represents my first step towards creating a full-fledged Dark Forces editor. Yves Borckmans has graciously allowed me access to his source code so I'm attempting to piece together a Mac-friendly version of his PC level editor, DFUSE. As I complete various steps, I'll be releasing them.
You will always be able to find the latest version of this package on my Dark Forces page at
http://www.primenet.com/~bradman/darkforces.html
How do I use it?
You can:
• Drop a GOB file on the GOB Viewer icon to split it up
• Drop a folder of valid files onto the GOB Viewer icon to create a GOB file
or
• Just start it up and you'll be presented with a dialog with which you can open a GOB file and pluck selected files out.
You can't:
• Drop a bunch of files on it and expect it to GOB them. They must be in a folder, which you then drop on GOB Viewer. I'll work around this someday.
About the program
It assumes that when you drop a folder full of files on it, they all have valid DOS filenames, that is 8 characters, a dot and then a 3 character extension. If they don't, it will skip that file. It also skips files that are not TEXT. However, if a file was created by Dark Forces (either a creator of dRfO or dRfD) then it will assume that it is a valid Dark Forces file (unless it's the app itself, of course).
When it assembles a GOB file, it does it alphabetically. There's no way to order the files and I'm not sure I'll ever add that functionality. Right now, this program is a bunch of library routines for a larger project with an interface slapped on it.
Version History
1.2.1 - Now prompts you for a location when you create a GOB file. This is in response to a query by Michael Schwartz who correctly pointed out that if you drag a file from the CD-ROM onto the app, you need to tell Gob Viewer to unGOB it somewhere besides the CD. It now also is more selective in the files it considers when creating a GOB file - it will no longer GOB, say, a file called mygob.sit in the same directory. The file must either be a text file or a file that was created by Dark Forces.
1.2 - Updated GOB Viewer to save split GOB parts as TEXT files so if you feel creative, you can edit them by hand in a text editor like SimpleText, BBEdit Lite or even (ugh) MS Word. Double-clicking on the parts will still start Dark Forces though (because I kept the creator as Dark Forces). This is my way of discouraging anyone from editing them as text :) I also fixed as many bugs as I could create through fooling with various things and doing stuff with the program that no normal human would want to do. GOB Viewer will no longer add the following to GOB files - files that aren't valid 8.3 DOS filenames and files whose name ends with .GOB, so you can't GOB a GOB file by accident (like I did). I think that's it.
1.1.1 - fixed the bug that I created fixing the last bug. It really works now. Until I finish the Level Editor, this will probably be the last release for a while, barring any serious bugs.
1.1 - fixed bug creating GOB files when dragging a folder on the app. I have no idea how I missed this obvious bug! The problem was I was attempting to close a window which didn't exist when I was done creating the GOB file. That's what I get for adding one line of code without testing the changes...doh!
1.0b1 - first release
Disclaimer
I have used to it tear apart the GOB files that come with Dark Forces and put them back together again. Dark Forces ran fine, so it works so far :) I claim no responsibility for lost data, trashed hard drives, etc. If it smokes your hard drive, imagine what it's doing to mine by testing it and you'll probably gain some measure of satisfaction.
