Creation of pak-files

Pak-files (naming convention: object.name.pak) are a special file type that is used by Simutrans to store different kinds of objects as for instance user made graphics and content. The pak-files store data and graphics for visible objects.

Creating pak-files

Pak-files are created with the help of the program MakeObject. Needless to say that you need your graphics and parameter files describing your object.

The program MakeObject (Windows makeobj.exe; Linux/BeOS makeobj) can be found at the Simutrans forum Forum.

For Windows-users there are two graphical interface programs for MakeObject.

PakHelper
PakBuilder

MakeObject command line arguments

makeobj CAPABILITIES

lists supported object types

makeobj PAK <pak file> <dat file(s)>

creates a pak64-file with the object taken from the assigned dat-files

makeobj PAK

reads all dat-files in the current directory and creates pak64-files for all objects in the directory

makeobj PAK128 <pak file> <dat file(s)>

creates a pak128-file with the object taken from the assigned dat-files

makeobj PAK128

reads all dat-files in the current directory and creates pak128-files for all objects in the directory

makeobj LIST <pak file(s)>

lists the objects contained in the pak-files

makeobj MERGE <pak file> <pak files>

merges all the pak-files into a new (larger) pak-file

makeobj DUMP <pak file> <pak file(s)>

testing of the pak-files (version 0.40 or newer)

makeobj EXTRACT <pak file archive>

extracts file created by the MERGE command

You can append ' >error.txt' to the command line. Then MakeObject writes all occuring errors into the file 'error.txt' for further debugging purposes.

Examples

It is recommended to use the following directory structure:

simutrans_src
   makeobj.exe
   house_01
        house_01.dat
        house_01.png
        pak.bat
   car_03
        car_03.dat
        car_03.png
        pak.bat
   train_01
        train_front.dat
        train_middle.dat
        train_back.dat
        train_01.png
        pak.bat

simutrans_src
   makeobj
   house_01
        house_01.dat
        house_01.png
        pak
   car_03
        car_03.dat
        car_03.png
        pak
   train_01
        train_front.dat
        train_middle.dat
        train_back.dat
        train_01.png
        pak

Development folder: Windows 340.62 kb - Linux 191.35 kb

Windows: You can write the necessary commands in the batch file "pak.bat". This file can be created and edited using Notepad. To save as '.bat'-file you have to choose file type: all files (*.*) in the save-dialog. Double-clicking in the explorer on the file starts it. You can reuse this file: copy it into new object directories. It will work as long as the standard command line written in the file.

Linux: You can create a shell script file (called "pak" in the example). The first line has to be #! /bin/sh (not by Suse Linux). Moreover, the file must be executable by the user. The command chmod +x pak marks the file "pak" executable if launched in the directory, where the file resides.

The standard command line for the directory structure above is

..\makeobj PAK >error.txt

..\makeobj PAK128 >error.txt

../makeobj PAK 2>error.txt

../makeobj PAK128 2>error.txt

If you use these command lines the file name of the new pak-file is created from the parameters "obj" and "name" in the dat-file

 

object.name.pak

For each object a new pak-file is created. This happens also if more than one object entry is found in the processed dat-file.

You can chance this behaviour by changing the command line of makeobj appropriately:

..\makeobj PAK vehicle.train.pak ./train_front.dat ./train_middle.dat ./train_back.dat

There is also the possibility to merge the pak-files after creation:

..\makeobj MERGE vehicle.train.pak ./vehicle.train_*.pak