Question About Doom 3 Pk4 Files

BaconTheory

I have a question about the Doom 3 PK4 Files. I have opened a few of them up in WinRAR and was looking at some of the files within them. I was just wondering, is it safe to edit the pk4 files, or will it mess up my game?

PS: I want to edit the weapon properties.

Caboose

I beleive the engine looks at external files in the appropriate directiries before it looks inside the pk4 files. I tested this out with some textures just to be sure. You probly don't need to modify the pk4 files. as a matter of fact, I recomend not doing it as a precautionary measure.

From what I heard, they are juse zip files though.

Zel

you can dump the contents of the pk4s in the folder where you found them, then remove the pk4s from the area. this will speed up your load times because it doesnt have to decompress on the fly, AND you can edit things to your heart's content.

Sandstorm

Here's how the game displays file priorities, as listed in the console:

<!--c1--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>CODE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='CODE'><!--ec1-->
------ Initializing File System ------
Current search path:
C:\Program Files\Doom 3/base
C:\Program Files\Doom 3\base\Ungibbable.pk4 (43 files)
C:\Program Files\Doom 3\base\pak004.pk4 (5137 files)
C:\Program Files\Doom 3\base\pak003.pk4 (4676 files)
C:\Program Files\Doom 3\base\pak002.pk4 (6120 files)
C:\Program Files\Doom 3\base\pak001.pk4 (8972 files)
C:\Program Files\Doom 3\base\pak000.pk4 (2698 files)
C:\Program Files\Doom 3\base\game00.pk4 (2 files)
<!--c2--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--ec2-->

Uncompressed files have priority over compressed files. The newer pk4 files have priority over older ones. Priority goes:

1. <i>fs_savepath</i>\<i>fs_game</i>
2. <i>fs_savepath</i>\base
3. <i>fs_devpath</i>\<i>fs_game</i>
4. <i>fs_devpath</i>\base
5. <i>fs_basepath</i>\<i>fs_game</i>
6. <i>fs_basepath</i>\base
7. <i>fs_cdpath</i>\<i>fs_game</i>
8. <i>fs_cdpath</i>\base

By default, fs_savepath, fs_devpath, and fs_basepath point to the directory you place in "Start In:" field on your Doom 3 shortcut, while fs_cdpath and fs_game are blank. You can manually define these on the command line using "+set <cvar> <path>". These cannot be defined in config files.

Here is an explanation of some of the fs_ cvars:

- fs_game would point to the mod directory you are using. If you want the game to start up running a mod, use this cvar.

- fs_savepath would point to a user directory where all user-specific settings would be saved to. This would be useful for a computer with multiple users. This directory would also contain any custom content that users choose to have.

- fs_devpath would point to test builds of mods. The mod developer would store version changes in this directory, so that he knows what needs to be updated for his next version release. The currently released mod version would go in the base path.

- fs_basepath would point to where you installed the game, ie C:\Program Files\Doom 3. All game patches and mod installs would go here.

- fs_cdpath would point to the CD source of the game. This is obviously left over from Quake 3, which could have most of it's pk3 files stored on CD instead of the harddisk. This directory could also point to a fileserver with an archive of the CDs.

I highly recommend you do NOT uncompress your pk4 files. Instead, copy the necessary files out and edit them. Uncompressing pk4 files disallows you to play on Pure servers, as well as making patches and updates far more difficult.

DOOManiac

All PK4 files are are uncompressed ZIP files (not RAR)
And they're uncompressed, just like Q3 PK3's.

coil

<!--QuoteBegin-DOOManiac+Aug 18 2004, 12:53 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (DOOManiac @ Aug 18 2004, 12:53 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> All PK4 files are are uncompressed ZIP files (not RAR)
And they're uncompressed, just like Q3 PK3's. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
But DOOM... are they uncompressed?

...Sorry, couldn't resist. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->

Surge

Um. I thought there was a Rar-PK4 conversion utility.

Sandstorm

Winzip does not support rar files. However, I can open pk4 files with Winzip. Therefore, it must be a zip file.

DOOManiac

<!--QuoteBegin-Surge+Aug 18 2004, 05:53 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Surge @ Aug 18 2004, 05:53 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Um. I thought there was a Rar-PK4 conversion utility. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
There is. And the amazing thing is, its built right into Windows! Just press F2, backspace over ".pk4" and type ".zip"! Amazing!

coil

He said *rar* to pk4. (;

That said, WinRAR will do the job. Open a RAR, save it as a zip, and then rename the file. Piece o' pai.