ARK EXPANDER - Version 1.01 - (small update)

**malictus** · Joined: 19 Jun 2006 Posts: 994 Location: Bloomington, IN

ARK EXPANDER Version 1.01 - Added 7/25/2007

ARK EXPANDER is a simple program that will expand a Guitar Hero ARK file into a number of individual folders and files, and alternatively turn these files back into an ARK file.

DOWNLOAD
ARK EXPANDER 1.01 (23KB) Runnable Jar File.
ARK EXPANDER Source Code (11KB)

Version 1.01 fixes a small problem in Version 1.00 that required some users to change their ARK and HDR filenames to upper case in order to expand.

COMPATIBLE WITH
Guitar Hero 1, Guitar Hero 2, and Guitar Hero Rocks The 80's (NTSC AND PAL) - PS 2 Versions ONLY (Not compatible with XBOX 360 Version)

INSTALLATION
- Written in 100% pure Java, and should run on any Windows or Mac OS X capable of running Java.
- Uses Java 1.5. You can update your machine to the latest Java version by visiting www.java.com.
- To run, simply unzip the download, and double-click on the file named 'ark_expander_1_01.jar'.

HOW TO USE
- This program will take an ARK file (along with its associated HDR file), and expand it into its component files. Also, it will take an expanded folder, and turn it back into an ARK file.
- To use, simply specify the folder that contains your ARK file (or will contain it), and specify the folder that contains (or will contain) your expanded files. When expanding an ARK file, the specified expansion folder must be empty to begin with.
- VERY IMPORTANT - You may alter any of the expanded files, but you must not rename any of them, or add new files. If you do, your ARK file will not work.

MINI-FAQ
- Will this program let me add custom songs to Guitar Hero?
Not by itself. If you know what you are doing, you can substitute the appropriate MIDI and VGS files, but this program offers no conversion capabilities. This program is designed primarily for those wishing to experiment, and not for users looking for an easy way to substitute songs.
- Will this program let me change the names of the songs, or edit other Guitar Hero parameters?
Again, not by itself. However, once you have extracted all the files, you can use other programs such as the GH2 DTB Editor to edit the appropriate files, then re-create the ARK file using this program.

DEVELOPERS NOTES
- There are directories in the original directory structure with names like '..'. These are unix references to a parent folder. Since you cannot name a folder '..', I have used the substitution 'dotdot' for these directory names.
- Since there are references in the HDR file to strings that are not files, I found it necessary to retain the original header file and edit it, rather than rebuilding it from scratch. The header file is placed into the expanded folder at the root level.

THANKS
- Thanks to the customs community at scorehero, and special thanks to Riff who decoded the ARK format.

LEGAL
- This is freeware, and is freely distributable. The code is reusable in other projects, although I would appreciate a PM to let me know that you are using it.
- I do not now, nor will I ever, post any actual files from the Guitar Hero game, or any copyrighted music files. My software is intended for use only by legal owners of a Guitar Hero game who wish to use this software for experimentation. I am not associated with any of the creators of the Guitar Hero games.

**biohazard64** · Joined: 12 Jan 2007 Posts: 16

Hello, this program will let me extract the files from the main.ark of both amplitude and frequency from ps2 games?? (previus harmonix games).

**malictus** · Joined: 19 Jun 2006 Posts: 994 Location: Bloomington, IN

**mclarenkid69** · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 21

i didn't not get a jar file with my download.

**inimitable** · Joined: 16 Feb 2007 Posts: 2324

Malictus, I've regularly gotten a bad download (I tried a few times today). I think the upload may be bad.
_________________

Newest custom chart: Avantasia - The Tower (RB3 Full Band)

**malictus** · Joined: 19 Jun 2006 Posts: 994 Location: Bloomington, IN

**revert** · Joined: 02 May 2007 Posts: 37

Works fine. I am running a Mac Powerbook G4 (non-intel).

**mclarenkid69** · Joined: 10 Jun 2007 Posts: 21

I don't get a .JAR file to run?

**nath247** · Joined: 13 Jan 2007 Posts: 323 Location: Cheltenham, UK

If you cant get the JAR file to run by double clicking, go to run, type CMD and hit enter and navigate to the folder where you downloaded the JAR to and type

**FallenSeraph** · Joined: 27 Dec 2006 Posts: 148 Location: Washington State

not sure if this is considered a bug but when i first tried this out i was confused what "ARK Folder" and "Expanded Folder" text fields and i was putting the direct path to .ARK file. Then for the expanded folder i was just putting the path to an empty folder on my desktop.

When i hit Expand ARK the status bar window thing would pop up but it wouldnt do anything. When i hit cancel it wouldnt do anything. To close the program i had to use the task manager to end it.

anyways, from what i see it works perfectly when you put the right paths in the text fields.

**dho** · Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 606 Location: Baltimore, MD

It's not a bug. It likely looks for the main_0.ark file and the main.hdr files in the folder that you give it. One of those files without the other is useless; you need them both to do anything.

That said, it ran fine for me in OS X.

**FallenSeraph** · Joined: 27 Dec 2006 Posts: 148 Location: Washington State

**malictus** · Joined: 19 Jun 2006 Posts: 994 Location: Bloomington, IN

**Zilcho** · Joined: 07 Apr 2007 Posts: 332 Location: UConn

**nath247** · Joined: 13 Jan 2007 Posts: 323 Location: Cheltenham, UK

It may be possible, but as said on the first post, not to add stuff as it will mess the ARK up.