Starsiege: Tribes Community Archive

VXTool v2.06.01

by Anthony Chou
⤓ Download · 4.1 MB
Windows volume maintenance utility for Starsiege Written by Anthony Chou (achou@primary.net) This program extracts and compiles .vol files.
Filename
vxtool.exe
Size
4.1 MB (listed 4.15MB)
Type
EXE
Version
2.06.01
Developer
Anthony Chou
Last update
Aug 24, 2009 - 19:34
Format
PE32 executable (GUI) Intel 80386, for MS Windows, 5 sections
Readme — VXTools/patch205to206/README.TXT (from the archive itself)
This the 2.06.01 patch for VXTool v2.05

Included here is the updated files for VXTool and the updated version
of vtlist.exe available at the Starsiegeplayers utility download site.
Please copy these files into the current VXTool 2.05 application
directory.  You will have to re-address VXTool to use the new vtlist
in the location of volume lister of the main form.
Readme — VXTools/patch205to206/VXTool.txt (from the archive itself)
==============================================================================
                    VXTool, version 2.06.01 patch release v.01
==============================================================================


                        VXTool, v2.06.01, December 1999

                Windows volume maintenance utility for Starsiege

                  Written by Anthony Chou (achou@primary.net)
                         Hurled out to you by MioTech


Addendum (12/26/1999):

     This is the 2.06.01 (patched) version of VXTool.  It was released to
     address erratum numbers 2005, 2006, and 2007.  Erratum 2005 was
     discovered on some systems that VXTool would try to read volume file
     data before the VOLUME.EXE shell was complete writing to and closing
     the DOS data file.  Erratum 2006 was discovered that VXTool was not
     fully compatible for the updated version of VTLIST.EXE (available from
     Starsiegeplayers.com utility downloads page).  This newer version of
     VTLIST.EXE supercedes the version in both 1.003 and 1.004 of
     Starsiege and can list all the 3,258 file names in gameObjects.vol
     file.  Since the previous version of VXTool supported only 2,048
     file names per vol file, it would generate an error when attempting
     to read the gameObjects.vol file or any vol with more than 2,048
     files.  Erratum 2007 effected the build part of VXTool.  It was
     discovered on some systems that VXTool would stop responding if a
     very large number of files were selected to be added to the volume
     list.  These erratum have been corrected with this patch.  VXTool
     can now, in theory, read 10,240 volume file names.  Please take
     note: when extracting all the files in gameObjects.vol the expected
     time for completion is over 50 minutes.

     To help compensate for this lengthily process a new extraction method
     was included.  This is the burst mode extraction process where 15
     files are extracted in multiple sessions simultaneously at a time.
     Afterwards a delay screen dialog box is shown which gives users the
     ability to fire off the next round of bursts after waiting for all
     the extract sessions of the previous burst to close.  This method
     could be faster for extracting files on some systems verses other
     methods, your actual mileage may vary.  There is a setting that
     allows for an automatic delay time to be inserted between bursts but
     this setting generates different results for different systems.
     Depending on your configuration this setting my not be a good option
     for you.  If too short of a delay time is entered, system resources
     could be drained rapidly causing the system to slow down and lockup.
     It is therefore NOT RECOMMENDED except for advance users and
     certainly should never be used when there are large amounts of files
     to extract.  Use the auto delay feature with extreme caution and at
     your own risk.


Letter from the author (10/30/99)

     Hello everyone!  Well this is it, VXTool is finally finished and
     complete.  Good thing too since I just got a job and my first day is
     this coming Monday.  Thanks again to all those who tried out and
     tested my earlier versions of this program.  I am still going to try
     to get some personal web space to post this thing but if it never
     happens I am sure it can still be obtained from the Starsiege archives.
     As anticipated, the long awaited Build process is included and working
     in this release.  Much of the whole program forms and flow has been
     changed to accommodate and unify the volume maintenance procedures for
     the building and extraction processes.  As such users should find
     version 2.05 to be more streamlined and logical to use.  I have had to
     strike a balance between complexity and ease of use to provide a
     utility that was both intuitive and informative for the user.  As no
     one has reported any major problems with the extraction routines in
     the beta, I do not suspect anyone should have any difficulties with
     the build process in this version.  So here it is and have at it.  I
     hope this program will be enduringly useful for the life of its
     purpose and that everyone will continue to have fun playing Starsiege.
     Please read this whole documentation, a lot of changes have been made
     and you should know the extent as it applies to you before using this
     very helpful program.


 Introduction:

     This program was designed for all of those Starsiege gamers who have
     wanted and asked for a windows based extraction utility to help them
     edit Starsiege volume files.  With the advent of the 1.003 patch for
     Starsiege (and perhaps earlier), users were gifted with utility files
     that they could use to edit volume files.  These utilities (namely
     VTLIST.EXE, EXTRACT.EXE, and VT.EXE) however are command-prompt based.
     Though they got the job done, many users including myself were left
     longing for some means of automation.  Enter the likes of VXLIST.EXE
     and now, VXTool.EXE version 2.05.

     VXTool is a Win95/98/NT based program written from Visual Basic 5.0
     and is essentially a front-end shell assignment utility that uses
     VTLIST.EXE and EXTRACT.EXE (to list and extract the files inside a
     volume file) and VT.EXE (to build entire volumes).  I originally
     designed this program to temporarily provide a GUI solution for
     modders and scripters until Dynamix could release their own windows
     based utility (if ever) or someone else could provide a better one.
     Unfortunately since the release of VXLIST in July, no new and superior
     window's based volume utility has been released to date.  This has
     pressured me somewhat to upgrade and in many ways revamp the utility
Contents — 47 files (inside the archive)
vol
Source: The Exiled — Tribes Repository
Original page: https://library.theexiled.pwnageservers.com/file.php?id=2555
Archived source HTML: _source/file/2555.html