arcdEx vs Game Extractor

arcdEx is a free Linux tool for listing and extracting files from .arcd archives made by the Defold game engine. It handles compressed files and can decrypt files only when they use Defold's default encryption key. The tool can inspect .texturec resources and extract their contained textures, as well as inspect compiled .luac files and extract Lua source code. To work with an archive, provide the .arcd file; arcdEx guesses paths to the associated .arci index and .dmanifest manifest files. The repository says this version supports manifest version 5, while the README also lists versions 1 through 4. Multiple .arcd files from a Defold web game must be combined before use. The README distinguishes desktop applications, which contain compiled Lua bytecode, from web projects through Defold 1.3.4, which contain Lua source code. It supports command-line and batch extraction, and runs as a Java JAR. The project is licensed under AGPL v3, and its author is credited as Christian Weiske. Archive repacking is not supported.

Game Extractor is a Windows application for opening game archive files, viewing their contents, and extracting files to a PC. Its site says it supports archives from over 5,700 games across PC, mobile, and console platforms, including titles using Unity 3D, Unreal Engine, and Value Source Engines. The free Basic Version reads archives and extracts files. The one-time Full Version adds archive editing and saving, previews for many image, audio, and 3D mesh files, image and mesh conversion, and a format scanner for locating images and audio in unknown or unsupported archives. Supported formats include game containers, common archive and data files, and image and audio types. Optional FFmpeg and Java Media Framework integrations can extend preview support. Every version requires Java Runtime Environment 8 in its 32-bit form; the site says it comes with the application. Downloads are linked through GitHub and SourceForge. Tutorials are available as PDFs and videos, alongside in-program help. The site cautions that some supported games use archives its plugin cannot open, and edited archives are not guaranteed to work in games.