arcdEx vs UABEA

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.

UABEA is a free reader and writer for Unity Asset Bundles and Serialized Files on Windows and Linux. Its maker positions it for modding and research rather than general asset extraction. The tool handles textures, TextAssets, fonts, audio, MonoBehaviours, Unity Asset Bundles, Unity Serialized Files, and Addressables bundles, and supports batch extraction and archive repacking. Editing Addressables requires clearing CRC checks with a separate CRC cleaning tool. UABEANext, a newer work-in-progress version, adds docking and multi-bundle opening. The latest listed release requires .NET Runtime 6.0. Windows also needs the Visual C++ Redistributable; Linux requires glibc 2.29 or later, and musl-based distributions require compiling UABEA. Font import and export covers TTF and OTF, but font atlases are unsupported. Swizzled Switch textures can be edited, while newly added textures are not automatically swizzled. The repository identifies the software as MIT licensed.