Crowbar vs OpenKh

Crowbar is a free Windows tool for modding GoldSource and Source Engine games. It can decompile, compile, and view models, as well as unpack, inspect, and search Valve VPK, Garry's Mod GMA, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines VPK, Tactical Intervention FPX, and Fairy Tale Busters APK packages. It can also pack folders into Valve VPK and Garry's Mod GMA files. Decompilation can recreate QC, mesh, animation, and procedural-bone files, while batch workflows can process a selected folder and its subfolders. Crowbar supports downloading Workshop items and publishing them for several games. The maker says Windows XP or later and .NET Framework 4 are required. Compiling models needs the game's authoring tools or SDK and its studiomdl.exe; viewing models needs authoring tools or an SDK and hlmv.exe. The latest release shown is version 0.74, dated February 2023. Help materials include guides, tutorials, reference resources, Discord, and Steam discussions.

OpenKH brings together technical documentation, tools, code libraries, and modding support for the Kingdom Hearts series. Its documentation covers games and remasters, shared assets, tools, and the OpenKH Game Engine. The Mod Manager installs and manages mods for supported PC ports and PS2 versions of several games. Mods can come from GitHub repositories or archive files, and collections can group assets for multiple titles. Panacea lets users switch mods on and off without overwriting original game files. The guide lists Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts II, Re:Chain of Memories, Birth by Sleep, and Dream Drop Distance as legacy-class games, and says PC releases from Epic Games Store and Steam are supported. OpenKH also includes an Image Viewer for common and Kingdom Hearts-specific formats, including IMD, IMZ, and Birth by Sleep font ARC files; it exports images, while import functions are in development. The engine has basic Kingdom Hearts II support on Windows, Linux, and macOS, including Raspberry Pi. Tools require the.NET 8.0 Runtime. The engine requires the user's original Kingdom Hearts II PlayStation 2 or PlayStation 4 copy. OpenKH is free; the listed plan is free.