Crowbar vs QuickBMS

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.

QuickBMS is a free, open-source tool for extracting files from archives and other formats, with options to put modified files back into archives. It is aimed at reverse engineers and power users and runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS. Its dynamic BMS language handles archives and file formats, while reimport and reimport2 modes support reinserting changed files. The maker lists more than 700 compression algorithms, along with encryption and hashing algorithms. QuickBMS runs from the command line; its Windows executable also opens a minimal graphical interface when double-clicked. For examining formats, verbose mode shows file-format tests, and HTML output colors and labels parsed fields. Other listed capabilities include network sockets, SSL, HTTP and HTTPS, processes, audio, video, and Windows messages. The maker lists Win32, static Ubuntu 32-bit Linux, and MacOSX El Capitan downloads, plus a source archive. The first three sections of its text documentation are intended for general users; later sections are for developers and advanced users. The ZenHAX forum is identified as its official support forum.