Game Extractor vs SLADE3

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.

SLADE3 is a free editor for Doom-engine games and source ports, available for Linux, macOS, and Windows. It handles archives and the resources inside them: users can create, open, save, import, export, order, convert, and revert entries, with several archives open in tabs for copying and pasting between them. Supported archive formats include Doom WAD and ZIP/PK3, Quake PAK and WAD2, Build GRP and ART, Shadowcaster DAT and LIB, and Amulets & Armor RES. Its map editor covers Doom, Hexen, and UDMF maps, with 3D editing and automatic sector generation. The text editor offers syntax highlighting, calltips, autocomplete, auto-indent, and find-and-replace. Graphics can be viewed, converted, palette-remapped, and exported to PNG; Doom composite textures can also be edited. SLADE3 plays several audio formats, including MUS, MIDI, XMI, HMI, and HMP. Stable release 3.2.12 is listed alongside beta 3.3.0 Beta 2, which may have bugs, crashes, or unfinished features.