Noesis vs Source 2 Viewer
Noesis
richwhitehouse.com
Source 2 Viewer
s2v.appSide by side
| Figure | Noesis | Source 2 Viewer |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 1 |
| Spec score · Game Asset Extractors | 7.0 (#21) | 8.3 (#4) |
| Export | Users can export files from the application, and an Export from Preview option exports the content currently loaded in the preview, including changes made in the Data Viewer. | It exports maps, models, physics, and animations to glTF 2.0, with material conversion and batch export. |
| Platform requirement | The project page lists a Windows PC as a requirement. | The site lists OpenGL 4.6 and Windows 11 beside its development build download. |
| Purpose | Noesis previews and converts hundreds of model, image, and animation formats. | Source 2 Viewer browses VPK archives and views, exports, and decompiles Source 2 assets such as maps, models, materials, textures, and sounds. |
| Support | The manual invites detailed bug reports but says direct replies are not guaranteed. | The maker directs users to report issues and notes that reports with a file path and error message usually get looked at quickly. |
Plans
In their own words
Source 2 Viewer
Source 2 Viewer is a free, open-source tool for browsing VPK archives and inspecting or exporting assets from Source 2 games. It can search, extract, and create archives, including VPK versions from Source 1. Its renderer displays maps, models, physics, and particles with real-time lighting and animation playback. The tool also inspects textures, audio, shaders, and other Source 2 resources. Maps, models, physics, and animations can be exported to glTF 2.0, with material conversion and batch export; maps, models, and materials can be decompiled into editable formats for Hammer, ModelDoc, and Source 2 Workshop Tools. Texture tools cover channels, depth layers, mip levels, cubemaps, and HDR, with image export. Its audio player supports WAV, MP3, and Source 2 formats. The graphical interface is Windows-only, though the guide describes running it on Linux and macOS through Wine; the command-line utility is available for Windows, Linux, and macOS. The GUI is portable and requires no installation. Some data may be lost during export, and reverse-engineered format support is incomplete. The project is volunteer-built and says it is not affiliated with Valve.