That's it, we are in 2009 and I had absolutely no time for anything! My work is taking me a lot of time and when I go back home I just don't want to use the computer for coding... 
Anyway, I was able to finally compile drv_default driver with Lazarus 0.9.26 and FPC 2.2.2. It works fine except the GUI part in the plugin (which is a known bug of the LCL). That's not a good news. I don't think I will be able to use Lazarus & FPC for the plugins using GUI as long as this bug persists. This is especially a problem for the Unreal package driver, the HyperRipper plugin (which might disappear anyway in order to permit multi-threading) and the Convert plugin. I don't know how I am going to do. This is a showstopper 
so I think I will have to continue with Delphi 7 until this bug is fixed (opened since 2006).
Now that v5.4.0 stable is in the wild, it is time to focus on the 5.5.x series (and 5.6). I have being thinking about this for a long time and I think it is time: Migrate from Delphi 7 to Lazarus/FreePascal. The FPC compiler is now very powerful (better than Delphi 7) and it can compile to Windows x86/x64. It should also be possible when everything is done to compile for Mac OS, Linux, etc... Even if that is not the goal, it should be feasible.
I am in the process of setting up my new computer (Core i7 920 with 6GB of RAM) under Windows Vista x64 and Windows XP x64. I have installed latest Lazarus 0.9.26 and FreePascal 2.2.2. The only program I tried to switch to Lazarus/FPC is dlngc, the DUP5 Language Compiler. It compiled without any problem to a native Windows x64 executable. The most difficult part will be the main program, because it uses many VCL and third party packages that might not be directly available for Lazarus, I may have to seek alternatives (I know at least that Vampyre Imaging Library is Lazarus compatible). When the migration is over I will remove once and for all the Delphi support, newer Delphis (than 7) are not that interesting for this project and most of all: They cost a LOT of money.
I don't know when I will get time to start this because I have RealLife(tm) stuff to deal with (like finishing building my new computer, move-in to a new house, spending time with my wife, etc...). So... Keep tuned! :)
After more than 2 years (and 4 unstable releases), here comes stable version 5.4.0 !
- HypeRipper 5.5d: Much faster and reliable than previous version!
- Preview of images and textures.
- Many bug fixes and usability enhancements.
- New games file formats supported:
- Ascendency .COB
- Act of War .DAT
- AGON .SFL
- The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay .XTC and .XWC
- Dreamfall: The Longest Journey .PAK (very basic support)
- The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion .BSA
- Enclave .XTC and .XWC
- Entropia Universe .BNT
- F-22 Air Dominance Fighter .DAT (partial support)
- Florensia .PAK
- Sinking Island/L'Ile Noyée .OPK
- Super EF2000 .DAT (partial support)
- UFO: Aftermath, UFO: Aftershock and UFO: Afterlight .VFS
Look at the change log to know the details about what is new!
To download this new version, head to the Dragon UnPACKer > Downloads section.
Now for 5.5/5.6, I will be working into migrating the project to Lazarus/FreePascal (from Delphi 7). This should bring some cool stuff (native Linux support?).
In the last few days I worked on polishing Dragon UnPACKer in order to release the stable v5.4.0.
Thanks to Victor2 on the forum, I noticed the HyperRipper 5.5c had huge problems of reliability. I fixed most of them (re-implemented BMFind and fixed some other mistakes). Now on the test files I created, it founds everything (whereas current version misses most of the entries). I also used direct tests instead of BMFind when possible, this should also speed up the search when false positives. This is posted on CVS as v5.1.0 RC 2 of the plugin. I don't think it will be released standalone because I am planning a full stable release soon.
Duppi, Dpackc and Dragon Update Server (DUS) still needs updating/polishing to support all features I want for stable release and I still have to work on the Elbereth's Default plugin to bring it out of beta (DecompRA stuff not working... Maybe I will pospone that to after the release).
The stable release should be coming by the end of the week if possible.
Hey there, I am not dead, but I am not working on Dragon UnPACKer since last news. I tried implementing in Delphi the C++ class I received to decompress RA files (F-22 .DAT files). But this was not a success (I still need to check this deeper, I dropped trying quite quickly and I am not happy at all at how I translated it). After that I worked on other projects and since friday I am playing the wonderful Fable II (I bought a second Xbox 360 just for that... Not a Jasper unfortunately) and I have other games in the queue to play (LEGO Indiana Jones, good game too)... I don't know when I will get enough time to release stable v2.0.5 of the Elbereth's Default driver plugin which is stable enough I think. I might try to add new game support (Dead Space looks feasible from the quick look I had to the .STR/.LOC files).