Unpacking a PAK file?

Community Community & Industry Discussion
1

Hey there! I’m very new to using Unreal Engine but I’m wondering; is there any way to unpack a PAK file? I tried with WinRAR but it isn’t working, and I can’t get UnrealPak to open.

(Hope this is the right place to post this)

2

the question is, why? pak files are created when you package your project, so you have the source art anyway. unpacking someone else’s pak files is either illegal and or morally and ethically wrong, or both.

3

Something like:


D:\EpicGames\4.12\Engine\Binaries\Win64\UnrealPak.exe C:\Users\\Desktop\YourPak.pak C:\Users\\Desktop -test

(UnrealPak.exe FileToUnpak FolderToUnpak)

  1. Wanna bet it’s in their own documentation somewhere?

  2. UnrealPak is built to also encrypt its content by adding a few parameters, one of which being -encrypt.

  3. “morally or ethically wrong” Are you ******** me dude? We’re talking about programming, not law school. I dare you to show me a programmer who’s never looked into anyone else’s work, even if only for curiosity.

7 Likes
4

Code doesn’t get packaged, assets do. Generally speaking the only reason you’d want to unpack a pak file is to get at somebody’s assets.

1 Like
5

I’m aware that you CAN unpack unencrypted .paks (and encrypted ones if you have the key) my question was why

I, for one, have never unpacked, decrypted, deconstructed or reverse engineered someone else’s hard work. That’s just wrong. However you justify it to yourself by saying everyone else does it, at its core, you are still taking someones work, without their permission. Even just “peeking at the code” is still “morally or ethically wrong”. say you find a greatly efficient way to code some random function, now you could freely share that knowledge, maybe even do a tutorial, or you might want to keep it to yourself. so you make a game that includes said code and all is well. some time later some guy unpacks your files and peeks at your code (and lets be real here, the only reason to peek at someone else’s code is to gain knowledge you did not earn(commonly referred to as stealing) and use it to adapt “your code”) if he then goes on to make a game with said function you would sue the **** out of him.

6

Blueprints were .uasset, last I checked.

First of all, this whole forum we’re on is built with the objective of sharing knowledge. To me, at least, saying any method of gaining knowledge is not moral or ethical is at least a bit hypocritical.

Secondly, it’s not theft unless it’s explicitly forbidden. If the UE team gives you the tools and documentation to encrypt/secure your work and you don’t, then whoever takes a peek or reverse engineers it, is not a thief. There’s no legal department in the world who would argue with that.

Thirdly, gaining knowledge (“earned”, “stolen” or otherwise) is the only (emphasizing on ONLY) way the world advances. Without knowing what’s already been done, you can’t innovate. Does everyone innovate? No, of course not. But who are you or I to decide who has the chances and who hasn’t? The guy asked a question. Either answer or move on silently.

Fourth, both final and off-topic, I’d be curious to find out the logic/premises on which you’re differentiating between “earned” and “stolen” knowledge.

7

Blueprints get compiled into non-readable bytecode (or C++).

8

So BPs can’t ever be extracted from their .paks?

9

Just a note, discussion on how to rip assets out of games without permission is not allowed on the forum. As for UE4 games, once the game is cooked then you can’t take the assets back out.

10

sure, totally agree with you here. everyone who shares info on here does so willingly.

i never said that.

you want to learn about game dev, you get a job, pay for tuition, you put the hard work in and pass the course. you just earned that knowledge. same goes for following tutorials online free or paid
you want to learn game dev, you use a tool to deconstruct others work without their consent, you stole that knowledge.

what im getting at here essentially is consent

flawed logic, you cant steal my car just because i didn’t tell you not to or i left it unlocked, its still a crime, same as IP theft is still a crime

11

Not as blueprints, no, and what you could get out of it is not particularly useful.

12

No.

Im also looking for an answer. My Pak all of my own assets is 700MB and i need to see why is it 700mb when my assets are 35mb.
So there are legitimate reasons to want to unpak a pak.

2 Likes
13

Folks, I for one have a very valid, and honest reason for wanting to unpack a game’s PAK file. The game is quite new and they provide no keyboard re-mapping functionality yet. However I know that putting a re-map entry into my own local Input.ini file will solve the problem temporarily until they provide this capability in later versions.

I can see the correct format for re-mapping by looking at other DefaultInput.ini files in other UE4 projects. The only thing I’m missing is the keyword for the command I need to remap within the game I’m running (like “ShowWidget” for example). Knowing what the game uses internally for that command name will allow me to form the correct re-map statement in my local Input.ini file.

That’s it – and that’s all. I’m not trying to steal anything, just make my game play more enjoyable.

14

Hello Neighbor makes you to do something illegal?

There’s a game named Hello Neighbor which makes you to hack into it’s files, so… does Hello Neighbor make you to do something illegal or morally and ethically wrong? 8)

15

If the developer gives you permission to do that with their game then that’s fine. Though some things could be against the UE4 EULA

1 Like
16

Hello Guys.
I’m playing a game that I need to delete some audio effects from …in order to run it more smoothly. So I actually need to unpack these .pak files and detele or change some effects in there in order to make my game more…playable!.. any Ideas on how to unpack …?

17
  • your reason for wanting to unpack the file makes no sense at all.
  • just scroll up to the 3rd post…
18

Alternatively if you are writing your own patcher it makes sense why you’d want to unpack, diff, and repack pak files as it would allow you to do a more iterative patch without needing to create a ton of additional PAK files, thus allowing faster downloads at a smaller resource size.

19

Lmao, some kid’s paranoid about looking at someone else’s code being illegal. Welcome to the real world buddy, you might as well say it’s immoral to play someone else’s game because you could steal ideas from their UI/game mechanics and use in your own LMAO.

What the hell are kids smoking these days? Jesus Christ lighten the hell up and get real, you’re just gonna make yourself look like an asshat saying paranoid nonsense in a world where millions of people regularly pirate content. Grow the hell up LMAO :smiley:

1 Like
20

what bout UNnrealPak use with encrypt key for unpack .pak file? how to use UnrealPak.exe with encryption key for unpack encrypt .pak file?