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VDFS Tool

VDFS Tool is a modern utility for working with Gothic VDFS volumes (.vdf and .mod files). Developed by Gratt, it supports advanced features introduced by the Union team, such as ZIP compression and extended timestamps, alongside standard volume operations.

Features​

  • Read, create, and modify VDF volumes
  • Volume compression (ZIP algorithm)
  • Volume optimization (deduplication)
  • Extended timestamp support (up to year 2107)
  • Explorer-style navigation (search, copy, paste)
  • Drag & Drop support
  • Direct file opening without extraction
  • One-click content updates

Volume Compression​

The tool allows you to compress volumes using the classic zlib (ZIP) algorithm. This significantly reduces the size of mod files.

To use compressed volumes, the game must have Union installed. Union includes a special ZippedStream interface in vdfs32g.dll that allows the engine to decompress data chunks in real-time without performance loss.

warning

Compressed .mod and .vdf archives will NOT work without Union. Ensure your users have Union installed if you distribute compressed mods.

Volume Optimization​

The Optimization feature scans the volume for files with identical content. If duplicates are found, they are combined to reference a single data source within the archive, reducing the overall file size.

Extended Timestamp​

Standard VDFS timestamps have limitations. The VDFS Tool supports an extended timestamp format that allows for:

  • Dates up to the year 2107
  • 31 days per month
  • 16 months per year
  • 31 hours per day / 61 minutes per hour / 62 seconds per minute (useful for internal logic or versioning)

Interface & Workflow​

File Explorer​

The interface mimics Windows Explorer, supporting standard operations like copying, pasting, renaming, and searching files within the volume.

Drag & Drop​

You can drag files from Windows Explorer into the VDFS Tool to add them, or drag files out of the tool to extract them.

info

For Drag & Drop to work, both VDFS Tool and Windows Explorer must run with the same privileges. If you run VDFS Tool as Administrator, Drag & Drop from a standard Explorer window may not work.

Direct File Opening​

You can double-click any file inside a volume to open it with its associated default application, without needing to manually extract it first.

One-Click Update​

Use the shortcut Ctrl + U to trigger the One-Click Update. The program compares files in the volume with their loose counterparts in the game directories. If newer versions of the files exist on the disk, the volume is automatically updated with the fresh content upon saving.

Download & Links​