Garry's mod extracting addons in 2020 (.gma / .bin)

In this guide, you will learn how to extract addons in the new archiving system. After the addon system was updated, some addons became impossible to extract using the old methods, but I managed to fix it.

Introduction.

Originally posted by Shark_vil:

I translated my manual into English. Original:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1992169728

Good day. After the new add-on system was introduced, unpacking with old methods became not quite convenient. Half of the add-ons are loaded as before in addons, and the other half in content.

As I understand it, all mods packaged by the new method, namely in .bin, are loaded into content, and then their contents are unpacked into addons. At the same time, the mods remaining in the .gma format are not extracted in addons, and remain in the content folder.

It is not clear why this was done so. In this guide, I’ll show you how to conveniently extract mods from the content folder.

Video-tutorial

Program installation.

I created a console application in C# in Net Core. This application can work on both Windows and Linux systems (In the second, tests have not yet been conducted, so the application will appear a bit later if it is claimed).

1. Download and run the installer

Download GMOD Extractor v2.0 (Installer)[github.com]
Download GMOD Extractor v2.0 (Archive)[github.com]
Source:
https://github.com/Shark-vil/Gmod-console-extractor-2020

2. Choosing the installer language.

Select the language of the installer.

3. Welcome window.

After choosing the installer language, you will be greeted by a welcome window. Click on the button - Next.

4. Select installation folder.

In the next window, you can specify the path where the program will be installed.

WARNING!

It is advisable to specify a non-system drive, otherwise it will be necessary after installation to change the launch properties to "As administrator"!.

After selecting a folder, press the button - Next.

5. Create a shortcut.

In the next window, you will be prompted to create an application shortcut on the desktop. At your look. After selecting, press the button - Next.

6. Starting the installation process.

In the next window, you will be prompted to start the installation process. If you are ready, click on the button. - Install.

7. Complete installation.

After installation, a window appears to complete the installation process. Check the box "Run Garry's Mod Extractor 2020" and click on the button - Finish.

Configuration setting.

1. The first launch.

After the first launch, the console application menu appears, but it is too early to get started. After starting the console application, close it after about 2 seconds.

2. Open the folder with the program.

If you created an application icon on the desktop, you can use the context menu. Right-click on the application shortcut and select "File Location" in the list. Or manually open the folder with the installed program.

3. Open the configuration file.

After you open the folder with the installed program, you will see that there is a "Config" folder there, go into it. There is a file in this folder called "config.json". Open this file with any text editor. In this example, I am using Notepad ++.

4. Configure paths.

After you open the file, you will see three lines with paths there. Customize the paths based on your location of the game Garry's Mod. Remember to use double slashes "\\".

Work with the application.

After you configure the configuration file, you can start working with the application.

1. Menu items.

There are three menu items in the application.

• Opens a list of addons for later work.
  
• Extract all addons from the content folder.
  
• Closes the application.

2. List of addons.

When you initialize the list of addons, you use an Internet connection to get information about the add-on. After the list is fully loaded, all information about it will appear in the "cache.json" file in the folder with the installed program.

Reference:

If you suddenly have problems with the list, you can go to the folder with the installed application and delete the file "cache.json", and then download it again using the Internet connection.

3. Unpacking addons.

You can select one or more addons to extract using the space bar. To back the main menu, enter the number - 0 - and press the button - Enter.

Unpacking process.

The result of unpacking.

4. Drag & Drop

You can extract addons by dragging and dropping folders and files from the content folder into the application’s EXE file.

Conclusion.

I hope for someone this article will be useful. Thanks to those who have read up to this point: 3

If you have questions and suggestions regarding the application - ask and suggest. I will do GIT a bit later, when I’ll make out the code more clearly.

[The One Free Man]

Rabee, newer Workshop items use .bin instead of .gma, Gmad can't extract .bin files.

[Rabee06]

Gmad exists, this is a virus.

[timiwqe]

Great for extracting .bin addons!

[tapochekk]

бля чувак я тебя люблю. наконец то не нужно ограничивать себя в сфме из-за legacy аддонов. Пасиба!

[Trotski94]

Why does this come with so many DLLs?

[The One Free Man]

Most addons will extract just fine but addons such as this when attempting to extract
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2928366506

Will say "invalid list ID selected"

[The One Free Man]

Some addons will tell me that I've selected an invalid list ID even though it was an ID in the list.

[Harriko]

@LazyThomas Gmad doesn't work with Legacy Addons (.bin), so what's a more legit way of extracting them?

[Thomas]

I hope you all realize gmod comes with gmad and the program provided here is malicious. Also this dude has multiple VAC bans. y'all got played

[Koyuki (Nihahaha)]

| doesn't exactly work when the file isn't a gma, like all (afaik) addons are after 2020
V