Unpacks Dark Souls 1 archive files for easier modding, by modifying the .exe to patch references to the dvdbnd files so that they refer to files unpacked from the dvdbnd archives instead. Additionally, patches the .exe so that it no longer reads content as DCX-compressed. Finally, it unpacks the dvdbnd archives so that the modified .exe can read from them, and also decompresses the unpacked files.

Once the .exe has been patched and the dvdbnd archives unpacked, the game reads from individual files (texture, scripting, map data, etc.) rather than the 4 dvdbnd archives. This allows mods to be distributed as modified versions of the exact files they modify, rather than having to be packed into modified versions of the entire dvdbnd archives. This also makes combining mods substantially easier.

NOTE: Because this utility modifies an .exe file, some anti-virus programs flag it as suspicious.

Instructions:

It is highly recommended that you start from a fresh installation of Dark Souls 1. If you have previously unpacked your Dark Souls 1 archive files by hand
(through hex-editing & Wulf's BND Rebuilder) or automatically (using a previous version of UDSFM), it is recommended that you erase and re-install Dark Souls 1 before using UDSFM. However, if you do not wish to do so, it is still possible to use UDSFM by following the second, more complicated set of instructions below.

Note: The Dark Souls 1 data directory DATA is usually located at C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\SteamApps\common\Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition\DATA, but it may be in a different location depending on your Steam installation. Note that UDSFM only supports the Steam version of the game, not the GFWL version nor other versions.

Before beginning, make sure you have at least 10GB of free hard-disk space and 1GB of available RAM.

If your archive files are not already unpacked:

• Make a backup of any saved games. (The tool should not modify or delete these files.)
• Install and set up DSFix or other .dll-based mods. Some users have reported that installing these mods after unpacking causes crashes.
• Download UnpackDarkSoulsForModding and place the executable file in your Dark Souls DATA directory.
• Run UnpackDarkSoulsForModding.exe by double-clicking on it. A command prompt window should appear.
• Do not close the window until the prompt indicates that the process has completed. Make sure you read any prompts carefully before answering.
• If you are not using a standard installation, the tool will prompt you for input if it discovers irregularities. Choosing to continue will attempt unpacking, but may crash or produce incorrect results, especially if the archive files are non-standard. For best results if this occurs, re-install / verify cache in Steam, installing .dll mods as above if needed.
  

If your archive files are already unpacked:

• Find the original copies of dvdbnd#.bdt and dvdbnd#.bhd5, where # is 1,2,3,4 and place them in your DATA directory. (They may be in DATA already, or in another directory, e.g. unpackDS-backup.) If you cannot find these files, you will need to re-install Dark Souls 1.
• If possible, find the original vanilla copy of DARKSOULS.exe and place it in your DATA directory. UDSFM can tolerate a non-standard .exe, but will prompt for confirmation before continuing and will not be able to verify its modifications.
• Make sure that no important data that you would like to preserve is being stored in any subdirectory of DATA. Many of these subdirectories will be deleted and re-created.
• Make a backup of any saved games. (The tool should not modify or delete these files.)
• Install and set up DSFix or other .dll-based mods. Some users have reported that installing these mods after unpacking causes crashes.
• Download UnpackDarkSoulsForModding and place the executable file in your Dark Souls DATA directory.
• Run UnpackDarkSoulsForModding.exe by double-clicking on it. A command prompt window should appear.
• Do not close the window until the prompt indicates that the process has completed. Make sure you read any prompts carefully before answering.
• If you are not using a standard installation, the tool will prompt you for input if it discovers irregularities. Choosing to continue will attempt unpacking, but may crash or produce incorrect results, especially if the archive files are non-standard. For best results if this occurs, re-install / verify cache in Steam, installing .dll mods as above if needed.
  

Once the tool completes, your Dark Souls 1 installation will now be reading from files in the `DATA` directory, allowing for easier modding.

Technical Details:

Unlike the previous version of UDSFM, this tool disables DCX compression while unpacking the archives. This allows for easier modding, but also increases the size of the files-on-disk slightly. Load times should not be noticeably different.

During the course of unpacking, UDSFM unpacks all *bnd files to search for more files that need to be DCX-decompressed. Since these files are of use to those who wish to make mods, UDSFM has the option of not removing these usually-temporarily unpacked files and provide a manifest of what each *bnd file yields. This allows modders to examine the contents of every *bnd file without needing to unpack each one individually. However, it does use hard-disk space if these files are not removed. Most users will have no need for these unpacked temporary files.

If you have a different .exe (for debugging, perhaps) that you would like to patch to use the unpacked files, place it -- making sure it is named DARKSOULS.exe -- and UDSFM in an empty directory, and run UDSFM. Once you agree to the modification, UDSFM will patch the .exe and then abort without attempting to unpack any archive files. The patched .exe can then be swapped out for the .exe in DATA at your discretion.

The source code for UDSFM is available on Github.