ffTools

A tool for working with MW2 Alpha 482 FastFiles (.ff/.ffm format). Provides linking and unlinking capabilities for game assets.

Building

Requirements

• Visual Studio 2022
• C++17 or later

Build Instructions

1. Open the solution file:

   build\ffTools.sln
   

2. Select your build configuration (Debug or Release)

3. Build the solution:

   • Build → Build Solution (F7)

The compiled executables will be placed in:

• Debug: build\bin\Debug\
• Release: build\bin\Release\

Usage

Linker

Creates fastfile archives from assets listed in a CSV manifest.

The linker expects a mod name and will read the CSV produced by unlinker at:

<modname>/zone_source/<modname>.csv

Usage:

linker.exe <modname>

By default the tool writes <modname>.ff pass -m before the mod name to produce <modname>.ffm instead.

Example (default):

linker.exe patch

Produces patch.ff.

Example (force .ffm):

linker.exe -m patch

Produces patch.ffm.

Note: pass -k to keep the generated .ffraw; by default it is removed.

Unlinker (made for unlinking fastfiles made by linker specifically)

Extracts assets from a fastfile.

unlinker.exe <input.ffm> [output_directory]

Example:

unlinker.exe patch.ffm patch

If output_directory is not specified, it defaults to the input filename (without extension).

This extracts all assets to the patch/ directory and creates a CSV manifest.

Supported Asset Types

• localize - Localization strings
• rawfile - Configuration files (.cfg), script files (.gsc) and other raw text files
• stringtable - CSV tables used by the game

Credits

• riicchhaarrd/linker_nx1 - Original C implementation of NX1 linker
• Laupetin/OpenAssetTools - IW4 asset type reference