[Guide] How to extract base.scs and def.scs - Efficiently

[Reef]

Ok I'm sure by now many of you know how to extract the base.scs and the def.scs but what I aim to show you today is not just a guide for novices that have never done this before but also to show some of you a more efficient way of doing it.

Firstly to the complete novice I will explain the whole process from what you need to what you do with it.

To the established modders out there, if you are extracting these .scs files by dragging and dropping the .scs file onto the extractor then read on because this guide will help you extract quicker and more efficiently by only having to double click an icon, no copy and pasting, no drag and dropping and no creating new folders each time an updated patch comes out.

Step 1: Download the scs_extractor or as SCS now call it "THE GAME ARCHIVE EXTRACTOR" from the official scs website > http://www.eurotrucksimulator2.com/mod_tools.php

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(note: this is not to be confused with the scs_unlocker that is designed to open locked mods, this only unlocks the base game.scs and def.scs archives)

Step 2: Extract the downloaded scs_extractor.zip with either Winzip, Winrar or 7zip

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Step 3: move the scs_extractor.exe to your Euro truck sim main program folder

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Now, the location of this folder will vary depending on a few factors from O.S. to how you purchased the game, and also personal setups can differ (as does mine) I will list a few common ones below..

CD-Rom or downloaded from SCS, this is known generally as the "Retail" version but can also be called "Direct download" or "Box" versions, pretty self explanatory really.

Windows O.S.

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C:\Program Files\Euro Truck Simulator 2

or

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C:\Program Files (x86)\Euro Truck Simulator 2

If however you own the Steam version then the file paths will be slightly different.

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C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\Common\Euro Truck Simulator 2

or

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C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\Common\Euro Truck Simulator 2

For Mac users it will be slightly different again, but basically you need to navigate to the directory where your programs are installed and look for the Euro Truck Simulator 2 folder.


Ok so now we have the scs_extractor.exe in the right folder, and it will work completely fine from there, it's just that if you dragged either the base.scs or the def.scs onto it now then you'd end up with a very messy, cluttered and confusing Euro Truck Simulator 2 folder and seeing as it is the main game directory that wouldn't be very good and could cause problems when deleting or moving things as you may inadvertently delete or move the wrong thing and break your game.

So lets get onto making it an efficient process, ok established modders you can wake up and pay attention now, MinecraftMarioGuy53! put your phone away and listen!

Firstly create a folder wherever you wish the base and def to be extracted too, this could be anywhere you like, even on another internal HDD or SSD if you have one, that part is up to you and down to personal preference just make a note of the file path (left click on the header address bar of your created folder and copy the address as text to your clipboard, I'd advise opening a notepad document and pasting it there for use in a bit)

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Now go back into your Euro Truck Simulator 2 folder and right click and drag the scs_extractor.exe and click "create shortcuts here" repeat this again so that you now have the scs_extractor.exe and also two shortcuts in your Euro Truck Simulator 2 folder.

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Rename the first shortcut BASE_EXTRACTOR or something easily recognizable to you (I call mine €_BASE_EXTRACTOR because it then presents itself at the top of the list in the folder due to it being higher placed than alphabetically or numerically named files, and well it's a Euro innit)

Rename the second shortcut DEF_EXTRACTOR (or €_DEF_EXTRACTOR if you like)

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Ok now we need to right click on the first shortcut and add some information to the Target field.

For the sake of my example and to keep it simple I am going to say that my Euro Truck Simulator 2 folder is located in C:\Program Files\Euro Truck Simulator 2 and that my folder that I created earlier (as explained above) is located in My Documents folder and named "Extracted ETS2" - C:\Users\Reef\Documents\Extracted ETS2 also within that Extracted ETS2 folder I will have a further two folders, one named base and the other named def.

Right then, right click on the first shortcut (BASE_EXTRACTOR) and click "properties" and in the Target field you will need to add the following paying close attention to spaces and speech marks ( " )

To better explain what we enter into the Target field I will split it into it's three basic parts, remember that each part will need to be separated by a space (in other words a space either side of the middle part)

The first part is the folder address of where you have Euro Truck Sim and also the extactor.exe

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"C:\Program Files\Euro Truck Simulator 2\scs_extractor.exe"

the next part is telling the .exe to extract the base.scs (remember this is separated by a space from the first part above)

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base.scs

and the final part is the address of the folder we created earlier that we'd like the base.scs to be extracted too (again don't forget the separating space from the part above)

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"C:\Users\<your user name>\Documents\Extracted ETS2\base"

So the whole lot together will look like this

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"C:\Program Files\Euro Truck Simulator 2\scs_extractor.exe" base.scs "C:\Users\<your user name>\Documents\Extracted ETS2\base"

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Ok then click apply and then repeat the above steps on the second shortcut only this time where you see the word "base" replace it with the word "def"

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"C:\Program Files\Euro Truck Simulator 2\scs_extractor.exe" def.scs "C:\Users\<your user name>\Documents\Extracted ETS2\def"

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click apply for that one and then that's it, you're done.

Now every time the game has an updated patch just go to the Euro Truck Simulator 2 folder and double click each of the shortcuts, just be sure to either move, rename or delete the previous extracted files from your Extracted ETS2 folder first.



Thanks for reading, I hope it makes sense to you and I hope it's of help to some of you too, any errors then let me know and I'll edit it.

Any questions or comments then feel free to ask below.

[ohaha]

That is exactly how I do it!
But I am thinking of also creating a (third) batch file which will call those shortcuts, one after the other, so I can do this with just one click.

[Reef]

Oh you're so lazy Adrian

If you do and it works ok we can add it to this tut if you like

[ohaha]

I'll have to ask the Guru*, 'cause I'm not sure what to put in there...


* y' know

[natvander]

Does it matter if the extractor isn't in the main game folder? Certainly not nearly as convenient as your procedure, but i have a separate folder on a separate HDD where I have the extractor and then I copy the game files over and extract there. I'd just like to know if I'm compromising my mods by doing it that way.

I'll likely change my procedure now tho.

[ohaha]

I think it should work, but you will have to specify an absolute path for the file to be extracted, too
e.g.
instead of simply having def.scs, you'll have [path to containing folder]/def.scs.

[SimulatorSam]

I'm all ears Mr.Reef!



This is actually really useful, thanks for this.

[plykkegaard]

Batch file which
1) rename current game folder (extracted content) to eg game + <current date>
2) Create new game folder
3) Copy extractor and game files to new game folder
4) Extract files
5) echo "well done" and cal pause command (just in case any error sa reported)

[Cadde]

ohaha, see the "Getting started with modding" guide in the modding guides section.
Also, this thread belongs in that forum reef.
Also, this is covered in "Getting started with modding", haven't you seen it Reef?

[Reef]

Also, this thread belongs in that forum reef.

Quite right, I forgot about that category tbh, oh well I've moved it now, disaster averted

Also, this is covered in "Getting started with modding", haven't you seen it Reef?

No I hadn't, and now that I have I can see we approach the same issue from different angles so I don't see a problem, do you?