To extract files from an archive.rpa (the standard archive format for Ren'Py games), you can use a Python script. The RPA-3.0 format uses a header that points to a zlib-compressed index. RPA Extractor Script (Python)
This script provides the logic to identify the index and prepare for file extraction.
import zlib import pickle import os def extract_rpa(rpa_path, output_folder): with open(rpa_path, 'rb') as f: # 1. Verify RPA-3.0 Header header = f.read(8).decode('latin-1') if header != "RPA-3.0 ": print("Error: Not a valid RPA-3.0 archive.") return # 2. Parse Offset and Key offset = int(f.read(16), 16) key = int(f.read(8), 16) # 3. Read and Decompress Index f.seek(offset) index_data = zlib.decompress(f.read()) index = pickle.loads(index_data) # 4. Extract Files if not os.path.exists(output_folder): os.makedirs(output_folder) for filename, data_list in index.items(): # Handle potential multiple versions of a file for offset, length, prefix in data_list: # De-obfuscate data if necessary f.seek(offset) data = f.read(length) # Write to disk out_path = os.path.join(output_folder, filename) os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(out_path), exist_ok=True) with open(out_path, 'wb') as out_file: out_file.write(data) print(f"Extracted: filename") # Usage # extract_rpa("archive.rpa", "extracted_files") Use code with caution. Copied to clipboard Quick Tools & Alternatives
If you prefer not to write code, there are existing tools built specifically for this:
UnRPA (GitHub): The most popular command-line tool for extracting Ren'Py archives. archive.rpa extractor
rpatool: A versatile tool that can both create and extract RPA files.
RPA-Extractor (Web/GUI): Various web-based versions exist for quick, one-off extractions. 💡 Key Takeaway
RPA files are essentially pickled dictionaries containing file offsets. The extraction process is basically "reading the map" at the end of the file and jumping back to the specified coordinates to grab the raw data. If you'd like, I can: Help you install the command-line tools
Modify the script to filter for specific file types (like only .png or .rpy) Explain how to re-pack the archive after making changes To extract files from an archive
Lattyware/unrpa: A program to extract files from the RPA archive format.
Examples * On most unix systems, open a terminal in the directory containing unrpa then: python3 -m unrpa -mp "path/to/output/dir"
Lattyware/unrpa: A program to extract files from the RPA archive format.
Examples * On most unix systems, open a terminal in the directory containing unrpa then: python3 -m unrpa -mp "path/to/output/dir" Top Tools to Extract Archive
Over the years, the Ren’Py community has developed several reliable extractors. Below is a breakdown of the most popular and effective ones.
Archive.rpa is a command-line tool (and Python library) for extracting and working with archived web content, MHTML files, and other saved page formats. It’s especially useful for researchers, journalists, and developers who need to parse, search, and export site snapshots for analysis or republishing. Below is a ready-to-publish blog post you can use as-is or adapt.
Provide two complementary interfaces:
Command-line tool (rpa-extract)
Library (Python/Go/Rust)
Streaming extraction is crucial to avoid buffering huge files in memory.
