01-16-2020, 06:25 PM
Hi there, I'm the one that uploaded the portraits 
Most of SteamWorld Quest's graphics (and some of the other files such as the dialogue documents and sounds) are compressed into encrypted .z archive files, which is why your dds program couldn't open it. Normally .z archives can be opened with something like PeaZip, but since they're encrypted no unzipping program as far as I'm aware can open them. Luckily QuickBMS can!
Download QuickBMS (found here: http://aluigi.altervista.org/quickbms.htm)
You'll need a script for QuickBMS to read the files. Copy this script and paste it into a plain .txt file (Note that I didn't write this script myself, I found it on a Czech gaming forum a while ago)
(Ignore that it says SteamWorld Dig, it works with all the SteamWorld games) Run quickbms.exe, and it will prompt you to open the script you need. Select the txt file containing the script. Then QuickBMS will prompt you to select the archive you want to open—select the .z file you want to open. You can select multiple files at once to open—and I recommend that you do this because all of the enemies are stored in separate .z files and doing them one at a time would take a while (You can tell which files contain enemies by checking the file names—all the files with enemies have "monster" in the file names)
Select your output folder and QuickBMS will dump them there in DDS format and you can do whatever you want from there!
Fair warning, however, if you plan to spritesheet the enemies, Quest uses skeletal animation, which means that all the body parts are separated (See the attached file for an example) and sorting the parts to put them in a sheet could be a pain (unless you're up for it lol). I wasn't originally planning to sheet anything else after I finished the UI (not yet at least, I'm uh... kinda scared to tackle them XD) but if you're going to sheet them I'll try to sheet some of them too.
Let me know if you have any issues! Also, if you're interested in ripping .z files from other SteamWorld games, this method will work for them too.
Attached file:
Most of SteamWorld Quest's graphics (and some of the other files such as the dialogue documents and sounds) are compressed into encrypted .z archive files, which is why your dds program couldn't open it. Normally .z archives can be opened with something like PeaZip, but since they're encrypted no unzipping program as far as I'm aware can open them. Luckily QuickBMS can!
Download QuickBMS (found here: http://aluigi.altervista.org/quickbms.htm)
You'll need a script for QuickBMS to read the files. Copy this script and paste it into a plain .txt file (Note that I didn't write this script myself, I found it on a Czech gaming forum a while ago)
Code:
# Game: SteamWorld Dig *
# File unpacker
# Script for QuickBMS http://aluigi.org/papers.htm#quickbms
comtype zlib
get NAME basename
get ZSIZE asize
math ZSIZE - 4
get SIZE long
clog NAME 4 ZSIZE SIZE(Ignore that it says SteamWorld Dig, it works with all the SteamWorld games) Run quickbms.exe, and it will prompt you to open the script you need. Select the txt file containing the script. Then QuickBMS will prompt you to select the archive you want to open—select the .z file you want to open. You can select multiple files at once to open—and I recommend that you do this because all of the enemies are stored in separate .z files and doing them one at a time would take a while (You can tell which files contain enemies by checking the file names—all the files with enemies have "monster" in the file names)
Select your output folder and QuickBMS will dump them there in DDS format and you can do whatever you want from there!
Fair warning, however, if you plan to spritesheet the enemies, Quest uses skeletal animation, which means that all the body parts are separated (See the attached file for an example) and sorting the parts to put them in a sheet could be a pain (unless you're up for it lol). I wasn't originally planning to sheet anything else after I finished the UI (not yet at least, I'm uh... kinda scared to tackle them XD) but if you're going to sheet them I'll try to sheet some of them too.
Let me know if you have any issues! Also, if you're interested in ripping .z files from other SteamWorld games, this method will work for them too.
Attached file: