How to use Snark
This wiki page is a guide on how to use Snark, despite the many similarities Snark's GUI has to Crowbar's GUI, there are some differences that it has that might be confusing to users coming from Crowbar. This guide covers everything, from decompiling, to compiling and more!
To decompile models using Snark, you need to specify an MDL file to decompile, specify an output folder if you want it to be placed somewhere else (if you don't specify an output folder, the decompiler's output will be placed in a subfolder of where the MDL file is located), and depending on what you're using to make and compile models, change the options to suit them. If you are using a modern version of StudioMDL that has fixed the UV-shifting bug from the original Half-Life SDK version, enable 'Fix UV Shifts' or alternatively select the 'Svengine' option in the first Quick Setup Presets dropdown, as the decompiler will by default shift the UVs to accommodate for the original StudioMDL's UV bug. If you use FRAGmotion or Milkshape 3D for modelling, deselect the 'Place textures in subfolder' option or select the 'FRAG+MS3D' option in the second Quick Setup Presets dropdown as those programs will have issues with loading the textures if they aren't in the same place as the model data. Otherwise, if you use a newer modelling program like Blender or Maya, you can keep that option checked as they won't have issues with the textures being in its own subfolder.
If you don't want to change the Quick Setup Presets every time you open the program, you can specify a default option for them in the options menu. For the first dropdown, change the value in the 'Default Decompile Preset' dropdown, for the second dropdown, change the value in the 'Default Modeller Preset' dropdown. After doing so, Snark will start up with those options already selected for your convenience.
To compile models using Snark, you need to specify a QC file to give to the compiler of your choice (if you don't specify an output folder, the compiler's output will be placed in a subfolder of where the QC file is located). Additionally, you need to select the compiler and game you're compiling for so you can get accurate reporting of any incompatibilities between what your compiler and your game supports, Snark currently comes with a profile for Half-Life and Sven Co-op and the compilers for both (more will be added in future updates).
If you have the Half-Life SDK and/or the Sven Co-op SDK installed in the same location as Steam, then you don't need to configure anything else before hitting the compile button (aside from the advanced options which I will touch on in a moment). Otherwise if you have either SDK installed in a separate location to the main Steam installation, then you need to go to the compilers tab and enter the location of the compiler executable in the 'Custom path' field (make sure you have selected the correct compiler in the drop down menu above). Once you have entered that in, you can save it by clicking the save path button (or by clicking into the text field of the drop down menu so the entry loses focus).
In the compiler GUI, there are many different checkboxes for each command-line argument for the compiler you have selected. If you want to know what they do, hover your mouse over each one and you'll get a tool tip explaining what they do. For example, the -i option tells the compiler to ignore all warnings while compiling the model.
Once you have finished configuring stuff, you can click the compiler button and Snark will interface with the compiler you have chosen, give you the output and move everything to the output folder you have specified. IF YOU ARE A LINUX USER AND YOU GET 'wine: command not found' IN THE CONSOLE, THAT MEANS YOU HAVE NOT INSTALLED WINE (OR YOU INSTALLED THE FLATPAK, WHICH ISN'T SUPPORTED).
To get Snark to use the compiler you must install the system version of Wine by either using your package manager (through sudo apt install wine for Ubuntu/Debian systems or the equivalent for your distro) or by going to the software store, searching for 'wine', making sure you're installing the system version and not the Flatpak and clicking the install button.
In alpha version 0.1.1, the ability to open models in your preferred model viewer was introduced. As with everything in Snark, this feature requires little configuration, if at all.
To set up HLMV within Snark, you need to go to the options tab and click on the Model Viewers sub-category. If you use Half-Life Asset Manager (the portable version will not work), you can select the Half-Life Asset Manager option in the drop down menu. If you are using a different model viewer (or you have installed the portable version of HLAM), you need to select the Other option and click the Set Model Viewer Executable button. Then in the file explorer menu that opens up, find the executable for your model viewer, select it and click Open.
Now that you've done what was outlined above, you'll see that a button named "Open model in HLMV" will show up whenever you select a model in the Decompile menu, or when you select a .qc file (if the model is located in the models subfolder in the same directory) or compile a model in the compiler menu. Clicking the button will open up HLMV with your model loaded in automatically.
In alpha version 0.3.0, Snark's compiling and decompiling functions were completely overhauled to allow support for decompiling and compiling multiple models at once! The key difference between Snark and Crowbar's functionality for this, is that Snark gives you more control over what you want to decompile/compile and where to place them. Sounds daunting? Don't worry! It's not much different compared to how you'd do things in Crowbar.
To start a batch decompile/compile job, go to the dropdown menu next to the top-most 'Browse' button and select 'Folder', then click 'Browse' and it will let you select a folder of models/model sources. Once you have located it, click okay, and you're ready.
However, let's say there's some models you want to skip in the batch process, or maybe you want one model to be in a different folder to what's specified in the compile/decompile menu. Then you need to go to the 'Batch Manager' tab, it should already open to the correct tab if you've followed the previous instructions, the menu should look like this (with items in the box):
Here, you can select one or multiple different items in the list. To skip a model(s), select it and check the 'Skip model' checkbox. When you go back to the Decompile/Compile menu and hit the Decompile/Compile button, you'll see that the model(s) that you've marked did not get processed.
If you want one model to be placed in a different folder than the rest, then select it and uncheck 'Use Output Path' at the bottom. Then specify a path, it needs to be an absolute path (like 'home/USER/Documents/model' or 'C:\Users\USER\Documents\model'). Once you have specified a path in the entry, click 'Save Path' and you're good!