Asset converter tool (Mac only)

SDK Development Discussion
1

I made this Mac App that converts regular media types into their playdate equivalents.

Basically, it just runs pdc on whatever you drag-n-drop into it

png -> pdi
gif, image table png -> pdt
adpcm wav -> pda

Why?

  • Nice tool for modding playdate games
  • User friendly tool to share with non-dev team members

Note: not sure whether Panic likes it if I bundle pdc with this, so for now, installing the sdk is required. The tool does check whether pdc is installed and points users to Develop for Playdate if it is not.

Mac Playdate Asset Converter.zip (731.5 KB)

4 Likes
2

aww, I thought you'd reimplemented pdc ground-up for a second there -- that'd be awesome (and honestly I could have done that but I see no reason to)

3

Hi I wonder if you can help me. I´m trying to use your kind mac app for png -> pdi and I get the following error message:

​PDC command location: /usr/local/bin/pdc
Converting /Users/Norbu/Desktop/Super Jetpak DX(1).png
/Users/Norbu/Desktop/Super Jetpak DX(1).png is a file.
Parent directory of the input: /Users/Norbu/Desktop
Removing the temp source directory
Creating the temp source directory
mkdir: /private/var/folders/f7/347t54c90yd5hr8r53h2d6m80000gp/T/AppTranslocation/5E35A98C-91DA-4674-BDE0-E3E2403923B8/d: Read-only file system
Removing the temp output directory
Creating an empty file main.lua in the source directory
touch: /private/var/folders/f7/347t54c90yd5hr8r53h2d6m80000gp/T/AppTranslocation/5E35A98C-91DA-4674-BDE0-E3E2403923B8/d/Playdate Asset Converter.app/Contents/Resources/pd_converter_source/main.lua: Read-only file system
Copying the input file to the temp source directory
cp: /private/var/folders/f7/347t54c90yd5hr8r53h2d6m80000gp/T/AppTranslocation/5E35A98C-91DA-4674-BDE0-E3E2403923B8/d/Playdate Asset Converter.app/Contents/Resources/pd_converter_source: Read-only file system
error: Couldn't create folder at /private/var/folders/f7/347t54c90yd5hr8r53h2d6m80000gp/T/AppTranslocation/5E35A98C-91DA-4674-BDE0-E3E2403923B8/d/Playdate Asset Converter.app/Contents/Resources/pd_converter_output.pdx
Removing the temp source directory
mv: rename /private/var/folders/f7/347t54c90yd5hr8r53h2d6m80000gp/T/AppTranslocation/5E35A98C-91DA-4674-BDE0-E3E2403923B8/d/Playdate Asset Converter.app/Contents/Resources/pd_converter_output.pdx to /private/var/folders/f7/347t54c90yd5hr8r53h2d6m80000gp/T/AppTranslocation/5E35A98C-91DA-4674-BDE0-E3E2403923B8/d/Playdate Asset Converter.app/Contents/Resources/pd_converter_output: Read-only file system
rm: /private/var/folders/f7/347t54c90yd5hr8r53h2d6m80000gp/T/AppTranslocation/5E35A98C-91DA-4674-BDE0-E3E2403923B8/d/Playdate Asset Converter.app/Contents/Resources/pd_converter_output/main.pdz: No such file or directory
rm: /private/var/folders/f7/347t54c90yd5hr8r53h2d6m80000gp/T/AppTranslocation/5E35A98C-91DA-4674-BDE0-E3E2403923B8/d/Playdate Asset Converter.app/Contents/Resources/pd_converter_output/pdxinfo: No such file or directory
mv: rename /private/var/folders/f7/347t54c90yd5hr8r53h2d6m80000gp/T/AppTranslocation/5E35A98C-91DA-4674-BDE0-E3E2403923B8/d/Playdate Asset Converter.app/Contents/Resources/pd_converter_output/* to /Users/Norbu/Desktop/*: Read-only file system
Failed to move file

4

Do you have write privileges to the temporary file directory on your Mac? It sounds like this might be a local issue.

5

I don’t know - sorry bit limited in my knowledge.

6

According to chatgpt the app is forced to run in a read only folder for security because it was downloaded from the internet. If you move it to another folder, that might fix it. Notice the AppTranslocation and read-only filesystem in the logs.

If you are comfortable with the terminal you can use

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /path/to/App.app

To remove the quarantine

7

Thanks. So if I just open Terminal and put:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /path/to/Playdate Asset Converter.app

And then Return?

8

Hi again. I tried:
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Playdate_Asset_Converter.app
But it says: xattr: No such file: /Applications/Playdate_Asset_Converter.app

9

Check the name very carefully. The App is probably called “Playdate Asset Converter.app”
In terminal, you cannot simply use spaces.

Either rename the app to Playdate_Asset_Converter.app or use quotes to tell the terminal that spaces are to be interpreted literally:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Playdate Asset Converter.app"
10

Thank you! - that worked. I was just missing the quote marks. Much obliged.