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 https://play.date/dev/ if it is not.

Mac Playdate Asset Converter.zip (731.5 KB)

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.