Platform: Windows (Python 3.10+)
GUI: Tkinter (dark theme, no external UI framework required)
A growing collection of utilities for working with scene releases — the structured, NFO/SFV-accompanied archive releases distributed by the warez scene. Built around the workflows of RomVault and dats.site, this toolset helps manage DAT files and ZIP archives in a way that keeps data pristine and catalogue-ready.
- Overview
- Requirements
- Installation
- Tab 1 — Scene Dat Stripper
- Tab 2 — Comment Repair
- Shared Features
- Logs
- File Output Reference
- Known Limitations
Eggman's Scene Tools is a single-file Python/Tkinter application that presents multiple tools as tabs within one window. Each tab is self-contained with its own input controls, options, log pane, and action buttons.
The application is designed for users who:
- Maintain structured scene release archives catalogued by RomVault or ClrMamePro
- Use DAT files from sources such as dats.site to verify and manage their collections
- Want to track scene release metadata without necessarily storing the full RAR data
- Need to repair ZIP files so they validate cleanly against scene DAT entries
| Dependency | Required | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Python 3.10+ | ✅ Yes | f-strings, match, type hints |
tkinter |
✅ Yes | Bundled with standard Python on Windows |
tkinterdnd2 |
Enables drag-and-drop onto folder/file pickers |
pip install tkinterdnd2
If tkinterdnd2 is not installed, the app runs normally — browse buttons and manual path entry work as expected. A warning banner will appear in the header.
No installer required. Download or clone the repository and run directly:
python Eggmans_Scene_Tools.py
No pip install is needed beyond the optional tkinterdnd2 above.
Scene releases are distributed as a set of RAR volumes accompanied by support files: an .nfo info file, an .sfv checksum file, a .diz description file, and often proof image files (.jpg/.png). The actual content (movies, games, software) lives inside the RAR volumes.
A scene DAT file (.dat or .xml in ClrMamePro/RomVault XML format) catalogues every file in every release, including all RAR volumes. For users who only want to track that a release existed — without storing the multi-gigabyte RAR data — the DAT as-distributed is too heavy: it demands you have the RAR volumes present before RomVault considers a release complete.
The Scene Dat Stripper solves this by processing your DAT/XML files and removing all <rom> entries whose filenames match RAR volume patterns, leaving only the support file entries (NFO, SFV, DIZ, proofs, etc.). The result is a skeleton DAT — a lightweight scene record that lets RomVault or ClrMamePro verify the presence of support files without requiring the actual release data.
This is particularly useful for:
- Users who follow the scene for cataloguing and archival purposes
- Building a verifiable record of releases using only NFO/SFV files
- Reducing DAT complexity for large scene catalogues where full data is not retained
NOTE: This app function does require you to retrieve the original scene dats from the dats.site website. You can do this yourself by:
- visiting the site,
- selecting a system platform from the dropdown menus,
- click on the download icon.
If the download icon brings you to a "Get Scene DATs" screen with a big red SETTINGS button, it means you have NOT yet setup the site's cookies. There are 8 site setting cookies that will determine how the website will format and configure the dats before you download them. These are my settings for a typical setup, but you can change it so the dats look any way you want them to.
which DATEFORMAT will be used in the front of Release DIR: 0 - NO DATE
You want to use: <clrmamepro forcepacking="unzip"/> in the DAT? 1 - YES
Choose how Releases should be sorted in the DATs: 0 - Alphabetical
Choose in which direction Releases should be sorted in the DATs: 0 - ASC (ascending)
Choose if you want to include NUKED releases or not: 1 - YES, include
Choose if you want to include possible P2P releases or not: 0 - NO, exclude
Choose if you want that Year Releases are placed into Month Subfolders or not: 0 - NO, Month Subfolders NOT needed
Choose if you want that prefix [NUKED] is set in front of your Releasename: 1 - YES
When you've set all 8 cookie settings, it will show you a green "Your Browser Cookies are enabled". Scroll down and click on "Back to DATs". You'll now be able to download any of the dats on the site and they will be setup to the preferences you've set. You can change these options anytime you want to fit your own needs.
You must have cookies enabled in your browser for this site to allow you to download from it. If you clear your browser's cookies and wipe these cookies out, you'll need to set them up again.
Alternately, you can get all these dats from RomVault's DATVAULT, including all updates as they are released. Subscription required.
The stripper targets <rom name="..."> lines only. A line is removed if the name attribute ends in any of the following RAR volume patterns:
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
.rar |
release.rar |
.partNN.rar |
release.part01.rar, release.part001.rar |
.r00 – .r99 |
release.r00, release.r47 |
.s00 – .s99 |
release.s00 |
.t00 – .t99 |
release.t00 |
.u00 – .u99 |
release.u00 |
.v00 – .v99 |
release.v00 |
.w00 – .w99 |
release.w00 |
.001 – .999 |
release.001, release.023 |
.sfvfiles are never removed, regardless of any other pattern match. SFV files are the scene's primary checksum verification mechanism and are always considered support files.
All other <rom> entries (NFO, DIZ, JPG, PNG, SFV, etc.) and all non-<rom> XML structure (headers, game blocks, metadata) are left completely untouched. Line endings and encoding are preserved per-file.
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Source Folder | Folder to scan recursively for .dat and .xml files. Supports drag-and-drop if tkinterdnd2 is installed. |
| Create .old backup | Before modifying any file, saves the original as filename.dat.old. If a .old already exists, a timestamp is appended (filename.dat.20250101_120000.old). Recommended. |
| ▶ Run | Starts the scan in a background thread. The UI remains responsive. |
| ■ Stop | Requests a graceful stop after the current file finishes processing. |
| Open Log Folder | Opens the logs/ directory beside the script in Windows Explorer. |
| Save Log | Saves the visible log pane content to a .txt file of your choosing. |
| Clear Log | Clears the log pane display (does not affect the file log). |
Each file produces one of the following entries in the log:
| Tag | Meaning |
|---|---|
[CHANGED] |
File was modified — RAR rom lines were removed. Count of removed lines shown. |
[OK] |
File was scanned but contained no removable rom lines. Not modified. |
[WARN] |
A non-fatal issue occurred, e.g. a backup write failed. |
[ERROR] |
A file could not be read or written. |
A timestamped log file is automatically written to the logs/ folder beside the script at the end of each run (see Logs).
Before (original DAT excerpt):
<game name="Some.Release-GRP">
<rom name="Some.Release-GRP.nfo" size="4096" crc="AABBCCDD" />
<rom name="Some.Release-GRP.sfv" size="512" crc="11223344" />
<rom name="Some.Release-GRP.rar" size="104857600" crc="DEADBEEF" />
<rom name="Some.Release-GRP.r00" size="104857600" crc="CAFEBABE" />
<rom name="Some.Release-GRP.r01" size="104857600" crc="FEEDFACE" />
<rom name="Some.Release-GRP.jpg" size="89432" crc="55667788" />
</game>After (skeleton DAT):
<game name="Some.Release-GRP">
<rom name="Some.Release-GRP.nfo" size="4096" crc="AABBCCDD" />
<rom name="Some.Release-GRP.sfv" size="512" crc="11223344" />
<rom name="Some.Release-GRP.jpg" size="89432" crc="55667788" />
</game>The .rar, .r00, and .r01 entries are removed. The NFO, SFV, and proof image entries remain.
Scene ZIP releases sometimes carry an embedded archive comment in their EOCD (End of Central Directory) record. This is a standard ZIP feature, but the presence of a comment — even an empty-looking one — causes the file's binary footprint to differ from what a DAT file expects. Tools like RomVault and ClrMamePro match files by CRC32, size, and sometimes exact byte content; a ZIP with a trailing comment will fail to match a DAT entry that was generated from a clean copy.
The Comment Repair tab strips the embedded comment from scene ZIP files and corrects the EOCD comment-length field to zero, restoring the file to a pristine state that matches dats.site DAT entries exactly.
This repair is used on scene zips to repair them to a pristine state for use with dats.site datfiles, located at https://dats.site/home.php.
A ZIP file's EOCD record appears near the end of the file and contains a 2-byte comment-length field followed by the comment data itself. The tool:
- Locates the EOCD signature (
PK\x05\x06) by scanning from the end of the file. - Reads the 2-byte comment-length field at offset +20 within the EOCD.
- If the comment length is zero, the file is already clean — no write is performed.
- If a comment is present, a new copy of the file is written that truncates everything after the 22-byte EOCD record and sets the comment-length field to
\x00\x00. - The CRC32 of the fixed output file is computed and optionally logged.
The original file is never modified by default — a new file is written alongside it.
| Control | Description |
|---|---|
| Input Mode | Switch between Folder (recursive) — scans all .zip files in a folder tree — and Single file — processes one ZIP. |
| Source Folder / Source File | Folder or file picker. Supports drag-and-drop if tkinterdnd2 is installed. |
| Skip files with no comment | If checked, files that already have no comment are logged as [CLEAN] and not written. Avoids unnecessary disk writes. On by default. |
| Show CRC32 in log | After fixing a file, logs the CRC32 of the output. Useful for cross-referencing against DAT entries. On by default. |
| Keep original | Writes the fixed file as filename_comment_fixed.zip beside the original rather than overwriting. Strongly recommended — originals are untouched. On by default. |
| ▶ Run | Starts processing in a background thread. A progress bar and live ETA are shown. |
| ■ Stop | Requests a graceful stop at the next file boundary. |
| Save Log | Saves the visible log pane to a .txt file. |
| Clear Log | Clears the log pane display. |
| Tag | Meaning |
|---|---|
[FIXED] |
Comment was found and stripped. Bytes removed and output filename shown. |
[CLEAN] |
No comment present — file skipped (if Skip option is on). |
[ERROR] |
File could not be read (not a valid ZIP, permission error, etc.). |
CRC32: |
CRC32 of the fixed output file (shown in blue when enabled). |
A running status bar below the options shows current file count, fixed/skipped/error totals, elapsed time, and ETA.
By default, fixed files are written as:
original_filename_comment_fixed.zip
placed in the same directory as the source file. The original is never modified or deleted.
If Keep original is unchecked, the fix is applied in-place and no copy is made. Use with caution.
- Dark theme — consistent palette across all tabs, optimised for extended use
- Drag-and-drop — folder and file pickers accept drag-and-drop when
tkinterdnd2is installed - Threaded processing — all operations run in background threads; the UI stays responsive during long runs
- Stop button — graceful cancellation between files; current file always completes cleanly before stopping
- Colour-coded log pane — green for success, cyan for info, amber for warnings, orange/highlighted for errors, blue for CRC values, muted for skipped/clean entries
- Horizontal scrolling — log pane scrolls horizontally for long paths
The Scene Dat Stripper automatically saves a timestamped log file to a logs/ folder created beside Eggmans_Scene_Tools.py on every run:
logs/scene_dat_stripper_2025-01-15_14-30-00.log
Each log includes the run header (folder, backup setting, rules summary), per-file results, and a summary block showing files found, files changed, total lines removed, and elapsed time.
The Comment Repair tab does not auto-save a file log — use the Save Log button to export the log pane contents if needed.
| Tool | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Scene Dat Stripper | release.dat |
Modified in-place (with optional release.dat.old backup) |
| Comment Repair (keep original ON) | release.zip |
release_comment_fixed.zip beside original |
| Comment Repair (keep original OFF) | release.zip |
release.zip overwritten in-place |
- Scene Dat Stripper only processes
.datand.xmlfiles. Other extensions are silently ignored. - Scene Dat Stripper uses line-by-line text processing to preserve exact XML formatting — it does not parse or reformat the XML structure. Malformed XML is handled gracefully (unrecognised lines are kept).
- Comment Repair locates the EOCD by scanning from the end of the file using
rfind. ZIP files with multiple EOCD signatures (e.g. some self-extracting archives) may not be handled correctly. - Comment Repair does not validate the full ZIP structure — it only corrects the comment-length field and truncates trailing comment data. Corrupt ZIPs will be reported as errors.
- Drag-and-drop requires
tkinterdnd2and may not function in all Python environments. Browse and manual entry always work.
Original source code, scripts, tooling, and hand-authored documentation and metadata in this repository are licensed under the MIT License.
Archived game data, binaries, firmware, media assets, and other third-party materials are not covered by the MIT License and remain the property of their respective copyright holders.
See the LICENSE and NOTICE files for full details and scope clarification.
Created for the preservation community by Eggman, with Claude’s help turning ideas into code.
If you improve the script, feel free to share your changes back with the community.
