What is a .PK4 file?
PK4 is the data archive for id Tech 4 games like Doom 3 - a ZIP under another name holding the maps, textures, models and scripts.
- Did you know
- id Software long shipped game data as archives - the custom .pak, then the ZIP-based .pk3 and .pk4 - so the engine could load assets straight from the archive.
- id moved from its custom .pak archive to renamed ZIPs in .pk3 and then .pk4, so modders can open Doom 3’s assets just by changing the extension.
- Loading data from numbered .pk4 files let id patch a game by shipping a new archive that overrides the originals.
- What Analyser reads
- Identify and read more game and emulator files: Unity asset bundles, Unreal cooked assets, CISO/CHD disc images, FMOD/Wwise sound banks, Spine skeletons and atlases, GameMaker/LDtk/TIC-80 projects, Minecraft Anvil regions, Warcraft III maps, Ren Py and RPG Maker data, extra console ROMs (Atari, PC Engine, Master System/Game Gear, WonderSwan, 3DS homebrew), xdelta/Basis patches and emulator saves and movies.
- Depth of analysis
- .PK4 is an identification-grade format: Analyser recognises it from its bytes and decodes the header metadata it carries, rather than opening it in a full viewer. Formats that do get a full viewer are marked "Full" on the formats page.
- Open a .PK4 file
- Drag a .PK4 file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It is identified entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.