After months of work, a major update to Cook Tool has arrived. While not as extensive as the R5 update, this brings a major overhaul on the tool and the introduction of a new feature. Let’s take a closer look at the release.

Overhauled Game Preparation Pipeline

The major overhaul in question is Asset Preparation. Combining Asset Compression, JavaScript Source Code protection and the all-new Deep Level Encryption, the asset preparation streamlines the build process, while providing a robust encryption to both RPG Maker MV and MZ. This improves the user experience immensely, as it provides one click to compress, encrypt and protect the game’s assets and code. Simply point it to the source folder and you are good to go. And thanks to the caching system, it takes even less time to prep your game for uploading. Speaking of encryption:

Deep Level Encryption

Complimenting Halva Package System (if you wish), the all-new Deep Level Encryption is the biggest upgrade for this release. Built on modern web encryption API, DLE brings a robust encryption for the individual assets (images and audio for now). Simply provide a password and the tool will take care of the details. Not only is it fully compatible with existing versions of RPG Maker MV and MZ that support encryption, but it also utilizes NW.js’ JavaScript Source Code Protection, to ensure near perfect protection.

Technical Upgrades

Finally, a lot of technical updates improve the stability and performance of the tool. From the upgrade to .NET 10, to the overhauled recipe file, R6 polishes up the tool while also building the foundation for future releases.

When will it be released?

Depending on what’s necessary to fix or implement and when there’s a go-live release of .NET 10, the estimated release date is around August-November of 2025.

Changelog

• Added Deep Level Encryption.
  • Provides a robust encryption for individual assets.
• Merged Asset Compressor, JS Source Code Protection and DLE into “Asset Preparation”.
• Merged Halva Settings and Player Services into “Packaging and Player Services”.
• Implemented a caching system, speeding up subsequent builds
• Overhauled the recipe file spec, allowing better extensibility.
• Updated to .NET 10, bringing performance and reliability improvements.
• Font Compressor is removed.
  • I am planning to spin this off into a standalone version of Asset Compressor.

Important Information

• As the preview text implies, this build is not production ready. Early tests do suggest that it’s stable, but it’s not recommended for use with released builds. It’s fine for use with beta builds.
• No Linux builds for now. They'll be available at a later preview.
• Currently, Version 2 of Recipe files aren’t supported. Automatic migration is coming on the next preview.
• Due to the re-work on the build job, the tool might not work correctly with games that were deployed via the editor. This will be addressed in a later preview.
• As noted on Deep Level Encryption, source code protection is turned on alongside it. This is a technical necessity, to ensure that the password is protected. Please do test runs with Source Code Protection turned on before using this feature and use the option to create debug builds if the screen is black.