Hmm... that must be another weird thing with this new version... the application is actually supposed to ask you where your asset pack is located on the first run, and if I remember it straight it should also prompt you for its new location when the pack is moved... that's why I assumed you already had a copy of the pack set up, albeit corrupt.
Anyways, once you have downloaded the pack, you can extract it anywhere you like. As a workaround for the application not asking you where you put it, you could try manually editing ~/.config/unofficial-homestuck-collection/config.json, putting the absolute path to the root directory of the asset pack into localData.assetDir. Let me know if it works.
As to why no all-in-one download is provided, the author of the collection prefers to keep original assets and proprietary software components (e.g. the flash player plugin) separate from their codebase and GitHub repository for copyright reasons. It's kind of implied that redistributing the contents of the asset pack could constitute online piracy, despite the original work being half abandoned and it having been originally distributed for free in the first place. In line with these considerations, I'm also keeping the pack clear of the AUR and leaving users to find it for themselves by visiting the project homepage.
EDIT: grammar
Pinned Comments
AquilaIrreale commented on 2023-05-17 17:28 (UTC) (edited on 2023-05-17 17:29 (UTC) by AquilaIrreale)
README
When installing for the first time, remember to download the Asset Pack v2 from the original author's page https://bambosh.dev/unofficial-homestuck-collection/#download and unpack it anywhere you like on your system.
Broken asset pack selector workaround
The asset pack selector menu looks still broken, if
unofficial-homestuck-collectionfails to start after a fresh install, try manually editing~/.config/unofficial-homestuck-collection/config.json, settinglocalData.assetDirwith the absolute path to your unpacked copy of the Asset Pack v2.