ModdingWiki - User contributions [en-gb]

User:Superdisk

2026-04-24T23:21:07Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

I want to contribute an unpacker for the Earthworm Jim .DAT format.

User:Paokala

2026-04-22T11:09:36Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

I have mostly worked on Rockford (1988), namely recovering the hidden content in the game that was supposed to be released as the "DISK 2". I have written a patcher for Rockford that enables playing this planned but unreleased content, and attempted to reconstruct the missing content by comparing the existing assets in the different versions of this game (PC VGA, PC EGA, Amiga OCS).

User:RobertP-McDowell

2026-03-04T05:53:21Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

I'm a C++ developer currently working on a VGM daw that emulates my favorite Soundcard, the old AdLib! I've a bit of special interest in preserving old file formats, so you'll likely see me contributing and updating information on the specifications for some of them here and there.

User talk:Aybe

2026-02-19T01:46:09Z

Malvineous: E-mail bounce hopefully resolved

== Some notes ==

Hi Aybe - thanks for your contributions! I need to ask you to do a few things however:
* Please do not post links to illegal material, such as the abandonware links you posted. Despite what some people think, abandonware is still illegal and a single DMCA takedown request over an abandonware link could bring down this entire wiki and destroy everything we have all worked for. So please be very careful about the links you post. There should be no mention of torrents or anything either. If you need to describe multiple versions of games, find some other way of identifying the version, such as a string in the .exe file.
* When you upload images, could you please make sure you give them meaningful names? PRES.PNG isn't very descriptive, and when there are many games in the wiki there needs to be some sort of order. Typically the filename should also have the name of the game in it, such as "The Blues Brothers PRES.SQZ.png" However the point of this wiki is not to provide conversions of game images, it is to provide information and tools for people to perform these conversions themselves (again because of the legal issues around hosting copyrighted material.) So generally beyond an image to illustrate a game or a file format, there is little need for images.
* When you do upload images, please make sure to categorise them correctly. If you can find a similar image for another game, you can click on the Edit tab to see what categories that image belongs to, and use the same for your own images.
Hopefully if you can help us out with these matters then it will keep the wiki informative and more importantly available for everyone to use! Thanks :-) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 10:09, 31 August 2014 (GMT)

: Thanks for removing the offending material, much appreciated :-) You are welcome to reply here. One last thing - please try to use the preview function and only save the page when you are done for a little while, otherwise if you save 10 times in 10 minutes then we get heaps of revisions to review instead of one easy big one :-) Thanks again! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 13:33, 31 August 2014 (GMT)

== Standard formatting and infoboxes ==

Hi Aybe - when you create pages for new games (or any new page really) see if you can find a similar page and copy the formatting from it, so that it fits in correctly with the rest of the wiki. For instance on [[Die Hard Trilogy]] the standard infobox expects the title screen capture to have a particular filename, so putting that on first will save having to stuff around with filenames on uploaded images. Thanks! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 09:21, 20 December 2014 (UTC)

: Hi ! I've fixed the page to look like others, still a work in progress though. Can you delete the previous screenshot because I couldn't find how to do it ? Thanks. [[User:Aybe|Aybe]] ([[User talk:Aybe|talk]]) 20:33, 20 December 2014 (UTC)

:: Fantastic, many thanks for that! Looks much better now :-) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 21:31, 20 December 2014 (UTC)

== Hi Octane Table ==

Don't know how active you still are around here, but I just noticed the [[:File:HiOctaneTable.png]] file you uploaded, and I thought I'd help out here, since I've seen files like that before. I added my findings on [[Talk:Hi Octane#Table files|the Hi Octane talk page]].

-[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 13:52, 14 February 2026 (GMT)

: Aybe's e-mail was bouncing as his provider had misconfigured their servers, so no notification of this page being edited was received. I contacted the provider and they tell me the problem is resolved, so hopefully the next notification will go through. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 01:45, 19 February 2026 (GMT)

User:Ultranova

2026-01-31T03:40:08Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

I’m a 8th grade student interested in game development and design, i am currently as of writing this, working on a rom hack of Oregon Trail to change the setting of the game to the Lewis and Clark expedition, as a project for history class.

User:RobinsAviary

2026-01-11T02:33:38Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

A trans woman who programs on the internet, helping out with the ROTT documentation.

User:DejectedCoder

2025-11-11T08:14:23Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

Life-long love of video games. C programmer and retro game maker.

User:Nrich

2025-11-03T08:14:36Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

Software developer from Australia, who has enjoys file format reverse engineering.

Current projects:
* [https://github.com/nrich/NervesOfSteelRemake Nerves of Steel Remake]

Previous projects:
* [https://github.com/nrich/IsleOfTheDeadRemake Isle of the Dead Remake]
* [https://github.com/nrich/megata.git Megata - Gamate Handheld Emulator]

User:Fergusdog

2025-10-29T23:31:38Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

Interested in classic RPGs, like Eye of the Beholder, Ravenloft, Dark Sun, Al Qadim, The Legacy: Realm of Terror

User:Sinus

2025-10-15T23:04:52Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

Long-time tinkerer and meddler. Wrote a level-editor for Supaplex. Translated UFO: Terror from the Deep into Polish with diacritics added to font. Undressed character selection in Legends of Valor. And that's just off the top of my head, from primary and high school back in the '90s. Then wrote a music converter for Sierra AGI games, a bunch of Witcher 1 mods... Let's say I love to fiddle with stuff.

User talk:Malvineous

2025-09-25T10:01:59Z

Malvineous: /* Policy on actual mod pages */ Reply

== Wolfenstein 3D -> Wolfenstein 3-D ==
I've corrected the infamous 3D tyop in the names of several Wolf3D-related pages; can you please delete the following ones?

[[:Category:Wolfenstein 3D]] -> Superseded by [[:Category:Wolfenstein 3-D]]<br>
[[:Image:Wolfenstein_3D.png]] -> Superseded by [[:Image:Wolfenstein_3-D.png]]

Thanks :) --De Zeurkous (zeurkous@zeurcomp.nichten.info), Thu Nov 22 08:18:42 UTC 2007

:Haha, you've certainly been busy. Don't forget that this wiki isn't meant to be an encyclopaedia of the games, its main purpose is documenting the file formats and editing tools that can be used with the games, as opposed to how the games behave without any mods, or what they might be called if you forget to change the title screen :-) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 11:14, 22 November 2007 (GMT)

::Nah, I haven't forgotten. As we're reinventing the wheel for a semi-virgin wiki, the naming and something static like the cheats seemed like a good place to start :) --De Zeurkous (zeurkous@nichten.info), Thu Nov 22 12:20:04 UTC 2007

== Jill of the Jungle palette ==

Hi, I'm currently working on a level viewer for [[Jill of the Jungle]] (maybe an editor later on). Some of the information I found here has been very useful, but there's one thing I'm a bit stuck on. On the [[SHA Format]] page it says:
:''Each array item contains 4 unsigned bytes, representing CGA, EGA and VGA, respectivley, and then a null value. [...] Each byte maps to the index of a colour in the palette. If there are no colours required, the tile set uses the default colours.''
However, it doesn't say anywhere where the palette can be found. Is it stored in the EXE file? I hope you can help me on this :)

Regards, [[User:Spinal|Spinal]] 13:00, 2 March 2008 (GMT)

:Unfortunately I didn't write the JotJ SHA page, and I haven't yet had the time to figure this out. For Xargon I've taken the quick and dirty route and used a screenshot from within DOSBox as the source of the palette, until I can figure out where the palette is located. If you find this out, don't forget to update the page! :-) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 22:02, 2 March 2008 (GMT)

::Hey Spinal, sorry, I wrote the [[SHA Format]] page, so that was probably my bad. I wasn't able to find the palette either. I assume it's in the .EXE, however I spent a fair bit of time manually mapping it using a Wombat tool (http://www.szevvy.com/node/3). I was also writing a level viewer (initally in XHTML which turned out to be too slow, so then I moved to Flash 9). I tried to email you my findings, but the email bounced. I'm not sure if they were 100% accurat, which is why I never added them to the documentation.

::Hey Malvineous, it seems the Jill - [[DMA Format]] page has been removed. Do you have a log of what happened to it? I'm sure it existed at some point.

::- [[User:dheim|Daniel]] 20:00, 5 March 2008

:::I don't ever remember seeing a DMA page - certainly there's nothing in the wiki logs about it being deleted or renamed. Maybe you started working on it but never got around to saving it? Or is it one of the Xargon pages that shares the same format as Jill? (by the way, you can type <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> to automatically put in the signature in these messages.) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 11:28, 5 March 2008 (GMT)

::::Sorry, it must have been the stuff in the [[SHA Format]] page that I was thinking of. I may have added the link to the [[DMA Format]] page, and never expanded on it. - [[User:Dheim|Daniel]] 02:46, 6 March 2008 (GMT)

:::::Hi guys. Sorry for the mistake, I mixed up the authors of the SHA and level formats. I've written a level viewer in PHP the last week, by using static images instead of getting them from the actual files. This causes some problems for episode 2, which uses a different palette, but besides that it works great :) When everything is done I'll upload the maps to my server and the tile/object lists to this wiki.
:::::@Daniel: strange that it bounced, I confirmed my address so it should be working fine... You can mail it to spinal -at- zanderz -dot- net. Also, I saw on your Wombat page that you "have a vague idea of how to do" [[Hocus Pocus]]. Could you share your findings on this wiki? I'd love to make maps, or even a level viewer/editor for that game :) -- [[User:Spinal|Spinal]] 00:32, 8 March 2008 (GMT)
:Okay, with help of [[User:Dheim|Daniel]] who send me the palette I found it! I'll put my findings on [[Jill of the Jungle palette]]. -- [[User:Spinal|Spinal]] 15:36, 13 March 2008 (GMT)

== Halloween Harry/Alien Carnage ==

Hi Malvineous. Thanks for your edits on the GMF article! I notice you mentioned there exist versions of the game which don't require exploding a BNK to get at the game data. What does the directory structure look like for the version you have? I'm working on a map viewer (which will become a map editor at some point) and would like it to be able to work on whatever versions are out there. Thanks for any info. -[[User:Duckthing|Duckthing]] 04:41, 11 December 2010 (GMT)

: Hi Duckthing - no worries, Halloween Harry has long been an interest of mine, but my map editor sadly needs a lot more work before I can begin reverse engineering more file formats so I'm glad you've made a start! AFAIK technically Halloween Harry has no compression, but for whatever reason (probably listed in the Apogee FAQ) they decided to swap episodes 1 and 3, compress the BNK file and then re-release it under the name Alien Carnage. You can download all available versions (including registered versions since the game was released as freeware in 2007) from [http://www.classicdosgames.com/game/Alien_Carnage.html RGB Classic Games]. BTW not sure if you noticed but I also posted a couple of things on the GMF article's talk/discussion page. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 06:08, 11 December 2010 (GMT)

:: Thank you! Working with the uncompressed version will keep things less complicated. I did notice the GMF discussion you added, but haven't had a chance to really go through it yet. -- [[User:Duckthing|Duckthing]] 06:41, 11 December 2010 (GMT)

::: No worries. If you're running Linux or MacOSX you should be able to compile [[Camoto|libgamearchive]] which will let you copy files in and out of the BNK files. This is a library so it's also possible to use it in your own program for accessing and editing the map files while they're still inside the BNK, for instance. (BTW the 'minor' tickbox should only be used when the edit does not affect the information on the page - e.g. fixing a typo or a broken URL. If you are changing the actual content on a page it is never a minor edit!) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 07:51, 11 December 2010 (GMT)

== Dangerous Dave ==

Working on this, does anyone have any info on the formats? The EGA graphics are 84KB and external, but CGA and VGA graphics unrelated to them are in the 174KB executable, apparently uncompressed, I don't know how this is possible. I've found the levels and partially reverse engineered the format (The first 1000 bytes, a 100x10 array of tiles.) but each level is followed by ~280 bytes of variable and unknown data I assume is sprites. I have a list of internal files in the executable, looks like most of it is non-game code. Any help would be appreciated. -[[User:Levellass|Endian? What are you on about?]] 06:03, 12 December 2010 (GMT)

: Hmm, interesting. All I can suggest for the levels is - as you're probably already familiar with - changing the values in a hex editor then loading the game to see what happens. I would suspect that all the graphics would be in a similar format, so if there are any headers or structures used in the EGA graphics files perhaps they're duplicated for CGA/VGA? Also John Romero seems pretty accessible, perhaps you could ask him directly? Failing that, randomly writing data into the .exe until the images change could be used as a last resort! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 12:09, 12 December 2010 (GMT)

: Ha, that was easier than I expected - uncompressed VGA data is easy to find with a good hex editor ;-) [http://www.shikadi.net/pics/ddave-vga-hexdump.png This looks like it] -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 12:17, 12 December 2010 (GMT)

: Ok that was only the menu graphics. At offset 0xC629 there's some sort of offset table which looks very similar to the contents of EGADAVE.DAV but there are extra bytes dotted all over the place - perhaps it's RLE encoded? Actually just before that there's the number 0x6CAA. If you go a bit less than 0x6CAA bytes after this you end up with another table, which to me suggests that 0x6CAA is the decompressed size of that first table. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 13:01, 12 December 2010 (GMT)

:If I remember it correctly, the VGA sprites and tiles are RLE compressed and it's not too hard to decompress them. The positions of the enemies in the levels on the other hand are still a mystery to me. [[User:Calvero|Calvero]] 20:43, 12 December 2010 (GMT)

: Looking at the levels, which directly follow the VGA palette, they seem to contain 256 bytes of header data, then the 100x10 tiles, then eight bytes of lead-out data. Then the next level's 256 bytes of header, 100x10 tiles, then eight bytes of lead-out. Although I say "level", the first "level" seems to contain both level 1 and 2, and this seems to be the way it works in the game - in some levels you can see through to others. I'm not sure what the 256 bytes of header data are for, but some levels have FF FF 00 00 repeated which seems to indicate two uint16 fields which are blanked out for those levels. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 13:15, 13 December 2010 (GMT)

::First up, levels; where does level 1 start? It's possible I'm reading the start of a level as the previous level's end, I looked for the start of tile data, which I assumed, like Keen 1, would be the level start.

::Next, palette; I'm assuming, as you said, it is located just before the level data?

::There is VGA and CGA graphics in the executable, plus headers, but the bulk of graphics for CGA and VGA I haven't been able to locate. If the data is RLE compressed I should think it would use either Keen 1-3 fullscreen or Jazz Jackrabbit tile RLE, both of which I know well. I'll look into both of these options, cheers! -[[User:Levellass|Endian? What are you on about?]] 12:03, 20 December 2010 (GMT)

:::I've found the VGA and CGA data for the menu graphics. It looks like the CGA data is stored in a series of 1-bit-per-pixel (monochrome) images. Or it could be EGA data with the planes split out (e.g. red plane for all images, then green plane for all images, etc.) I think I found three planes which means it's probably EGA, as CGA would have a max of two planes. I've also found the font graphics, this looks like 4bpp/16 colour EGA data. Haven't seen level graphics yet. I've successfully modded the levels with a hex editor (putting the jetpack everywhere) so now I've finally looked at all the levels! The creatures are definitely not stored in the 100x10 tile data. Putting random bytes in there revealed that the values are indices into the image files, because if you put the value in for fire it will animate, and the following three or so values show up as still frames from the fire animation.

:::The VGA palette starts at 0x26B0A (I updated the main DDave page with this) + 768 bytes leads straight onto the start of level 1 at 0x26E0A. So at 0x26E0A there are 256 bytes of data, then 100x10 tiles, then 24 bytes of footer data. Some of this data (perhaps footer data) might be the level start coordinates, because Dave doesn't always start the level at the same place (e.g. the warp level when you climb the tree on level 5 and jump off the edge of the screen.) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 12:24, 20 December 2010 (GMT)

:::I think I've found all the files so far, I've updated [[Dangerous Dave]] with the offsets of the files, including what appears to be CGA and VGA tiles. I'm not sure what sort of format they're in though, it looks like they might be compressed (and so the offsets in that list might be off by ~4, as I may have cut off the decompressed-size field.) I've also updated the map format page, I think it's pretty much fully reverse engineered now. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 05:13, 21 December 2010 (GMT)

== Noahs Ark 3D and IMFs ==

Been poking around Noah's Ark 3D, an adaption of the Wolfenstein game and found a few interesting things which I'm hoping to confirm.

First, the game uses MID files, not IMF files for music, second, the MIDI files have an extra word at the start of the file giving the file length. Third, the code uses the first word of the midi file as the length of data to read from the file and put into memory to play. After poking around a bit in Wolfenstein and Keen I believe this is the same with IMF files, that is, ALL IMF files are type 0 as it were and the type 1s are read just like type 0s by the games (The first word is read as the amount of IMF data to copy into memory to play, this is then read as type 0.) I'm not quite sure what this does for the two types since type 1 is would essentially be a type 0 with a header and footer that are part of the AUDIO.xxx format, much like PC\adlib sounds can have the huffman lengths at the start. Are there any games that use 'individual' type 1 IMFs (Even if included as part of a group file. All I've seen are games like cosmo, where non-AUDIO IMFs are type 0.)

Should there be a Noah's Ark 3D page and should we add the midi note to the AUDIO format page? It seems that the format can hold any type of music file the game can read, not just IMFs. -- Levellass

: Yes it is known that the type-1 header might really be part of the AUDIO.xxx format but alas there were many type-1 files floating around the place (incorrectly extracted, you could argue) before this was realised, so the format variant is here to stay. It does have some advantages though (like tagging files with the song title) but I'm not sure whether anyone has figured out definitively whether the header (and footer, in the case of the Wolf3D files) belongs to the IMF or the AUDIO file. I guess you'd have to browse the game source code and see how the game uses the data to know for sure.

: As far as the MIDI goes, I believe the AUDIO.xxx file is just a container file like any other, capable of supporting any data at all. It's up to the game to decide how to use it. If anything this makes me think it would fit better if the AUDIO.xxx article was merely documenting the structure, with links to actual audio formats like PC SFX, Adlib SFX, IMF and MIDI and notes about which games make use of which formats.

: Oh and yes, by all means create a page for the new game. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 08:41, 3 February 2011 (GMT)

== Sound Files category ==

I don’t know why there’s a Sound Files category and also an Audio Files category... it seems redundant. I left those categories the way they are though.

Also, the [[File format data types]] page needs some signed ints, but I didn’t know what naming convention you wanted to use. I described something as an [[INT16LE]] on [[BMC Format]]. [[User:Yellowantphil|Yellowantphil]] 20:12, 11 September 2011 (GMT)

: Not sure about the Sound vs Audio - I use the term 'audio' to mean both sound and music, but you're right, if there are separate sound and music categories we don't really need an audio one as well. Feel free to update. [[INT16LE]] is perfectly fine too! I added a note to the data types page. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 22:30, 11 September 2011 (GMT)

== GamePage template ==

Should the GamePage template add the page to its own category? It seems a little odd that [[Wacky Wheels]] is not in the Wacky Wheels category. [[User:Yellowantphil|Yellowantphil]] 04:51, 16 September 2011 (GMT)
: I decided against this because there is a link to the game's page in the category intro at the top of the page. It seemed unnecessary having another link in amongst all the other pages. This was also because the game page was really only meant to be a summary, there wasn't supposed to be a huge amount of detail on it, only links to other pages with the detail (which then would appear in the category list.) I would imagine that, eventually, [[Wacky Wheels]] would be tweaked to move a lot of the content onto subpages. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 12:58, 16 September 2011 (GMT)

== Scope of the wiki ==

I don’t know how extensive you want the information to be on ModdingWiki... I added a few lists of audio and graphics files a while ago, and there will probably be other information that I’ll find out that’s potentially helpful for level editing but not directly related to it. I can move some information to my website if it starts to become out of scope for your wiki. I also sometimes end up documenting everything imaginable... there’s some minutiae on my website and possibly on your wiki that I ought to go through and delete. [[User:Yellowantphil|Yellowantphil]] 05:28, 10 October 2011 (GMT)

:Hmm, that's a difficult one - I'm always in favour of documenting more rather than less. Generally speaking if it's related to a game and it would help either a programmer writing a utility or a someone trying to change a game manually then it should be documented. About the only thing that comes to mind that's over documenting is when some small calculation is expressed in a couple of different programming languages, but I've left that in so people can just copy it rather than trying to figure it out from the text. But the [[Wacky Wheels]] page is probably the gold standard for what all wiki pages should look like :-) Do you have anything in particular you're unsure of whether it would fit here? -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 10:07, 10 October 2011 (GMT)

::I was mainly thinking of the list of VOC files on [[Wacky Wheels Music and Sound Effects]] and the list of <tt>*.sp</tt> files on [[Wacky Wheels Graphics Formats]]. I have an expanded list of the <tt>*.sp</tt> files on my computer but it isn’t finished yet. I guess there isn’t all that much more Wacky Wheels information to be added to this wiki though. There is still some modding information on my website that ought to be moved over here, so that would take up another page or two. I’ve been lazy about doing Wacky Wheels stuff lately, but I might find some time for it this weekend.

::By the way, I guess that guy from Cascadia Games emailed you. It’s pretty interesting that WW might become an iPhone app. He told me that he was going to be using his own game engine, which sounds a lot easier than trying to get a hold of the WW source code and porting it. —[[User:Yellowantphil|Yellowantphil]] 16:46, 15 October 2011 (GMT)

::: I was going to say the list of VOCs might be overkill, but then the list of .sp files might be useful. To be honest, it's the sort of thing that you could probably omit if you were feeling lazy, but likewise I don't mind at all if you choose to include it, so since it's already there I'm happy to keep it.

::: Yes I did get an e-mail from Cascadia, I was going to pass along your details but it sounds like you're already aware of it! Using their own engine might make it a bit smoother than the original, as the jerkiness of turning is my only criticism of the game. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 00:14, 16 October 2011 (GMT)

:I'd like to document not only the format of some game archives but also their contents. This would be quite long lists of basically images, sprites and some minor stuff. I'd also like to upload the actual images alongside but I'm not sure whether that fits the scope of the wiki or if I should just put it somewhere on github. Any advice highly welcome :) -- [[User:Yetmorecode|Yetmorecode]] 15:25, 22 December 2020

::That depends on what you mean with "their contents". Documenting the used file formats is obviously in the scope of this wiki, since there's not much point in being able to extract/replace the files in those archives if you can't actually view those files or make those replacements. But dumping the whole list of all existing files in a game into a wiki article is usually not very useful. An article could highlight some specific files with special functions in the game (stuff like the remap-defining PALETTE.CPS in Red Alert 1 comes to mind; [[Westwood CPS Format|cps]] is a very normal image format in these games, but that specific file controls all recolouring of sprites that change to their owner's colour), but a list of all sprites and sound files and all their exact usages in the game doesn't seem like it'd belong here; most of the time such things are pretty self-evident.
::PS: when you add something to a user talk page, use the signature code to give your note a clearly visible author and date stamp. There's a big red box on the top of the edit page telling you how to do that.
:: --[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 15:51, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

:::Alright that makes sense. Sorry about the signature I must have been blind. [[User:Yetmorecode|Yetmorecode]] ([[User talk:Yetmorecode|talk]]) 17:11, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

:::: Yes just to confirm this, an image or two is useful to illustrate a file format but we don't want to become an archive of all game material, not least of which because extracting this is often against the game's licence (and doesn't really come under "fair use") so could open you up to legal trouble if the current copyright owner takes exception to it. If you come across something hidden or undocumented you can put it on [https://tcrf.net/The_Cutting_Room_Floor The Cutting Room Floor] otherwise [https://pages.github.com/ GitHub Pages] may work as you've suggested (if you fly under the copyright radar!) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 07:08, 23 December 2020 (UTC)

== Wacky Wheels ==

Basically all of the WW modding information from my website is here now. I moved one page when I realized it should probably be capitalized to match the rest of the pages on this site... you can delete the redirect at [[Wacky Wheels high score files]] if you want to.

Now, I need to remove most of the modding information from my website and refer people here. Then we’ll have reached the glorious future where all WW modding information is in one place. I’m going to keep those two text files of notes on my website though—the information in them is disorganized and I think not 100% accurate, but they might have some information that isn’t here yet.

By the way, how’s Camoto going? I’m planning to use it to make a new WW level, but I won’t have time for it for a few more months. —[[User:Yellowantphil|Yellowantphil]]

: Sounds good! Thanks for all the effort you've put in by moving it across. I think Wacky Wheels is now the most completely documented game on the wiki! Also can't hurt leaving your own info up - sometimes it's nice to go back to the original source if something is unclear. Camoto's going well, but unfortunately I haven't had much time to work on it over the last few weeks. You probably won't be able to make much of a level until I add in the ability to select a tile from the tileset, but that's in progress and hopefully will be ready by the time you are! Keep me posted when you do start your level(s?) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 12:22, 2 February 2012 (GMT)

::Well, as I was reading some of the information on my website, I noticed that it isn’t written very well. I wrote those pages back when I had very little experience programming. Anyway, I’m planning to redesign my website soon, and this will save me from having to rewrite a few of those pages.

::The tile editor in Camoto as it is now is still certainly useful—I can add new tile types to a level using a binary editor and then move them around in Camoto. I think that it shouldn’t be too hard to make a new WW level using the Gimp and Camoto plus some binary editing. I recall having some problems with the route editor for the computer players, but I didn’t look into it at the time—I’ll let you know when I’m working with Camoto again, and I’ll try to come up with some useful bug reports or fixes if I run into problems. —[[User:Yellowantphil|Yellowantphil]] 14:06, 2 February 2012 (GMT)

== Catacomb ==

Hey [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]], do you know anyone who has properly read the [[Inverse_Frequency_Sound_format|Inverse Sound Frequency]] file format and got the sound playing? I'm struggling with some fine details in my game. Sounds play near what they should sound like, but the sound quality is all crackly and some sounds play totally incorrect. I followed a basic [http://web.archive.org/web/20000818033701/http://www.dd.chalmers.se/~f98anga/projects/keen/sounds2raw.c code sample] by Anders Gavare. Does your tool support this? Interested in helping me figure this out? My current code is available at [https://code.google.com/p/cataclone/source/browse/trunk/src/catacomb/catacomb_sound.c catacomb_sound.c] - [[User:Eros|Eros]] 11:57, 5 May 2012 (GMT)
: Should this be moved to my talk page? - [[User:Eros|Eros]] 11:59, 5 May 2012 (GMT)
:: Probably best to keep it on my talk page if you want me to respond in a timely manner :-) I based my old utility off Anders' one too, but it's been a long time since I looked at the code. My latest utility doesn't support sound effects yet. I know Levellass has written a few utilities to play and edit those sound files, so I think your best bet would probably be to post over at the [http://www.keenmodding.org Keen:Modding] forum. Do note that PC Speaker effects do sound crackly at the best of times, though! Also make sure you've got the right audio format (8-bit vs 16-bit, signed vs unsigned) - I remember some inconsistencies there causing some very distorted results for me. I love the name 'Cataclone' - does your code compile under Linux? -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 13:21, 5 May 2012 (GMT)
::: I currently compile the code using Code::Blocks with GCC 4.6 -std=gnu99. It *should* compile under Linux. But I haven't tested that out yet. [[Catacomb]] sounds also have flags attached to each one, It's not exactly the same specification as what it says @ the [[Inverse_Frequency_Sound_format|Inverse Sound Frequency]] format page. Perhaps the flags would make a difference to the sounds? I have the sound setup @ [https://code.google.com/p/cataclone/source/browse/trunk/src/sound_manager.c sound_manager.c] in the sound_manager_init() method. I use AUDIO_S16 (signed 16-bit) @ 22050 Hz with 2 channels. I have not added support for the priority of the sounds yet, I plan on doing that after I get them playing properly.
::: I found some information on the [[ROTT]] sound format here: [http://src.gnu-darwin.org/ports/games/rottdc/work/rottdc-1.0-2/rott/_rt_soun.h _rt_soun.h]. This format should be similar to Catacomb as ROTT was developed by [[Apogee]] using the [[Doom]] engine. Here are the flags for the sounds that they define:
#define SD_OVERWRITE 0x01
#define SD_WRITE 0x02
#define SD_LOOP 0x04
#define SD_PITCHSHIFTOFF 0x08
#define SD_PLAYONCE 0x10
::: There are also many other sound files for ROTT: [http://src.gnu-darwin.org/ports/games/rottdc/work/rottdc-1.0-2/rott/rt_sound.c], [http://src.gnu-darwin.org/ports/games/rottdc/work/rottdc-1.0-2/rott/rt_sound.h], [http://src.gnu-darwin.org/ports/games/rottdc/work/rottdc-1.0-2/rott/snd_reg.h], [http://src.gnu-darwin.org/ports/games/rottdc/work/rottdc-1.0-2/rott/snd_shar.h], [http://src.gnu-darwin.org/ports/games/rottdc/work/rottdc-1.0-2/rott/sndcards.h]
:::: I tried it last night and I was able to get it to compile (after a few changes, like using '/' instead of '\' in a couple of #includes) but all I got was a black window and a beep sound, then nothing. How far advanced is the project? Should I expect more than that? I would expect small variations in the file formats between games, but I would be surprised if the core sound data has changed over time. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 02:38, 6 May 2012 (GMT)
::::: On Windows, you can run around the levels, collide with walls, collect items, etc... I still need to implement monsters, AI and power shots. However, that beep means that the sounds playing. (see line 71 in main.c: catacomb_sounds_play("foundsound");). I just committed the catacomb_data.h file. Update it accordingly, you should now see much more than a black screen.
:::::: Oh wow, that works really well now! I see what you mean by the sounds. You might have to output the PCM data to a .wav/.raw file and look at it in a sound editor to see what's going on. It sounds like there might be wrapping or something going on. Also some sounds (like being blocked by a door) play multiple times over the top of themselves. I guess this is what you meant by priority not being implemented (although maybe you wouldn't need to handle priority if you can play multiple sounds at the same time, unlike the real PC Speaker.) One suggestion - if you do decide to support Linux, abstract the calls that open files so that they search for filenames instead - that way you don't have to rename all the Catacomb files to be uppercase, since Linux has a case-sensitive filesystem and most filenames are usually all lowercase. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 03:42, 6 May 2012 (GMT)
::::::: I have exported the raw data to a file, then imported the raw data into Audacity using various settings. All of them sound like they do in the game, crackly and sometimes distorted. I really think its some sort of post FX used by the flags. As for files, I'll code some sort of SafeFileOpen, SafeFileClose functions like the id codebase that open files regardless of case when i get around to implementing the Linux version. - [[User:Eros|Eros]] 03:54, 6 May 2012 (GMT)
:::::::: If you can e-mail me one of the files (preferably a 'quiet' one that's not supposed to be crackly) I can take a look if you like - malvineous@shikadi.net -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 03:57, 6 May 2012 (GMT)

== Merge ==

Is there a way to tag two pages such that it is clear that they should be merged?
For example, [[Crystal Caves Tileset Format]] describes the same format as [[Duke 1 Tileset Graphics]].[[User:Frenkel|Frenkel]] ([[User talk:Frenkel|talk]]) 21:00, 15 July 2013 (GMT)

: You can mention it on the talk page for one of the articles. Any suggestions as to what we should call the merged page? -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 03:09, 20 July 2013 (GMT)

::Dark Ages is the first game that got released that uses this format, so ''Dark Ages Tileset Format'' could be the name, like all those formats that are named after Commander Keen 1-3.
::Or we name it after Duke Nukem 1, because that game is probably more popular than Dark Ages, Crystal Caves and Secret Agent, like [[Commander Keen 1-3 Level format]], although Slordax used it before Commander Keen 1-3 did.[[User:Frenkel|Frenkel]] ([[User talk:Frenkel|talk]]) 19:13, 20 July 2013 (GMT)

::: Yes I was thinking along the same lines, naming it after the first game that used the format. But then the release date doesn't necessarily indicate which game "invented" the format, if one game took longer to develop and was released late. I was wondering whether there is a common thread amongst all these games, such as the same programmer or company we could use instead. In many ways I would prefer a name like "Replogle tileset format" or "Apogee EGA tileset format". What do you think? -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 23:36, 20 July 2013 (GMT)

:::: I've read the [http://www.3drealms.com/news/2006/04/the_apogee_legacy_15.html | Apogee Legacy interview with Peder Jungck] again today. He wrote the ProGraphx Toolbox.
:::: DN1.EXE contains the string ''Version 1.0 EGA/VGAProGraphx EGA/VGA Toolbox'',
:::: CC1.EXE contains the string ''Version 1.5 320x200 PAN EGA/VGAProGraphx EGA/VGA Toolbox'',
:::: SAM1.EXE contains the string ''ProGraphx EGA/VGA Toolbox Version 2.0 320x200 EGA/VGA Copyright 1991 by Peder Jungck'' and
:::: DA3.EXE contains the string ''Version 1.0 EGA/VGAProGraphx EGA/VGA Toolbox'' (DA1.EXE and DA2.exe contain gibberish).
:::: So I would suggest ''ProGraphx Toolbox tileset format''. Peder also wrote a book about the toolbox called ''Graphics Programming & Animation: Ultra-Fast Assembly Routines for EGA/VGA Graphics Animation''. Maybe that book has a better name for the file format. [[User:Frenkel|Frenkel]] ([[User talk:Frenkel|talk]]) 11:03, 21 July 2013 (GMT)

::::: So we know of three different versions of the ProGraphx Toolbox. Dark Ages and Duke Nukem 1 use version 1.0. Each tileset is 8064 bytes long and is in a separate file. Crystal Caves uses version 1.5 and each tileset is 8003 bytes long, but they are all in the same file. Secret Agent uses version 2.0 Each tileset is again 8064 bytes long, they are all in the same file and the file is encrypted. [[User:Frenkel|Frenkel]] ([[User talk:Frenkel|talk]]) 17:00, 28 July 2013 (GMT)

:::::: Thanks for figuring all that out. I've merged the pages and changed the name to [[ProGraphx Toolbox tileset format]] as suggested. Please feel free to correct anything I have missed. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 02:40, 4 August 2013 (GMT)

== Guidelines for proper Wiki Editing ==
Dear Malvineous! Could you post the guidelines (or guide) for proper editing of the Wiki? [[User:The coder|The coder]] ([[User talk:The coder|talk]])
: Hmm, there isn't really one, it's more about finding a similar page and matching the style found there! Copy and paste works well :-) There is [[ModdingWiki:Contributing]] but it's not very detailed. (BTW please put <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> at the end of your messages, when you preview the page you will see this gets replaced with your name and the date automatically.) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 21:59, 12 December 2014 (UTC)

== VGFM Music Format ==

Hello, Malvineous!

I accidentally found that [[VGFM Music Format]] is absolutely similar to the [http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=MUS_(AdLib) MUS (AdLib)] format which I finished researching yesterday.

And [[VGFM Instrument Format]] is similar to [http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=SND_(AdLib) SND (AdLib)].

These formats were developed by Ad Lib Inc, I found the sources and documentation in the Ad Lib developer's manual downloaded from old BBS board site :) And these formats are used not only in [[Vinyl Goddess From Mars]] game.

--[[User:Binarymaster|Binarymaster]] ([[User talk:Binarymaster|talk]]) 02:05, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

: Oh wow, what an interesting discovery!! Do you have any links to the official documentation? I'd really like to see what else they have to say about the format. And yes, we should definitely rename the articles here. What do you think they should be called? "Ad Lib Music Format" is probably a bit generic given they have a few, like .ROL... -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 09:45, 22 January 2015 (UTC)
:: Here it is: [http://files.mpoli.fi/software/programm/general/adlip.zip adlip.zip] - binaries and source code, probably from Ad Lib Programmer's Manual. MUS headers are described in CONVERT.C and CONVERT.H files. Fun fact that they also developed another similar format based on MIDI - [http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=MDI MDI]. It has similar musical features but stores all data in one file in MIDI format.
:: Well, I have no idea how to name it better, I think "Ad Lib Music Format" should be suitable for it :) --[[User:Binarymaster|binarymaster]] ([[User talk:Binarymaster|talk]]) 10:30, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

::: Many thanks!! I've updated the article pages with the info I could gain from the source code. There are still a few unresolved issues (like what exactly the default percussion pitch is) but it has certainly answered a number of questions. I called it "AdLib MIDI Format" because that's the name they use in one place in the source code, although it's not a very descriptive title! Thanks again for letting me know about this excellent find :-) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 12:48, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

:::: That's good! I think maybe this format should be named as "AdLib MIDI Format v1.0", because there is also an improved version of it, probably v2.0 - [http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=MDI MDI] (I made a typo in previous posted link), it uses a single file in MIDI format.
:::: And about [[AdLib Timbre Bank Format]] article - BNK format originally was created in the 1987 with the first release of the [http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=AdLib_Visual_Composer AdLib Visual Composer], so actually Ad Lib Inc released its formats in this order:
:::: '''1)''' ROL & BNK (1987, with AdLib Visual Composer)
:::: '''2)''' MUS & SND/TIM (1988, with player and converter)
:::: '''3)''' MDI (1989, also with player and converter)
:::: Information about third format was placed [http://cd.textfiles.com/soundsensations/MISCPROG/AD-PROG/ here], though the link is not working now.
:::: --[[User:Binarymaster|binarymaster]] ([[User talk:Binarymaster|talk]]) 13:08, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

::::: Oh wow that's interesting too. I think the MUS/SND/TIM format should stay as "AdLib MIDI Format" with no version number, because that file format does have version fields so it's possible to have v1.0, v2.3, etc. within that format. The MDI article you linked to actually looks like conventional MIDI with some extra events for setting OPL instruments, so I think this belongs as one of the many backwards-compatible extensions of the [[MID Format]].

::::: With the instrument bank formats that's really unusual if BNK came first! It seems very odd for AdLib to produce the SND/TIM format if they already had the more efficient BNK format available. I was going from the dates in the text files from the programmer's guide you kindly posted, and bkformat.txt says in Jan 1989 they are in the process of converting their software to use BNK. Can you confirm there was BNK software earlier than this? I'm just thinking that Visual Composer may have come out in 1987, but maybe it didn't get BNK support added until later? -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 01:30, 25 January 2015 (UTC)

:::::: Well, I'm sure that first version of Visual Composer was released with AdLib music card, but I don't know exactly about BNK support. It's really strange that Ad Lib downgraded the format (BNK is better in structure), but the known formats has converters which converts BNK to X format, but not from X to BNK - this makes sense that BNK was the first format. Also Visual Composer doesn't support other bank formats, only BNK.
:::::: BNK creation date 1987 was contributed by [http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=User:TheAlmightyGuru Dean Tersigni], I'll ask him about it.

:::::: Update: I also read information from bkformat.txt, and it seems you're right :)
:::::: So actually it was:
:::::: '''1)''' ROL & INS (1987, with AdLib Visual Composer v1.0)
:::::: '''2)''' MUS & SND/TIM (1988, with player and converter)
:::::: '''3)''' BNK (1989, with AdLib Visual Composer v1.5)
:::::: '''4)''' MDI (1989, also with player and converter)
:::::: Wow, that feel when restored original order of events! :D --[[User:Binarymaster|binarymaster]] ([[User talk:Binarymaster|talk]]) 01:51, 25 January 2015 (UTC)

::::::: That seems to make the most logical sense - there's a clear improvement with each new format. I'm glad you agree! Note that when you say there's no conversion from "X to BNK" there is BANKMNG.EXE that comes with the programmer's manual which converts .ins files to .bnk. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 04:09, 25 January 2015 (UTC)

:::::::: True. I forgot about it :) Thanks! --[[User:Binarymaster|binarymaster]] ([[User talk:Binarymaster|talk]]) 12:02, 25 January 2015 (UTC)

== email ==

Hello! Can't send you e-mail. Got this:

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.
A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:
malvineous@shikadi.net
host mail.shikadi.net [52.11.27.19]
SMTP error from remote mail server after RCPT TO:<malvineous@shikadi.net>:
550 invalid recipient

[[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 09:12, 11 March 2017 (UTC)

:Whoops, moved my e-mail service to AWS and missed a step for that address! Please resend, should work now :-) Thanks for letting me know! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 11:34, 11 March 2017 (UTC)
::Yes, e-mail goes through this time. Hope you receive it. [[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 15:41, 11 March 2017 (UTC)

== Duplicate RLE page ==

After some edits to the [[RLE Compression]] page, I noticed that this was not the page linked from the [[:Category:Compression algorithms]] page. It seems there are in fact two of them; one with an uppercase 'c', and [[RLE compression|one with a lowercase 'c']]. The latter seems to be the better-written one, but since the LZW page was apparently moved from "LZW compression" to "LZW Compression", I suggest the final name of the RLE page should likewise be the uppercase-'c' one.

I have merged anything I deemed useful into the lowercase-'c' version. Could you make sure the uppercase-'c' duplicate is removed, and the other one is moved to its name?

-[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 16:48, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

: Done, many thanks for the clean up! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 10:38, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

== Account rename? ==
Hi Malvineous,

I am wondering if it's much of a hassle to rename accounts on this wiki. I'd kind of like to have my account use the same handle I'm using just about everywhere else (ETTiNGRiNDER). Don't sweat it too much if this is onerous to do, though.

Thanks! - [[User:Mysterioso|Mysterioso]] ([[User talk:Mysterioso|talk]]) 20:42, 29 January 2018 (UTC)

: I'm not sure how it can be done. If you can find out a quick way to rename a MediaWiki account then let me know! At any rate all your comments would still be signed with your old name however. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 10:15, 4 February 2018 (UTC)
: P.S. the e-mail address in your account is bouncing -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 10:17, 4 February 2018 (UTC)
:: Ah, right, it was still set to that old e-mail. Hushmail nuked that address on me years ago, I've changed it to one that's current. As for the renaming, I don't really know anything about wiki administration, though a quick search suggests that there's this thing: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Renameuser
::If that's a bit much then no biggie. -- [[User:Mysterioso|Mysterioso]] ([[User talk:Mysterioso|talk]]) 14:43, 5 February 2018 (UTC)

== Removal request ==

It seems I made a page that was unnecessary; the [[Westwood Palette]] I documented turned out to be a known common format (6-bit RGB) already covered in the standard [[VGA Palette]] page. I have changed all links to link to the older page, but I don't think I have the user rights required to delete the Westwood Palette page. Can you take care of it? -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 14:56, 6 February 2018 (UTC)

: Done! I made you an admin too so you should have delete access now. Thanks for your contributions! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 00:03, 7 February 2018 (UTC)

== Hi-Octane ==

Hi!

I've figured out the MUSIC.DAT container and I was wondering if you could shed out some light on what these song formats are, now that we know how to unpack it ?

Thanks !!!

: Yep, they're listed on the [[Hi Octane]] page, in the file format box. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 10:57, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

== ReCaptcha v1 problem ==

It seems I can no longer add links in articles; the ReCaptcha test added when new links are detected uses ReCaptcha v1, which gives a warning that "reCAPTCHA 1 IS SHUTDOWN". It does not allow the check to pass, so the page can never be submitted.

The FAQ on the ReCaptcha docs (can't link to them, obviously) says that "'''Any calls to the v1 API will not work after March 31, 2018'''".

-[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 09:26, 28 May 2018 (UTC)

== Bio Menace patches ==

Hey, I'll have Bio Menace 1 patches for the freeware release. Most of them are status window-related, but there are others as well.
Question: Could you create several other sections in All Bio Menace patches cathegory? Because I cannot submit them anywhere right now. Thanks! --[[User:Szemigi|Szemigi]] ([[User talk:Szemigi|talk]]) 00:57, 25 July 2018 (UTC)

: The status window patches should go into [[:Category:Bio Menace interface patches]]. The others *should* fit into existing categories, but if you're not sure let me know! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 05:23, 29 July 2018 (UTC)

:: I'll need several categories from you as I checked there'll be other BM patch stuff as well. So I need the following categories: status screen, hostage, help menu, main menu, B800 screen (I even built the BIN file and I made patch for that!). And I'll even submit these for BM2 and 3. Please, create these. Oh, and I'll surely submit! --[[User:Szemigi|Szemigi]] ([[User talk:Szemigi|talk]]) 01:36, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

::: Status screen, hostage, help menu, main menu and B800 screen should all go into [[:Category:Bio Menace interface patches]] as they are all modifying the user interface. I would like to keep the number of patch categories fairly small otherwise it will get a little out of control! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 01:48, 17 October 2018 (UTC)

== Bio Menace patches on PCKF? ==

Hey, how can I post my Bio Menace 1-3 patches on PCKF or keenmodding.org? I very want them to submit one of the forums!--[[User:Szemigi|Szemigi]] ([[User talk:Szemigi|talk]]) 23:11, 4 August 2018 (UTC)

== Wombat File Reader updates! ==

I think [[Wombat]]'s title should be updated to show its full name, which now is "Wombat File Reader".

Also the supported games list has to be updated accordingly to the list on https://szevvy.com/ (the author's website, which was listed as "dead" in Wombat's info while the site is up and running again).

It's also not a dead program at all, since its latest version is very recent (11 October 2018), and it'd be a shame to have such old and deprecated information on this wiki of such a useful and powerful tool.

-[[User:Elia1995|Elìa1995]] ([[User_talk:Elia1995|talk]]) 07:38, 15 October 2018‎ (UTC)

: It's only just been updated recently after many years of no releases. It's a bit unfair to say the wiki has old information when it's only a couple of weeks out of date, and it relies on people such as yourself to keep things up to date! Please go ahead and correct as needed so we can keep the information current. We are all doing this in our spare time so we need lots of help to keep things up to date. Also, the page you link to lists it as "Wombat File Tools" rather than "Wombat File Reader". Everyone in the community refers to it as just "Wombat" however. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 23:27, 16 October 2018 (UTC)

:: I've only just gotten my account here approved, and only just made new builds of Wombat (actually a complete rewrite) after (as Malvineous said) many many years of no releases. It warms my heart to see people notice :) [[User:Szevvy|Szevvy]] ([[User talk:Szevvy|talk]]) 01:44, 17 October 2018 (UTC)

::: I just noticed the 1.0.4 update, I'll work on updating the supported games list on the page according to the one on Szevvy's site; by the way, thanks for telling me how to "sign" these posts, I had no idea. [[User:Elia1995|Elia1995]] ([[User talk:Elia1995|talk]]) 08:08, 18 October 2018 (UTC)

== e-mail (again) ==

Hello! Sent you e-mail 2019.02.19 about Prehistorik without any answer. Yesterday another e-mail was sent and since 24+ hours passed was forced to write here. Is there something wrong again with your e-mail account or spam filters (for mail.ru)? Thanks! [[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 15:10, 1 March 2019 (UTC)

== Content license ==

Is the content of this wiki governed by a specific license? I'd like to contribute information on "Nomad" file formats that I reverse engineered, which I'd previously published on my personal web site under [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons SA 4.0]. This wiki certainly seems to be in the spirit of the Creative Commons licensing structure so I'm guessing there would be no real conflict, but I just wanted to get some additional information on this. --[[User:Cmb|Cmb]] ([[User talk:Cmb|talk]]) 13:32, 6 May 2020 (UTC)
:Personally, I've just [[RLE Compression#Source_code|added the license under which code was released]] myself. Then again I release everything under [[wp:WTFPL|WTFPL]], because I honestly don't mind people using anything I write for research purposes in any way they please, so license compatibility is a bit of a non-issue for me. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 16:04, 6 May 2020 (UTC)
:That said, though, given the current online climate, I do agree this is an issue that should be clarified here on the wiki. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 16:06, 6 May 2020 (UTC)
:: There is a licence specified somewhere but the short answer is anything you put here is basically in the public domain - because if someone steals it we don't have the resources to chase them, so if it's that valuable to you that you can't handle someone copying it without giving you credit, then don't post it here. Having said that for "nice" users many of the pages ask for a mention if you find the content useful, but this is by no means a requirement. I suppose legally speaking you'll have to dual-licence your Creative Commons content because some CC versions have additional restrictions, like you can't copy the content without giving credit. The [https://creativecommons.org/choose/zero/ CC0 licence] pretty much covers it. Putting a specific licence on code is fine (although no licence at all would be best so it inherits the wiki's general content licence), noting that any licence enforcement will be on you, but the content itself is always going to be CC0/public domain. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 05:48, 10 June 2020 (UTC)

== Multiple Platforms ==

Should anything special be done for games that are both DOS and Win95, like [[Warcraft II]] and [[Command & Conquer]]? As it is, the template only supports one 'Platform'. I don't know enough about templates to make it accept lists, though a workaround would be to add the Win95 category to such games manually. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]])
20:29, 17 April 2022 (GMT)

: I'm open to suggestions, but the purpose of the platform category is less about documenting all platforms a game runs on, and is more about identifying which games on the wiki don't work under DOS, since DOS is the wiki's main focus. So think of it more as the "minimum" platform needed - i.e. a DOS game can also run inside Win3.x and Win95, a Win3.x game can also run under Win9x but not DOS, and a Win9x game can't run under DOS or Win3.x at all. So for DOS/Windows games DOS would be the oldest platform needed to play the game, even if there is a native Windows version. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 00:26, 18 April 2022 (GMT)
::'Minimum platform' isn't really true anymore when going to the reality of getting stuff running on modern machines, though; 16-bit windows programs don't work on modern systems at all, and DOSBox can't emulate them. They're a pretty annoying in-between class. C&C95 has issues like that; while the game itself is 32-bit, its installer is a 16-bit Windows program. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 10:33, 18 April 2022 (GMT)

::: That's true, but I wasn't thinking so much about modern systems. If you're building a VM or setting up an old PC, knowing which games will work without Windows, or will work if you only install Win 3.1, might be useful. I did think you could install Windows 3.1 in DOSBox though to run 16-bit apps. At any rate, I more had in my mind which games required OS support for NE executables in order to play, and which ones required PE support. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 11:48, 18 April 2022 (GMT)

:::: Well, one of the specific cases I had in mind in this was the fact that the Win95 version of Command & Conquer uses PCX format for its title screen, while the DOS version doesn't. And while the basic modding of terrain and game objects is identical in both versions, all modding related to the game UI is different because of the different resolution. So, if more detailed information on that front would be added, it seems logical to also add the Win95 category somehow. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 15:17, 25 April 2022 (GMT)

::::: In that case it sounds almost like a different game that happens to share a lot of the same content, so I'd be more inclined to list it as a separate game, e.g. on a page called "Command & Conquer (Windows version)", and just put a note saying the file formats are the same as the DOS version with the following exceptions, then list the Windows-specific file formats. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 15:42, 25 April 2022 (GMT)

:::::: No, it's really just PCX, nothing else is new in terms of file formats. The UI is in the same sprites format used for the in-game sprites. So like 95% still the same. But yea, I guess if I do ever get around to writing a more in-depth modding guide, I could make a different page for the Win95 version. Most of the modding difference between the two games is just that the Win95 exe file has been researched a lot deeper, to the point that (with the released source code) pretty much anything in it can be changed nowadays. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 16:10, 25 April 2022 (GMT)

==Empty Pages==
Not sure if you already noticed it, but user [[User:Parlortricks]] is creating a bunch of empty pages, I'm assuming to be filled at a later date. --[[User:TheAlmightyGuru|TheAlmightyGuru]] ([[User talk:TheAlmightyGuru|talk]])
: I hadn't noticed, thanks for the heads up! I updated [[ModdingWiki:Contributing]] to include some more points about when to create pages. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 04:31, 10 August 2022 (GMT)

== File format category for copy-protection data. ==

I can't find any suitable examples with a template that suits a file containing only the copy protection data.
It's not text, but there don't seem to be any generic binary format templates. [[User:Carbon14|Carbon14]] ([[User talk:Carbon14|talk]]) 06:44, 17 April 2023 (GMT)

: I'm not really familiar with what copy protection data would contain. What generic items would you think apply to this sort of data? I'm not so keen on adding a generic binary format category, it would be nice to have a specific one where possible. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 09:17, 17 April 2023 (GMT)
:: In this case, the file contains 750 passwords. They were printed on a piece of card in with the original game (in pale blue to thwart photocopying) and the game asks you for one of the passwords at random. I'll make a file without a specific category for now.[[User:Carbon14|Carbon14]] ([[User talk:Carbon14|talk]]) 12:31, 17 April 2023 (GMT)
::: If they're passwords, doesn't that make it a type of strings file? You said it's not "plain text", but can it be converted/decoded to plain text? I've dealt with encrypted text formats before; see [[Cover Girl Strip Poker Text]] -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 16:20, 17 April 2023 (GMT)
: There are lots of file formats of unspecified types. See stuff like [[Westwood Fading Table]]; it's basically a file storing special colour effects. I'm not sure there's a point in making a template for every specific type like that; there's so many odd cases out there. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 10:17, 17 April 2023 (GMT)
:: Thanks. I wasn't necessarily looking for a template. But I couldn't find an example of a file that wasn't already in an incorrect template. I'll base my page on the example you suggested.[[User:Carbon14|Carbon14]] ([[User talk:Carbon14|talk]]) 12:31, 17 April 2023 (GMT)

== Wiki policy questions ==

Hi, a couple questions I've had lingering regarding how things should be done on the wiki / if they should be done at all.
* What should we do about game title disambiguation? I think in cases like Warlords (SSG) vs. Warlords (Atari) where only one of the games was released as a DOS game, it's probably fine to just have a page for the one that's relevant and at most maybe have a note on its main page that it's not related to the other game, but I've noticed that "Dungeon of Death" is a title that has the honor(?) of being used for two different games ''on DOS''. Is there a particular disambiguation format we should use when adding one of those?
* Is there any specific policy on games/mods with offensive content? I know we have some strip poker type games referenced on the wiki, but one thing I'm specifically thinking of is I know there was an old hack of the DOS version of Gauntlet 2 that's been floating around since the 90s, but is a fairly puerile affair that changes text/graphics to sexual and scatological references. It also has a vulgar word in the mod title itself. It might be useful to look at how it was done since it's clearly evidence that changing the text/graphics was attainable even back then, but do we want to document things like that, or is there a "too dirty" line where we should try to keep the wiki clean of references to certain games/mods due to title or content?
Thanks.-- [[User:Mysterioso|Mysterioso]] ([[User talk:Mysterioso|talk]]) 18:35, 3 October 2023 (GMT)
: Final decision on this is obviously on Malvineous, but here's my two cents on this: I don't think there's any restriction on making pages for covering games with explicit content, but it'd be nice to keep the ''actual'' explicit content on the wiki to a minimum. As an example, the most daring thing I put on the wiki was the modded showcase image for [[Interactive Girls Club]], which, without the humorous covering, was indeed a straight up explicit image. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 19:23, 3 October 2023 (GMT)
:: Yep I agree. The purpose of the wiki is for documentation, and just like a TV documentary, sometimes you may have to cover difficult subjects, so it's usually done in a tactful way without showing anything directly offensive. So I think the same policy should apply here - no directly explicit/offensive content (e.g. images), but talking about it for the sake of documenting it is fine. I would think avoiding offensive words in article titles would be a good idea as people are more likely to come across those by accident, but if you're browsing an article about a pornographic game and you encounter some dirty words, you have nobody to blame but yourself. So listing that mod with an uncensored title is fine with me, but perhaps let's not create an article page for it unless the words are obscured with asterisks or similar just to be extra considerate to those who might be browsing through the lists of pages.
:: It would be good to make it clear when things are censored though. In Nyerguds' example I actually thought the 'censored' image was part of the game, I didn't realise it was an addition. So maybe it would be good to write "Censored by ModdingWiki" or something to that effect, to make it obvious that it's something we've done and not part of the original game. Likewise for an article title with asterisks in it, one of the first things on the page should be a note to say what the full uncensored article title actually is.
:: As for disambiguation I'm open to suggestions. Probably my first thought would be to include the year of release in brackets: "Example (1990)" like what was done for [[Shadow Warrior (1993 Beta)]] or if the year is the same, then perhaps the software developer: "Example (Microsoft)". I'm not too fussed as it's probably more important that the part in brackets makes sense to readers rather than follows any hard and fast rule. Either way a normal disambiguation page should be created for the name without any brackets, in the same style as the existing ones at [[:Category:Disambiguation]]. A disambiguation page wasn't created for Shadow Warrior as the beta version isn't really a competing game, so links on the respective article pages would suffice. As always, use your best judgement, we can always change it later if we need to. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 06:10, 4 October 2023 (GMT)
::: The Interactive Girls Club image ''isn't'' censored for the sake of putting it on the wiki though. It's a showcase of the game being ''modded''. I replaced the normal mouse cursor with that sign. I could've taken a tamer scene to start with, but I thought this would be funny. I explained what was done to it [[:File:Mod-Interactive_Girls_Club.png|on the actual image page]]. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 07:34, 4 October 2023 (GMT)
:::: Ohh, I understand now! Sorry it was completely lost on me, but that's probably because I've never played the game before so I didn't know what changes to look out for! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 10:45, 4 October 2023 (GMT)

== Pages linking to itself ==

Hello! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Is it possible to check Wiki for pages that linked to itself and maybe autocorrect if possible? Like [https://moddingwiki.shikadi.net/w/index.php?title=Shakii_The_Wolf&curid=2343&diff=11369&oldid=11367 this] or [https://moddingwiki.shikadi.net/w/index.php?title=Pee_and_Gity&curid=2348&diff=11370&oldid=6789 that]? Sometimes this will result in redirect to itself (as in first example) or a red link indicating that page with this name was not created (as in second example). I've checked and fixed all pages created by [[User:MartinVole|MartinVole]] but maybe there are more. Thank you! -[[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 19:46, January 3, 2024‎ (GMT)
:I've occasionally seen it used as shortcut to putting the page name in bold in the page intro, but yea, it's kind of odd. According to [[wikipedia:Help:Self_link|the official Wikipedia page on the subject]], "Self links are usually undesirable". I immediately fixed it in the case of Shakii because, with it linking to a redirect page, it even created a real link. (PS: please sign your talk page addidions.) -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 20:26, 3 January 2024 (GMT)
:: Hello and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too! Wow, you fixed so much pages already! That's why I was asking [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] for help - maybe there is a way to do it automatically. Or at least somehow get the list of the affected pages. (Thanks! I was sure I put four "~" characters but not sure what happend and why Talk page was not included.) -[[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 22:35, 3 January 2024 (GMT)
::: Merry Christmas and happy 2024 to you too :) Yea, I'm just going down the list of all articles, heh. By the way, your talk page was not included because there was nothing there; I fixed it by coping the timestamp from the History page and adding your name manually. On that note, maybe you should make an actual user page; it's still a red link. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 22:51, 3 January 2024 (GMT)

:::: I used to like using self-referential links as it meant the links would "work" again if the content was copied onto another page, but I agree once you start involving redirects it becomes a bit of an issue. So no problems from me if you remove those. There are some reports on [[Special:SpecialPages]] that list different types of page reports you can run, but I don't see one that picks up these links. I can't remember whether a self-link automatically adds the page to a category or not, because that could be another place to check, in case there is a category of all pages with self links. However I think it might have to be a case of just fixing them as we encounter them. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 00:35, 4 January 2024 (GMT)

::::: Yea, I dug around a little online and found no information about detecting / listing them, so instead I just opened [[Special:AllPages|the list of all pages]], and simply went through the whole bunch. Also fixed some pages that simply used <b> html tags instead of proper wiki formatting to make their titles bold, renamed a few pages that were missing apostrophes in their page titles, and noticed one page that still used old <code> tags. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 08:08, 4 January 2024 (GMT)

:::::: Wow that would've been a big job, thanks very much! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 09:57, 4 January 2024 (GMT)

::::: Thank you for the answer and clarification! -[[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 14:51, 4 January 2024 (GMT)

:::: Thank you for the great help with fixing the Wiki pages! Yes, user page created now, thanks! -[[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 14:51, 4 January 2024 (GMT)

== Tilesets with "hidden" data ==

I was looking over the [[PAK Format (The Learning Company)]] and it made me wonder about this "Hidden" property in the Tileset Infobox template. Its function is to separate [[:Category:Dense tilesets|Dense tilesets]] from [[:Category:Sparse tilesets|Sparse tilesets]], and the main explanation given for Sparse tilesets seems to boil down to the fact that in formats that have a tiles index in their header, and some consistent way to determine the length of the data at each index, you can deliberately leave space between tiles. However, I'm not entirely clear if you consider this category to also includes block-aligned formats. See, while the PAK format indeed has an index, so it's certainly sparse, it also aligns its indices to the next multiple of 16 bytes, meaning there is potentially a lot of open space inside the format anyway. But this is not deliberately created open space caused by meddling with the index; it's just a natural result of the file format. So would a format that ''only'' has such an aligning, but ''doesn't'' have an index, be considered "sparse" too?

There's also many other ways to hide data inside a lot of formats; the simplest one being any format that uses RLE and doesn't complain about commands to repeat a given value 0 times. Does that affect the categorising? The name "Hidden" kind of gives a wrong impression in that aspect. I know it'd be a lot of edits, but "Sparse" or "Dense" would probably have been a better name for it. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 19:38, 8 February 2024 (GMT)

: My original reason for including that information (whether data can be hidden inside the format or not) was to highlight whether there might be a way for modding tools to store additional data in the files that the game would ignore. This could be anything from a message about what program was used to generate the file, through to user comments, names/titles for items (like tiles or whole levels if the game doesn't store level names), or data that makes it easier to load the file in an editor (such as a time signature for music files that only store delays as a number of ticks, to make rendering the event list look more natural.)

: So in this case the block-aligned formats would certainly qualify, as would RLE-encoded data. I figured "Hidden" was suitable because the data was hidden from the game. "Sparse" is also a little inaccurate for RLE because it's not a gap where you can put anything you want, you have to actually encode/embed the data in it. Does it matter if we call it embedded data for RLE but sparse data for tilesets? -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 04:00, 9 February 2024 (GMT)

:: Well, block-aligned formats are actually probably too unreliable for really hiding in 3rd party metadata; you can never be ''sure'' there is enough space in there to reliable add extra data, since the actual data in these aligned blocks will vary. But I understand the intent better now, yes. thanks. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 10:47, 11 February 2024 (GMT)

== FileFormatTool templates ==

Could you add examples and a short explanation of all the types on the BeginFileFormatTools template? I've seen pages that just use the wrong type altogether, and I'm assuming this is caused by lack of documentation. It's not clear from the page whether a tileset format containing multiple images should use type "group" or "image". I've always used "image" for that, but I can understand the confusion. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 10:48, 11 February 2024 (GMT)

: I've added links to [[:Template:FileFormatTool]] but the tileset format is a bit of a tricky one because it's kind of both. The way I've handled it in my own code is always a compromise because there's so much overlap. I've ended up deciding that if the format can hold arbitrary data (like a .zip file can) then it's an archive/group file. But many tilesets can only store image data (and often rely on headers in the tileset file to render the images within properly) so I figure those are too tightly bound together to be considered an archive.

: After all, you can extract a .zip, move the files to another computer, then zip them up again and end up with a workable file. But you often can't extract all the images in a tileset, move them to another computer, then bundle them all up into the original tileset again, as data has been lost (e.g. the size of all the images which was in the tileset file's header). And you probably can't include a readme.txt in the tileset either. So therefore, it's not a true archive format. You also often can't extract an image to a file and then identify that file from its headers - tiles are often raw pixel data with no means of identification. So it's hard to open an extracted tile file in an image editor, but usually the tileset as a whole can have its format automatically detected in some way, so it's more user friendly to keep the tiles inside the tileset file, and not permit them to be extracted as raw files (only if the images are converted to another format like .png or similar). There are unfortunately still grey areas even with this definition so I'm certainly open to ideas.

: Do you think the clarification belongs on [[:Template:FileFormatTool]] with the rest of the info, or on [[:Template:BeginFileFormatTools]] (which links there already)? Also as a side note, I have come to prefer the term "archive" over "group" so one of these days I may try to update everything to refer to "archive" instead. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 11:55, 11 February 2024 (GMT)

:: I'd add some text on the FileFormatTool page saying to look at the BeginFileFormatTools page for explanation on the types themselves, and then write the real stuff there. After all, the "Begin" template is the one that contains the type option, so that's where I would expect the explanation, as user.
:: And, yea, changing "group" to "archive" might be a good move; it makes it more distinct, and it's already used like that anyway. There will of course always be some edge cases, but there's not much we can do about that. It's generally archives containing mostly but not exclusively images, and which don't have names for their entries. [[All Dogs Archive Format]] comes to mind; despite the name, when writing the page I treated it as a tileset with one type of special non-image entries. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 18:17, 15 February 2024 (GMT)

::: Done, hopefully that provides some better documentation. Feel free to adjust as needed. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 06:12, 18 February 2024 (GMT)

:::: Absolutely beautiful. Great work on that. I might take some time referencing the relevant [[:Category:Infoboxes|Infoboxes]] for each one, in a "''This type is generally used on pages using the xxxx and yyyy infoboxes''" way, since these correspond pretty directly -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 08:57, 1 March 2024 (GMT)

== Something wrong with the File History ==

When I look at the file history of any file, the text above the file history table looks corrupted, and shows this text:

: '''Yi efo/eka'e gwa ebo wo le nyangagi wuncin ye kamina wunga tinya nan'''

Google Translate found no match for it, so I have no idea what this is. But it seems to have slipped into one of the internal wiki templates somehow.

Open the page of literally any image on the wiki to see an example. I noticed it when looking at [[:File:Treasure_Mountain_Panning_Image_Format.png|this one]].

--[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 10:38, 10 October 2024 (GMT)

:Okay, this is plain bizarre. I googled the sentence, and it seems hundreds of other wikis have the same issue. Some corruption in a recent update of MediaWiki itself maybe?
:--[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 10:42, 10 October 2024 (GMT)

:: Nice catch! Looks like this is a [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Wikisource:Scriptorium/Archives/2024-05#File_History_vandalised MediaWiki issue] due to copy-pasted text. [[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 10:56, 10 October 2024 (GMT)

::: Interesting! I had to update MediaWiki recently because of some security issues so looks like they forgot to include that language fix in the 1.39 branch. Hopefully it will get fixed in the next release and I can do another update. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 11:07, 10 October 2024 (GMT)

:::: Looks like it can be fixed by deleting the entries for "filehist-help", "filehist-datetime" and "filehist-thumb" [https://github.com/wikimedia/mediawiki/commit/f4d953a7144b65183be82607a81c256460d4942a#diff-007f8b6baea4fb3f292c276dfa5fdb0eea6b409ced3166a5a9f3832c31fb7072L89 from "languages/i18n/en-gb.json"]; seems they're not supposed to have specific en-gb overrides at all. Though I dunno how easy it is for you to fix that kind of stuff manually. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 11:50, 10 October 2024 (GMT)

:::: There seems to be more corruption; in the page history I noticed the word "Ocak" [https://moddingwiki.shikadi.net/w/index.php?title=User:CTPAX-X_Team&oldid=11582 replacing one of the months]. Seems to be Turkish for January?. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 12:00, 10 October 2024 (GMT)

::::: It's a bit annoying because it's packaged up into a Docker container so you have to do any modifications like that with commands that run every time the container is built. Probably easier to just report it as a MediaWiki bug if it hasn't been reported already. I notice 1.39.10 has come out since I updated the other day but running it locally it still has the same issue, so maybe they aren't even aware of it. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 13:12, 10 October 2024 (GMT)

::::: Looks like it may have been reported here: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T375487 -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 13:15, 10 October 2024 (GMT)

:::::: The fix for this translation error made it into MediaWiki 1.39.11 which was released today, so I have upgraded to this version and it looks like the weird translations have now returned to normal! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 13:47, 21 December 2024 (GMT)

== Upload limit ==

I tried replacing the image [[:file:Command & Conquer Mission Format.png]] with a new version that was about 1.1 mb, and got an error about the upload size being too large. The weird thing was, it wasn't a wiki error but a server error. The wiki upload page says the maximum is 2 mb, but it seems the actual server has some limits that are set lower.

Note, the reason the new image was much larger was because it's made in a new (and better) map editor that does not export the map graphics in original 8-bit format, so I managed to fix it by simply loading the game's original palette into it. That slightly decreased the quality of some alpha-darkened elements (visible in the darkened cells with the "ATK4" text on them), but not to any problematic extent. Still, I thought it would be better to alert you that there is apparently a configuration problem there.

(Funnily enough, the 1200px version generated by the wiki is 1.4mb; larger than even my original file.)

-[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 18:18, 26 November 2024 (GMT)

: While this is not exactly a right way but as temporary solution you may try to reduce PNG image size with [http://advsys.net/ken/utils.htm PNGOut] and [https://www.advancemame.it/download AdvPNG] (part of AdvanceCOMP). Hope this helps to upload that image to the site. [[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 18:53, 26 November 2024 (GMT)

:: As I said, I already solved my issue by reducing it to 8-bit; the image is replaced. I just posted this here to let Malvineous know there's a configuration issue there. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 19:03, 26 November 2024 (GMT)

::: Thanks for the heads up, hopefully it's fixed now. Not sure why you'd be getting the server error but I guess if it base64 encodes it or something it would inflate the size during the transfer process. Hopefully all the limits are now aligned, but I imagine there might still be a discrepancy as you get near the limit, but with luck it's now high enough not to be an issue. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 00:45, 27 November 2024 (GMT)

== Policy on actual mod pages ==

I'm wondering what the policy is on making pages for actual mods on the wiki. There is a category "Mods" on the wiki, but nothing is actually in there except [[:Category:Mods_by_game|the category for mod listing pages]]. So, is more specific information on actual mods a thing we want on the wiki, or not? I noticed that the actual mod listing pages all just link to external sites.

The reason I'm asking is because I noticed that on top of documentation, [[user:Theruler|Theruler]] seemed to be adding [[HeroQuest Quest Format#List of Quests|extra information into the HeroQuest pages that relate to his own patching project for the game]] (specifically, the "fixed" column). Obviously this is not desired in the main format info pages (and I mailed him about that), but it made me wonder whether a dedicated page for the project would be relevant on the wiki or not. The [[ModdingWiki:Contributing|Editing guidelines]] page does not actually mention anything about it.

-[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 09:27, 25 September 2025 (GMT)

: I'm open to discussion but I sort of want to avoid [[keenwiki:Keen_4_mods|KeenWiki style modding pages]] where each mod has its own page with a story and a bunch of images uploaded that are essentially fan art/fan fiction, just because it ends up being very open ended and means anyone can upload anything even if it's only vaguely related to the wiki (and there are other web sites where mods can be uploaded and documented in detail). The idea is the wikis are supposed to be encyclopaedic references for commercially released games, rather than blogs or personal web sites. However I do think it is good to upload a single gameplay screenshot showcasing each mod, to illustrate what changes have been made and to help players decide whether it interests them. I am just less keen on having dozens of images uploaded for each mod.

: For the HeroQuest type stuff, generally I think we should stick to commercial games, however I also realise there's a bit of a grey area there, since many of these games are quite obscure and there isn't really anywhere else to put that kind of information. So as long as it isn't excessive I don't have a problem with things like that, as long as it's made clear that it's part of a mod/extension rather than the official game. For more popular games I would draw the line at official releases only (as it's not practical for everyone to document all their mods), but for uncommon games where only one person is spending time documenting it, I think we can be a bit more relaxed.

: At least that's my opinion. I consider this a community run site so I am happy to consider other points of view. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 10:01, 25 September 2025 (GMT)

User:Woalexan

2025-08-25T22:36:30Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

Hello, My name is Alexander, I am from Austria and I'm 41 years old. Of course I played a lot of great DOS games during my childhood and youth :) I have an electronics background, but in my spare time I like to program C/C++ for fun. Since ~2021 (with longer breaks) I already try to implement my own (open) source code to recreate one of my most favorite games of my youth, Hi-Octane from Bullfrog. Some time ago I also started working on a Level Editor in parallel in the same Github Repo. Starting this project would never have been possible without the great information about this game contained in this Wiki, and I am very grateful for this. This is also the reason why I would like to request an account for this Wiki, because I hope I could give back (add some information) about Hi-Octane I reverse engineered already (or will reverse engineer in future). Thank you very much.

User:Verysoftwares

2025-08-17T00:35:30Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

I am Leonard, a DOS kid who grew up to become an indie game developer.

I'm interested in modding Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure and reverse engineering Jetpack, as well as fixing up minor mistakes I see in articles.

User:Leep

2025-04-23T22:59:16Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

I'm learning as much as I can about the format of Hocus Pocus' DAT file. I believe I can contribute additional information/details. I can also upload a PNG image of one of the Hocus Pocus Image (.IMG) files.

User:CravenCoyote

2025-04-10T09:15:39Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

Chasm: The Rift and Doom modder. Project lead for the first ever Chasm: The Rift community project SCAMP2025 (Shadow-zone Community All-comers Mapping Project).

User:Zapper

2025-04-02T23:38:32Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

Help describe "Kris' Music System Voice Format" using few knowledge gained while making some Stunts game modding.

User:BOfH

2025-03-23T22:19:21Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

Long time C&C player and hacker. Never moved beyond Red Alert 1 though.

User:Dark

2025-02-18T10:43:10Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

I grew up playing many dos games by EPIC, Apogee and ID software, and in the modern day, I enjoy learning about them on a more technical level and creating/playing mods of them. There are some pages on the moddingwiki that look a little out of date as far as tools and mods released in recent years, and I would like to help update some of the pages.

MediaWiki:Requestaccount-ext-text

2025-02-17T22:06:54Z

Malvineous: Mention spam block shared with the KeenWiki

The following information is kept private and will only be used for this request.
Due to an influx in spam, the "additional notes" field must contain the name of the invading species in the first trilogy of [[keenwiki:Invasion of the Vorticons|Commander Keen]]. Only this one word is fine. If you don't include this you will receive an error about your e-mail address being invalid, in an attempt to throw spam bots off the scent.

User talk:Malvineous

2024-12-21T13:47:31Z

Malvineous: /* Something wrong with the File History */ Fixed

User talk:Malvineous

2024-11-27T00:45:01Z

Malvineous: Upload size increased

== Wolfenstein 3D -> Wolfenstein 3-D ==
I've corrected the infamous 3D tyop in the names of several Wolf3D-related pages; can you please delete the following ones?

[[:Category:Wolfenstein 3D]] -> Superseded by [[:Category:Wolfenstein 3-D]]<br>
[[:Image:Wolfenstein_3D.png]] -> Superseded by [[:Image:Wolfenstein_3-D.png]]

Thanks :) --De Zeurkous (zeurkous@zeurcomp.nichten.info), Thu Nov 22 08:18:42 UTC 2007

:Haha, you've certainly been busy. Don't forget that this wiki isn't meant to be an encyclopaedia of the games, its main purpose is documenting the file formats and editing tools that can be used with the games, as opposed to how the games behave without any mods, or what they might be called if you forget to change the title screen :-) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 11:14, 22 November 2007 (GMT)

::Nah, I haven't forgotten. As we're reinventing the wheel for a semi-virgin wiki, the naming and something static like the cheats seemed like a good place to start :) --De Zeurkous (zeurkous@nichten.info), Thu Nov 22 12:20:04 UTC 2007

== Jill of the Jungle palette ==

Hi, I'm currently working on a level viewer for [[Jill of the Jungle]] (maybe an editor later on). Some of the information I found here has been very useful, but there's one thing I'm a bit stuck on. On the [[SHA Format]] page it says:
:''Each array item contains 4 unsigned bytes, representing CGA, EGA and VGA, respectivley, and then a null value. [...] Each byte maps to the index of a colour in the palette. If there are no colours required, the tile set uses the default colours.''
However, it doesn't say anywhere where the palette can be found. Is it stored in the EXE file? I hope you can help me on this :)

Regards, [[User:Spinal|Spinal]] 13:00, 2 March 2008 (GMT)

:Unfortunately I didn't write the JotJ SHA page, and I haven't yet had the time to figure this out. For Xargon I've taken the quick and dirty route and used a screenshot from within DOSBox as the source of the palette, until I can figure out where the palette is located. If you find this out, don't forget to update the page! :-) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 22:02, 2 March 2008 (GMT)

::Hey Spinal, sorry, I wrote the [[SHA Format]] page, so that was probably my bad. I wasn't able to find the palette either. I assume it's in the .EXE, however I spent a fair bit of time manually mapping it using a Wombat tool (http://www.szevvy.com/node/3). I was also writing a level viewer (initally in XHTML which turned out to be too slow, so then I moved to Flash 9). I tried to email you my findings, but the email bounced. I'm not sure if they were 100% accurat, which is why I never added them to the documentation.

::Hey Malvineous, it seems the Jill - [[DMA Format]] page has been removed. Do you have a log of what happened to it? I'm sure it existed at some point.

::- [[User:dheim|Daniel]] 20:00, 5 March 2008

:::I don't ever remember seeing a DMA page - certainly there's nothing in the wiki logs about it being deleted or renamed. Maybe you started working on it but never got around to saving it? Or is it one of the Xargon pages that shares the same format as Jill? (by the way, you can type <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> to automatically put in the signature in these messages.) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 11:28, 5 March 2008 (GMT)

::::Sorry, it must have been the stuff in the [[SHA Format]] page that I was thinking of. I may have added the link to the [[DMA Format]] page, and never expanded on it. - [[User:Dheim|Daniel]] 02:46, 6 March 2008 (GMT)

:::::Hi guys. Sorry for the mistake, I mixed up the authors of the SHA and level formats. I've written a level viewer in PHP the last week, by using static images instead of getting them from the actual files. This causes some problems for episode 2, which uses a different palette, but besides that it works great :) When everything is done I'll upload the maps to my server and the tile/object lists to this wiki.
:::::@Daniel: strange that it bounced, I confirmed my address so it should be working fine... You can mail it to spinal -at- zanderz -dot- net. Also, I saw on your Wombat page that you "have a vague idea of how to do" [[Hocus Pocus]]. Could you share your findings on this wiki? I'd love to make maps, or even a level viewer/editor for that game :) -- [[User:Spinal|Spinal]] 00:32, 8 March 2008 (GMT)
:Okay, with help of [[User:Dheim|Daniel]] who send me the palette I found it! I'll put my findings on [[Jill of the Jungle palette]]. -- [[User:Spinal|Spinal]] 15:36, 13 March 2008 (GMT)

== Halloween Harry/Alien Carnage ==

Hi Malvineous. Thanks for your edits on the GMF article! I notice you mentioned there exist versions of the game which don't require exploding a BNK to get at the game data. What does the directory structure look like for the version you have? I'm working on a map viewer (which will become a map editor at some point) and would like it to be able to work on whatever versions are out there. Thanks for any info. -[[User:Duckthing|Duckthing]] 04:41, 11 December 2010 (GMT)

: Hi Duckthing - no worries, Halloween Harry has long been an interest of mine, but my map editor sadly needs a lot more work before I can begin reverse engineering more file formats so I'm glad you've made a start! AFAIK technically Halloween Harry has no compression, but for whatever reason (probably listed in the Apogee FAQ) they decided to swap episodes 1 and 3, compress the BNK file and then re-release it under the name Alien Carnage. You can download all available versions (including registered versions since the game was released as freeware in 2007) from [http://www.classicdosgames.com/game/Alien_Carnage.html RGB Classic Games]. BTW not sure if you noticed but I also posted a couple of things on the GMF article's talk/discussion page. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 06:08, 11 December 2010 (GMT)

:: Thank you! Working with the uncompressed version will keep things less complicated. I did notice the GMF discussion you added, but haven't had a chance to really go through it yet. -- [[User:Duckthing|Duckthing]] 06:41, 11 December 2010 (GMT)

::: No worries. If you're running Linux or MacOSX you should be able to compile [[Camoto|libgamearchive]] which will let you copy files in and out of the BNK files. This is a library so it's also possible to use it in your own program for accessing and editing the map files while they're still inside the BNK, for instance. (BTW the 'minor' tickbox should only be used when the edit does not affect the information on the page - e.g. fixing a typo or a broken URL. If you are changing the actual content on a page it is never a minor edit!) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 07:51, 11 December 2010 (GMT)

== Dangerous Dave ==

Working on this, does anyone have any info on the formats? The EGA graphics are 84KB and external, but CGA and VGA graphics unrelated to them are in the 174KB executable, apparently uncompressed, I don't know how this is possible. I've found the levels and partially reverse engineered the format (The first 1000 bytes, a 100x10 array of tiles.) but each level is followed by ~280 bytes of variable and unknown data I assume is sprites. I have a list of internal files in the executable, looks like most of it is non-game code. Any help would be appreciated. -[[User:Levellass|Endian? What are you on about?]] 06:03, 12 December 2010 (GMT)

: Hmm, interesting. All I can suggest for the levels is - as you're probably already familiar with - changing the values in a hex editor then loading the game to see what happens. I would suspect that all the graphics would be in a similar format, so if there are any headers or structures used in the EGA graphics files perhaps they're duplicated for CGA/VGA? Also John Romero seems pretty accessible, perhaps you could ask him directly? Failing that, randomly writing data into the .exe until the images change could be used as a last resort! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 12:09, 12 December 2010 (GMT)

: Ha, that was easier than I expected - uncompressed VGA data is easy to find with a good hex editor ;-) [http://www.shikadi.net/pics/ddave-vga-hexdump.png This looks like it] -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 12:17, 12 December 2010 (GMT)

: Ok that was only the menu graphics. At offset 0xC629 there's some sort of offset table which looks very similar to the contents of EGADAVE.DAV but there are extra bytes dotted all over the place - perhaps it's RLE encoded? Actually just before that there's the number 0x6CAA. If you go a bit less than 0x6CAA bytes after this you end up with another table, which to me suggests that 0x6CAA is the decompressed size of that first table. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 13:01, 12 December 2010 (GMT)

:If I remember it correctly, the VGA sprites and tiles are RLE compressed and it's not too hard to decompress them. The positions of the enemies in the levels on the other hand are still a mystery to me. [[User:Calvero|Calvero]] 20:43, 12 December 2010 (GMT)

: Looking at the levels, which directly follow the VGA palette, they seem to contain 256 bytes of header data, then the 100x10 tiles, then eight bytes of lead-out data. Then the next level's 256 bytes of header, 100x10 tiles, then eight bytes of lead-out. Although I say "level", the first "level" seems to contain both level 1 and 2, and this seems to be the way it works in the game - in some levels you can see through to others. I'm not sure what the 256 bytes of header data are for, but some levels have FF FF 00 00 repeated which seems to indicate two uint16 fields which are blanked out for those levels. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 13:15, 13 December 2010 (GMT)

::First up, levels; where does level 1 start? It's possible I'm reading the start of a level as the previous level's end, I looked for the start of tile data, which I assumed, like Keen 1, would be the level start.

::Next, palette; I'm assuming, as you said, it is located just before the level data?

::There is VGA and CGA graphics in the executable, plus headers, but the bulk of graphics for CGA and VGA I haven't been able to locate. If the data is RLE compressed I should think it would use either Keen 1-3 fullscreen or Jazz Jackrabbit tile RLE, both of which I know well. I'll look into both of these options, cheers! -[[User:Levellass|Endian? What are you on about?]] 12:03, 20 December 2010 (GMT)

:::I've found the VGA and CGA data for the menu graphics. It looks like the CGA data is stored in a series of 1-bit-per-pixel (monochrome) images. Or it could be EGA data with the planes split out (e.g. red plane for all images, then green plane for all images, etc.) I think I found three planes which means it's probably EGA, as CGA would have a max of two planes. I've also found the font graphics, this looks like 4bpp/16 colour EGA data. Haven't seen level graphics yet. I've successfully modded the levels with a hex editor (putting the jetpack everywhere) so now I've finally looked at all the levels! The creatures are definitely not stored in the 100x10 tile data. Putting random bytes in there revealed that the values are indices into the image files, because if you put the value in for fire it will animate, and the following three or so values show up as still frames from the fire animation.

:::The VGA palette starts at 0x26B0A (I updated the main DDave page with this) + 768 bytes leads straight onto the start of level 1 at 0x26E0A. So at 0x26E0A there are 256 bytes of data, then 100x10 tiles, then 24 bytes of footer data. Some of this data (perhaps footer data) might be the level start coordinates, because Dave doesn't always start the level at the same place (e.g. the warp level when you climb the tree on level 5 and jump off the edge of the screen.) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 12:24, 20 December 2010 (GMT)

:::I think I've found all the files so far, I've updated [[Dangerous Dave]] with the offsets of the files, including what appears to be CGA and VGA tiles. I'm not sure what sort of format they're in though, it looks like they might be compressed (and so the offsets in that list might be off by ~4, as I may have cut off the decompressed-size field.) I've also updated the map format page, I think it's pretty much fully reverse engineered now. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 05:13, 21 December 2010 (GMT)

== Noahs Ark 3D and IMFs ==

Been poking around Noah's Ark 3D, an adaption of the Wolfenstein game and found a few interesting things which I'm hoping to confirm.

First, the game uses MID files, not IMF files for music, second, the MIDI files have an extra word at the start of the file giving the file length. Third, the code uses the first word of the midi file as the length of data to read from the file and put into memory to play. After poking around a bit in Wolfenstein and Keen I believe this is the same with IMF files, that is, ALL IMF files are type 0 as it were and the type 1s are read just like type 0s by the games (The first word is read as the amount of IMF data to copy into memory to play, this is then read as type 0.) I'm not quite sure what this does for the two types since type 1 is would essentially be a type 0 with a header and footer that are part of the AUDIO.xxx format, much like PC\adlib sounds can have the huffman lengths at the start. Are there any games that use 'individual' type 1 IMFs (Even if included as part of a group file. All I've seen are games like cosmo, where non-AUDIO IMFs are type 0.)

Should there be a Noah's Ark 3D page and should we add the midi note to the AUDIO format page? It seems that the format can hold any type of music file the game can read, not just IMFs. -- Levellass

: Yes it is known that the type-1 header might really be part of the AUDIO.xxx format but alas there were many type-1 files floating around the place (incorrectly extracted, you could argue) before this was realised, so the format variant is here to stay. It does have some advantages though (like tagging files with the song title) but I'm not sure whether anyone has figured out definitively whether the header (and footer, in the case of the Wolf3D files) belongs to the IMF or the AUDIO file. I guess you'd have to browse the game source code and see how the game uses the data to know for sure.

: As far as the MIDI goes, I believe the AUDIO.xxx file is just a container file like any other, capable of supporting any data at all. It's up to the game to decide how to use it. If anything this makes me think it would fit better if the AUDIO.xxx article was merely documenting the structure, with links to actual audio formats like PC SFX, Adlib SFX, IMF and MIDI and notes about which games make use of which formats.

: Oh and yes, by all means create a page for the new game. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 08:41, 3 February 2011 (GMT)

== Sound Files category ==

I don’t know why there’s a Sound Files category and also an Audio Files category... it seems redundant. I left those categories the way they are though.

Also, the [[File format data types]] page needs some signed ints, but I didn’t know what naming convention you wanted to use. I described something as an [[INT16LE]] on [[BMC Format]]. [[User:Yellowantphil|Yellowantphil]] 20:12, 11 September 2011 (GMT)

: Not sure about the Sound vs Audio - I use the term 'audio' to mean both sound and music, but you're right, if there are separate sound and music categories we don't really need an audio one as well. Feel free to update. [[INT16LE]] is perfectly fine too! I added a note to the data types page. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 22:30, 11 September 2011 (GMT)

== GamePage template ==

Should the GamePage template add the page to its own category? It seems a little odd that [[Wacky Wheels]] is not in the Wacky Wheels category. [[User:Yellowantphil|Yellowantphil]] 04:51, 16 September 2011 (GMT)
: I decided against this because there is a link to the game's page in the category intro at the top of the page. It seemed unnecessary having another link in amongst all the other pages. This was also because the game page was really only meant to be a summary, there wasn't supposed to be a huge amount of detail on it, only links to other pages with the detail (which then would appear in the category list.) I would imagine that, eventually, [[Wacky Wheels]] would be tweaked to move a lot of the content onto subpages. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 12:58, 16 September 2011 (GMT)

== Scope of the wiki ==

I don’t know how extensive you want the information to be on ModdingWiki... I added a few lists of audio and graphics files a while ago, and there will probably be other information that I’ll find out that’s potentially helpful for level editing but not directly related to it. I can move some information to my website if it starts to become out of scope for your wiki. I also sometimes end up documenting everything imaginable... there’s some minutiae on my website and possibly on your wiki that I ought to go through and delete. [[User:Yellowantphil|Yellowantphil]] 05:28, 10 October 2011 (GMT)

:Hmm, that's a difficult one - I'm always in favour of documenting more rather than less. Generally speaking if it's related to a game and it would help either a programmer writing a utility or a someone trying to change a game manually then it should be documented. About the only thing that comes to mind that's over documenting is when some small calculation is expressed in a couple of different programming languages, but I've left that in so people can just copy it rather than trying to figure it out from the text. But the [[Wacky Wheels]] page is probably the gold standard for what all wiki pages should look like :-) Do you have anything in particular you're unsure of whether it would fit here? -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 10:07, 10 October 2011 (GMT)

::I was mainly thinking of the list of VOC files on [[Wacky Wheels Music and Sound Effects]] and the list of <tt>*.sp</tt> files on [[Wacky Wheels Graphics Formats]]. I have an expanded list of the <tt>*.sp</tt> files on my computer but it isn’t finished yet. I guess there isn’t all that much more Wacky Wheels information to be added to this wiki though. There is still some modding information on my website that ought to be moved over here, so that would take up another page or two. I’ve been lazy about doing Wacky Wheels stuff lately, but I might find some time for it this weekend.

::By the way, I guess that guy from Cascadia Games emailed you. It’s pretty interesting that WW might become an iPhone app. He told me that he was going to be using his own game engine, which sounds a lot easier than trying to get a hold of the WW source code and porting it. —[[User:Yellowantphil|Yellowantphil]] 16:46, 15 October 2011 (GMT)

::: I was going to say the list of VOCs might be overkill, but then the list of .sp files might be useful. To be honest, it's the sort of thing that you could probably omit if you were feeling lazy, but likewise I don't mind at all if you choose to include it, so since it's already there I'm happy to keep it.

::: Yes I did get an e-mail from Cascadia, I was going to pass along your details but it sounds like you're already aware of it! Using their own engine might make it a bit smoother than the original, as the jerkiness of turning is my only criticism of the game. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 00:14, 16 October 2011 (GMT)

:I'd like to document not only the format of some game archives but also their contents. This would be quite long lists of basically images, sprites and some minor stuff. I'd also like to upload the actual images alongside but I'm not sure whether that fits the scope of the wiki or if I should just put it somewhere on github. Any advice highly welcome :) -- [[User:Yetmorecode|Yetmorecode]] 15:25, 22 December 2020

::That depends on what you mean with "their contents". Documenting the used file formats is obviously in the scope of this wiki, since there's not much point in being able to extract/replace the files in those archives if you can't actually view those files or make those replacements. But dumping the whole list of all existing files in a game into a wiki article is usually not very useful. An article could highlight some specific files with special functions in the game (stuff like the remap-defining PALETTE.CPS in Red Alert 1 comes to mind; [[Westwood CPS Format|cps]] is a very normal image format in these games, but that specific file controls all recolouring of sprites that change to their owner's colour), but a list of all sprites and sound files and all their exact usages in the game doesn't seem like it'd belong here; most of the time such things are pretty self-evident.
::PS: when you add something to a user talk page, use the signature code to give your note a clearly visible author and date stamp. There's a big red box on the top of the edit page telling you how to do that.
:: --[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 15:51, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

:::Alright that makes sense. Sorry about the signature I must have been blind. [[User:Yetmorecode|Yetmorecode]] ([[User talk:Yetmorecode|talk]]) 17:11, 22 December 2020 (UTC)

:::: Yes just to confirm this, an image or two is useful to illustrate a file format but we don't want to become an archive of all game material, not least of which because extracting this is often against the game's licence (and doesn't really come under "fair use") so could open you up to legal trouble if the current copyright owner takes exception to it. If you come across something hidden or undocumented you can put it on [https://tcrf.net/The_Cutting_Room_Floor The Cutting Room Floor] otherwise [https://pages.github.com/ GitHub Pages] may work as you've suggested (if you fly under the copyright radar!) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 07:08, 23 December 2020 (UTC)

== Wacky Wheels ==

Basically all of the WW modding information from my website is here now. I moved one page when I realized it should probably be capitalized to match the rest of the pages on this site... you can delete the redirect at [[Wacky Wheels high score files]] if you want to.

Now, I need to remove most of the modding information from my website and refer people here. Then we’ll have reached the glorious future where all WW modding information is in one place. I’m going to keep those two text files of notes on my website though—the information in them is disorganized and I think not 100% accurate, but they might have some information that isn’t here yet.

By the way, how’s Camoto going? I’m planning to use it to make a new WW level, but I won’t have time for it for a few more months. —[[User:Yellowantphil|Yellowantphil]]

: Sounds good! Thanks for all the effort you've put in by moving it across. I think Wacky Wheels is now the most completely documented game on the wiki! Also can't hurt leaving your own info up - sometimes it's nice to go back to the original source if something is unclear. Camoto's going well, but unfortunately I haven't had much time to work on it over the last few weeks. You probably won't be able to make much of a level until I add in the ability to select a tile from the tileset, but that's in progress and hopefully will be ready by the time you are! Keep me posted when you do start your level(s?) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 12:22, 2 February 2012 (GMT)

::Well, as I was reading some of the information on my website, I noticed that it isn’t written very well. I wrote those pages back when I had very little experience programming. Anyway, I’m planning to redesign my website soon, and this will save me from having to rewrite a few of those pages.

::The tile editor in Camoto as it is now is still certainly useful—I can add new tile types to a level using a binary editor and then move them around in Camoto. I think that it shouldn’t be too hard to make a new WW level using the Gimp and Camoto plus some binary editing. I recall having some problems with the route editor for the computer players, but I didn’t look into it at the time—I’ll let you know when I’m working with Camoto again, and I’ll try to come up with some useful bug reports or fixes if I run into problems. —[[User:Yellowantphil|Yellowantphil]] 14:06, 2 February 2012 (GMT)

== Catacomb ==

Hey [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]], do you know anyone who has properly read the [[Inverse_Frequency_Sound_format|Inverse Sound Frequency]] file format and got the sound playing? I'm struggling with some fine details in my game. Sounds play near what they should sound like, but the sound quality is all crackly and some sounds play totally incorrect. I followed a basic [http://web.archive.org/web/20000818033701/http://www.dd.chalmers.se/~f98anga/projects/keen/sounds2raw.c code sample] by Anders Gavare. Does your tool support this? Interested in helping me figure this out? My current code is available at [https://code.google.com/p/cataclone/source/browse/trunk/src/catacomb/catacomb_sound.c catacomb_sound.c] - [[User:Eros|Eros]] 11:57, 5 May 2012 (GMT)
: Should this be moved to my talk page? - [[User:Eros|Eros]] 11:59, 5 May 2012 (GMT)
:: Probably best to keep it on my talk page if you want me to respond in a timely manner :-) I based my old utility off Anders' one too, but it's been a long time since I looked at the code. My latest utility doesn't support sound effects yet. I know Levellass has written a few utilities to play and edit those sound files, so I think your best bet would probably be to post over at the [http://www.keenmodding.org Keen:Modding] forum. Do note that PC Speaker effects do sound crackly at the best of times, though! Also make sure you've got the right audio format (8-bit vs 16-bit, signed vs unsigned) - I remember some inconsistencies there causing some very distorted results for me. I love the name 'Cataclone' - does your code compile under Linux? -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 13:21, 5 May 2012 (GMT)
::: I currently compile the code using Code::Blocks with GCC 4.6 -std=gnu99. It *should* compile under Linux. But I haven't tested that out yet. [[Catacomb]] sounds also have flags attached to each one, It's not exactly the same specification as what it says @ the [[Inverse_Frequency_Sound_format|Inverse Sound Frequency]] format page. Perhaps the flags would make a difference to the sounds? I have the sound setup @ [https://code.google.com/p/cataclone/source/browse/trunk/src/sound_manager.c sound_manager.c] in the sound_manager_init() method. I use AUDIO_S16 (signed 16-bit) @ 22050 Hz with 2 channels. I have not added support for the priority of the sounds yet, I plan on doing that after I get them playing properly.
::: I found some information on the [[ROTT]] sound format here: [http://src.gnu-darwin.org/ports/games/rottdc/work/rottdc-1.0-2/rott/_rt_soun.h _rt_soun.h]. This format should be similar to Catacomb as ROTT was developed by [[Apogee]] using the [[Doom]] engine. Here are the flags for the sounds that they define:
#define SD_OVERWRITE 0x01
#define SD_WRITE 0x02
#define SD_LOOP 0x04
#define SD_PITCHSHIFTOFF 0x08
#define SD_PLAYONCE 0x10
::: There are also many other sound files for ROTT: [http://src.gnu-darwin.org/ports/games/rottdc/work/rottdc-1.0-2/rott/rt_sound.c], [http://src.gnu-darwin.org/ports/games/rottdc/work/rottdc-1.0-2/rott/rt_sound.h], [http://src.gnu-darwin.org/ports/games/rottdc/work/rottdc-1.0-2/rott/snd_reg.h], [http://src.gnu-darwin.org/ports/games/rottdc/work/rottdc-1.0-2/rott/snd_shar.h], [http://src.gnu-darwin.org/ports/games/rottdc/work/rottdc-1.0-2/rott/sndcards.h]
:::: I tried it last night and I was able to get it to compile (after a few changes, like using '/' instead of '\' in a couple of #includes) but all I got was a black window and a beep sound, then nothing. How far advanced is the project? Should I expect more than that? I would expect small variations in the file formats between games, but I would be surprised if the core sound data has changed over time. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 02:38, 6 May 2012 (GMT)
::::: On Windows, you can run around the levels, collide with walls, collect items, etc... I still need to implement monsters, AI and power shots. However, that beep means that the sounds playing. (see line 71 in main.c: catacomb_sounds_play("foundsound");). I just committed the catacomb_data.h file. Update it accordingly, you should now see much more than a black screen.
:::::: Oh wow, that works really well now! I see what you mean by the sounds. You might have to output the PCM data to a .wav/.raw file and look at it in a sound editor to see what's going on. It sounds like there might be wrapping or something going on. Also some sounds (like being blocked by a door) play multiple times over the top of themselves. I guess this is what you meant by priority not being implemented (although maybe you wouldn't need to handle priority if you can play multiple sounds at the same time, unlike the real PC Speaker.) One suggestion - if you do decide to support Linux, abstract the calls that open files so that they search for filenames instead - that way you don't have to rename all the Catacomb files to be uppercase, since Linux has a case-sensitive filesystem and most filenames are usually all lowercase. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 03:42, 6 May 2012 (GMT)
::::::: I have exported the raw data to a file, then imported the raw data into Audacity using various settings. All of them sound like they do in the game, crackly and sometimes distorted. I really think its some sort of post FX used by the flags. As for files, I'll code some sort of SafeFileOpen, SafeFileClose functions like the id codebase that open files regardless of case when i get around to implementing the Linux version. - [[User:Eros|Eros]] 03:54, 6 May 2012 (GMT)
:::::::: If you can e-mail me one of the files (preferably a 'quiet' one that's not supposed to be crackly) I can take a look if you like - malvineous@shikadi.net -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] 03:57, 6 May 2012 (GMT)

== Merge ==

Is there a way to tag two pages such that it is clear that they should be merged?
For example, [[Crystal Caves Tileset Format]] describes the same format as [[Duke 1 Tileset Graphics]].[[User:Frenkel|Frenkel]] ([[User talk:Frenkel|talk]]) 21:00, 15 July 2013 (GMT)

: You can mention it on the talk page for one of the articles. Any suggestions as to what we should call the merged page? -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 03:09, 20 July 2013 (GMT)

::Dark Ages is the first game that got released that uses this format, so ''Dark Ages Tileset Format'' could be the name, like all those formats that are named after Commander Keen 1-3.
::Or we name it after Duke Nukem 1, because that game is probably more popular than Dark Ages, Crystal Caves and Secret Agent, like [[Commander Keen 1-3 Level format]], although Slordax used it before Commander Keen 1-3 did.[[User:Frenkel|Frenkel]] ([[User talk:Frenkel|talk]]) 19:13, 20 July 2013 (GMT)

::: Yes I was thinking along the same lines, naming it after the first game that used the format. But then the release date doesn't necessarily indicate which game "invented" the format, if one game took longer to develop and was released late. I was wondering whether there is a common thread amongst all these games, such as the same programmer or company we could use instead. In many ways I would prefer a name like "Replogle tileset format" or "Apogee EGA tileset format". What do you think? -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 23:36, 20 July 2013 (GMT)

:::: I've read the [http://www.3drealms.com/news/2006/04/the_apogee_legacy_15.html | Apogee Legacy interview with Peder Jungck] again today. He wrote the ProGraphx Toolbox.
:::: DN1.EXE contains the string ''Version 1.0 EGA/VGAProGraphx EGA/VGA Toolbox'',
:::: CC1.EXE contains the string ''Version 1.5 320x200 PAN EGA/VGAProGraphx EGA/VGA Toolbox'',
:::: SAM1.EXE contains the string ''ProGraphx EGA/VGA Toolbox Version 2.0 320x200 EGA/VGA Copyright 1991 by Peder Jungck'' and
:::: DA3.EXE contains the string ''Version 1.0 EGA/VGAProGraphx EGA/VGA Toolbox'' (DA1.EXE and DA2.exe contain gibberish).
:::: So I would suggest ''ProGraphx Toolbox tileset format''. Peder also wrote a book about the toolbox called ''Graphics Programming & Animation: Ultra-Fast Assembly Routines for EGA/VGA Graphics Animation''. Maybe that book has a better name for the file format. [[User:Frenkel|Frenkel]] ([[User talk:Frenkel|talk]]) 11:03, 21 July 2013 (GMT)

::::: So we know of three different versions of the ProGraphx Toolbox. Dark Ages and Duke Nukem 1 use version 1.0. Each tileset is 8064 bytes long and is in a separate file. Crystal Caves uses version 1.5 and each tileset is 8003 bytes long, but they are all in the same file. Secret Agent uses version 2.0 Each tileset is again 8064 bytes long, they are all in the same file and the file is encrypted. [[User:Frenkel|Frenkel]] ([[User talk:Frenkel|talk]]) 17:00, 28 July 2013 (GMT)

:::::: Thanks for figuring all that out. I've merged the pages and changed the name to [[ProGraphx Toolbox tileset format]] as suggested. Please feel free to correct anything I have missed. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 02:40, 4 August 2013 (GMT)

== Guidelines for proper Wiki Editing ==
Dear Malvineous! Could you post the guidelines (or guide) for proper editing of the Wiki? [[User:The coder|The coder]] ([[User talk:The coder|talk]])
: Hmm, there isn't really one, it's more about finding a similar page and matching the style found there! Copy and paste works well :-) There is [[ModdingWiki:Contributing]] but it's not very detailed. (BTW please put <nowiki>~~~~</nowiki> at the end of your messages, when you preview the page you will see this gets replaced with your name and the date automatically.) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 21:59, 12 December 2014 (UTC)

== VGFM Music Format ==

Hello, Malvineous!

I accidentally found that [[VGFM Music Format]] is absolutely similar to the [http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=MUS_(AdLib) MUS (AdLib)] format which I finished researching yesterday.

And [[VGFM Instrument Format]] is similar to [http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=SND_(AdLib) SND (AdLib)].

These formats were developed by Ad Lib Inc, I found the sources and documentation in the Ad Lib developer's manual downloaded from old BBS board site :) And these formats are used not only in [[Vinyl Goddess From Mars]] game.

--[[User:Binarymaster|Binarymaster]] ([[User talk:Binarymaster|talk]]) 02:05, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

: Oh wow, what an interesting discovery!! Do you have any links to the official documentation? I'd really like to see what else they have to say about the format. And yes, we should definitely rename the articles here. What do you think they should be called? "Ad Lib Music Format" is probably a bit generic given they have a few, like .ROL... -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 09:45, 22 January 2015 (UTC)
:: Here it is: [http://files.mpoli.fi/software/programm/general/adlip.zip adlip.zip] - binaries and source code, probably from Ad Lib Programmer's Manual. MUS headers are described in CONVERT.C and CONVERT.H files. Fun fact that they also developed another similar format based on MIDI - [http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=MDI MDI]. It has similar musical features but stores all data in one file in MIDI format.
:: Well, I have no idea how to name it better, I think "Ad Lib Music Format" should be suitable for it :) --[[User:Binarymaster|binarymaster]] ([[User talk:Binarymaster|talk]]) 10:30, 22 January 2015 (UTC)

::: Many thanks!! I've updated the article pages with the info I could gain from the source code. There are still a few unresolved issues (like what exactly the default percussion pitch is) but it has certainly answered a number of questions. I called it "AdLib MIDI Format" because that's the name they use in one place in the source code, although it's not a very descriptive title! Thanks again for letting me know about this excellent find :-) -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 12:48, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

:::: That's good! I think maybe this format should be named as "AdLib MIDI Format v1.0", because there is also an improved version of it, probably v2.0 - [http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=MDI MDI] (I made a typo in previous posted link), it uses a single file in MIDI format.
:::: And about [[AdLib Timbre Bank Format]] article - BNK format originally was created in the 1987 with the first release of the [http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=AdLib_Visual_Composer AdLib Visual Composer], so actually Ad Lib Inc released its formats in this order:
:::: '''1)''' ROL & BNK (1987, with AdLib Visual Composer)
:::: '''2)''' MUS & SND/TIM (1988, with player and converter)
:::: '''3)''' MDI (1989, also with player and converter)
:::: Information about third format was placed [http://cd.textfiles.com/soundsensations/MISCPROG/AD-PROG/ here], though the link is not working now.
:::: --[[User:Binarymaster|binarymaster]] ([[User talk:Binarymaster|talk]]) 13:08, 24 January 2015 (UTC)

::::: Oh wow that's interesting too. I think the MUS/SND/TIM format should stay as "AdLib MIDI Format" with no version number, because that file format does have version fields so it's possible to have v1.0, v2.3, etc. within that format. The MDI article you linked to actually looks like conventional MIDI with some extra events for setting OPL instruments, so I think this belongs as one of the many backwards-compatible extensions of the [[MID Format]].

::::: With the instrument bank formats that's really unusual if BNK came first! It seems very odd for AdLib to produce the SND/TIM format if they already had the more efficient BNK format available. I was going from the dates in the text files from the programmer's guide you kindly posted, and bkformat.txt says in Jan 1989 they are in the process of converting their software to use BNK. Can you confirm there was BNK software earlier than this? I'm just thinking that Visual Composer may have come out in 1987, but maybe it didn't get BNK support added until later? -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 01:30, 25 January 2015 (UTC)

:::::: Well, I'm sure that first version of Visual Composer was released with AdLib music card, but I don't know exactly about BNK support. It's really strange that Ad Lib downgraded the format (BNK is better in structure), but the known formats has converters which converts BNK to X format, but not from X to BNK - this makes sense that BNK was the first format. Also Visual Composer doesn't support other bank formats, only BNK.
:::::: BNK creation date 1987 was contributed by [http://www.vgmpf.com/Wiki/index.php?title=User:TheAlmightyGuru Dean Tersigni], I'll ask him about it.

:::::: Update: I also read information from bkformat.txt, and it seems you're right :)
:::::: So actually it was:
:::::: '''1)''' ROL & INS (1987, with AdLib Visual Composer v1.0)
:::::: '''2)''' MUS & SND/TIM (1988, with player and converter)
:::::: '''3)''' BNK (1989, with AdLib Visual Composer v1.5)
:::::: '''4)''' MDI (1989, also with player and converter)
:::::: Wow, that feel when restored original order of events! :D --[[User:Binarymaster|binarymaster]] ([[User talk:Binarymaster|talk]]) 01:51, 25 January 2015 (UTC)

::::::: That seems to make the most logical sense - there's a clear improvement with each new format. I'm glad you agree! Note that when you say there's no conversion from "X to BNK" there is BANKMNG.EXE that comes with the programmer's manual which converts .ins files to .bnk. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 04:09, 25 January 2015 (UTC)

:::::::: True. I forgot about it :) Thanks! --[[User:Binarymaster|binarymaster]] ([[User talk:Binarymaster|talk]]) 12:02, 25 January 2015 (UTC)

== email ==

Hello! Can't send you e-mail. Got this:

This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.
A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address(es) failed:
malvineous@shikadi.net
host mail.shikadi.net [52.11.27.19]
SMTP error from remote mail server after RCPT TO:<malvineous@shikadi.net>:
550 invalid recipient

[[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 09:12, 11 March 2017 (UTC)

:Whoops, moved my e-mail service to AWS and missed a step for that address! Please resend, should work now :-) Thanks for letting me know! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 11:34, 11 March 2017 (UTC)
::Yes, e-mail goes through this time. Hope you receive it. [[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 15:41, 11 March 2017 (UTC)

== Duplicate RLE page ==

After some edits to the [[RLE Compression]] page, I noticed that this was not the page linked from the [[:Category:Compression algorithms]] page. It seems there are in fact two of them; one with an uppercase 'c', and [[RLE compression|one with a lowercase 'c']]. The latter seems to be the better-written one, but since the LZW page was apparently moved from "LZW compression" to "LZW Compression", I suggest the final name of the RLE page should likewise be the uppercase-'c' one.

I have merged anything I deemed useful into the lowercase-'c' version. Could you make sure the uppercase-'c' duplicate is removed, and the other one is moved to its name?

-[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 16:48, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

: Done, many thanks for the clean up! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 10:38, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

== Account rename? ==
Hi Malvineous,

I am wondering if it's much of a hassle to rename accounts on this wiki. I'd kind of like to have my account use the same handle I'm using just about everywhere else (ETTiNGRiNDER). Don't sweat it too much if this is onerous to do, though.

Thanks! - [[User:Mysterioso|Mysterioso]] ([[User talk:Mysterioso|talk]]) 20:42, 29 January 2018 (UTC)

: I'm not sure how it can be done. If you can find out a quick way to rename a MediaWiki account then let me know! At any rate all your comments would still be signed with your old name however. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 10:15, 4 February 2018 (UTC)
: P.S. the e-mail address in your account is bouncing -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 10:17, 4 February 2018 (UTC)
:: Ah, right, it was still set to that old e-mail. Hushmail nuked that address on me years ago, I've changed it to one that's current. As for the renaming, I don't really know anything about wiki administration, though a quick search suggests that there's this thing: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Renameuser
::If that's a bit much then no biggie. -- [[User:Mysterioso|Mysterioso]] ([[User talk:Mysterioso|talk]]) 14:43, 5 February 2018 (UTC)

== Removal request ==

It seems I made a page that was unnecessary; the [[Westwood Palette]] I documented turned out to be a known common format (6-bit RGB) already covered in the standard [[VGA Palette]] page. I have changed all links to link to the older page, but I don't think I have the user rights required to delete the Westwood Palette page. Can you take care of it? -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 14:56, 6 February 2018 (UTC)

: Done! I made you an admin too so you should have delete access now. Thanks for your contributions! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 00:03, 7 February 2018 (UTC)

== Hi-Octane ==

Hi!

I've figured out the MUSIC.DAT container and I was wondering if you could shed out some light on what these song formats are, now that we know how to unpack it ?

Thanks !!!

: Yep, they're listed on the [[Hi Octane]] page, in the file format box. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 10:57, 14 March 2018 (UTC)

== ReCaptcha v1 problem ==

It seems I can no longer add links in articles; the ReCaptcha test added when new links are detected uses ReCaptcha v1, which gives a warning that "reCAPTCHA 1 IS SHUTDOWN". It does not allow the check to pass, so the page can never be submitted.

The FAQ on the ReCaptcha docs (can't link to them, obviously) says that "'''Any calls to the v1 API will not work after March 31, 2018'''".

-[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 09:26, 28 May 2018 (UTC)

== Bio Menace patches ==

Hey, I'll have Bio Menace 1 patches for the freeware release. Most of them are status window-related, but there are others as well.
Question: Could you create several other sections in All Bio Menace patches cathegory? Because I cannot submit them anywhere right now. Thanks! --[[User:Szemigi|Szemigi]] ([[User talk:Szemigi|talk]]) 00:57, 25 July 2018 (UTC)

: The status window patches should go into [[:Category:Bio Menace interface patches]]. The others *should* fit into existing categories, but if you're not sure let me know! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 05:23, 29 July 2018 (UTC)

:: I'll need several categories from you as I checked there'll be other BM patch stuff as well. So I need the following categories: status screen, hostage, help menu, main menu, B800 screen (I even built the BIN file and I made patch for that!). And I'll even submit these for BM2 and 3. Please, create these. Oh, and I'll surely submit! --[[User:Szemigi|Szemigi]] ([[User talk:Szemigi|talk]]) 01:36, 1 August 2018 (UTC)

::: Status screen, hostage, help menu, main menu and B800 screen should all go into [[:Category:Bio Menace interface patches]] as they are all modifying the user interface. I would like to keep the number of patch categories fairly small otherwise it will get a little out of control! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 01:48, 17 October 2018 (UTC)

== Bio Menace patches on PCKF? ==

Hey, how can I post my Bio Menace 1-3 patches on PCKF or keenmodding.org? I very want them to submit one of the forums!--[[User:Szemigi|Szemigi]] ([[User talk:Szemigi|talk]]) 23:11, 4 August 2018 (UTC)

== Wombat File Reader updates! ==

I think [[Wombat]]'s title should be updated to show its full name, which now is "Wombat File Reader".

Also the supported games list has to be updated accordingly to the list on https://szevvy.com/ (the author's website, which was listed as "dead" in Wombat's info while the site is up and running again).

It's also not a dead program at all, since its latest version is very recent (11 October 2018), and it'd be a shame to have such old and deprecated information on this wiki of such a useful and powerful tool.

-[[User:Elia1995|Elìa1995]] ([[User_talk:Elia1995|talk]]) 07:38, 15 October 2018‎ (UTC)

: It's only just been updated recently after many years of no releases. It's a bit unfair to say the wiki has old information when it's only a couple of weeks out of date, and it relies on people such as yourself to keep things up to date! Please go ahead and correct as needed so we can keep the information current. We are all doing this in our spare time so we need lots of help to keep things up to date. Also, the page you link to lists it as "Wombat File Tools" rather than "Wombat File Reader". Everyone in the community refers to it as just "Wombat" however. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 23:27, 16 October 2018 (UTC)

:: I've only just gotten my account here approved, and only just made new builds of Wombat (actually a complete rewrite) after (as Malvineous said) many many years of no releases. It warms my heart to see people notice :) [[User:Szevvy|Szevvy]] ([[User talk:Szevvy|talk]]) 01:44, 17 October 2018 (UTC)

::: I just noticed the 1.0.4 update, I'll work on updating the supported games list on the page according to the one on Szevvy's site; by the way, thanks for telling me how to "sign" these posts, I had no idea. [[User:Elia1995|Elia1995]] ([[User talk:Elia1995|talk]]) 08:08, 18 October 2018 (UTC)

== e-mail (again) ==

Hello! Sent you e-mail 2019.02.19 about Prehistorik without any answer. Yesterday another e-mail was sent and since 24+ hours passed was forced to write here. Is there something wrong again with your e-mail account or spam filters (for mail.ru)? Thanks! [[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 15:10, 1 March 2019 (UTC)

== Content license ==

Is the content of this wiki governed by a specific license? I'd like to contribute information on "Nomad" file formats that I reverse engineered, which I'd previously published on my personal web site under [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Creative Commons SA 4.0]. This wiki certainly seems to be in the spirit of the Creative Commons licensing structure so I'm guessing there would be no real conflict, but I just wanted to get some additional information on this. --[[User:Cmb|Cmb]] ([[User talk:Cmb|talk]]) 13:32, 6 May 2020 (UTC)
:Personally, I've just [[RLE Compression#Source_code|added the license under which code was released]] myself. Then again I release everything under [[wp:WTFPL|WTFPL]], because I honestly don't mind people using anything I write for research purposes in any way they please, so license compatibility is a bit of a non-issue for me. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 16:04, 6 May 2020 (UTC)
:That said, though, given the current online climate, I do agree this is an issue that should be clarified here on the wiki. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 16:06, 6 May 2020 (UTC)
:: There is a licence specified somewhere but the short answer is anything you put here is basically in the public domain - because if someone steals it we don't have the resources to chase them, so if it's that valuable to you that you can't handle someone copying it without giving you credit, then don't post it here. Having said that for "nice" users many of the pages ask for a mention if you find the content useful, but this is by no means a requirement. I suppose legally speaking you'll have to dual-licence your Creative Commons content because some CC versions have additional restrictions, like you can't copy the content without giving credit. The [https://creativecommons.org/choose/zero/ CC0 licence] pretty much covers it. Putting a specific licence on code is fine (although no licence at all would be best so it inherits the wiki's general content licence), noting that any licence enforcement will be on you, but the content itself is always going to be CC0/public domain. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 05:48, 10 June 2020 (UTC)

== Multiple Platforms ==

Should anything special be done for games that are both DOS and Win95, like [[Warcraft II]] and [[Command & Conquer]]? As it is, the template only supports one 'Platform'. I don't know enough about templates to make it accept lists, though a workaround would be to add the Win95 category to such games manually. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]])
20:29, 17 April 2022 (GMT)

: I'm open to suggestions, but the purpose of the platform category is less about documenting all platforms a game runs on, and is more about identifying which games on the wiki don't work under DOS, since DOS is the wiki's main focus. So think of it more as the "minimum" platform needed - i.e. a DOS game can also run inside Win3.x and Win95, a Win3.x game can also run under Win9x but not DOS, and a Win9x game can't run under DOS or Win3.x at all. So for DOS/Windows games DOS would be the oldest platform needed to play the game, even if there is a native Windows version. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 00:26, 18 April 2022 (GMT)
::'Minimum platform' isn't really true anymore when going to the reality of getting stuff running on modern machines, though; 16-bit windows programs don't work on modern systems at all, and DOSBox can't emulate them. They're a pretty annoying in-between class. C&C95 has issues like that; while the game itself is 32-bit, its installer is a 16-bit Windows program. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 10:33, 18 April 2022 (GMT)

::: That's true, but I wasn't thinking so much about modern systems. If you're building a VM or setting up an old PC, knowing which games will work without Windows, or will work if you only install Win 3.1, might be useful. I did think you could install Windows 3.1 in DOSBox though to run 16-bit apps. At any rate, I more had in my mind which games required OS support for NE executables in order to play, and which ones required PE support. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 11:48, 18 April 2022 (GMT)

:::: Well, one of the specific cases I had in mind in this was the fact that the Win95 version of Command & Conquer uses PCX format for its title screen, while the DOS version doesn't. And while the basic modding of terrain and game objects is identical in both versions, all modding related to the game UI is different because of the different resolution. So, if more detailed information on that front would be added, it seems logical to also add the Win95 category somehow. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 15:17, 25 April 2022 (GMT)

::::: In that case it sounds almost like a different game that happens to share a lot of the same content, so I'd be more inclined to list it as a separate game, e.g. on a page called "Command & Conquer (Windows version)", and just put a note saying the file formats are the same as the DOS version with the following exceptions, then list the Windows-specific file formats. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 15:42, 25 April 2022 (GMT)

:::::: No, it's really just PCX, nothing else is new in terms of file formats. The UI is in the same sprites format used for the in-game sprites. So like 95% still the same. But yea, I guess if I do ever get around to writing a more in-depth modding guide, I could make a different page for the Win95 version. Most of the modding difference between the two games is just that the Win95 exe file has been researched a lot deeper, to the point that (with the released source code) pretty much anything in it can be changed nowadays. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 16:10, 25 April 2022 (GMT)

==Empty Pages==
Not sure if you already noticed it, but user [[User:Parlortricks]] is creating a bunch of empty pages, I'm assuming to be filled at a later date. --[[User:TheAlmightyGuru|TheAlmightyGuru]] ([[User talk:TheAlmightyGuru|talk]])
: I hadn't noticed, thanks for the heads up! I updated [[ModdingWiki:Contributing]] to include some more points about when to create pages. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 04:31, 10 August 2022 (GMT)

== File format category for copy-protection data. ==

I can't find any suitable examples with a template that suits a file containing only the copy protection data.
It's not text, but there don't seem to be any generic binary format templates. [[User:Carbon14|Carbon14]] ([[User talk:Carbon14|talk]]) 06:44, 17 April 2023 (GMT)

: I'm not really familiar with what copy protection data would contain. What generic items would you think apply to this sort of data? I'm not so keen on adding a generic binary format category, it would be nice to have a specific one where possible. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 09:17, 17 April 2023 (GMT)
:: In this case, the file contains 750 passwords. They were printed on a piece of card in with the original game (in pale blue to thwart photocopying) and the game asks you for one of the passwords at random. I'll make a file without a specific category for now.[[User:Carbon14|Carbon14]] ([[User talk:Carbon14|talk]]) 12:31, 17 April 2023 (GMT)
::: If they're passwords, doesn't that make it a type of strings file? You said it's not "plain text", but can it be converted/decoded to plain text? I've dealt with encrypted text formats before; see [[Cover Girl Strip Poker Text]] -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 16:20, 17 April 2023 (GMT)
: There are lots of file formats of unspecified types. See stuff like [[Westwood Fading Table]]; it's basically a file storing special colour effects. I'm not sure there's a point in making a template for every specific type like that; there's so many odd cases out there. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 10:17, 17 April 2023 (GMT)
:: Thanks. I wasn't necessarily looking for a template. But I couldn't find an example of a file that wasn't already in an incorrect template. I'll base my page on the example you suggested.[[User:Carbon14|Carbon14]] ([[User talk:Carbon14|talk]]) 12:31, 17 April 2023 (GMT)

== Wiki policy questions ==

Hi, a couple questions I've had lingering regarding how things should be done on the wiki / if they should be done at all.
* What should we do about game title disambiguation? I think in cases like Warlords (SSG) vs. Warlords (Atari) where only one of the games was released as a DOS game, it's probably fine to just have a page for the one that's relevant and at most maybe have a note on its main page that it's not related to the other game, but I've noticed that "Dungeon of Death" is a title that has the honor(?) of being used for two different games ''on DOS''. Is there a particular disambiguation format we should use when adding one of those?
* Is there any specific policy on games/mods with offensive content? I know we have some strip poker type games referenced on the wiki, but one thing I'm specifically thinking of is I know there was an old hack of the DOS version of Gauntlet 2 that's been floating around since the 90s, but is a fairly puerile affair that changes text/graphics to sexual and scatological references. It also has a vulgar word in the mod title itself. It might be useful to look at how it was done since it's clearly evidence that changing the text/graphics was attainable even back then, but do we want to document things like that, or is there a "too dirty" line where we should try to keep the wiki clean of references to certain games/mods due to title or content?
Thanks.-- [[User:Mysterioso|Mysterioso]] ([[User talk:Mysterioso|talk]]) 18:35, 3 October 2023 (GMT)
: Final decision on this is obviously on Malvineous, but here's my two cents on this: I don't think there's any restriction on making pages for covering games with explicit content, but it'd be nice to keep the ''actual'' explicit content on the wiki to a minimum. As an example, the most daring thing I put on the wiki was the modded showcase image for [[Interactive Girls Club]], which, without the humorous covering, was indeed a straight up explicit image. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 19:23, 3 October 2023 (GMT)
:: Yep I agree. The purpose of the wiki is for documentation, and just like a TV documentary, sometimes you may have to cover difficult subjects, so it's usually done in a tactful way without showing anything directly offensive. So I think the same policy should apply here - no directly explicit/offensive content (e.g. images), but talking about it for the sake of documenting it is fine. I would think avoiding offensive words in article titles would be a good idea as people are more likely to come across those by accident, but if you're browsing an article about a pornographic game and you encounter some dirty words, you have nobody to blame but yourself. So listing that mod with an uncensored title is fine with me, but perhaps let's not create an article page for it unless the words are obscured with asterisks or similar just to be extra considerate to those who might be browsing through the lists of pages.
:: It would be good to make it clear when things are censored though. In Nyerguds' example I actually thought the 'censored' image was part of the game, I didn't realise it was an addition. So maybe it would be good to write "Censored by ModdingWiki" or something to that effect, to make it obvious that it's something we've done and not part of the original game. Likewise for an article title with asterisks in it, one of the first things on the page should be a note to say what the full uncensored article title actually is.
:: As for disambiguation I'm open to suggestions. Probably my first thought would be to include the year of release in brackets: "Example (1990)" like what was done for [[Shadow Warrior (1993 Beta)]] or if the year is the same, then perhaps the software developer: "Example (Microsoft)". I'm not too fussed as it's probably more important that the part in brackets makes sense to readers rather than follows any hard and fast rule. Either way a normal disambiguation page should be created for the name without any brackets, in the same style as the existing ones at [[:Category:Disambiguation]]. A disambiguation page wasn't created for Shadow Warrior as the beta version isn't really a competing game, so links on the respective article pages would suffice. As always, use your best judgement, we can always change it later if we need to. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 06:10, 4 October 2023 (GMT)
::: The Interactive Girls Club image ''isn't'' censored for the sake of putting it on the wiki though. It's a showcase of the game being ''modded''. I replaced the normal mouse cursor with that sign. I could've taken a tamer scene to start with, but I thought this would be funny. I explained what was done to it [[:File:Mod-Interactive_Girls_Club.png|on the actual image page]]. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 07:34, 4 October 2023 (GMT)
:::: Ohh, I understand now! Sorry it was completely lost on me, but that's probably because I've never played the game before so I didn't know what changes to look out for! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 10:45, 4 October 2023 (GMT)

== Pages linking to itself ==

Hello! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Is it possible to check Wiki for pages that linked to itself and maybe autocorrect if possible? Like [https://moddingwiki.shikadi.net/w/index.php?title=Shakii_The_Wolf&curid=2343&diff=11369&oldid=11367 this] or [https://moddingwiki.shikadi.net/w/index.php?title=Pee_and_Gity&curid=2348&diff=11370&oldid=6789 that]? Sometimes this will result in redirect to itself (as in first example) or a red link indicating that page with this name was not created (as in second example). I've checked and fixed all pages created by [[User:MartinVole|MartinVole]] but maybe there are more. Thank you! -[[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 19:46, January 3, 2024‎ (GMT)
:I've occasionally seen it used as shortcut to putting the page name in bold in the page intro, but yea, it's kind of odd. According to [[wikipedia:Help:Self_link|the official Wikipedia page on the subject]], "Self links are usually undesirable". I immediately fixed it in the case of Shakii because, with it linking to a redirect page, it even created a real link. (PS: please sign your talk page addidions.) -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 20:26, 3 January 2024 (GMT)
:: Hello and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too! Wow, you fixed so much pages already! That's why I was asking [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] for help - maybe there is a way to do it automatically. Or at least somehow get the list of the affected pages. (Thanks! I was sure I put four "~" characters but not sure what happend and why Talk page was not included.) -[[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 22:35, 3 January 2024 (GMT)
::: Merry Christmas and happy 2024 to you too :) Yea, I'm just going down the list of all articles, heh. By the way, your talk page was not included because there was nothing there; I fixed it by coping the timestamp from the History page and adding your name manually. On that note, maybe you should make an actual user page; it's still a red link. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 22:51, 3 January 2024 (GMT)

:::: I used to like using self-referential links as it meant the links would "work" again if the content was copied onto another page, but I agree once you start involving redirects it becomes a bit of an issue. So no problems from me if you remove those. There are some reports on [[Special:SpecialPages]] that list different types of page reports you can run, but I don't see one that picks up these links. I can't remember whether a self-link automatically adds the page to a category or not, because that could be another place to check, in case there is a category of all pages with self links. However I think it might have to be a case of just fixing them as we encounter them. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 00:35, 4 January 2024 (GMT)

::::: Yea, I dug around a little online and found no information about detecting / listing them, so instead I just opened [[Special:AllPages|the list of all pages]], and simply went through the whole bunch. Also fixed some pages that simply used <b> html tags instead of proper wiki formatting to make their titles bold, renamed a few pages that were missing apostrophes in their page titles, and noticed one page that still used old <code> tags. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 08:08, 4 January 2024 (GMT)

:::::: Wow that would've been a big job, thanks very much! -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 09:57, 4 January 2024 (GMT)

::::: Thank you for the answer and clarification! -[[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 14:51, 4 January 2024 (GMT)

:::: Thank you for the great help with fixing the Wiki pages! Yes, user page created now, thanks! -[[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 14:51, 4 January 2024 (GMT)

== Tilesets with "hidden" data ==

I was looking over the [[PAK Format (The Learning Company)]] and it made me wonder about this "Hidden" property in the Tileset Infobox template. Its function is to separate [[:Category:Dense tilesets|Dense tilesets]] from [[:Category:Sparse tilesets|Sparse tilesets]], and the main explanation given for Sparse tilesets seems to boil down to the fact that in formats that have a tiles index in their header, and some consistent way to determine the length of the data at each index, you can deliberately leave space between tiles. However, I'm not entirely clear if you consider this category to also includes block-aligned formats. See, while the PAK format indeed has an index, so it's certainly sparse, it also aligns its indices to the next multiple of 16 bytes, meaning there is potentially a lot of open space inside the format anyway. But this is not deliberately created open space caused by meddling with the index; it's just a natural result of the file format. So would a format that ''only'' has such an aligning, but ''doesn't'' have an index, be considered "sparse" too?

There's also many other ways to hide data inside a lot of formats; the simplest one being any format that uses RLE and doesn't complain about commands to repeat a given value 0 times. Does that affect the categorising? The name "Hidden" kind of gives a wrong impression in that aspect. I know it'd be a lot of edits, but "Sparse" or "Dense" would probably have been a better name for it. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 19:38, 8 February 2024 (GMT)

: My original reason for including that information (whether data can be hidden inside the format or not) was to highlight whether there might be a way for modding tools to store additional data in the files that the game would ignore. This could be anything from a message about what program was used to generate the file, through to user comments, names/titles for items (like tiles or whole levels if the game doesn't store level names), or data that makes it easier to load the file in an editor (such as a time signature for music files that only store delays as a number of ticks, to make rendering the event list look more natural.)

: So in this case the block-aligned formats would certainly qualify, as would RLE-encoded data. I figured "Hidden" was suitable because the data was hidden from the game. "Sparse" is also a little inaccurate for RLE because it's not a gap where you can put anything you want, you have to actually encode/embed the data in it. Does it matter if we call it embedded data for RLE but sparse data for tilesets? -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 04:00, 9 February 2024 (GMT)

:: Well, block-aligned formats are actually probably too unreliable for really hiding in 3rd party metadata; you can never be ''sure'' there is enough space in there to reliable add extra data, since the actual data in these aligned blocks will vary. But I understand the intent better now, yes. thanks. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 10:47, 11 February 2024 (GMT)

== FileFormatTool templates ==

Could you add examples and a short explanation of all the types on the BeginFileFormatTools template? I've seen pages that just use the wrong type altogether, and I'm assuming this is caused by lack of documentation. It's not clear from the page whether a tileset format containing multiple images should use type "group" or "image". I've always used "image" for that, but I can understand the confusion. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 10:48, 11 February 2024 (GMT)

: I've added links to [[:Template:FileFormatTool]] but the tileset format is a bit of a tricky one because it's kind of both. The way I've handled it in my own code is always a compromise because there's so much overlap. I've ended up deciding that if the format can hold arbitrary data (like a .zip file can) then it's an archive/group file. But many tilesets can only store image data (and often rely on headers in the tileset file to render the images within properly) so I figure those are too tightly bound together to be considered an archive.

: After all, you can extract a .zip, move the files to another computer, then zip them up again and end up with a workable file. But you often can't extract all the images in a tileset, move them to another computer, then bundle them all up into the original tileset again, as data has been lost (e.g. the size of all the images which was in the tileset file's header). And you probably can't include a readme.txt in the tileset either. So therefore, it's not a true archive format. You also often can't extract an image to a file and then identify that file from its headers - tiles are often raw pixel data with no means of identification. So it's hard to open an extracted tile file in an image editor, but usually the tileset as a whole can have its format automatically detected in some way, so it's more user friendly to keep the tiles inside the tileset file, and not permit them to be extracted as raw files (only if the images are converted to another format like .png or similar). There are unfortunately still grey areas even with this definition so I'm certainly open to ideas.

: Do you think the clarification belongs on [[:Template:FileFormatTool]] with the rest of the info, or on [[:Template:BeginFileFormatTools]] (which links there already)? Also as a side note, I have come to prefer the term "archive" over "group" so one of these days I may try to update everything to refer to "archive" instead. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 11:55, 11 February 2024 (GMT)

:: I'd add some text on the FileFormatTool page saying to look at the BeginFileFormatTools page for explanation on the types themselves, and then write the real stuff there. After all, the "Begin" template is the one that contains the type option, so that's where I would expect the explanation, as user.
:: And, yea, changing "group" to "archive" might be a good move; it makes it more distinct, and it's already used like that anyway. There will of course always be some edge cases, but there's not much we can do about that. It's generally archives containing mostly but not exclusively images, and which don't have names for their entries. [[All Dogs Archive Format]] comes to mind; despite the name, when writing the page I treated it as a tileset with one type of special non-image entries. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 18:17, 15 February 2024 (GMT)

::: Done, hopefully that provides some better documentation. Feel free to adjust as needed. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 06:12, 18 February 2024 (GMT)

:::: Absolutely beautiful. Great work on that. I might take some time referencing the relevant [[:Category:Infoboxes|Infoboxes]] for each one, in a "''This type is generally used on pages using the xxxx and yyyy infoboxes''" way, since these correspond pretty directly -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 08:57, 1 March 2024 (GMT)

== Something wrong with the File History ==

When I look at the file history of any file, the text above the file history table looks corrupted, and shows this text:

: '''Yi efo/eka'e gwa ebo wo le nyangagi wuncin ye kamina wunga tinya nan'''

Google Translate found no match for it, so I have no idea what this is. But it seems to have slipped into one of the internal wiki templates somehow.

Open the page of literally any image on the wiki to see an example. I noticed it when looking at [[:File:Treasure_Mountain_Panning_Image_Format.png|this one]].

--[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 10:38, 10 October 2024 (GMT)

:Okay, this is plain bizarre. I googled the sentence, and it seems hundreds of other wikis have the same issue. Some corruption in a recent update of MediaWiki itself maybe?
:--[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 10:42, 10 October 2024 (GMT)

:: Nice catch! Looks like this is a [https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Wikisource:Scriptorium/Archives/2024-05#File_History_vandalised MediaWiki issue] due to copy-pasted text. [[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 10:56, 10 October 2024 (GMT)

::: Interesting! I had to update MediaWiki recently because of some security issues so looks like they forgot to include that language fix in the 1.39 branch. Hopefully it will get fixed in the next release and I can do another update. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 11:07, 10 October 2024 (GMT)

:::: Looks like it can be fixed by deleting the entries for "filehist-help", "filehist-datetime" and "filehist-thumb" [https://github.com/wikimedia/mediawiki/commit/f4d953a7144b65183be82607a81c256460d4942a#diff-007f8b6baea4fb3f292c276dfa5fdb0eea6b409ced3166a5a9f3832c31fb7072L89 from "languages/i18n/en-gb.json"]; seems they're not supposed to have specific en-gb overrides at all. Though I dunno how easy it is for you to fix that kind of stuff manually. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 11:50, 10 October 2024 (GMT)

:::: There seems to be more corruption; in the page history I noticed the word "Ocak" [https://moddingwiki.shikadi.net/w/index.php?title=User:CTPAX-X_Team&oldid=11582 replacing one of the months]. Seems to be Turkish for January?. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 12:00, 10 October 2024 (GMT)

::::: It's a bit annoying because it's packaged up into a Docker container so you have to do any modifications like that with commands that run every time the container is built. Probably easier to just report it as a MediaWiki bug if it hasn't been reported already. I notice 1.39.10 has come out since I updated the other day but running it locally it still has the same issue, so maybe they aren't even aware of it. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 13:12, 10 October 2024 (GMT)

::::: Looks like it may have been reported here: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T375487 -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 13:15, 10 October 2024 (GMT)

== Upload limit ==

I tried replacing the image [[:file:Command & Conquer Mission Format.png]] with a new version that was about 1.1 mb, and got an error about the upload size being too large. The weird thing was, it wasn't a wiki error but a server error. The wiki upload page says the maximum is 2 mb, but it seems the actual server has some limits that are set lower.

Note, the reason the new image was much larger was because it's made in a new (and better) map editor that does not export the map graphics in original 8-bit format, so I managed to fix it by simply loading the game's original palette into it. That slightly decreased the quality of some alpha-darkened elements (visible in the darkened cells with the "ATK4" text on them), but not to any problematic extent. Still, I thought it would be better to alert you that there is apparently a configuration problem there.

(Funnily enough, the 1200px version generated by the wiki is 1.4mb; larger than even my original file.)

-[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 18:18, 26 November 2024 (GMT)

: While this is not exactly a right way but as temporary solution you may try to reduce PNG image size with [http://advsys.net/ken/utils.htm PNGOut] and [https://www.advancemame.it/download AdvPNG] (part of AdvanceCOMP). Hope this helps to upload that image to the site. [[User:CTPAX-X Team|CTPAX-X Team]] ([[User talk:CTPAX-X Team|talk]]) 18:53, 26 November 2024 (GMT)

:: As I said, I already solved my issue by reducing it to 8-bit; the image is replaced. I just posted this here to let Malvineous know there's a configuration issue there. -[[User:Nyerguds|Nyerguds]] ([[User talk:Nyerguds|talk]]) 19:03, 26 November 2024 (GMT)

::: Thanks for the heads up, hopefully it's fixed now. Not sure why you'd be getting the server error but I guess if it base64 encodes it or something it would inflate the size during the transfer process. Hopefully all the limits are now aligned, but I imagine there might still be a discrepancy as you get near the limit, but with luck it's now high enough not to be an issue. -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 00:45, 27 November 2024 (GMT)

User talk:Malvineous

2024-10-10T13:15:27Z

Malvineous: /* Something wrong with the File History */ Bug link

User talk:Malvineous

2024-10-10T13:13:16Z

Malvineous: /* Something wrong with the File History */ Reply

User talk:Malvineous

2024-10-10T11:08:00Z

Malvineous: /* Something wrong with the File History */ Reply

Talk:Termpod

2024-10-07T13:40:49Z

Malvineous: Questions about program

This is listed on [[POD Format]] as being able to edit the hidden data (e.g. data between the end of one file and the start of the next) but I can't see how the code does this. Can you confirm it can actually extract this hidden data? Also it is listed as working on any platform but it looks like it is coded for little-endian platforms only - does it work on big endian platforms too (e.g. ARM)? -- [[User:Malvineous|Malvineous]] ([[User talk:Malvineous|talk]]) 13:40, 7 October 2024 (GMT)

Category:Terminal Reality

2024-10-07T13:34:20Z

Malvineous: Add year to logo

[[Image:Terminal Reality 1995.png]]

This page lists all the games in the wiki that were published by [[wp:Terminal Reality|Terminal Reality]].

[[Category:Game Company]]

File:Terminal Reality 1995.png

2024-10-07T13:33:54Z

Malvineous: The Terminal Reality logo circa 1995 (taken from Terminal Velocity). Category:Company logo

== Summary ==
The [[:Category:Terminal Reality|Terminal Reality]] logo circa 1995 (taken from [[Terminal Velocity]]).

[[Category:Company logo]]

Category:Terminal Reality

2024-10-07T13:30:43Z

Malvineous: Replace with standard game page - needs an image. The games themselves are added automatically when pages are created for them.

[[Image:Terminal Reality.png]]

This page lists all the games in the wiki that were published by [[wp:Terminal Reality|Terminal Reality]].

[[Category:Game Company]]

Terminal Velocity

2024-10-07T13:29:57Z

Malvineous: Add Terminal Reality category

{{Stub}}
{{Game Infobox
| Levels = Edit
| Tiles = Edit
| Sprites = Edit
| Fullscreen = No
| Sound = Edit
| Music = Edit
| Text = Edit
| Story = Edit
| Interface = No
}}

'''Terminal Velocity''' is a first-person aerial shooter. The later Fury<sup>3</sup> engine is backwards compatible enough that it can run Terminal Velocity without modification.

== Tools ==

{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=game}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [[Camoto]]
| Platform = Linux/Windows
| grp = Edit
| map = No
| gfx = No
| mus = No
| sfx = No
| txt = No
| sav = No
| exe = No
}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [[Camoto Online#gamearchive.js|Camoto/gamearchive.js]]
| Platform = Any
| grp = Edit
| map = No
| gfx = No
| mus = No
| sfx = No
| txt = No
| sav = No
| exe = No
}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [http://mtm2.com/~mtmg/cpod/about.shtml C-POD]
| Platform = Windows GUI
| grp = Edit
| map = No
| gfx = Edit
| mus = Edit
| sfx = Edit
| txt = Edit
| sav = No
| exe = No
}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [http://www.wolfensteingoodies.com/archives/geocities/TimesSquare/8271/index.html GFE (Game File Explorer)]
| Platform = Windows GUI
| grp = Edit
| map = Export
| gfx = Export
| mus = Export
| sfx = Export
| txt = Export
| sav = No
| exe = No
}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [https://github.com/jopadan/termpod termpod/podorgana]
| Platform = POSIX/C++
| checksum, audit log and extract support
}}

{{EndFileFormatTools}}

{{BeginGameFileList}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.pod
| Format = [[POD Format]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Main archive file holding most of the game data
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.epd
| Format = [[EPD Format]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Main archive file holding most of the game data
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.wav
| Format = [[WAV Format]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = The RemoteRidicule and other game sounds are stored in Wave files
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.vox
| Format = [[VOX Format (Terminal Velocity)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = The level order seems to be stored in these files, as well as the audio config file <tt>VOX.INI</tt>
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.ini
| Format = [[INI Format]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Used for POD mounting and configuration. The file <tt>POD.INI</tt> starts with a number specifying the number of PODs to mount, subsequent lines are the file names of the PODs to load. The configuration file <tt>SETUP.CFG</tt> seems to be in standard .INI format.
}}
{{EndGameFileList}}

All text files are in DOS format (CRLF line endings).

=== POD files ===

The POD files contain a number of other data files:

{|class="wikitable"
! Filename !! Purpose !! Format
|-
| art\*.raw || Textures || 64x64 8bpp images (no header)
|-
| art\*.act || Palettes || 6-bit [[VGA Palette]]
|-
| data\*.clr || unknown || 256x256 8bpp image (no header)
|-
| data\*.def || unknown || ASCII text
|-
| data\*.nav || Waypoints || ASCII text, first line is number of waypoints
|-
| data\*.raw || Level heightmap || 256x256 8bpp image (no header)
|-
| data\*.tdf || unknown || ASCII text
|-
| data\*.tex || List of textures || ASCII text, one filename per line, first line is decimal texture count
|-
| data\*.txt || Level introduction/story || ASCII text, first line is model to show, second line is texture to render it with, rest of file is shown in story window
|-
| levels\*.lvl || Level info || ASCII text (which files to use for this level)
|-
| music\*.mod || Music || Six-channel [[MOD Format]]
|-
| sound\*.wav || Sound effects || [[WAV Format]]
|}

== See also ==

* Lots of information on the [https://web.archive.org/web/20160729125600/http://rewiki.regengedanken.de:80/wiki/Terminal_Velocity REwiki Terminal Velocity] page
* [https://github.com/jopadan/termpod/wiki termpod POD format wiki]
[[Category:3DRealms]]
[[Category:Terminal Reality]]
[[Category:3D]]
[[Category:Flight Sim]]
[[Category:First-Person Shooter]]

User:Mra

2024-09-18T08:52:44Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

I am working on the OMF 2097 remake, OpenOMF.

User:Mary4

2024-07-16T23:13:02Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

Vintage 286 enthusiast. i have muse and i want to make a dos game. i am also a trans woman who loves the keen series.

Halloween Harry/Cheats

2024-06-03T00:25:20Z

Malvineous: Correct behaviour of T key

This pages lists all the known cheats and debugging codes for [[Halloween Harry]].

== Conventional cheats ==

* Pressing B + I + G will give the player full health and flamethrower/jetback fuel.
* Pressing Ctrl + R + E + N will give the player all weapons and a few seconds of invincibility.

== Debugging codes ==

* Alt + L, ''x'', ''y'' for level warp to episode ''x'' (1-4) level ''y'' (1-5).
* Alt + = followed by level coordinates to warp the player to another location in the level.
* Ctrl + Alt + Right-Shift + F12 to display player's current coordinates within the map.
* Alt + Q will immediately exit the game at any time, even during title sequences. In the beta version, the game doesn't always end cleanly and often freezes the machine at the DOS prompt, however sometimes Alt + Q can be pressed again and some gibberish or runtime error messages will appear on the screen, suggesting things like they keyboard handler have not been removed at exit.
* F10 in the beta version only will dump a screenshot to <tt>scrrip.raw</tt> and <tt>scrrip.pal</tt>.

== Command line options ==

Launching <tt>harry.exe</tt> or <tt>carnage.exe</tt> with the below parameters to change the game's behaviour.

{|class="wikitable"
! Parameter !! Versions !! Description
|-
| <tt>skip</tt> || All except beta || Skip the title sequences and jump straight to the main menu. In the beta version the word <tt>SKIP</tt> must be uppercase, and must be the second parameter on the command line to have any effect.
|-
| <tt>PINE_GAP</tt> || Beta only || "World War 3 activated!" in text launch screen, access to all episodes, god mode, full ammo, certain game elements are sped up (e.g. pressing P for pause makes the message blink more quickly). In this mode, pressing L ends the level and proceeds to the next one. Pressing T to toggle turbo mode causes the game to pause while it is being held, however with PINE_GAP activated the game does not seem to pause.
|-
| <tt>2</tt> || Beta only || A single digit, 1-4. When restoring a game, it will start in zone 1 in this episode. It is assumed the zone can also be set but currently unknown how.
|}

[[Category:Cheat Codes]]
[[Category:Halloween Harry]]

Halloween Harry

2024-06-02T04:47:07Z

Malvineous: /* Notes */ Mention runtime 200 error

{{NeedMoreInfo}}
{{Game Infobox
| Levels = Edit
| Tiles = Edit
| Sprites = No
| Fullscreen = Edit
| Sound = No
| Music = No
| Text = No
| Story = Edit
| Interface = No
}}

'''Halloween Harry''' (later renamed in '''Alien Carnage''') is one of the last DOS platform games produced before the shift to first-person shooters.

== Obtaining the game ==

The full version of this game [http://www.3drealms.com/news/2007/05/alien_carnage_freeware.html has been released as freeware]. One notable omission from the freeware release was the inclusion of <tt>STUDIO.EXE</tt>, a separate 'jukebox' program that could play all the music from the game.

* Six different versions are available from [http://www.classicdosgames.com/game/Alien_Carnage.html Classic DOS Games]

== Tools ==

{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=game}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [http://www.shikadi.net/files/4md2mod.zip ACXTRACT<br/>4MD2MOD]
| Platform = DOS
| grp = Read
| map = No
| gfx = No
| mus = Read
| sfx = No
| txt = No
| sav = No
| exe = No
}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [[Camoto]]
| Platform = Linux/Windows
| grp = Edit
| map = Edit
| gfx = Edit
| mus = No
| sfx = No
| txt = No
| sav = No
| exe = No
}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [[Camoto Online#gamearchive.js|Camoto/gamearchive.js]]
| Platform = Any
| grp = Edit
| map = No
| gfx = No
| mus = No
| sfx = No
| txt = No
| sav = No
| exe = No
}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [[Wombat]]
| Platform = Windows GUI
| grp = Read
| map = No
| gfx = Read
| mus = No
| sfx = Read
| txt = No
| sav = No
| exe = No
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}

{{BeginGameFileList}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.4md
| Format = [[4MD Format]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Background music
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.4bt
| Format = 8-bit unsigned PCM audio {{TODO|unknown sample rate, maybe 4.7kHz?}}
| KnownFormat = Partial
| Desc = Digitised sound effects
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.bbk
| Format = [[ICO Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Graphics and fonts
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.bnk<br/>*.fat<br/>harry.-0
| Format = [[BNK Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Archive storing most of the game data
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.cfg
| Format = [[Halloween Harry Configuration Format]]
| KnownFormat = No
| Desc = Game settings
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.chr
| Format = [[CHR Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Graphics
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.dlg
| Format = [[Halloween Harry Dialogue Format]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Cutscene dialogue text
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.gmf
| Format = [[GMF Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Game levels and palette data
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.hsb
| Format = [[HSB Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Sprite graphics
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.ico
| Format = [[ICO Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Graphics
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.ins
| Format = [[INS Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Text for ordering information screens
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.jft
| Format = [[ICO Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Fonts
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.pcc
| Format = [[PCX Format]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Small images
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.pcx
| Format = [[PCX Format]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = 320×200 full-screen images
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.rob
| Format = ?
| KnownFormat = No
| Desc = Seems to be some sort of archive with at least one PCX file in it. Used for animation sequences in the [[Halloween Harry Dialogue Format|dialogue cutscenes]].
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.top
| Format = [[TOP Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = High scores
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.dt
| Format = ?
| KnownFormat = No
| Desc = ?
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = harry*.-0
| Format = [[EXE Format]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Except for <tt>harry.-0</tt>, game .exe files
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = slot.*
| Format = [[Halloween Harry Saved Game Format]]
| KnownFormat = No
| Desc = Saved games
}}
{{EndGameFileList}}

== Notes ==

* The game won't read files from the current directory before falling back to <tt>harry.-0</tt>, and won't run without <tt>harry.-0</tt> present. Therefore modified files must be inserted into <tt>harry.-0</tt> before the game will see them.

* There are two files left over from game development inside <tt>order.bnk</tt>. These two files are called <tt>build.bat</tt> and <tt>make.bat</tt>, both of which are DOS batch files to create the <tt>order.bnk</tt> file itself. From this it can be seen that there are two programs used during development, one called <tt>kit</tt> which creates the .bnk files, and one called <tt>dizfile</tt> which may create the corresponding <tt>.fat</tt> file from the <tt>.bnk</tt>.

* The beta version contains a bug in M3Z3 (sewer level 3) where the player spawns inside a wall and thus cannot move, preventing the game from being played beyond this point. This can be fixed by patching <tt>harry.-0</tt> at offset 0x318C02, changing <tt>4D 00 28 00</tt> to <tt>4C 00 2D 00</tt>. This moves the player's start position to the same location as it is in the retail game.

* As the game was written in Turbo Pascal, a Runtime Error 200 will appear when run on a fast computer. This can be fixed with the [[TPPATCH]] utility, however all EXE files must be patched, which means all the files with a <tt>.-0</tt> extension, except for <tt>harry.-0</tt> which is not an EXE. The freeware release already includes patched versions of all these files.

[[Category:Apogee]]
[[Category:Sidescroller]]
[[Category:Freeware]]

Halloween Harry

2024-06-02T04:35:50Z

Malvineous: Explain how to fix the incorrect M3Z3 start position in the beta

{{NeedMoreInfo}}
{{Game Infobox
| Levels = Edit
| Tiles = Edit
| Sprites = No
| Fullscreen = Edit
| Sound = No
| Music = No
| Text = No
| Story = Edit
| Interface = No
}}

'''Halloween Harry''' (later renamed in '''Alien Carnage''') is one of the last DOS platform games produced before the shift to first-person shooters.

== Obtaining the game ==

The full version of this game [http://www.3drealms.com/news/2007/05/alien_carnage_freeware.html has been released as freeware]. One notable omission from the freeware release was the inclusion of <tt>STUDIO.EXE</tt>, a separate 'jukebox' program that could play all the music from the game.

* Six different versions are available from [http://www.classicdosgames.com/game/Alien_Carnage.html Classic DOS Games]

== Tools ==

{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=game}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [http://www.shikadi.net/files/4md2mod.zip ACXTRACT<br/>4MD2MOD]
| Platform = DOS
| grp = Read
| map = No
| gfx = No
| mus = Read
| sfx = No
| txt = No
| sav = No
| exe = No
}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [[Camoto]]
| Platform = Linux/Windows
| grp = Edit
| map = Edit
| gfx = Edit
| mus = No
| sfx = No
| txt = No
| sav = No
| exe = No
}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [[Camoto Online#gamearchive.js|Camoto/gamearchive.js]]
| Platform = Any
| grp = Edit
| map = No
| gfx = No
| mus = No
| sfx = No
| txt = No
| sav = No
| exe = No
}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [[Wombat]]
| Platform = Windows GUI
| grp = Read
| map = No
| gfx = Read
| mus = No
| sfx = Read
| txt = No
| sav = No
| exe = No
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}

{{BeginGameFileList}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.4md
| Format = [[4MD Format]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Background music
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.4bt
| Format = 8-bit unsigned PCM audio {{TODO|unknown sample rate, maybe 4.7kHz?}}
| KnownFormat = Partial
| Desc = Digitised sound effects
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.bbk
| Format = [[ICO Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Graphics and fonts
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.bnk<br/>*.fat<br/>harry.-0
| Format = [[BNK Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Archive storing most of the game data
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.cfg
| Format = [[Halloween Harry Configuration Format]]
| KnownFormat = No
| Desc = Game settings
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.chr
| Format = [[CHR Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Graphics
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.dlg
| Format = [[Halloween Harry Dialogue Format]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Cutscene dialogue text
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.gmf
| Format = [[GMF Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Game levels and palette data
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.hsb
| Format = [[HSB Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Sprite graphics
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.ico
| Format = [[ICO Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Graphics
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.ins
| Format = [[INS Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Text for ordering information screens
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.jft
| Format = [[ICO Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Fonts
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.pcc
| Format = [[PCX Format]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Small images
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.pcx
| Format = [[PCX Format]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = 320×200 full-screen images
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.rob
| Format = ?
| KnownFormat = No
| Desc = Seems to be some sort of archive with at least one PCX file in it. Used for animation sequences in the [[Halloween Harry Dialogue Format|dialogue cutscenes]].
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.top
| Format = [[TOP Format (Halloween Harry)]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = High scores
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = *.dt
| Format = ?
| KnownFormat = No
| Desc = ?
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = harry*.-0
| Format = [[EXE Format]]
| KnownFormat = Yes
| Desc = Except for <tt>harry.-0</tt>, game .exe files
}}
{{GameFile
| Name = slot.*
| Format = [[Halloween Harry Saved Game Format]]
| KnownFormat = No
| Desc = Saved games
}}
{{EndGameFileList}}

== Notes ==

* The game won't read files from the current directory before falling back to <tt>harry.-0</tt>, and won't run without <tt>harry.-0</tt> present. Therefore modified files must be inserted into <tt>harry.-0</tt> before the game will see them.

* There are two files left over from game development inside <tt>order.bnk</tt>. These two files are called <tt>build.bat</tt> and <tt>make.bat</tt>, both of which are DOS batch files to create the <tt>order.bnk</tt> file itself. From this it can be seen that there are two programs used during development, one called <tt>kit</tt> which creates the .bnk files, and one called <tt>dizfile</tt> which may create the corresponding <tt>.fat</tt> file from the <tt>.bnk</tt>.

* The beta version contains a bug in M3Z3 (sewer level 3) where the player spawns inside a wall and thus cannot move, preventing the game from being played beyond this point. This can be fixed by patching <tt>harry.-0</tt> at offset 0x318C02, changing <tt>4D 00 28 00</tt> to <tt>4C 00 2D 00</tt>. This moves the player's start position to the same location as it is in the retail game.

[[Category:Apogee]]
[[Category:Sidescroller]]
[[Category:Freeware]]

Halloween Harry/Cheats

2024-06-02T04:26:33Z

Malvineous: How SKIP works in the beta version

This pages lists all the known cheats and debugging codes for [[Halloween Harry]].

== Conventional cheats ==

* Pressing B + I + G will give the player full health and flamethrower/jetback fuel.
* Pressing Ctrl + R + E + N will give the player all weapons and a few seconds of invincibility.

== Debugging codes ==

* Alt + L, ''x'', ''y'' for level warp to episode ''x'' (1-4) level ''y'' (1-5).
* Alt + = followed by level coordinates to warp the player to another location in the level.
* Ctrl + Alt + Right-Shift + F12 to display player's current coordinates within the map.
* Alt + Q will immediately exit the game at any time, even during title sequences. In the beta version, the game doesn't always end cleanly and often freezes the machine at the DOS prompt, however sometimes Alt + Q can be pressed again and some gibberish or runtime error messages will appear on the screen, suggesting things like they keyboard handler have not been removed at exit.
* F10 in the beta version only will dump a screenshot to <tt>scrrip.raw</tt> and <tt>scrrip.pal</tt>.

== Command line options ==

Launching <tt>harry.exe</tt> or <tt>carnage.exe</tt> with the below parameters to change the game's behaviour.

{|class="wikitable"
! Parameter !! Versions !! Description
|-
| <tt>skip</tt> || All except beta || Skip the title sequences and jump straight to the main menu. In the beta version the word <tt>SKIP</tt> must be uppercase, and must be the second parameter on the command line to have any effect.
|-
| <tt>PINE_GAP</tt> || Beta only || "World War 3 activated!" in text launch screen, access to all episodes, god mode, full ammo, certain game elements are sped up (e.g. pressing P for pause makes the message blink more quickly). In this mode, pressing L ends the level and proceeds to the next one, while T toggles turbo mode on and off. Pressing T without PINE_GAP activated seems to pause the game while the key is being held.
|-
| <tt>2</tt> || Beta only || A single digit, 1-4. When restoring a game, it will start in zone 1 in this episode. It is assumed the zone can also be set but currently unknown how.
|}

[[Category:Cheat Codes]]
[[Category:Halloween Harry]]

Halloween Harry/Cheats

2024-06-02T04:00:58Z

Malvineous: Add F10 screenshot in the beta

This pages lists all the known cheats and debugging codes for [[Halloween Harry]].

== Conventional cheats ==

* Pressing B + I + G will give the player full health and flamethrower/jetback fuel.
* Pressing Ctrl + R + E + N will give the player all weapons and a few seconds of invincibility.

== Debugging codes ==

* Alt + L, ''x'', ''y'' for level warp to episode ''x'' (1-4) level ''y'' (1-5).
* Alt + = followed by level coordinates to warp the player to another location in the level.
* Ctrl + Alt + Right-Shift + F12 to display player's current coordinates within the map.
* Alt + Q will immediately exit the game at any time, even during title sequences. In the beta version, the game doesn't always end cleanly and often freezes the machine at the DOS prompt, however sometimes Alt + Q can be pressed again and some gibberish or runtime error messages will appear on the screen, suggesting things like they keyboard handler have not been removed at exit.
* F10 in the beta version only will dump a screenshot to <tt>scrrip.raw</tt> and <tt>scrrip.pal</tt>.

== Command line options ==

Launching <tt>harry.exe</tt> or <tt>carnage.exe</tt> with the below parameters to change the game's behaviour.

{|class="wikitable"
! Parameter !! Versions !! Description
|-
| <tt>skip</tt> || All except beta || Skip the title sequences and jump straight to the main menu. The beta seems to have <tt>SKIP</tt> listed as a parameter but it has no effect.
|-
| <tt>PINE_GAP</tt> || Beta only || "World War 3 activated!" in text launch screen, access to all episodes, god mode, full ammo, certain game elements are sped up (e.g. pressing P for pause makes the message blink more quickly). In this mode, pressing L ends the level and proceeds to the next one, while T toggles fast mode on and off, making enemies walk faster etc.
|-
| <tt>2</tt> || Beta only || A single digit, 1-4. When restoring a game, it will start in zone 1 in this episode. It is assumed the zone can also be set but currently unknown how.
|}

[[Category:Cheat Codes]]
[[Category:Halloween Harry]]

Halloween Harry/Cheats

2024-06-02T03:42:45Z

Malvineous: Remove *DEMOMODE*, turned out not to be a command line parameter after all

This pages lists all the known cheats and debugging codes for [[Halloween Harry]].

== Conventional cheats ==

* Pressing B + I + G will give the player full health and flamethrower/jetback fuel.
* Pressing Ctrl + R + E + N will give the player all weapons and a few seconds of invincibility.

== Debugging codes ==

* Alt + L, ''x'', ''y'' for level warp to episode ''x'' (1-4) level ''y'' (1-5).
* Alt + = followed by level coordinates to warp the player to another location in the level.
* Ctrl + Alt + Right-Shift + F12 to display player's current coordinates within the map.
* Alt + Q will immediately exit the game at any time, even during title sequences. In the beta version, the game doesn't always end cleanly and often freezes the machine at the DOS prompt, however sometimes Alt + Q can be pressed again and some gibberish or runtime error messages will appear on the screen, suggesting things like they keyboard handler have not been removed at exit.

== Command line options ==

Launching <tt>harry.exe</tt> or <tt>carnage.exe</tt> with the below parameters to change the game's behaviour.

{|class="wikitable"
! Parameter !! Versions !! Description
|-
| <tt>skip</tt> || All except beta || Skip the title sequences and jump straight to the main menu. The beta seems to have <tt>SKIP</tt> listed as a parameter but it has no effect.
|-
| <tt>PINE_GAP</tt> || Beta only || "World War 3 activated!" in text launch screen, access to all episodes, god mode, full ammo, certain game elements are sped up (e.g. pressing P for pause makes the message blink more quickly). In this mode, pressing L ends the level and proceeds to the next one, while T toggles fast mode on and off, making enemies walk faster etc.
|-
| <tt>2</tt> || Beta only || A single digit, 1-4. When restoring a game, it will start in zone 1 in this episode. It is assumed the zone can also be set but currently unknown how.
|}

[[Category:Cheat Codes]]
[[Category:Halloween Harry]]

Halloween Harry/Cheats

2024-06-02T03:12:48Z

Malvineous: /* Command line options */ Document *DEMOMODE*

This pages lists all the known cheats and debugging codes for [[Halloween Harry]].

== Conventional cheats ==

* Pressing B + I + G will give the player full health and flamethrower/jetback fuel.
* Pressing Ctrl + R + E + N will give the player all weapons and a few seconds of invincibility.

== Debugging codes ==

* Alt + L, ''x'', ''y'' for level warp to episode ''x'' (1-4) level ''y'' (1-5).
* Alt + = followed by level coordinates to warp the player to another location in the level.
* Ctrl + Alt + Right-Shift + F12 to display player's current coordinates within the map.
* Alt + Q will immediately exit the game at any time, even during title sequences. In the beta version, the game doesn't always end cleanly and often freezes the machine at the DOS prompt, however sometimes Alt + Q can be pressed again and some gibberish or runtime error messages will appear on the screen, suggesting things like they keyboard handler have not been removed at exit.

== Command line options ==

Launching <tt>harry.exe</tt> or <tt>carnage.exe</tt> with the below parameters to change the game's behaviour.

{|class="wikitable"
! Parameter !! Versions !! Description
|-
| <tt>skip</tt> || All except beta || Skip the title sequences and jump straight to the main menu. The beta seems to have <tt>SKIP</tt> listed as a parameter but it has no effect.
|-
| <tt>PINE_GAP</tt> || Beta only || "World War 3 activated!" in text launch screen, access to all episodes, god mode, full ammo, certain game elements are sped up (e.g. pressing P for pause makes the message blink more quickly). In this mode, pressing L ends the level and proceeds to the next one, while T toggles fast mode on and off, making enemies walk faster etc.
|-
| <tt>2</tt> || Beta only || A single digit, 1-4. When restoring a game, it will start in zone 1 in this episode. It is assumed the zone can also be set but currently unknown how.
|-
| <tt>*DEMOMODE*</tt> || Beta, others untested || Removes a bunch of delays in the title sequences, presumably for either testing their functionality, or for showing the game at kiosks where it will quickly jump through the story screens and get to the gameplay demos sooner.
|}

[[Category:Cheat Codes]]
[[Category:Halloween Harry]]

Halloween Harry/Cheats

2024-06-02T03:07:09Z

Malvineous: Add some more newly discovered information

This pages lists all the known cheats and debugging codes for [[Halloween Harry]].

== Conventional cheats ==

* Pressing B + I + G will give the player full health and flamethrower/jetback fuel.
* Pressing Ctrl + R + E + N will give the player all weapons and a few seconds of invincibility.

== Debugging codes ==

* Alt + L, ''x'', ''y'' for level warp to episode ''x'' (1-4) level ''y'' (1-5).
* Alt + = followed by level coordinates to warp the player to another location in the level.
* Ctrl + Alt + Right-Shift + F12 to display player's current coordinates within the map.
* Alt + Q will immediately exit the game at any time, even during title sequences. In the beta version, the game doesn't always end cleanly and often freezes the machine at the DOS prompt, however sometimes Alt + Q can be pressed again and some gibberish or runtime error messages will appear on the screen, suggesting things like they keyboard handler have not been removed at exit.

== Command line options ==

Launching <tt>harry.exe</tt> or <tt>carnage.exe</tt> with the below parameters to change the game's behaviour.

{|class="wikitable"
! Parameter !! Versions !! Description
|-
| <tt>skip</tt> || All except beta || Skip the title sequences and jump straight to the main menu. The beta seems to have <tt>SKIP</tt> listed as a parameter but it has no effect.
|-
| <tt>PINE_GAP</tt> || Beta only || "World War 3 activated!" in text launch screen, access to all episodes, god mode, full ammo, certain game elements are sped up (e.g. pressing P for pause makes the message blink more quickly). In this mode, pressing L ends the level and proceeds to the next one, while T toggles fast mode on and off, making enemies walk faster etc.
|-
| <tt>2</tt> || Beta only || A single digit, 1-4. When restoring a game, it will start in zone 1 in this episode. It is assumed the zone can also be set but currently unknown how.
|}

[[Category:Cheat Codes]]
[[Category:Halloween Harry]]

Halloween Harry/Cheats

2024-06-02T01:12:08Z

Malvineous: Add known cheats and debug codes

User:ReverseEngineer

2024-05-13T12:02:23Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

A long time ago I wrote a disassembler in assembler just for reverse engineering EOB1. After that I reverse engineered EOB2 and part of Lands of Lore.
Some of the example structure definitions in C for a few file formats (EOB) seems to come from my reverse engeneering work, which I have uploaded by chance to the internet.
So I could be of help documenting these file formats and hand over some source code in C I wrote and do a well formatted documentation about it :)

User:AllenP

2024-03-28T04:02:15Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

Hi. My name is Allen Pilgrim. I am the Game Designer and Programmer of Xargon and Kiloblaster. I also did the Game Design for Super ZZTs: Monster Zoo. I was one of Tim Sweeney's earliest hires. I noticed that there was a note for Jill of the Jungle that the editor feature had been removed from Xargon. I will be releasing the Xargon Level Editor version very soon. The last couple weeks I have been creating extensive documentation and working with several people from the Xargon Facebook group to help make it even better. I would like to add a note to the Jill and Xargon pages that it is on the verge of being released. I would be equally happy if one of your team would add that note. I'm sure there is other information I can contribute. Thank you.

User:Jopadan

2024-02-26T22:02:50Z

Malvineous: Creating user page for new user.

I don't want to share a biography

Template:BeginFileFormatTools

2024-02-18T13:38:18Z

Malvineous: Undo bulk edit, this is the one place we want it to still say "type=group"

<noinclude>
[[Category:Layout templates]]
This is the table heading for a list of file format tools.

== Examples ==

=== Type=archive ===

This type is used for game archives. These are similar to .zip files in that they store a collection of other files, usually with filenames and sometimes with compression. A key point of an archive is that it can store arbitrary data, so tilesets are usually not considered archives as they cannot store non-image data like game maps or sound effects.

''This used to be type=group, however it has now changed to type=archive. Please update if you see any old type=group uses.''

<div class="templateExample">
<div class="preview">
{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=archive}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = Example
| Platform = DOS
| canExtract = Yes
| canDecompress = N/A
| canCreate = Yes
| canModify = No
| canCompress = N/A
| editHidden = View only
| editMetadata = Only title
| notes = Example entry
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}
</div>
<pre>
{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=archive}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = Example
| Platform = DOS
| canExtract = Yes
| canDecompress = N/A
| canCreate = Yes
| canModify = No
| canCompress = N/A
| editHidden = View only
| editMetadata = Only title
| notes = Example entry
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}
</pre>
</div>

{|class="wikitable"
! Parameter/example !! Meaning
|-
| canExtract = Yes || Can this program extract files from the archive?<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can extract files from the game's archive files</li>
<li>'''Partial''': this program can extract some files (but not all) from the game's archive files</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot extract any files from the game's archive files</li>
</ul>
|-
| canDecompress = N/A || Can this program decompress files it extracts? (if supported by the format)<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can decompress all files from the game's archive files</li>
<li>'''Partial''': this program can decompress some files (but not all) from the game's archive files</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot decompress any files from the game's archive files</li>
<li>'''N/A''': none of the archive files support compression</li>
</ul>
|-
| canDecrypt = Yes || Can this program decrypt files it extracts? (if supported by the format, must add Encrypt=yes to <nowiki>{{</nowiki>[[:Template:BeginFileFormatTools|BeginFileFormatTools]]}})
|-
| canCreate = No || Can this program create new files in this format from scratch?
|-
| canModify = Yes || Can this program modify parts of the file, leaving the rest unchanged?
|-
| canCompress = Yes || Can this program compress files, if the group file supports compression?
|-
| canEncrypt = Yes || Can this program encrypt files it inserts? (if supported by the format, must add Encrypt=yes to <nowiki>{{</nowiki>[[:Template:BeginFileFormatTools|BeginFileFormatTools]]}})
|-
| editHidden = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program view/edit hidden data inside the file? (if supported by the format)<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': hidden data can be read and modified</li>
<li>'''Read''': hidden data can be viewed/extracted but not changed or set</li>
<li>'''No''': hidden data cannot be viewed or changed</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this file format does not have anywhere to embed any hidden data</li>
</ul>
|-
| editMetadata = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program view/edit any metadata? (e.g. file description, title, artist, etc.)<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': all known metadata can be read and modified</li>
<li>'''Partial''': some metadata can be read and/or modified</li>
<li>'''Read''': all metadata can be viewed/extracted but not changed or set</li>
<li>'''No''': none of the metadata can be viewed or changed</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this file format does not have any metadata</li>
</ul>
|-
| notes = text || Various notes, try to keep as short as possible
|}

=== Type=audio ===

This type is used for sound effects (as opposed to music). Typically digitised audio like .wav files, but can also include OPL and PC speaker sound effects as well.

<div class="templateExample">
<div class="preview">
{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=audio}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = Name
| Platform = DOS
| canPlay = Yes
| canCreate = Yes
| canModify = No
| canExport = No
| canImport = Yes; .wav
| editHidden = N/A
| editMetadata = Partial
| notes = notes
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}
</div>
<pre>
{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=audio}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = Name
| Platform = DOS
| canPlay = Yes
| canCreate = Yes
| canModify = No
| canExport = No
| canImport = Yes; .wav
| editHidden = N/A
| editMetadata = Partial
| notes = notes
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}
</pre>
</div>

{|class="wikitable"
! Parameter/example !! Meaning
|-
| canPlay = Yes || Can this program play audio in this format?<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can play all files in this format</li>
<li>'''Partial''': this program can play some files (but not all) in this format</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot play any files in this format (e.g. it is a conversion utility not a player)</li>
</ul>
|-
| canCreate = No || Can this program create new files in this format from scratch?<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can create empty files in this format</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot create empty files in this format</li>
</ul>
|-
| canModify = Yes || Can this program modify parts of the file, leaving the rest unchanged?<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can modify all files in this format</li>
<li>'''Partial''': this program can modify parts of files but there are some parts it cannot change</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot modify any files in this format</li>
</ul>
|-
| canExport = Yes; .wav || Can this program export the image into another format?<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can convert this file format to the ones listed</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot convert this file format to a different format</li>
</ul>
|-
| canImport = Yes; .wav || Can this program import another image into this format?<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can read the listed formats and convert them to this file format</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot convert any other file formats into this format</li>
</ul>
|-
| editHidden = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program view/edit hidden data inside the file? (if supported by the format)<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': hidden data can be read and modified</li>
<li>'''Read''': hidden data can be viewed/extracted but not changed or set</li>
<li>'''No''': hidden data cannot be viewed or changed</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this file format does not have anywhere to embed any hidden data</li>
</ul>
|-
| editMetadata = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program view/edit group file metadata? (e.g. file description, title, artist, etc.)<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': all known metadata can be read and modified</li>
<li>'''Partial''': some metadata can be read and/or modified</li>
<li>'''Read''': all metadata can be viewed/extracted but not changed or set</li>
<li>'''No''': none of the metadata can be viewed or changed</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this file format does not have any metadata</li>
</ul>
|-
| notes = text || Various notes, try to keep as short as possible
|}

=== Type=exe ===

This type is used for tools that can edit executable files, to patch code, change messages, and alter other hard-coded game attributes.

<div class="templateExample">
<div class="preview">
{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=exe}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = Name
| Platform = Platform
| canView = Yes
| canDecompress = No
| canCreate = No
| canModify = Partial
| canCompress = No
| editHidden = N/A
| notes = notes
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}
</div>
<pre>
{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=exe}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = Name
| Platform = Platform
| canView = Yes
| canDecompress = No
| canCreate = No
| canModify = Partial
| canCompress = No
| editHidden = N/A
| notes = notes
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}
</pre>
</div>

{|class="wikitable"
! Parameter/example !! Meaning
|-
| canView = Yes || Can this program view code or patches previously applied to the code?<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can view code or patches</li>
<li>'''Partial''': this program has some incomplete functionality for viewing code or patches</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot view any code or patches</li>
</ul>
|-
| canDecompress = N/A || Can this program decompress/decrypt executable files?<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can decompress all executable files in this format</li>
<li>'''Partial''': this program can partially decompress some files (but not all) in this format</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot decompress any executable files in this format</li>
</ul>
|-
| canCreate = No || Can this program create new files in this format from scratch?
|-
| canModify = Yes || Can this program modify parts of the file, leaving the rest unchanged?
|-
| canCompress = Yes || Can this program compress/encrypt files?<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can compress all executable files in this format</li>
<li>'''Partial''': this program can partially compress some files (but not all) in this format</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot compress any executable files in this format</li>
</ul>
|-
| editHidden = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program view/edit hidden data inside the file? (if supported by the format)<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': hidden data can be read and modified</li>
<li>'''Read''': hidden data can be viewed/extracted but not changed or set</li>
<li>'''No''': hidden data cannot be viewed or changed</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this file format does not have anywhere to embed any hidden data</li>
</ul>
|-
| notes = text || Various notes, try to keep as short as possible
|}

=== Type=game ===

This type is used on a game page rather than a file format page, and lists tools with respect to the general areas of the game it can edit.

General programs (such as .wav file editors) are not listed here, as the focus is on editors specific to the game itself. However some general programs may be included if their focus is on game-specific file formats, such as [[IMF Format]] which is not used outside of a few of games. If this list grows to be too great (e.g. there are dozens of programs capable of editing .IMF files, so listing all of them on every game using that file format will clutter the results), then a link to the file format page should be placed below the template instead, and all the tools listed once on the file format page instead.

<div class="templateExample">
<div class="preview">
{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=game}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = Name
| Platform = Platform
| grp = Edit
| map = No
| gfx = Read
| mus = No
| sfx = No
| txt = Partial
| sav = N/A
| exe = No
| notes = notes
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}
</div>
<pre>
{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=game}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = Name
| Platform = Platform
| grp = Edit
| map = No
| gfx = Read
| mus = No
| sfx = No
| txt = Partial
| sav = N/A
| exe = No
| notes = notes
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}
</pre>
</div>

{|class="wikitable"
! Parameter/example !! Meaning
|-
| grp = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program edit [[:Category:Archive formats|game archives/group files]]?<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': this program can read and change all the game's archive files</li>
<li>'''Read''': this program can read/extract the game's archives, but it cannot modify them or create them from scratch</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot do anything with the game's archive files</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this game does not have any archive files</li>
</ul>
|-
| map = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program edit [[:Category:Map formats|maps/levels]]?<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': this program can read and change all the game's levels</li>
<li>'''Read''': this program can view the game's levels, but it cannot modify them or create them from scratch</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot do anything with the game's levels</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this game does not have any levels/maps</li>
</ul>
|-
| gfx = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program edit the [[:Category:Image formats|game's graphics]]?<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': this program can read and change all the game's graphics</li>
<li>'''Read''': this program can read/extract the game's graphics, but it cannot modify them or create them from scratch</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot do anything with the game's graphics</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this game does not have any graphics</li>
</ul>
|-
| mus = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program edit the [[:Category:Music formats|game's music]]?<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': this program can read/extract/convert/play and also modify all the game's music</li>
<li>'''Read''': this program can read/extract/convert/play the game's music, but it cannot replace it or change it</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot do anything with the game's music</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this game does not have any music</li>
</ul>
|-
| sfx = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program edit the [[:Category:Sound formats|game's sound effects]]?<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': this program can read/extract/convert/play and also modify all the game's sound effects</li>
<li>'''Read''': this program can read/extract/convert/play the game's sound effects, but it cannot replace it or change any of them</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot do anything with the game's sound effects</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this game does not have any sound effects</li>
</ul>
|-
| txt = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program edit [[:Category:Text formats|text messages displayed in the game]]?<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': this program can view and also modify all the game's textual data</li>
<li>'''Read''': this program can view the game's textual data, but it cannot replace it or change any of it</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot do anything with the game's textual data</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this game does not have any text</li>
</ul>
|-
| sav = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program alter [[:Category:Saved game formats|saved games]]?<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': this program can view and also modify saved game files</li>
<li>'''Read''': this program can view saved game files, but it cannot modify them</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot do anything with the saved game files</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this game does not have any saved game files</li>
</ul>
|-
| exe = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No]</nowiki> || Can this program [[:Category:Executable formats|patch the game's code]] to change e.g. enemy behaviour?<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': this program can patch the game's code</li>
<li>'''Read''': this program can view elements of the game's code, but it cannot modify anything</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot do anything with the game's code</li>
</ul>
|-
| editHidden = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program view/edit hidden data inside the file? (if supported by the format)<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': hidden data can be read and modified</li>
<li>'''Read''': hidden data can be viewed/extracted but not changed or set</li>
<li>'''No''': hidden data cannot be viewed or changed</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this game does not have anywhere to embed any hidden data</li>
</ul>
|-
| editMetadata = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program view/edit group file metadata? (e.g. file description, title, artist, etc.)<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': all known metadata can be read and modified</li>
<li>'''Partial''': some metadata can be read and/or modified</li>
<li>'''Read''': all metadata can be viewed/extracted but not changed or set</li>
<li>'''No''': none of the metadata can be viewed or changed</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this game does not have any metadata</li>
</ul>
|-
| notes = text || Various notes, try to keep as short as possible
|}

=== Type=image ===

This type is used for any sort of graphics data, including images, animations and tilesets.

<div class="templateExample">
<div class="preview">
{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=image}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = Name
| Platform = Linux/Mac/Windows
| canView = Yes
| canExport = No
| canImport = Yes; .png
| editHidden = N/A
| editMetadata = Partial
| notes = notes
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}
</div>
<pre>
{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=image}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = Name
| Platform = Linux/Mac/Windows
| canView = Yes
| canExport = No
| canImport = Yes; .png
| editHidden = N/A
| editMetadata = Partial
| notes = notes
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}
</pre>
</div>

{|class="wikitable"
! Parameter/example !! Meaning
|-
| canView = Yes || Can this program view the image?<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can view all files in this format</li>
<li>'''Partial''': this program can view some files (but not all) in this format</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot view any files in this format (e.g. it is a conversion utility not a viewer)</li>
</ul>
|-
| canExport = Yes; .wav || Can this program export the image into another format?<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can convert this file format to the ones listed</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot convert this file format to a different format</li>
</ul>
|-
| canImport = Yes; .wav || Can this program import another image into this format?<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can read the listed formats and convert them to this file format</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot convert any other file formats into this format</li>
</ul>
|-
| editHidden = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program view/edit hidden data inside the file? (if supported by the format)<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': hidden data can be read and modified</li>
<li>'''Read''': hidden data can be viewed/extracted but not changed or set</li>
<li>'''No''': hidden data cannot be viewed or changed</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this file format does not have anywhere to embed any hidden data</li>
</ul>
|-
| editMetadata = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program view/edit group file metadata? (e.g. file description, title, artist, etc.)<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': all known metadata can be read and modified</li>
<li>'''Partial''': some metadata can be read and/or modified</li>
<li>'''Read''': all metadata can be viewed/extracted but not changed or set</li>
<li>'''No''': none of the metadata can be viewed or changed</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this file format does not have any metadata</li>
</ul>
|-
| notes = text || Various notes, try to keep as short as possible
|}

=== Type=map ===

This type is used for tools that can edit game levels.

<div class="templateExample">
<div class="preview">
{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=map}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = Name
| Platform = DOS
| canView = Yes
| canCreate = No
| canModify = Partial
| editHidden = N/A
| editMetadata = N/A
| notes = notes
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}
</div>
<pre>
{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=map}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = Name
| Platform = DOS
| canView = Yes
| canCreate = No
| canModify = Partial
| editHidden = N/A
| editMetadata = N/A
| notes = notes
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}
</pre>
</div>

{|class="wikitable"
! Parameter/example !! Meaning
|-
| canView = Yes || Can this program view/render the map? (to the screen or to an image file)<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can view all files in this format</li>
<li>'''Partial''': this program can view some files (but not all) in this format</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot view any files in this format (e.g. it is a conversion utility not a viewer)</li>
</ul>
|-
| canCreate = No || Can this program create new files in this format from scratch?<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can create empty files in this format</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot create empty files in this format</li>
</ul>
|-
| canModify = Yes || Can this program modify parts of the file, leaving the rest unchanged?<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can modify all files in this format</li>
<li>'''Partial''': this program can modify parts of files but there are some parts it cannot change</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot modify any files in this format</li>
</ul>
|-
| editHidden = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program view/edit hidden data inside the file? (if supported by the format)<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': hidden data can be read and modified</li>
<li>'''Read''': hidden data can be viewed/extracted but not changed or set</li>
<li>'''No''': hidden data cannot be viewed or changed</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this file format does not have anywhere to embed any hidden data</li>
</ul>
|-
| editMetadata = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program view/edit group file metadata? (e.g. file description, title, artist, etc.)<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': all known metadata can be read and modified</li>
<li>'''Partial''': some metadata can be read and/or modified</li>
<li>'''Read''': all metadata can be viewed/extracted but not changed or set</li>
<li>'''No''': none of the metadata can be viewed or changed</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this file format does not have any metadata</li>
</ul>
|-
| notes = text || Various notes, try to keep as short as possible
|}

=== Type=text ===

This type is used for text files, such as scripts, plain text configuration files, etc.

<div class="templateExample">
<div class="preview">
{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=text}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = Name
| Platform = DOS
| canView = Yes
| canModify = Partial
| editHidden = N/A
| editMetadata = N/A
| notes = notes
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}
</div>
<pre>
{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=text}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = Name
| Platform = DOS
| canView = Yes
| canModify = Partial
| editHidden = N/A
| editMetadata = N/A
| notes = notes
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}
</pre>
</div>

{|class="wikitable"
! Parameter/example !! Meaning
|-
| canView = Yes || Can this program view the text?<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can view all files in this format</li>
<li>'''Partial''': this program can view some files (but not all) in this format</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot view any files in this format</li>
</ul>
|-
| canModify = Yes || Can this program modify parts of the file, leaving the rest unchanged?<ul>
<li>'''Yes''': this program can modify all files in this format</li>
<li>'''Partial''': this program can modify parts of files but there are some parts it cannot change</li>
<li>'''No''': this program cannot modify any files in this format</li>
</ul>
|-
| editHidden = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program view/edit hidden data inside the file? (if supported by the format)<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': hidden data can be read and modified</li>
<li>'''Read''': hidden data can be viewed/extracted but not changed or set</li>
<li>'''No''': hidden data cannot be viewed or changed</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this file format does not have anywhere to embed any hidden data</li>
</ul>
|-
| editMetadata = <nowiki>[Edit|Read|No|N/A]</nowiki> || Can this program view/edit group file metadata? (e.g. file description, title, artist, etc.)<ul>
<li>'''Edit''': all known metadata can be read and modified</li>
<li>'''Partial''': some metadata can be read and/or modified</li>
<li>'''Read''': all metadata can be viewed/extracted but not changed or set</li>
<li>'''No''': none of the metadata can be viewed or changed</li>
<li>'''N/A''': this file format does not have any metadata</li>
</ul>
|-
| notes = text || Various notes, try to keep as short as possible
|}
</noinclude>
<includeonly>The following tools are able to work with {{#ifeq:{{{Type|group}}}|game|this game|files in this format}}.
<table class="wikitable">
<tr>
<th>Name</th>
<th>Platform</th>{{#ifeq:{{{Type|}}}|group|
<th>Extract files?</th>
<th>Decompress on extract?</th>{{#ifeq:{{{Encrypt|}}}|yes|
<th>Decrypt?</th>}}
<th>Create new?</th>
<th>Modify?</th>
<th>Compress on insert?</th>{{#ifeq:{{{Encrypt|}}}|yes|
<th>Encrypt?</th>}}
<th>Access hidden data?</th>
<th>Edit metadata?</th>
}}{{#ifeq:{{{Type|archive}}}|archive|
<th>Extract files?</th>
<th>Decompress on extract?</th>{{#ifeq:{{{Encrypt|}}}|yes|
<th>Decrypt?</th>}}
<th>Create new?</th>
<th>Modify?</th>
<th>Compress on insert?</th>{{#ifeq:{{{Encrypt|}}}|yes|
<th>Encrypt?</th>}}
<th>Access hidden data?</th>
<th>Edit metadata?</th>
}}{{#ifeq:{{{Type|}}}|image|
<th>View images in this format?</th>
<th>Convert/export to another file/format?</th>
<th>Import from another file/format?</th>
<th>Access hidden data?</th>
<th>Edit metadata?</th>
}}{{#ifeq:{{{Type|}}}|audio|
<th>Play?</th>
<th>Create new?</th>
<th>Modify?</th>
<th>Convert/export to other?</th>
<th>Import from other?</th>
<th>Access hidden data?</th>
<th>Edit metadata?</th>
}}{{#ifeq:{{{Type|}}}|map|
<th>View?</th>
<th>Create new?</th>
<th>Modify?</th>
<th>Access hidden data?</th>
<th>Edit metadata?</th>
}}{{#ifeq:{{{Type|}}}|text|
<th>View?</th>
<th>Modify?</th>
<th>Access hidden data?</th>
<th>Edit metadata?</th>
}}{{#ifeq:{{{Type|}}}|exe|
<th>Load?</th>
<th>Decompress?</th>
<th>Create?</th>
<th>Modify?</th>
<th>Compress?</th>
<th>Access hidden data?</th>
}}{{#ifeq:{{{Type|}}}|game|
<th>Group/archives</th>
<th>Levels</th>
<th>Graphics</th>
<th>Music</th>
<th>Sounds</th>
<th>Text</th>
<th>Saves</th>
<th>.exe patch</th>
}}
<th>Notes</th>
</tr></includeonly>

BIN Format (Fury of the Furries)

2024-02-18T06:22:10Z

Malvineous: /* Tools */ Update type (not an archive)

{{Map Infobox
| Type = 2D tile-based
| Layers = 3
| Tile size = 16×16
| Viewport = 320×200
| Games =
{{Game|Fury of the Furries}}
{{Game|Pac-In-Time}}
}}

[[Fury of the Furries]] maps contain the static background and landscape for the level, collectable coins, time extensions and extra lives and destructible bricks. They also contain the 'scripting for the game play itself', this is in the form of the definitions of the sprites that interact with the player character. There are up to 10 sprites in the level, each having up to 10 states. Triggers are defined for switching between states, and for the player and or sprites to switch on or off other game-play elements.

The file itself is run-length encoded, and after decompression is always a fixed length. Generally unused elements within the game are marked by the [[UINT16LE]] value 0xFFFF.

== File Formats ==

=== RLE Compressed File Format ===

{|class="wikitable"
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| FOURCC || header || Appears to be a header with version number. Most files decompress to an object 25518 bytes in length, but a handful of files are shorter, and appear to be earlier versions.<br />
byte is the shortest, at 25432 bytes, the last entry is the time field.<br />
byt1 and byt3 are 25482 bytes long, and include currents.<br />
byt4 is 25518, it's the version seen for the vast majority of the files, and includes all the fields after the currents.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || length || Number of bytes in section.<br />
if zero then stop decompressing.<br />
if less than 0x7D00 then use the following length bytes from the input.<br />
otherwise use the following byte from the input (length - 0x7D00) times.<br />
<br />
compressed and uncompressed sections always alternate, even if this makes the packing less efficient. This means that if you have two adjacent runs, There will be at least 1 character represented as uncompressed.
|-
| ... || etc || continue with another 'length' until the final file size is achieved (25,518 bytes), or you read a 0 length.
|}

The file should end with a zero length section. i.e. two bytes of 0.

=== Uncompressed File Format ===

==== FILE Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || mapWidth || Width of the playable area (in tiles) between 20 and 78.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || mapHeight || Height of the playable area (in tiles) between 13 and 51.

The maximum number of tiles in a game is 1024. This places constraints on the width and height.
The minimum width is 20 to match the viewport size of 320 pixels, and this constrains the height to 51 (20 × 51 = 1020).
The minimum height is 13 to match the viewport size of 200 pixels, and this constrains the width to 78 (13 × 78 = 1014).
Any other combination of width and height is possible so long as it meets these constraints.
|-
| [[UINT8]][2][78 × 51] || tileIndex || Pairs of coordinates into a [[LBM Format]] <tt>DEC</tt> file containing the tiles.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || decFile || The <tt>DEC</tt> file number less one. i.e. a value of 3 indicates <tt>DECOR04.LBM</tt>.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || startLeft || The center of the starting position for the player character from the left of the level, less 16 pixels.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || startTop || The center of starting position for the player character from the top of the level, less 16 pixels.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || foregroundPaletteIndex || The index of the first palette entry to be regarded as foreground.

The palette for the <tt>DEC</tt> file has 16 colours and they are used in a particular order. The first is always black and is background (i.e. the player character is not blocked by this colour)
The next 4 usually dark versions of yellow, red, green and blue and are used for the shadow colour of the player character sprite, in the 4 different forms that the player can take.
The next colour (colour 5 in the palette) is the bright colour of the player character, and will be swapped out as the player changes form.
The remaining colours a chosen to suit the needs of the stage of the game (desert, forest, mountains etc).
Generally the lower colours are regarded as background, and the upper colours as foreground, and this is used in the collision detection for the player and the landscape.
|-
| EXIT[5] || exit || 5 instances of a 6-byte structure describing the exits from the level.
|-
| WATER[5] || water1 || 5 instances of an 8-byte structure describing the regions of water in the level.
|-
| TELEPORT[5] || teleport || 5 instances of an 8-byte structure describing the regions of the game that can teleport the player.
|-
| NONSTICK[5] || nonStick || 5 instances of an 8-byte structure describing regions that the player cannot attach a rope to.
|-
| ACID[5] || acid || 5 instances of an 8-byte structure describing regions that will dissolve the player if touched.
|-
| DANGER[20] || danger || 20 instances of an 8-byte structure describing regions that will explode the player if touched.
|-
| SPRITE[10] || sprite || 10 instances of a 1688-byte structure describing sprites.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || blueStart || 1 if the blue form of the player is available at the start of the game.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || greenStart || 1 if the green form of the player is available at the start of the game.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || redStart || 1 if the red form of the player is available at the start of the game.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || yellowStart || 1 if the yellow form of the player is available at the start of the game.
|-
| [[UINT8]][12] || unknown || Purpose unknown.
|-
| FIELD[5] || redField || 5 instances of an 8-byte structure describing the particle field that enables/disables the red form of the player.
|-
| FIELD[5] || greenField || 5 instances of an 8-byte structure describing the particle field that enables/disables the green form of the player.
|-
| FIELD[5] || yellowField || 5 instances of an 8-byte structure describing the particle field that enables/disables the yellow form of the player.
|-
| FIELD[5] || blueField || 5 instances of an 8-byte structure describing the particle field that enables/disables the blue form of the player.
|-
| WATER[5] || water2 || 5 further instances of an 8-byte structure describing the regions of water in the level.

Probably one of these 2 sets of water data describes regions that start full of water and can be emptied, and the others describe regions which start empty and can be filled. I'm not sure.
|-
| [[UINT8]][10] || unknown || Purpose unknown.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || waterPaletteIndex || Index of colour in palette used for water.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || airPaletteIndex || Index of colour in palette used for air.

These two palette entries can be used to modify the image as regions of water fill/empty.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || time || Amount of time the player has to complete the level. In 30ths of a second (The game plays at 30 fps).
|-
| CURRENT[5] || current || 5 instances of a 10-byte structure describing regions of air or water currents.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || motePaletteIndex || Index of colour in palette used for dust motes moving in currents.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || unknown || Purpose unknown.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || spriteMap || Index of [[LBM Format]] <tt>SPR</tt> sprite map image to use for this level. 0 = A, 1 = B.
|-
| EXITRETURN[5] || exitReturn || 5 instances of a 4-byte structure describing where the player character should re-enter the level following a side-quest.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]][5] || exitGraphic || 5 instances of and indication of how a player is depicted exiting. 0 used for the end of the level dissolves the level viewport in a swirling vortex. 1 is smooth and is used for tunnelling in multi-map levels.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || unknown || Seems to indicate a row in the map at which some odd palette behaviour is observed. Possibly a bug, but it could be that the intention is to shift something in the colour scheme when the player is above ground / below ground.
|}

==== EXIT Format ====

The exit region is 16 × 16 pixels.

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the centre of the exit.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || top pixel of the centre of the exit.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || destination || Level number less one to go to next from this exit. Also the most significant bit indicates 0 = level exit, 1 = go to side quest.<br />
e.g. if this value is 0x8006, then go to level 7 as a side-quest.
|}

==== WATER Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the water region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the water region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right pixel of the water region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom pixel of the water region.
|}

==== TELEPORT Format ====

The teleport region is 16 × 16 pixels.

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || srcX || Left pixel of the centre of the teleport region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || srcY || Top pixel of the centre of the teleport region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || destX || Right pixel of the centre of the teleport region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || destY || Bottom pixel of the centre of the teleport region.
|}

==== NONSTICK Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the non-stick region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the non-stick region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right pixel of the non-stick region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom pixel of the non-stick region.
|}

==== ACID Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the acid region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the acid region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right pixel of the acid region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom pixel of the acid region.
|}

==== DANGER Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the danger region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the danger region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right pixel of the danger region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom pixel of the danger region.
|}

==== FIELD Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the particle field.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the particle field.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right pixel of the particle field.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom pixel of the particle field.
|}

==== CURRENT Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the current region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the current region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right pixel of the current region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom pixel of the current region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || flags || bit-0 and bit-1 : direction 00 = down, 01 = right, 10 = up, 11 = left<br/>bit-2: strength of current 0 = weak, 1 = strong<br/>bit-3: show current using dust motes 0 = no, 1 = yes
|}

==== EXITRETURN Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the centre of the return region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the return region.
|}

==== REGION Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left of region
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top of region
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right of region
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom of region
|}

==== SPRITE Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT8]] || layer || 0 = middleground (can interact with the player)<br/>1=background<br/>2=foreground (player can move behind it).
|-
| [[UINT8]] || malevolence || Bit-0: sprite will kill player in ? form<br/>Bit-1: sprite will kill player in yellow form<br/>Bit-2: sprite will kill player in ? form<br/>Bit-3: sprite will kill player in ? form.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || unknown || Purpose unknown
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || mask || Sprite requires a mask graphic for transparency. If a mask is required, it will be immediately below the sprite tile in the <tt>SPR</tt> file.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || cleanUp || The previous sprite image needs to be removed for each frame. This is not necessary if the sprite is unmasked and never changes position.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || strength || How much damage the sprite can sustain. 0 = infinite, otherwise 1-127.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || blastArea || Size of the explosion if the sprite is destroyed. (Purely a decorative concern, there is no splash damage).
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || active || Is the sprite in use.
|-
| [[UINT8]][2] || unknown ||
|-
| REGION || furryEntryRegion || Sprite will activate if furry enters this region.
|-
| REGION || furryExitRegion || Sprite will activate if furry leaves this region.
|-
| [[UINT8]][72] || unknown || Suspect that this region is actually populated and used as working space while the level is being played.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || fireRate || How often the sprite fires projectiles. 0 = none, 1-5 = low-high.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || fireType || How are projectiles fired. 1 = All directions slowly, 2 = Right, 3 = Left, 4 = All directions medium, 5 = All directions fast.
|-
| STATE[10] || state || 10 instances of a 158-byte structure describing the states that the sprite can be in.
|}

==== STATE Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the sprite location.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the sprite location.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || destState || Another state to move towards. The sprite will physically move to the location of the destination state, and change state when it reaches that location.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || speed || Speed of sprite movement 0 = None, 1-5 = slow-fast.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || movementType || 0 = horizontal then vertical, 1 = as the crow flies, 2 = just track player vertically, no sideways movement, 3 = just track player horizontally, no up/down movement, 4 = track player, 5 = fast move??, 6 = None.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || destWaterState || Another state to change to when a requested water level change is acheived.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || gravity || If 1, the sprite falls when unsupported.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || current || Control currents. Bits 0-4 specify currents affected, Bit-5 turns currents off, Bit-6 turns currents on.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || activateSprite || Number of another sprite to activate.
|-
| TRIGGER || entryTrigger || A 10-byte structure that describes a trigger to change state when the player enters a region.
|-
| TRIGGER || exitTrigger || A 10-byte structure that describes a trigger to change state when the player leaves a region.
|-
| TRIGGER || spriteEntryTrigger || A 10-byte structure that describes a trigger to change state when another sprite enters a region.
|-
| TRIGGER || spriteExitTrigger || A 10-byte structure that describes a trigger to change state when another sprite leaves a region (or is destroyed).
|-
| [[UINT8]] || destroy || The sprite is destroyed (deactivated) when it enters this state.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || bounce || The sprite bounces ballistically when it hits a surface.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || emptyWater || Bits 8-15 speed of emptying, Bits 0-7 number of water region to empty.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || fillWater || Bits 8-15 speed of filling, Bits 0-7 number of water region to fill.
|-
| [[UINT8]][4] || unknown || Seems to affect the starting location of projectiles, relative to the sprite location.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || waterTriggerLeft || Left pixel of region for water trigger (see destWaterState field).
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || waterTriggerTop || Top pixel of region for water trigger.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || waterTriggerRight || Right pixel of region for water trigger.
|-
| FRAME[10] || frame || 10 instances of an 8-byte structure describing the sprite tile location within the <tt>SPR</tt> image file
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || animSpeed || Rate of frame change of sprite animation.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || cycle || Does the animation cycle repeat.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || cycleCount || Number of animation frames before changing state.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || animTriggerState || Sprite state to move to when cycleCount is reached.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || waterTriggerBottom || Bottom pixel of region for water trigger.
|}

==== TRIGGER Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || state || State to move to when triggered.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the trigger region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the trigger region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right pixel of the trigger region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom pixel of the trigger region.
|}

==== FRAME Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the sprite on the <tt>SPR</tt> image file.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the sprite on the <tt>SPR</tt> image file.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right pixel of the sprite on the <tt>SPR</tt> image file <em>+ 8 pixels</em>.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom pixel of the sprite on the <tt>SPR</tt> image file.
|}

== Notes ==

There are 10 different stages in the game, and correspondingly 10 different tile and sprite sets.

The tile images for the backgrounds and landscape are stored in the <tt>DEC</tt> directory, in image files which are in [[LBM Format]]. These files are named <tt>DECORxx.LBM</tt> where xx is specified by the decFile field of the main structure.

The sprite images are stored in the <tt>SPR</tt> directory, in image files which are in [[LBM Format]]. These files are named <tt>SPRxxn</tt> where xx is specified by the decFile field of the main structure, and n is specified by the spriteMap field in the main structure.

The sprites can be of varying sizes, the FRAME data structure describes the bounding box in pixels within the sprite image file. If the sprite requires a transparency mask, then this mask will be a rectangular region with the same size as the sprite, and placed in the image file immediately below the sprite.

Within the tile image file, all the tiles are 16 × 16 pixels, tiles are referenced in the main file structure as a pair of byte coordinates, giving the X and Y position in tiles within the image file.

Certain tiles in the image file have special meaning.

The tile at 0,1 is a coin. If the player touches this tile in the level, they will gain a coin, and the tile will be swapped out for the tile at 0,0 which is always empty.

The tile at 0,2 is an extra life. If the player touches this tile in the level, they will gain an extra life, and the tile will be swapped out for the tile at 0,0.

The tile at 0,3 is a time extension. If the player touches this tile in the level, they will gain an extra 30 seconds on the clock, and the tile will be swapped out for the tile at 0,0.

All the remaining tiles on rows 0, 1 and 2 in the map are destructible tiles. The red form of the player can chew through the scenery. Chewing a tile from row 0 will cause that tile to be swapped out with the tile immediately below it in row 1. Chewing a tile from row 1 will cause that tile to be swapped out with the tile immediately below it in row 2. Chewing a tile from row 2 will cause that tile to be swapped out with the tile at 0,0, which is empty, so the player can then get through the gap created. Typically the tiles in these rows depict a gradually degraded state, you can have tiles that require more or less action to destroy them, by choosing from the three rows. Often the top row tiles are visually indistinguishable from some other non-destructible tiles in the tileset, allowing you to hide destructible tiles.

== Tools ==

{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=map}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [[FuryUtils]]
| Platform = x64Windows, Linux
| canView = No
| canCreate = Yes
| canModify = Yes
| editHidden = No
| editMetadata = No
| notes = Converts to and from text files
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}

== Credits ==

This file format was reverse engineered by [[User:Carbon14|carbon14]]. If you find this information helpful in a project you're working on, please give credit where credit is due. (A link back to this wiki would be nice too!)

BIN Format (Fury of the Furries)

2024-02-18T06:16:45Z

Malvineous: type=group -> type=archive

{{Map Infobox
| Type = 2D tile-based
| Layers = 3
| Tile size = 16×16
| Viewport = 320×200
| Games =
{{Game|Fury of the Furries}}
{{Game|Pac-In-Time}}
}}

[[Fury of the Furries]] maps contain the static background and landscape for the level, collectable coins, time extensions and extra lives and destructible bricks. They also contain the 'scripting for the game play itself', this is in the form of the definitions of the sprites that interact with the player character. There are up to 10 sprites in the level, each having up to 10 states. Triggers are defined for switching between states, and for the player and or sprites to switch on or off other game-play elements.

The file itself is run-length encoded, and after decompression is always a fixed length. Generally unused elements within the game are marked by the [[UINT16LE]] value 0xFFFF.

== File Formats ==

=== RLE Compressed File Format ===

{|class="wikitable"
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| FOURCC || header || Appears to be a header with version number. Most files decompress to an object 25518 bytes in length, but a handful of files are shorter, and appear to be earlier versions.<br />
byte is the shortest, at 25432 bytes, the last entry is the time field.<br />
byt1 and byt3 are 25482 bytes long, and include currents.<br />
byt4 is 25518, it's the version seen for the vast majority of the files, and includes all the fields after the currents.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || length || Number of bytes in section.<br />
if zero then stop decompressing.<br />
if less than 0x7D00 then use the following length bytes from the input.<br />
otherwise use the following byte from the input (length - 0x7D00) times.<br />
<br />
compressed and uncompressed sections always alternate, even if this makes the packing less efficient. This means that if you have two adjacent runs, There will be at least 1 character represented as uncompressed.
|-
| ... || etc || continue with another 'length' until the final file size is achieved (25,518 bytes), or you read a 0 length.
|}

The file should end with a zero length section. i.e. two bytes of 0.

=== Uncompressed File Format ===

==== FILE Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || mapWidth || Width of the playable area (in tiles) between 20 and 78.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || mapHeight || Height of the playable area (in tiles) between 13 and 51.

The maximum number of tiles in a game is 1024. This places constraints on the width and height.
The minimum width is 20 to match the viewport size of 320 pixels, and this constrains the height to 51 (20 × 51 = 1020).
The minimum height is 13 to match the viewport size of 200 pixels, and this constrains the width to 78 (13 × 78 = 1014).
Any other combination of width and height is possible so long as it meets these constraints.
|-
| [[UINT8]][2][78 × 51] || tileIndex || Pairs of coordinates into a [[LBM Format]] <tt>DEC</tt> file containing the tiles.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || decFile || The <tt>DEC</tt> file number less one. i.e. a value of 3 indicates <tt>DECOR04.LBM</tt>.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || startLeft || The center of the starting position for the player character from the left of the level, less 16 pixels.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || startTop || The center of starting position for the player character from the top of the level, less 16 pixels.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || foregroundPaletteIndex || The index of the first palette entry to be regarded as foreground.

The palette for the <tt>DEC</tt> file has 16 colours and they are used in a particular order. The first is always black and is background (i.e. the player character is not blocked by this colour)
The next 4 usually dark versions of yellow, red, green and blue and are used for the shadow colour of the player character sprite, in the 4 different forms that the player can take.
The next colour (colour 5 in the palette) is the bright colour of the player character, and will be swapped out as the player changes form.
The remaining colours a chosen to suit the needs of the stage of the game (desert, forest, mountains etc).
Generally the lower colours are regarded as background, and the upper colours as foreground, and this is used in the collision detection for the player and the landscape.
|-
| EXIT[5] || exit || 5 instances of a 6-byte structure describing the exits from the level.
|-
| WATER[5] || water1 || 5 instances of an 8-byte structure describing the regions of water in the level.
|-
| TELEPORT[5] || teleport || 5 instances of an 8-byte structure describing the regions of the game that can teleport the player.
|-
| NONSTICK[5] || nonStick || 5 instances of an 8-byte structure describing regions that the player cannot attach a rope to.
|-
| ACID[5] || acid || 5 instances of an 8-byte structure describing regions that will dissolve the player if touched.
|-
| DANGER[20] || danger || 20 instances of an 8-byte structure describing regions that will explode the player if touched.
|-
| SPRITE[10] || sprite || 10 instances of a 1688-byte structure describing sprites.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || blueStart || 1 if the blue form of the player is available at the start of the game.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || greenStart || 1 if the green form of the player is available at the start of the game.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || redStart || 1 if the red form of the player is available at the start of the game.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || yellowStart || 1 if the yellow form of the player is available at the start of the game.
|-
| [[UINT8]][12] || unknown || Purpose unknown.
|-
| FIELD[5] || redField || 5 instances of an 8-byte structure describing the particle field that enables/disables the red form of the player.
|-
| FIELD[5] || greenField || 5 instances of an 8-byte structure describing the particle field that enables/disables the green form of the player.
|-
| FIELD[5] || yellowField || 5 instances of an 8-byte structure describing the particle field that enables/disables the yellow form of the player.
|-
| FIELD[5] || blueField || 5 instances of an 8-byte structure describing the particle field that enables/disables the blue form of the player.
|-
| WATER[5] || water2 || 5 further instances of an 8-byte structure describing the regions of water in the level.

Probably one of these 2 sets of water data describes regions that start full of water and can be emptied, and the others describe regions which start empty and can be filled. I'm not sure.
|-
| [[UINT8]][10] || unknown || Purpose unknown.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || waterPaletteIndex || Index of colour in palette used for water.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || airPaletteIndex || Index of colour in palette used for air.

These two palette entries can be used to modify the image as regions of water fill/empty.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || time || Amount of time the player has to complete the level. In 30ths of a second (The game plays at 30 fps).
|-
| CURRENT[5] || current || 5 instances of a 10-byte structure describing regions of air or water currents.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || motePaletteIndex || Index of colour in palette used for dust motes moving in currents.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || unknown || Purpose unknown.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || spriteMap || Index of [[LBM Format]] <tt>SPR</tt> sprite map image to use for this level. 0 = A, 1 = B.
|-
| EXITRETURN[5] || exitReturn || 5 instances of a 4-byte structure describing where the player character should re-enter the level following a side-quest.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]][5] || exitGraphic || 5 instances of and indication of how a player is depicted exiting. 0 used for the end of the level dissolves the level viewport in a swirling vortex. 1 is smooth and is used for tunnelling in multi-map levels.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || unknown || Seems to indicate a row in the map at which some odd palette behaviour is observed. Possibly a bug, but it could be that the intention is to shift something in the colour scheme when the player is above ground / below ground.
|}

==== EXIT Format ====

The exit region is 16 × 16 pixels.

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the centre of the exit.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || top pixel of the centre of the exit.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || destination || Level number less one to go to next from this exit. Also the most significant bit indicates 0 = level exit, 1 = go to side quest.<br />
e.g. if this value is 0x8006, then go to level 7 as a side-quest.
|}

==== WATER Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the water region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the water region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right pixel of the water region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom pixel of the water region.
|}

==== TELEPORT Format ====

The teleport region is 16 × 16 pixels.

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || srcX || Left pixel of the centre of the teleport region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || srcY || Top pixel of the centre of the teleport region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || destX || Right pixel of the centre of the teleport region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || destY || Bottom pixel of the centre of the teleport region.
|}

==== NONSTICK Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the non-stick region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the non-stick region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right pixel of the non-stick region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom pixel of the non-stick region.
|}

==== ACID Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the acid region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the acid region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right pixel of the acid region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom pixel of the acid region.
|}

==== DANGER Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the danger region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the danger region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right pixel of the danger region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom pixel of the danger region.
|}

==== FIELD Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the particle field.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the particle field.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right pixel of the particle field.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom pixel of the particle field.
|}

==== CURRENT Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the current region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the current region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right pixel of the current region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom pixel of the current region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || flags || bit-0 and bit-1 : direction 00 = down, 01 = right, 10 = up, 11 = left<br/>bit-2: strength of current 0 = weak, 1 = strong<br/>bit-3: show current using dust motes 0 = no, 1 = yes
|}

==== EXITRETURN Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the centre of the return region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the return region.
|}

==== REGION Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left of region
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top of region
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right of region
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom of region
|}

==== SPRITE Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT8]] || layer || 0 = middleground (can interact with the player)<br/>1=background<br/>2=foreground (player can move behind it).
|-
| [[UINT8]] || malevolence || Bit-0: sprite will kill player in ? form<br/>Bit-1: sprite will kill player in yellow form<br/>Bit-2: sprite will kill player in ? form<br/>Bit-3: sprite will kill player in ? form.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || unknown || Purpose unknown
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || mask || Sprite requires a mask graphic for transparency. If a mask is required, it will be immediately below the sprite tile in the <tt>SPR</tt> file.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || cleanUp || The previous sprite image needs to be removed for each frame. This is not necessary if the sprite is unmasked and never changes position.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || strength || How much damage the sprite can sustain. 0 = infinite, otherwise 1-127.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || blastArea || Size of the explosion if the sprite is destroyed. (Purely a decorative concern, there is no splash damage).
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || active || Is the sprite in use.
|-
| [[UINT8]][2] || unknown ||
|-
| REGION || furryEntryRegion || Sprite will activate if furry enters this region.
|-
| REGION || furryExitRegion || Sprite will activate if furry leaves this region.
|-
| [[UINT8]][72] || unknown || Suspect that this region is actually populated and used as working space while the level is being played.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || fireRate || How often the sprite fires projectiles. 0 = none, 1-5 = low-high.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || fireType || How are projectiles fired. 1 = All directions slowly, 2 = Right, 3 = Left, 4 = All directions medium, 5 = All directions fast.
|-
| STATE[10] || state || 10 instances of a 158-byte structure describing the states that the sprite can be in.
|}

==== STATE Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the sprite location.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the sprite location.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || destState || Another state to move towards. The sprite will physically move to the location of the destination state, and change state when it reaches that location.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || speed || Speed of sprite movement 0 = None, 1-5 = slow-fast.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || movementType || 0 = horizontal then vertical, 1 = as the crow flies, 2 = just track player vertically, no sideways movement, 3 = just track player horizontally, no up/down movement, 4 = track player, 5 = fast move??, 6 = None.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || destWaterState || Another state to change to when a requested water level change is acheived.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || gravity || If 1, the sprite falls when unsupported.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || current || Control currents. Bits 0-4 specify currents affected, Bit-5 turns currents off, Bit-6 turns currents on.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || activateSprite || Number of another sprite to activate.
|-
| TRIGGER || entryTrigger || A 10-byte structure that describes a trigger to change state when the player enters a region.
|-
| TRIGGER || exitTrigger || A 10-byte structure that describes a trigger to change state when the player leaves a region.
|-
| TRIGGER || spriteEntryTrigger || A 10-byte structure that describes a trigger to change state when another sprite enters a region.
|-
| TRIGGER || spriteExitTrigger || A 10-byte structure that describes a trigger to change state when another sprite leaves a region (or is destroyed).
|-
| [[UINT8]] || destroy || The sprite is destroyed (deactivated) when it enters this state.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || bounce || The sprite bounces ballistically when it hits a surface.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || emptyWater || Bits 8-15 speed of emptying, Bits 0-7 number of water region to empty.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || fillWater || Bits 8-15 speed of filling, Bits 0-7 number of water region to fill.
|-
| [[UINT8]][4] || unknown || Seems to affect the starting location of projectiles, relative to the sprite location.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || waterTriggerLeft || Left pixel of region for water trigger (see destWaterState field).
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || waterTriggerTop || Top pixel of region for water trigger.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || waterTriggerRight || Right pixel of region for water trigger.
|-
| FRAME[10] || frame || 10 instances of an 8-byte structure describing the sprite tile location within the <tt>SPR</tt> image file
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || animSpeed || Rate of frame change of sprite animation.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || cycle || Does the animation cycle repeat.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || cycleCount || Number of animation frames before changing state.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || animTriggerState || Sprite state to move to when cycleCount is reached.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || waterTriggerBottom || Bottom pixel of region for water trigger.
|}

==== TRIGGER Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || state || State to move to when triggered.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the trigger region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the trigger region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right pixel of the trigger region.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom pixel of the trigger region.
|}

==== FRAME Format ====

{|class="wikitable"}
! Data Type || Name || Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || left || Left pixel of the sprite on the <tt>SPR</tt> image file.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || top || Top pixel of the sprite on the <tt>SPR</tt> image file.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || right || Right pixel of the sprite on the <tt>SPR</tt> image file <em>+ 8 pixels</em>.
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || bottom || Bottom pixel of the sprite on the <tt>SPR</tt> image file.
|}

== Notes ==

There are 10 different stages in the game, and correspondingly 10 different tile and sprite sets.

The tile images for the backgrounds and landscape are stored in the <tt>DEC</tt> directory, in image files which are in [[LBM Format]]. These files are named <tt>DECORxx.LBM</tt> where xx is specified by the decFile field of the main structure.

The sprite images are stored in the <tt>SPR</tt> directory, in image files which are in [[LBM Format]]. These files are named <tt>SPRxxn</tt> where xx is specified by the decFile field of the main structure, and n is specified by the spriteMap field in the main structure.

The sprites can be of varying sizes, the FRAME data structure describes the bounding box in pixels within the sprite image file. If the sprite requires a transparency mask, then this mask will be a rectangular region with the same size as the sprite, and placed in the image file immediately below the sprite.

Within the tile image file, all the tiles are 16 × 16 pixels, tiles are referenced in the main file structure as a pair of byte coordinates, giving the X and Y position in tiles within the image file.

Certain tiles in the image file have special meaning.

The tile at 0,1 is a coin. If the player touches this tile in the level, they will gain a coin, and the tile will be swapped out for the tile at 0,0 which is always empty.

The tile at 0,2 is an extra life. If the player touches this tile in the level, they will gain an extra life, and the tile will be swapped out for the tile at 0,0.

The tile at 0,3 is a time extension. If the player touches this tile in the level, they will gain an extra 30 seconds on the clock, and the tile will be swapped out for the tile at 0,0.

All the remaining tiles on rows 0, 1 and 2 in the map are destructible tiles. The red form of the player can chew through the scenery. Chewing a tile from row 0 will cause that tile to be swapped out with the tile immediately below it in row 1. Chewing a tile from row 1 will cause that tile to be swapped out with the tile immediately below it in row 2. Chewing a tile from row 2 will cause that tile to be swapped out with the tile at 0,0, which is empty, so the player can then get through the gap created. Typically the tiles in these rows depict a gradually degraded state, you can have tiles that require more or less action to destroy them, by choosing from the three rows. Often the top row tiles are visually indistinguishable from some other non-destructible tiles in the tileset, allowing you to hide destructible tiles.

== Tools ==

{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=archive}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [[FuryUtils]]
| Platform = x64Windows, Linux
| canExtract = Yes
| canDecompress = Yes
| canCreate = Yes
| canModify = Yes
| canCompress = Yes
| editHidden = N/A
| editMetadata = Yes
| notes =
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}

== Credits ==

This file format was reverse engineered by [[User:Carbon14|carbon14]]. If you find this information helpful in a project you're working on, please give credit where credit is due. (A link back to this wiki would be nice too!)

DAT Format (Fury of the Furries)

2024-02-18T06:16:44Z

Malvineous: type=group -> type=archive

{{Archive Infobox
| MaxFiles = Unlimited
| FAT = Beginning
| Names = Yes, 8.3
| Metadata = None
| Subdirectories = N
| Compressed = Y
| Encrypted = N
| Hidden = N
| Games =
{{Game|Fury of the Furries}}
}}
The '''Fury of the Furries DAT Format''' is used by [[Fury of the Furries]] for storing data. The data is NOT used by the game itself, but is used by the two executables that typically run before the game itself. <tt>INTRO.EXE</tt> runs an animation that illustrates the backstory to the game and <tt>LANG.EXE</tt> allows the user to select the language they wish to play the game in, and also asks for a copy-protection password. The data used by these two executables is stored in <tt>INTRO.DAT</tt> and <tt>LANG.DAT</tt> respectively.

The format is an archive storing many files, each of which can be optionally compressed.

== File format ==

=== Signature ===

There is no signature, and the fields must be checked to correctly detect files.

=== Header ===

The header is very simple.

{|class="wikitable"
! Data type !! Name !! Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || fileCount || The number of files stored in the archive.
|}

The header is immediately followed by the first file entry.

=== File entry ===

The header is followed by one or more file entries in the following structure.

{|class="wikitable"
! Data type !! Name !! Description
|-
| [[char]][13] || filename || Filename in 8.3 format, null-terminated.
|-
| [[UINT32LE]] || uncompressedSize || Size of the file when uncompressed.
|-
| [[UINT32LE]] || compressedSize || Size of the file when compressed. If the file is not compressed, this value is the same as the previous value.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || compressionFlag || 0 if the file is compressed. 1 if the file is not compressed.
|-
| [[BYTE]][compressedSize] || data || The content of the file, either plain or compressed.
|}

The next file header follows immediately after the data.

=== Compressed structure ===

If the file is compressed, it has the following structure.

First is a byte containing 8 flags, these flags should be read from lsb (least significant bit) to msb.

If the flag is 1, then read 1 byte and copy it to the output.

If the flag is 0, then read 2 bytes and use them to determine a sequence of bytes already in the output which can be copied to the output.

The length of the sequence to copy is given by the 3 plus the 4 lsb of the 2nd byte. (i.e. a length between 3 and 18).

The start of the sequence to copy is given by the remaining 12 bits. The 4 msb of the start address is given by the 4 msb of the second byte. And the 8 lsb of the address is given by the first byte.
Add 18 (0x12) to this 12-bit number. The address is an offset from the start of the output stream, BUT it always falls within the most recent 4096 bytes written. Therefore if the output streams is large, you may need to
increase the address by adding 4096 to it until it is no more that 4096 bytes from the current position in the output stream.

If the address is before the start of the output stream, then you should assume the space character (0x20) should be output. Probably this can be achieved by writing the output stream to a block of memory that immediately follows 18 spaces.

NOTE that the sequence to be copied can be less than length bytes from the current output position, the source and destination for the copy will therefore overlap, and all the bytes in the overlapping region will have the same value.

=== Pseudo-code ===

<pre>
while writtenLength < uncompressedSize {
compressionFlags = readByte()
foreach compressionFlag in compressionFlags {
if compressionFlag is set { // not compressed
copy 1 byte from input to output
}
else {
byte1 = readByte()
byte2 = readByte()
length = (byte2 & 0x0f) + 3;
offset = ((byte2 >> 4) << 8) + byte1;
offset += 0x12;
adjust offset to be within most recent 4096 bytes of output
copy length bytes from (offsetlocation in output) to output
}
stop if writtenLength = uncompressedSize
}
}
</pre>

=== Example taken from within <tt>LANG.DAT</tt> ===
This is a cut down section of <tt>PROT.ENG</tt>. The full file is longer and as a result the compressed file is shorter than the raw file.
==== Hex ====
<tt>
00000000  <font color="red">50 52 4F 54 2E 45 4E 47  00 00 00 00 14</font> <font color="green">1E 00 00</font>  <font color="red">PROT.ENG.....</font><font color="green">=..</font><br/>
00000010  <font color="green">00</font> <font color="cadetBlue">21 00 00 00</font> <font color="blue">00</font> <font color="magenta">FF</font> <font color="orange">45  4E 54 45 52 20 50 41</font> <font color="magenta">FF</font>  <font color="green">.</font><font color="cadetBlue"><...</font><font color="blue">.</font><font color="magenta">.</font><font color="orange">ENTER PA</font><font color="magenta">.</font><br/>
00000020  <font color="orange">53 53 57 4F 52 44 20 46</font>  <font color="magenta">DF</font> <font color="orange>4F 52 20 43 4F</font> F9 F0  <font color="orange">SSWORD F</font><font color="magenta">.</font><font color="orange>OR CO</font>..<br/>
00000030  <font color="orange">49 4E</font> <font color="magenta">FF</font> <font color="orange">41 54 45 53</font>                              <font color="orange">IN</font><font color="magenta">.</font><font color="orange>ATES</font><br/>
</tt>

==== Structure ====

{|class="wikitable"
|-
| <font color="red">50 52 4F 54 2E 45 4E 47 00 00 00 00 14</font> || filename || PROT.ENG
|-
| <font color="green">1E 00 00 00</font> || uncompressedSize || 30 bytes
|-
| <font color="cadetBlue">21 00 00 00</font> ||compressedSize || 33 bytes
|-
| <font color="blue">00</font> || isCompressed || file is compressed
|-
| <font color="magenta">FF</font> || bit flags || all plain text
|-
| <font color="orange">45 4E 54 45 52 20 50 41</font> || raw text || ENTER PA
|-
| <font color="magenta">FF</font> || bit flags || all plain text
|-
| <font color="orange">53 53 57 4F 52 44 20 46</font> || raw text || SSWORD F
|-
| <font color="magenta">DF</font> || bit flags || 5 plain text, 1 compressed, 2 plain text
|-
| <font color="orange>4F 52 20 43 4F</font> || raw text || OR CO
|-
| F9 F0</font> || lengthAndOffset || 3 bytes to be copied from position 11
|-
| <font color="orange">49 4E</font> || raw text || IN
|-
| <font color="magenta">FF</font> || bit flags || all plain text
|-
| <font color="orange">41 54 45 53</font> || raw text || ATES
|}

==== Final Output ====

<tt><font color="orange">ENTER PASSW<u style="text-decoration-color: black">ORD</u> FOR CO</font>ORD<font color="orange">INATES</font>
</tt>

== Tools ==

{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=archive}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [[FuryUtils]]
| Platform = x64Windows, Linux
| canExtract = Yes
| canDecompress = Yes
| canCreate = Yes
| canModify = No
| canCompress = Yes
| editHidden = N/A
| editMetadata = N/A
| notes =
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}

== Credits ==

This file format was reverse engineered by [[User:Carbon14|carbon14]]. If you find this information helpful in a project you're working on, please give credit where credit is due. (A link back to this wiki would be nice too!)

CC1 Format

2024-02-18T06:16:44Z

Malvineous: type=group -> type=archive

{{Archive Infobox
| MaxFiles = ''Unknown''
| FAT = Beginning
| Names = No
| Metadata = None
| Subdirectories = N
| Compressed = Y
| Encrypted = N
| Hidden = Y
| Games =
{{Game|Alone in the Dark}}
{{Game|Eternam}}
{{Game|7 Colors}}
{{Game|Advantage Tennis}}
{{Game|Alpha Waves|/ Continuum}}
{{Game|The Light Corridor}}
{{Game|Mystical}}
{{Game|Tintin on the moon}}
{{Game|North & South}}
{{Game|Drakkhen}}
{{Game|Hostage: Rescue Mission}}
{{Game|The Quest for the Time-Bird}}
{{Game|Project Neptune}}
}}

'''CC1 Format''' is a container of compressed data blocks used by several games developed (not only published) by '''Infogrames Europe SA''' around ~1988-1992, used to store game executables, graphics, language texts and sounds. The files usually have a <tt>.CC1</tt> extension, though some variations like <tt>.1</tt> and <tt>.C1</tt> also occur. One game, [[Hostage: Rescue Mission]], uses a <tt>.PXI</tt> extension.

The files have no specific identifiable information header to detect if the file is a CC1 file. Usually, the only hint is the file extension.

There is a variation of the CC1 format without the ability to contain multiple compressed blocks but just one, sometimes using the extension CC0

CC1 and CC0 using the same compression algorithm

== Content of CC1 ==

{|class="wikitable"
! Data type !! Name !! Description
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || NrOfFiles || Amount of compressed blocks.
|-
| [[UINT32LE]][NrOfFiles] || OffsetsTable || Offsets to PackedBlocks.
|}

This header is followed by PackedBlocks of compressed data.
The blocks don't need to be in order and can contain gaps between

== Content of CC0 ==

A single PackedBlock

== PackedBlock structure ==

Each block of compressed data has the following structure:

{|class="wikitable"
! Data type !! Name !! Description
|-
| [[UINT32LE]] || PackedSize || Packed data size.
|-
| [[UINT32LE]] || UnpackedSize || Unpacked data size.
|-
| [[UINT8]][PackedSize] || PackedData || The packed data.
|}

There is no information inside the archive to determine what each block of compressed data is; the blocks have no names or other identifiable values.

== Dictionary ==

very few CC1 files have some sort of file-dictionary at end (behind the last packed block)

games with dictionaries in CC1 files: Mystical, North & South, The-Light-Corridor, Shufflepuck Cafe, Cool Ball

{|class="wikitable"
! Data type !! Name !! Description
|-
| [[UINT8]][(Filecount*4)+6] || Unknown header || ordering and byte content unknown
|-
| [[UINT8]][Filecount][84] || Filename+unknown data || the first n bytes are a filename then nulls and a unknown 4 bytes at end
|}

== Extensions in Known Games ==

{|class="wikitable"
! Game !! Files !! Notes
|-
| [[Alone in the Dark]] || *.CC1 ||
|-
| [[Eternam]] || *.CC1, *.CC! || .CC! is in CC1 format
|-
| [[7 Colors]] || *.CC1 ||
|-
| [[Advantage Tennis]] || *.CC1, *.DAT || DAT files are in CC1 or CC0 format
|-
| [[Alpha Waves|Alpha Waves / Continuum]] || *.CC1 ||
|-
| [[The Light Corridor]] || *.1, *.COR || COR files are in CC1 or CC0 format
|-
| [[Mystical]] || *.1, *.2 || All in CC1 format
|-
| [[Tintin On The Moon]] || TINTINC.1 || CC1 format
|-
| [[North & South]] || *.1, *.2 || Most of the files are in CC0 format, some in CC1
|-
| [[Drakkhen]] || *.CC1, *.?C1, *.?C0 || ?C1 are in CC1 format, .?C0 are in CC0 format
|-
| [[Hostage: Rescue Mission]] || *.PXI, *.PKB || .PXI are CC1, .PKB are CC0
|-
| [[The Quest for the Time-Bird]] || *.CC1, *.CC0 ||
|-
| [[Neptune]] || *.CC1 ||
|-
| [[Full Metal Planet]] || *.CC1, *.VC0 || .VC0 are CC0
|-
| [[Murders in Space]] || *.CC1 ||
|-
| [[Safari Guns]] || *.CC1, *.PXI || .PXI are CC1
|-
| [[Wild Life]] || *.CC1 ||
|-
| [[Murders in Venice]] || *.PXI ||
|-
| [[Cool Ball]] || *.CC1, *.PX* ||
|-
| [[Shufflepuck Cafe]] || *.CC1,*.CC0,*.PXI || .PXI are CC1
|-
| [[Chicago 90]] || *.CC1 ||
|-
| [[Fire!]] || *.PIC || .PIC are CC1
|-
| [[Disney's Beauty and the Beast]] || *.CC1 ||
|-
| [[Wild Life]] || *.CC1 ||
|-
| [[Extase]] || *.BIN, *.EGA ||
|-
| [[Kult]] || *.BIN, *.PXI ||
|-
| [[Teenage Queen]] || *.PXI ||
|-
| [[Highway Patrol II]] || *.DAT || .DAT are CC1
|-
| [[Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet (ES)]] || *.CC1 ||

|}

[https://github.com/LowLevelMahn/alpha_waves_loader/blob/main/tools/uncompress_cc/known_files.txt Detailed file list of the games]

== Tools ==

{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=archive}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [https://github.com/LowLevelMahn/alpha_waves_loader/blob/main/tools/uncompress_cc/uncompress_cc.cpp Uncompress tool for CC1/CC0 files]
| Platform = Windows/Linux
| canExtract = Yes
| canDecompress = Yes
| canCreate = No
| canModify = No
| canCompress = No
| editHidden = No
| editMetadata = N/A
| notes = Standalone uncompress tool for CC1/CC0 files with C/C++ source code.
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}

DAT Format (Centurion - Defender of Rome)

2024-02-18T06:16:44Z

Malvineous: type=group -> type=archive

{{Archive Infobox
| MaxFiles = Unlimited
| FAT = External
| Names = Yes, 8.3
| Metadata = None
| Subdirectories = N
| Compressed = Y
| Encrypted = N
| Hidden = Y
| Games =
{{Game|Centurion: Defender of Rome}}
}}
The '''DAT Format''' in ''[[Centurion: Defender of Rome]]'' is used to store game data. Files can be compressed but the algorithm is currently unknown.

The format uses two files with the same base name, but different extensions. The <tt>.dir</tt> extension stores the filenames and attributes, and the <tt>.dat</tt> extension stores the actual data for each file.

== File format ==

=== File entry ===

The <tt>.dir</tt> file consists of a list of entries, one for each file. Each entry is 20 bytes in length, so dividing the file size by 20 will reveal the number of files in the archive.

Note that a 16-bit integer is used for the file size, preventing files larger than 64 kB from being stored in the archive.

{|class="wikitable"
! Data type !! Name !! Description
|-
| [[UINT32LE]] || offset || Offset of the file's data, relative to the start of the <tt>.dat</tt> file
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || size || File's size on disk (compressed size, if compressed)
|-
| [[char]][13] || filename || Filename, must be null-terminated.
|-
| [[UINT8]] || attributes || Bitfield: 0x80 = compressed, 0x40 = CBM file?
|}

The file data is stored in the <tt>.dat</tt> file, at the given offsets and lengths.

== Tools ==

{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=archive}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [[Camoto Online#gamearchive.js|Camoto/gamearchive.js]]
| Platform = Any
| canExtract = Yes
| canDecompress = No
| canCreate = Yes
| canModify = Yes
| canCompress = No
| editHidden = No
| editMetadata = N/A
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}

Shaw's Nightmare Archive Format

2024-02-18T06:16:44Z

Malvineous: type=group -> type=archive

{{Archive Infobox
| MaxFiles = 4,294,967,295
| FAT = End
| Names = Y
| Metadata = None
| Subdirectories = N
| Compressed = N
| Encrypted = N
| Hidden = Y
| Games =
{{Game|Shaw's Nightmare 1}}
{{Game|Shaw's Nightmare 2}}
}}

The '''Shaw's Nightmare Archive Format''' stores the archive headers first, file data next, and file index last.

== File Format ==

=== Archive Header ===

If the header is not "'''DAT\x1a'''", it isn't a valid archive.

{|class="wikitable"
! Data type !! Bytes !! Name !! Description
|-
| char[4] || 4 || magic || Each archive starts with the magic/signature "DAT\x1a"
|-
| [[UINT16LE]] || 2 || numitems|| How many files in the archive
|-
| [[UINT32LE]] || 4 || index_offset|| Offset for the file index in the archive
|-
| UINT32LE || 4 || index_size|| size of the index in bytes
|}

Total size of header is '''14 bytes'''

=== File Header ===

File data is stored at the top of the archive after the header and before the file index.

{|class="wikitable"
! Data type !! Bytes !! Name !! Description
|-
| char[13] || 13 || name|| Filenames are right padded with 0x0 to 13 bytes
|-
| BYTE[3] || 3 || padding || 3 bytes of padding
|-
| UINT32LE || 4 || size || Size of file
|-
| UINT32LE || 4 || offset || Offset for the file.
|}

Total size of header is '''24 bytes'''

== Tools ==

{{BeginFileFormatTools|Type=archive}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [https://codeberg.org/parlortricks/sne SNE]
| Platform = DOS
| canExtract = Yes
| canDecompress = N/A
| canCreate = No
| canModify = No
| canCompress = N/A
| editHidden = No
| editMetadata = N/A
| notes = Coded in the [https://fennel-lang.org/ Fennel] language by [https://codeberg.org/parlortricks parlortricks]
}}
{{FileFormatTool
| Name = [https://codeberg.org/parlortricks/snp SNP]
| Platform = Windows/Linux
| canExtract = No
| canDecompress = N/A
| canCreate = Yes
| canModify = No
| canCompress = N/A
| editHidden = No
| editMetadata = N/A
| notes = Coded in the [https://fennel-lang.org/ Fennel] language by [https://codeberg.org/parlortricks parlortricks]
}}
{{EndFileFormatTools}}

[[Category:Build engine]]