Monster Bash Level Format

Monster Bash Level Format

Format type	Map/level
Map type	2D tile-based
Layer count	3
Tile size (pixels)	16×16
Viewport (pixels)	320×200
Games	Monster Bash Scubaventure

Monster Bash stores its levels across a number of different files inside BASHx.DAT. Annoyingly, many of the files have the same filename and only differ in the 'filetype code' also stored in the .DAT file.

Map description file

Each map contains a file (of .DAT filetype code #0) which contains the filenames of the other associated files for the level. The file contains a number of fixed-length strings of 31 bytes each, corresponding to a filename in the main .DAT file. Note that the DAT file will have multiple files matching the names used here, so the DAT filetype codes (or fake filename extensions) are used to differentiate between particular files.

Data type	Description	DAT filetype code/extension
char bgtiles[31]	Filename of the background tileset	3 (.tbg)
char fgtiles[31]	Filename of the foreground tileset	4 (.tfg)
char bonustiles[31]	Filename of the bonus tileset	5 (.tbn)
char sprites[31]	Name of the sprite list	6 (.sgl)
char palette[31]	Filename of the palette file(?)	14 (.pal)
char sounds[31]	Filename of the PC speaker sound effects	8 (.snd)
char unknown[31]	Unused slot? (contains "UNNAMED")	N/A

Tilesets

Each map file uses three tilesets - one for the background and two for the foreground (called bonus and fg below.) See DAT Format (Monster Bash) for details on the file types and image format. The animation frames for each sprite are stored in separate files (one file per sprite.)

Background layer

The background layer is a list of 16-bit indices into the background tileset. It is stored in a file of .DAT filetype code #1.

Data type	Description
UINT8 mapWidth	Width of map, in tiles
UINT8 mapHeight	Height of map, in tiles
UINT16LE mapWidthBytes	Width of map, in bytes (divide by two to get width in tiles)
UINT16LE pixelWidth	Width of map, in pixels (divide by 16 to get width in tiles)
UINT16LE pixelHeight	Height of map, in pixels (divide by 16 to get height in tiles)
UINT16LE tiles[mapWidth * mapHeight]	Tile codes, one per tile

The lower nine bits of each tilecode are indices into the background tileset (so if tilecode & 0x1FF was 2, the third tile from the background tileset would be drawn at that location.)

The upper seven bits control the tile's behaviour:

Bit	Binary (Decimal)	Mask	Purpose when bit is 1
1	0000001 (1)	0x0200	Can't walk right into tile
2	0000010 (2)	0x0400	Can't walk left into tile
3	0000100 (4)	0x0800	Can't fall down through tile (i.e. ground tiles you stand on)
4	0001000 (8)	0x1000	Can't jump up through tile
5	0010000 (16)	0x2000	Foreground tile contains an interactive item (point, spear, zombie spawning grave, etc.)
6	0100000 (32)	0x4000	Slanted tile (direction controlled by foreground tile)
7	1000000 (64)	0x8000	Climbable (ladder)

Foreground layer

The foreground layer is a list of 8-bit indices into the two masked tilesets. It is stored in a file of .DAT filetype code #2 (.mfg).

Data type	Description
UINT16LE mapWidth	Width of map, in tiles
BYTE tiles[mapWidth * mapHeight]	Tile codes

The height of the layer is the same as for the background layer. If the background layer is unavailable, it can be approximated by dividing the file's size by the map width, but as some files have an extra 0x00 byte at the end this method requires a little more effort to work correctly.

Each byte represents an index to the tileset. Values with the high bit unset (less than 128) are indices into the bonus tileset, and values with the high bit set (>= 128) are indices into the fg tileset (so a map code of 129 refers to the second tile in the fg tileset.)

Foreground tiles are drawn at the very front (obscuring background tiles and sprites), while the bonus tiles are drawn behind sprites, only obscuring the background tiles.

Sprite layer

The sprite layer is a list of sprite filenames and their coordinates. It is stored in a file of .DAT filetype code #7 (.msp), while the sprites themselves are .DAT filetype code #64 (.spr).

The sprite layer begins with an unknown UINT16LE value which always seems to be 0xFFFE, followed by the below structure repeated until EOF.

Data type	Description
UINT32LE len	Length of this structure, including this field
UINT32LE unknown	Always 0x00000000
UINT32LE unknown	Unused? Changing seems to have no effect
UINT16LE unknown	Always 0x0000
UINT32LE x	X-offset, in pixels
UINT32LE y	Y-offset, in pixels
BYTE padding[22]	?
char filename[len-44]	Sprite filename, with two terminating nulls

Sprite list (.sgl)

When loading a level, the engine needs to preload all sprites that will be used in the level. Each sprite must be explicitly listed (even if it's listed in the sprite layer) as well as other associated sprites, such as the knife sprite thrown by the knife-thrower. The game will misbehave if it attempts to draw a sprite that has not been loaded.

The names of these sprites are listed in the Sprite List (.sgl) file. This file contains one ASCII filename (no extension) padded with 0x00 to 31 bytes long, one after the other until EOF.

The official files store the sprite names in alphabetical order, however this is not required.

This list will always include some names, like those belonging to the player sprite and the health gauge, however others only need to be included if related sprites exist in the level. No need to load the zombie head sprites if there are no zombies in the level, for instance (doing so won't cause any harm, but may use up too much memory preventing the level from loading.)

The following table lists the sprites that should appear in this list, based on the sprites appearing in the sprite layer.

Sprite name (.msp)	Additional required sprites (.sgl)
(Mandatory)	arrows blank border border2 cat chunk dog flag float100? guage heart leaf rock? ! Maybe only if rock powerup is used? score splat white
main_l main_r	break_screen crack crawl_left crawl_right dirt_l dirt_r main_die main_exit main_hat_l main_hat_r main_l main_meter main_r main_stars
axe	axe
bat	bat_blob
bazooka	bazooka_shot
beetle_rest	beetle
brain_l brain_r	brain_l brain_r brain_zap
cloud	lightn
cyclops_l cyclops_r	cyclops_l cyclops_r cyc_horn_l cyc_horn_r ! Confirm these last two are needed
devil_l devil_r	devil_l devil_r pfork_l pfork_r
eye_l eye_r	eye_l eye_r seye_l seye_r
fish_leap	fish_flounder
fly_l fly_r	fly_l fly_r fly_egg tsetse_l tsetse_r
gorgon_l gorgon_r	gorgon_l gorgon_r gorgon_zap main_stoned
guy_jump	guy_jump
hand_l hand_r	hand_l hand_r
hell_head	hell_head_pieces
horse	horse
iman_l iman_r	iman_l iman_r hat
knifee	knifee knife
knifee_ud	knifee_ud knife
mouse	mouse
nemesis	main_broom (plus all main_r dependent sprites)
phead_l phead_r	phead_l phead_r pumpkin
princess	bazooka bazooka_shot
score1up	score1up
skelet_l skelet_r	skelet_l sketet_r jaw_l jaw_r
snake	snake
swamp_l swamp_r swamp2_l swamp2_r	swamp_l swamp_r swamp2_l swamp2_r swamp_scum2_l swamp_scum2_r swamp_scum_l swamp_scum_r
teeth_l teeth_r	teeth_l teeth_r
tiger_l tiger_r	tiger_run_l tiger_run_r bomb explode
tman_bl tman_br	tman_bl tman_br pellet_h
tman_ld tman_lu	tman_ld tman_lu pellet_h
tman_rd tman_ru	tman_rd tman_ru pellet_h
tman_tl tman_tr	tman_tl tman_tr pellet_h
vulture	vulture vulture_l vulture_r
witch_l witch_r	witch_l witch_r witch_zap explode
witch_fly	witch_zap explode
zb_l zb_r	zb_l zb_r zbh_l zbh_r zhead zhead_r

The following table lists the sprites that should appear, based on tiles appearing in the foreground layer:

Map element	Additional required sprites (.sgl)
collapsing walkway	plank plank_r
skull (point item)	skullw
dragon	drag_b drag_eye drag_fire drag_l smoke1
rocket (powerup)	msm explode
big rock (powerup)	grenade
fire shot (powerup)	grenade fire_bit?
lightbulb	glass

Credits

This file format was reverse engineered by Malvineous. 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!)