Z
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Z
There is no image of this game's title screen — upload one!
There is no image of a modified version of this game — upload one!
| Levels? |  Partially editable |
|---|---|
| Tiles? | Partially editable |
| Sprites? | Partially editable |
| Fullscreen? | Partially editable |
| Sound? | Partially editable |
| Music? | Partially editable |
| Text? | Partially editable |
| Story/cutscenes? | Partially editable |
| UI/menus? | Partially editable |
| Demos? | Unknown |
Z is a real-time strategy game by The Bitmap Brothers, released in 1996. These notes describe the English DOS CD edition identified by the repository as volume Z_280796.
The game uses both installed files and CD assets. Most multi-byte game values are little-endian, but IFF chunk lengths and the sine-table words are big-endian. The extension alone does not identify a format: DAT files include level records, graphics and lookup tables.
Tools
| Name | Platform | Archives | Levels | Graphics | Music | Sounds | Text | Saves | .exe patch | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| re-z | Web browser | Extract | View | Export | Play | Export | Some | No | No | The local assets.html viewer previews original assets and exports supported images as PNG and samples as WAV. Requires the original game files. Music synthesis is approximate. |
File formats
| Filename | Format | Details |
|---|---|---|
| *.PAC (JMP2 signature) | Z JMP2 Archive Format | The main asset archives of Z use the JMP2 container |
| JMP2 member streams | Z LZSS Compression Format | Z compresses individual JMP2 members with an LZSS variant |
| SPRITES.RSC | Z Sprite Format | Sprites in Z are stored in SPRITES |
| LEVELnn.MAP | Z Map Format | Levels in Z store terrain and supporting data in LEVELnn |
| *.BLK | Z Tileset Format | The terrain tiles in Z are stored in |
| *.PAL | Z Palette Format | Terrain palettes in Z are 256-colour VGA palettes shared by tiles and sprites |
| *.LBM | Z Image Format | Full-screen pictures and other images in Z use IFF |
| LEVELS.DAT | Z Level Index Format | LEVELS |
| OBJECTnn.DAT | Z Object Placement Format | Object placements for a Z level are stored separately from its MAP file |
| BUILDnn.DAT | Z Building Format | Buildings for each Z level are stored in a separate data file |
| BRIDGEnn.DAT | Z Bridge Format | Bridge records supplement the terrain cells of a Z map |
| CPUPLRnn.DAT | Z CPU Player Format | The CPU-player data of Z also contains the level territory records |
| ROBOTS.DAT | Z Robot Database Format | ROBOTS |
| MULT.DAT | Z Multiplier Format | MULT |
| HSHWING0–3.DAT; VSHWING0–3.DAT | Z Shadow Table Format | Z loads eight shadow/effect tables during level setup |
| SINCOS.DAT | Z Sine Table Format | SINCOS |
| SQROOT.BIN | Z Square Root Table Format | SQROOT |
| HEADBIT*.DAT; HEADBACK.DAT; NEWPANEL.DAT; BOTTOM*.DAT; SVGA equivalents | Z Panel Graphics Format | The HUD artwork of Z is packaged in HEADFX |
| PHRASES.BIN | Z Phrase Data Format | PHRASES |
| CHARS.BIN | Z Character Data Format | CHARS |
| *.RAW | Z Sound Format | Sampled sound effects and speech in Z are stored in headerless RAW files |
| AUDIO/*FX.LST | Z Sound List Format | Z uses text lists to associate sound numbers with sample files and playback settings |
| *.XMI | Z Music Format | Music in Z uses Miles XMIDI sequences stored in IFF containers |
| SAMPLE.AD; SAMPLE.OPL | Z Timbre Bank Format | Z supplies Miles Global Timbre Library banks for FM music playback |
| *.JV | Z Video Format | The cutscenes in Z use JV files containing indexed-colour video, palette updates and sampled audio |
| OPTIONS.CFG | Z Configuration Format | OPTIONS |
| SAVE0.Z–SAVE9.Z | Z Save Game Format | Z has ten named save slots |
| HISCORE/HISC.DAT | Z High Score Format | The high-score file of Z is loaded as a block at static address 0x14008b |
| CD root Z.PAC | Z Installer Archive Format | The CD-root Z |
| DIG.INI; MDI.INI; AILDRVR.LST; UVCONFIG.DAT | Z Driver Configuration Format | The Z installation includes sound and video setup data in addition to the game assets |
| EDOOR.DAT; FDOOR.DAT; GDOOR.DAT; SDOOR.DAT; IDOOR.DAT | Z Door Data Format | The installed DOOR |
Notes
- A format page marked partial is not a complete editing specification. Unknown fields must be preserved.
- The main/language archive lookup precedes loose-file fallback.
- Executables, DLLs, MDI/DIG/DRV drivers, Windows ICO/PIF files, BAT launchers and README.TXT are platform/support files rather than proprietary game asset formats..
- Standard IFF and Miles formats are documented here only to the extent implemented by the repository.
External links
- re-z on GitHub – source code, asset viewer and reverse-engineering notes in the docs/ folder