.ROT format

[Crook]

I've done some work on an extractor for rot files. They seem to be reasonably simple graphics files. There are a few things to iron out, but most seem to be images with smaller dimension versions within the file.

http://www.tgu.org.uk/users/gw/crook/rotextracts1.jpg

[Gank]

dds files with mipmaps?

[Spooky]

Nice one Andy. :) I was meaning to have a look at those files :)

[Crook]

Just looking at the dds structure - it seems similar. It'd make sense as these are what's being brought out of the HOD's...

[Pesmontis]

Do these files-within-files have something like a chunk-name?
(I'm too lazy to go look myself ;-)

Nice one Crook!

[Arioch]

Excellent.

[Crook]

there are a few possibilities for chunk names - FORM being one of them that I see all over HW2 files.

[Spooky]

The file layout of ROT files is very simple:

FORM HEAD // File Header
FORM MIPS // MIP Header
FORM MLVL // MIP level 0
.
.
.
FORM MLVL // MIP Level n

Basically each MIP level is within a separate FORM MLVL block....

[Pesmontis]

There must be quite a few kinds of chunks in all kinds of HW2 files, shall we start on a list?

I'm looking at HOD files seeing a.o.

BMSH - (different types w. different record lengths)
DXT5 & LMIP - (both for DDS textures)
BBOX - (plain coordinates & faces)
STRF
TRIS
SSUB

The last three I've not done anything with yet.
There's also something like keyframes in HODs near 'FVAFORM'.

[Delphy]

FORM shouldn't be regarded as a seperate chunk type - they are the "overall" chunk parents that contain all other chunks.

TRIS = Triangles (vertex & polygon info)

btw I made BBOX = Bounding Box and BSPH = Bounding Sphere

[Pesmontis]

Yeah, that seems to hit the nail on the head. Though BBOX isn't exactly a 'box' is it?

[Arioch]

Crook, is your tool in anything close to a releasable form? I could certainly find a use for it.

[Crook]

Not at the moment no. The above pics are just the initial outputs

[Pesmontis]

Hey Crook, would you mind giving us (me) some more detail on TGA extraction?
(I'm looking at those misson spheres).

I think an std. header = 18 bytes (std footer = 26 bytes)?


Chunks update:

STRF (probably short for 'SiTe ReFerence'): Voronoi site coords (& angles?). 7 DWORDs per record (7th = separator but not sure).

BGSG: 8 DWORDS per record incl. separator (1 DWORD).

[Crook]

TGA? Never looked at them. Misson spheres? Where at?

[Pesmontis]

What I mean is that I think ROT files contain Targa images & you know probably know a bit more about the Targa header.
I haven't seen Targa in HOD files (yet), but they sometimes contain a name of a TGA file, for instance in 'm##.hod', which I think contain the 'Universe' mesh data & colour info.