Copyright 2000 Jonas Jensen aka Bones0
Documentation update 2a
WDG Explorer is a developer tool for creating Warzone 2100 mods.
It can view and extract the contents of wdg files, so you can
modify these files and put together your own wdg files using
Pumpkin's MakeWDG.exe.
This app is still in beta version, so don't expect too much. The
user interface still has rough edges.
I take no responsibility if this software harms your computer in any way. You're on your own from here. Do feel free to contact me, though, in case you have problems.
You may freely distribute this release as long as no fee is charged. I own all rights to WDG Explorer and its components such as this documentation. If you want to rip something from it, you have to ask me first
WDG Explorer is a tool that can be used to open mods made by
others and use them as a base to build your own mods. This is
illegal unless the author has explicitly permitted you to do this.
You may look at the contents of other peoples' wdg files for
inspiration but you are not allowed to copy any of the data without
the author's permission.
The author of this program cannot be held responsible if users
of this program use it to violate US or international copyright laws.
The "Files" tab displays the contents of the open file. If
the "Passthru entries" option
is checked, passthru files are also displayed. In that case, the
files that can be extracted will be displayed in bold text.
If you are wondering why some of the filenames are a bit weird, read
the Filenames section.
The "Type" column is used by Warzone to determine how
the file is used in the game.
The "Directory" isn't really important, because there
are no folders in a wdg file. It refers to the location that
the Pumpkin wrf files will say it is when you recompile the file.
This is stored in the Files.txt file.
On the WDG tab, information is displayed about the entire archive:
Warzone uses the internal ID to determine
which files have priority. Higher numbers will overwrite lower
ones. For your own mods, the ID needs to be above Pumpkin's
patches. The November patch had ID 11. IDs can be any unsigned 32-bit
integer, that means numbers from 0 to 4,294,967,295.
Maps compiled with EditWorld have an ID of 20,000.
Be aware of conflicts with other mods that exist. Just picking a
high ID is no way to solve incompatibilities because they will
only make other people's mods malfunction. Instruct users to
disable all other wdgs in the ModSwitcher, or wait for the
ModSwitcher version that supports automatic
compatibility negotiation.
The internal name is a bit like the internal
ID. It must not be longer than 16 characters and it's
usually the same as the filename. Changing the internal name does
not have any effect in the game – it's only used to
keep track of dependencies in the “required wdgs” list.
There are some restrictions when choosing this name - stick
to the characters a-Z.
IMPORTANT!!!!!!!
When making a
new version of your wdg file that for some reason will be
compatible with more files (master text files used) and/or
incompatible with more files (more files included), it's a
good idea to change the internal ID or the internal name. This is
because the ModSwitcher's automatic compatibility
negotiation feature allows mod makers to explicitly define that
their mod is compatible or incompatible with certain other mods.
The way to identify the other mod is the internal ID and the
internal name. If two mods are have been defined as compatible
and one of them is in a new version that's incompatible, it
is not possible to define different compatibility rules for the
two mods. So:
When adding a new file to your mod, give it a different ID
This lists the wdg files that are required to use this wdg. It is usually the Pumpkin wdgs up to the latest patch. It shows the internal ID in parenthesis and then the internal name. This is not the filename. Warzone will not be able to launch without all the files in place.
This lists the wrf files that were used to compile this wdg. Wrf files are text files that describe the files to put in the wdg. They contain the filename, the file type, and the path. This list shows their filenames and the number of files they contain, including passthru entries.
Contains the commands: New, Open, Close, Add, Extract, View, Delete, File Info, Readme.
Option for creating a new wdg file isn't available yet. Maybe it will never be added, because it's really easy to just compile it with the MakeWDG program...
Guess what this one does..
There can only be one file open at a time – but you can
launch multiple instances of WDG Explorer. It takes a few seconds
to open a file, because it has to look up all the filenames in a
database to convert them to text. The more files and passthru
entries the WDG has, the longer it will take.
Close the file that's currently open.
Not implemented yet – same case as the New command
Opens the Extract dialog. Select the files you want extracted first.
Not implemented yet.
This will open the selected file in the application you associated it with in Windows. I haven't put it in yet, but look for it in a future version.
Displays a basic info box where the main exhibits are the file size and their wrf. It also has special information for texpages, but this is only for the game internally.
When a file is in a wrf but not in the wdg,
it is listed as a passthru entry. It tells the game that the file
exists, but it is not in this wdg. Warzone will then look for the
file in the lower ID wdgs.
WDG Explorer can view all the passthru entries in a wdg, but it's
not much use since they can't be extracted. When this is
selected, the passthru entries are in normal font while the files
compiled in the wdg are bold.
The same file is often mentioned in two
different wrf files. It is possible that the files are different,
but in 99% of the cases, they're the same. Selecting this
option will only display the first file if there are more files
with the same filename.
Turning this option on will increase performance when opening
large files like warzone.wdg, but only during the opening process.
If you are not interested in the maps contained in the wdg, uncheck this to hide all map files. When the map files are hidden, they will not be extracted, even if you click "all files".
I use this menu myself, but I deactivate it for releases. It just contains tools for making Files.txt and Types.txt from some Pumpkin source files they gave to the N.E.W.S.T. team.
Displays this document in your default browser. Microsoft Internet Explorer 5 or above is recommended. I tested it in Netscape up to 4.6 and some of the text is garbled. It looks fine in the latest beta of Mozilla 5 if you really hate IE ;) but then you won't get the nice table of contents to the left.
Lets you know what version of the program you are running, and some other stuff.
This dialog will allow you to choose the path and options for extracting the files from a wdg.
Type the folder you want to extract to. The list contains all the paths you have extracted to before. You must type a folder that exists. If you want to create a subfolder, use the New Folder button.
This will cause the folder explorer display to go to the location you typed. From there, you can browse the subfolders.
Select all files to extract the whole set of files.
This is not implemented yet.
The source of wdg files is contained in a directory structure before compiling, although the actual wdg doesn't contain any directory information. When you are planning to put the wdg back together again, use this option to restore the folders. If the wdg file was compiled with different folders, this option will not preserve them – they will go back to the default.
I haven't made this yet...
In WDG files, the file names of the source files are small hex
sequences, like a checksum on the file name. The names are not actually stored
in the file, so the WDG Explorer can only find them by looking up the hex value
in a database called files.txt.
Some of the filenames cannot be converted into strings, so they
are displayed as a $ followed by a hex number. This is due to the
way Warzone stores filenames. Future versions of WDG Explorer
might be able to present the user with a number of possible
filenames for unknown files.
Files.txt contains all the filenames Pumpkin gave to the N.E.W.S.T. team. There
are some files in the warzone.wdg that aren't included in here. These are wrf
files from the original campaign and subtitles for the videos - not something
you will need to modify. I have the filenames for these files but I just prefer
to spend my spare time developing the program rather than converting all these
files - it would be an awful lot of work.
Not all hex filenames can be converted into normal filenames when they are not
in the database. On map files, it can guess the names by reading a bit from them,
and on other files, it can find the extension based on a query in the Types.txt
file.
These limits are just hard-coded into the program to save memory, but they can be changed if you tell me to.
N.E.W.S.T. project and ModSwitcher
http://rtsempire.net
StrategyXtreme forums
http://strategyxtreme.com/forums
Pumpkin Studios
http://www.pumpkin.co.uk
Warzone official homepage
http://warzone2100.com
The Hunting Grounds
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Tower/7381/index2.htm
Maynard's Cyber House
http://www.iso.net/~maynard
Since WDG Explorer is in beta, you are a beta tester.
If you find any bugs, please help me sort them out.
[email protected]
or
Bones0 on MSN Messenger
or
61422551 on ICQ
0.81 will be the only version to be released for a while. I'm busy working with the compatibility auto-negotiation feature for Sputnick's ModSwitcher.
While WDG Explorer can take WDG files apart, it can't put them back together again. This section will instruct you on how to use Pumpkin's MakeWDG program.
Like the Quake games keep their data in .pak files, Warzone 2100 uses the wdg format.
All data the game uses is contained in these files (with a few exceptions)
so when you do a mod, you will have to make files in this format. These files are compiled
by the program MakeWDG.exe that comes with EditWorld - or you can make them yourself with a
hex editor if you are a nutcase and you have read Appendix C way too thouroughly ;).
The MakeWDG program reads instructions from .wrf files telling it what files to compile,
where to find them and what types they are. When it has created a wdg file, just put it into your
Warzone 2100 root folder and they will be loaded on game start.
This tutorial will teach you how to make a basic mod for Warzone. The mod will give all
players VTOL trucks in multiplayer/skirmish and it will modify the text in the game menus.
It assumes that you have no previous experience with moding for Warzone, but that you know
how to get around in Windows files and folders.
Before you begin the tutorial, I recommend that you clean out your Warzone root folder
of anything you don't need. All wdg files that are not the Pumpkin ones (those have names
like dates or months i.e. May28.wdg or Oct.wdg, plus NewTech and NewMaps) should be renamed to
.wzw. That will make the files appear unchecked in the ModSwitcher if you use that program to launch Warzone.
You can keep your maps but I recommend you remove the mods. You can put them back afterwards
and your mod might be compatible with them, but this way you don't need to start troubleshooting
when making your first wdg file.
You need to make sure that you have the contents of Warzone_wrf.zip (41 files with wrf extension).
You will also need the MakeWDG.exe program (located in your main Warzone folder after installing
EditWorld), and you will also - of course - need WDG Explorer.
I recommend that you install the latest - and final - patch: v1.10. It can be found along with
EditWorld on www.pumpkin.co.uk (or
rtsempire.net or
warzone2100.com).
Making mods for Warzone 2100 always involves extracting the source files you need to
modify, making the changes and putting them back together. The source files are extracted
from Pumpkin's wdg files with WDG Explorer, so start by launching this program.
You will need to modify the files Names.txt, Templates.txt and Strings.txt. I only know
that it's these files because I have experience with moding - if you are new, you will have
to figure out pretty much yourself what each file does - with the help of my
Source Files Reference.
You will always want to get the most recent version of a source file, so when you are looking
for it, start with the latest patch (nov.wdg) and move down until you find it - if it's nowhere
else, you will find it in Warzone.wdg.
Start by opening nov.wdg. There, you will find Names.txt and Templates.txt. Extract these two
files to an empty temporary folder on your hard drive - this will be the folder in which you will put
the wdg together. You extract them by selecting them (click the first one, then CTRL+click the
next one) and selecting Extract from the toolbar or the Archive menu. Choose to extract the
selected files and to make subdirs - for your convenience.
To find Strings.txt you would normally have to go backwards through the patches (oct.wdg, sept30.wdg,
etc...) until you find it, but I can tell you that you will only find it in warzone.wdg. Open this
file (takes a while) and extract the Strings.txt file to the same location with the same settings as before.
Now you should have a folder on your hard drive that contains a "stats" folder with Templates.txt
and a "messages\strings" folder with Names.txt and Strings.txt.
First, we will change the menus. Open Strings.txt in Notepad or a similar program and search for
the string
You will see that below it are all the strings used in the in-game menu. The text between /* and */
are just comments - lines that will not be read by the game. /* starts a comment and */ ends it.
You can also use // to make a comment that will last for the rest of the line it's on.
Modify any strings you like in here, but don't break anything. You may only change the text between
quotes and you must remember to leave the quotes. The six first strings on the list below
The VTOL trucks require you to create a new unit template. Units are created with entries in Names.txt,
Templates.txt and AssignWeapons.txt, but since your unit won't have a weapon, you aren't going
to mess with AssignWeapons.txt this time.
You can start with Names.txt, which is the simplest to edit. If it's too big for Notepad, Wordpad
works fine. In this file, you will define the two names your unit will have. You can look at the
other names to see what I mean. You can type in the entry for the VTOL truck anywhere, but it's
good custom to do it in the bottom of the file. It's also a good idea to put in a comment for your mod.
You will end up with something like this:
|
The first name should be limited to letters A-Z, dashes, and numbers. It must not be longer
than 20 characters. This is the unique identifier of the unit and it must be called excactly
the same in Templates.txt when we get to that.
The second name is the one that will be displayed to the player. It can be just about anything.
Exit and save the changes.
Now it's time to edit the Templates.txt file. You will need to go to the bottom and append the following line:
|
I won't explain why this line adds a VTOL truck, but if you compare it to some of the other
lines in the file, you should see how it's made. The reason it pops up on the player's design screen
and VTOL factory screen is the player number. All number 5 templates will be available to the player.
Save and exit, and you are ready to move to the next step.
Compiling might not be the easiest part, but you only have to learn it once - it's almost
the same process every time you make a WDG.
You start by finding out what wrf files to use. Wrf is a special Warzone format that can be edited
with Windows Notepad. It describes the files that go into your WDG. You shouldn't make wrf files
yourself, because the game expects the Pumpkin ones. Create a subfolder to the temporary location
you extracted the files to. Name this folder "wrf".
Now you need to open the folder that has the contents
of Warzone_wrf.zip and start looking for the right files. Before you get the experience that tells
you what wrf files to use, you will need to look for the files that contain the filenames of the
files in your mod. The easiest way is to bring up the Windows search feature and tell it to look for
all files in that folder that contain the files you have included.
Seach for "*.wrf", Containing text: "Templates.txt"
This will bring up forcedit2.wrf and Stats.wrf. Since we won't be changing the force editor, just copy
Stats.wrf into your newly created wrf folder. Performing the same searches on Names.txt and Strings.txt
will lead you to frontend.wrf. Copy that one too. Use as few wrf files as possible to decrease the size
of the wdg. For this tutorial those two wrf will suffice.
Now copy the MakeWDG.exe file from your Warzone game folder to your new wdg folder. If you don't have
this program, get EditWorld (see step 1). Make sure it's not the TMLink
MakeWDG.exe. It has to be the Pumpkin one. You can tell by looking at the file icon - the TMLink has an
icon, and the Pumpkin file does not. If you don't know what I'm talking about here, nevermind ;). Just
copy the file.
MakeWDG needs to be called with a command line to produce anything. The easiest way to pass it this
command line every time is a .bat file. Fire up Notepad and write the following line:
|
How this works is explained elsewhere in this document, but it basically creates your wdg file and a log file you don't need to care about. Save this file with the .bat extension in your new wdg folder next to MakeWDG and everything else, then double-click it. When it's done, you will have a brand new WDG file to put in your Warzone folder. Start Warzone and the first thing you will notice is changes in the menu and everything else you have edited in the Strings.txt. Start a skirmish game and you will be able to build VTOL trucks with the right factory!
Most of the information in here requires that you have experience with WDG compiling - you can use it as a reference. Make sure you have completed the tutorial if you are new to making mods.
The concept
ModSwitcher will soon incorporate an automatic system for deciding whether two Warzone mods are
compatible. Previously (v1.0) the compatibility info was hard-coded into the exe file, which meant
that a new version of ModSwitcher had to be made with every mod. This new enhancement allows mod-makers
to tell ModSwitcher which other mods they are compatible with. If the mods do not contain this info,
it is generated automatically.
The system consists of a wdg reader component that finds out what files a wdg have been compiled with,
and a text file that is put into the WDG at compile-time, which contains all the exceptions.
The WDG reader
The WDG reader will be a part of ModSwitcher from mid or late March 2000.
It looks at the list of files in the wdg (Names.txt, Functions.txt, Research.txt, etc).
If two wdg files both contain a file with the same name, they are considered incompatible.
Therefore, when compiling a wdg, you should !!ONLY INCLUDE FILES YOU HAVE CHANGED!!
Including the other files will make ModSwitcher consider your mod incompatible with just about every
other mod out there, plus it will make the WDG file much bigger for no reason.
Compatible.txt
To take care of the exceptions that will come up, you can put a file with the name "compatible.txt" (case is unimportant)
into the WDG when you compile it. You must put it in a file called compatible.wrf.
This file contains information to override the decisions of the ModSwitcher's WDG
reader. It is often the case that two mods have been made with a "master text file" for Names.txt
and/or some other files, and then they've been tested to be compatible. In that case, we need to
tell the WDG reader that the two files go together. In other cases, we may have a mod (for example
a single player challenge map) that is designed to be played with the unmodified Warzone game.
This map will have all other mods deactivated.
The compatible.txt is a plain ANSI file that follows this format:
<type: 0=auto, 1=all, 2=none>
<+ or - : compatible or incompatible> <IntID> <IntName>
<+/-> <IntID2...> <IntName2...>
desc
<Description goes here.>
<It can be multiline, and it will continue for the rest of the compatible.txt file.>
The first line is the "type of compatibility". It specifies the base that the compatibility list
will be constructed from. It can have the three following values:
Apart from this value, you can list below the mods that this file is known to be compatible
or incompatible with. These lines start with a + or -, specifying respectively whether the mod
is explicitly defined as compatible or incompatible with your wdg. Of course, it makes no sense
putting + lines in a type 1, or - lines in a type 2. Such lines will be ignored.
Next is the internal ID and the internal name of the mod in question. Note that the internal name
is not the same as the filename. You can find the internal name and ID of any file using
the WDG Explorer.
You can not use wildcards (like Citadel*), so if you have to type in all versions of a mod if
they have different IDs or names. This is to make sure mod-makers don't just take the easy way
and end up making their mod incompatible with mods that they would otherwise be compatible with.
The description must always have "desc" on the line before it, then you can type anything
This will be the description shown in the ModSwitcher when the player highlights the mod, so you
should start it with one or two simple lines like: "This mod will enable scavenger tech for multiplayer
and skirmish". After that, you can make the file just about as big as you want it, describing the
mod in detail. Just keep in mind that the player might be browsing through 20 mods when going past
yours, so it should start out by getting to the point.
Example:
|
The compatible.wrf would look like
|
The ability to use this file allows mod-makers to release mods that are easy to use without the
user having to guess what mods can work together, or read a huge readme to get it all working.
It also demands a certain standard from mod authors. Any mod released publically will be expected
to have been tested with most mods available, so Warzone won't crash or give error messages when
using mods together.
MakeWDG is usually called with the command line I wrote in the tutorial:
|
|
|
The command line breaks down in some sections:
| -v | Run verbosely. It gives details as it compiles. Optional. You don't need this but it's very handy when finding out what went wrong during a compile |
| -o | Sets the output filename. You will obviously want to change this. |
| -x | Names the new wdg internally. Read the WDG Tab section in the program documentation for more info on the ID and the name. |
| -s |
Specifies the files it needs to run. Use this to require a certain patch in order
to run. If the specified file is not present, the user will get an error message when launching
the game. In the example I required the 1.10 patch that comes with the file nov.wdg. Note that this is not the filename but the internal ID and name. Case is important. Be careful when requiring another mod to be installed. If the gamer has a new version of that mod, it might have a higher ID than the one you required and then Warzone won't launch with your mod. |
| -a | Compiles miscellaneous data into the wdg. This is mostly used when adding maps, since you probably won't be changing the game script loaders found in wrf\Multi. Even if your mod doesn't add maps, you can just leave the argumen there - it does no harm :). |
| -w | States the wrfs to compile. There's really no reason to change this, unless you name your wrf folder something else. |
| > | Writes the outputs generated by -v to the filename specified so that you can review any errors produced. |
Much of this information was ripped from Skorpion's inactive Warzone site. Thanks :)
In addition to plaintext files, Warzone also uses these 3 formats its own way:
These are image files that can be edited with any imaging program such as Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop.
In Warzone, the files must be 256-color with a special palette. I saved the palette as a .pal file and put
it in the WDG Explorer folder so you can use it to create Warzone bitmaps. If you know how, you can extract
the palette from any of the pcx files found in Warzone WDGs.
These are normal Windows sound files that can be saved with all sound programs.
All files must be PCM 22050 Hz, 16 Bit, Mono. When adding new waves to be played from script, you will also need
to give them an entry in audio.cfg. This file contains information on its format so I won't describe it here.
This is a special graphics format used by Warzone. The N.E.W.S.T. team asked Pumpkin's Alex about this format and here is his answer - the way the format is built:
PIE 2 // Just the type - always type 2 I think
TYPE 200 // What type the pie file is, must be one of the following - not all are supported - look
// at existing files to see ones in use:- (Numbers are in hex)
Textured 0x200
Textured Animating 0x4000
Textured (with PSX methods) 0x8000
Made by the bsp tool (for software sorting) 0x10000
Mostly, they're all type 200
TEXTURE 0 page-whatever 256 256 // What texture page it uses and how big it is.
LEVELS 1 // keep this at one - other levels aren't changeable by you without source (altered state objects).
LEVEL 1 // start of description for level one
POINTS 4 // How many vertices it has
-131 0 -131 // the vertices themselves - this shape is a square (one axis invariant)
131 0 -131 //
131 0 131 //
-131 0 131 //
POLYGONS 1 // How many polygons (one here - the square, 4 points)
200 4 3 2 1 0 0 0 129 0 129 129 0 129
First number is polygon type, one of:-
FLAT SHADED 0x100
TEXTURED 0x200
WIREFRAME 0x400
TRANSPARENT 0x800
GOURAUD 0x1000
NO CULL 0x2000
OUTLINE 0x4000
FIXED_VIEW (ignore) 0x8000
Next number describes how many points ply has (4) and next (in this case 4, namely 3 2 1 0) numbers are the
vertices that make up the poly. If it were a triangle the second number would be 3 and there would only be 3
numbers describing the vertices. The next (in this case 8) numbers are the texture coordinates.
Some PIEs have connectors - you cannot use these - they are for weapon mounts only - again you'd need source...:-(
Animation files you can attach to pie files. How about making a cyborg dance :)
The format is outlined in the Pumpkin ani files. These are plaintext files that can be edited with
Windows Notepad. Requires some experimentation to get an animation right...
The wrf files you use to compile your mods are also stored in the WDG, but in a special binary format.
See Appendix C, section 6 if you are really curious. The wrf files tell Warzone
which files to load at certain parts of the game. The filenames of these wrf files are hard-coded into
the engine, so you should not make wrf files with your own names, just use the Pumpkin ones.
So when the game starts it will load the files in frontend.wrf, when you start the force editor it will
load forcedit2.wrf and so on. You can't really tell excactly when the different wrf are loaded, just
experiment. Some files are mentioned in more than one wrf. The Templates.txt, for example, is both in
stats.wrf and forcedit2.wrf. If you make a mod like the one from the tutorial that just changed the in-game
templates, you don't need to mess with the force editor. If you, on the other hand, made a mod that put
some custom units in the force editor, you would need to load that unit in both wrf because it would be
in the game and the force editor.
Always use as few wrf files as possible, because if the file is mentioned in two wrfs, it will be written
twice in the wdg, taking up much more space than with one file. Also, you should only include the files
you have actually modified. This is both to preserve space and to ensure compatibility with other mods.
Even though you are not including all the files that are mentioned in the wrf you use, you should not remove
entries from wrf files. The game expects these files to be there, and when they are missing it will look
for them in subfolders to the game folder. This can be useful when you want to place a file in your Warzone
folder for editing. The folders it will look in are the same folders that are mentioned in the wrf, so
if Weapons.txt is missing, it will look for
You can add new files to wrfs no problem. Just remember to put it in the right wrf, so it goes into memory
at the right time - for instance don't put .txt files in vidmem.wrf, because it will be put in the user's
video memory.
This section describes what the syntax of the source files you will need to edit. I can't add all the files at once, so please be patient - I add new files when I have time.
This file describes all weapons in the game, both those on your units, on your hardpoints, and on the scavengers.
The format is:
| WeaponName | Component Name found in Names.txt and all other files that refer to this weapon. This is the Name ID format. You choose this name yourself when making a new weapon. |
| techLevel | Technology level of the component |
| buildPower | Power required to build the component |
| buildPoints | Time modifier for building the component |
| weight | Component's weight |
| hitPoints | Component's hit points. This is usually 1. |
| systemPoints | Space the component takes in the droid (NOT USED) |
| body | Component's body points - how strong it is. |
| GfxFile | The PIE to draw for this component (can be zero) |
| mountGfx | The turret mount to use (can be zero) |
| muzzleGfx | The muzzle flash |
| flightGfx | The ammo in flight |
| hitGfx | The ammo hitting a target |
| missGfx | The ammo missing a target |
| waterGfx | The ammo hitting water |
| trailGfx | The trail used for in flight (can be zero) |
| shortRange | Max distance to target for short range shot. In world units. |
| longRange | Max distance to target for long range shot In world units. |
| shortHit | Chance to hit at short range (0-100) |
| longHit | Chance to hit at long range (0-100) |
| firePause | Time between each weapon fire |
| numExplosions | The number of explosions per shot |
| numRounds | The number of rounds per salvo |
| reloadTime | Time to reload the round of ammo (salvo fire) |
| damage | How much damage the weapon causes |
| radius | Basic blast radius of weapon |
| radiusHit | Chance to hit in the blast radius (0-100) |
| radiusDamage | Damage done in the blast radius |
| incenTime | The time the round burns |
| incenDamage | Damage done each burn cycle |
| incenRadius | Burn radius of the round |
| directLife | How long a direct fire weapon is visible |
| radiusLife | How long a blast radius is visible |
| flightSpeed | speed ammo travels at |
| indirectHeight | how high the ammo travels for indirect fire |
| fireOnMove | indicates whether the droid has to stop before firing (NO/YES/PARTIAL) |
| weaponClass | the class of weapon - (KINETIC/EXPLOSIVE/HEAT/MISC) |
| weaponSubClass | the subclass to which the weapon belongs (CANNON/MORTARS/MISSILE/ROCKET/
ENERGY/GAUSS/FLAME/HOWITZERS/MACHINE GUN/ELECTRONIC/A-A GUN/SLOW MISSILE/
SLOW ROCKET/LAS_SAT/BOMB/COMMAND/EMP) This associates it with the upgrades available in Functions.txt |
| movement | which projectile model to use for the bullet (DIRECT/INDIRECT/HOMING-DIRECT/ HOMING-INDIRECT/ERRATIC-DIRECT/SWEEP) |
| weaponEffect | which type of warhead is associated with the weapon (ANTI PERSONNEL/ANTI TANK/
BUNKER BUSTER/ARTILLERY ROUND/FLAMER/ANTI AIRCRAFT) This changes the damage it does to different propulsions and structures - see WeaponModifier.txt and StructureModifier.txt |
| rotate | amount the weapon(turret) can rotate 0 = none, 180 = all the way |
| maxElevation | max amount the turret can be elevated up (in degrees) |
| minElevation | min amount the turret can be elevated down (in degrees) |
| facePlayer | flag to make the (explosion) effect face the player when drawn (YES/NO) |
| faceInFlight | flag to make the inflight effect face the player when drawn (YES/NO) |
| recoilValue | used to compare with weight to see if recoils or not |
| minRange | Min distance to target for shot |
| lightWorld | flag to indicate whether the effect lights up the world (YES/NO) |
| effectSize | size of the effect 100 = normal, 50 = half etc |
| surfaceToAir | indicates how good in the air (0 = SHOOT_ON_GROUND, <= 50 = SHOOT_IN_AIR, >=51 = BOTH) |
| numAttackRuns | number of attack runs a VTOL droid can do with this weapon |
| designable | flag to indicate whether this component can be used in the design screen (0=FALSE, 1=TRUE) |
Refers to: WeaponModifier.txt/StructureModifier.txt
Referred to in: assignWeapons.txt, StructureWeapons.txt, WeaponSounds.txt, Research.txt, ResultComponent.txt, RedComponents.txt, Names.txt
This file describes all bodies used in the game, including those for cyborgs and scavengers
The format is:
BodyName,techLevel,bodySize,buildPower,buildPoints,weight,bodyPoints,GfxFile,systemPoints,weaponSlots,powerOutput,kineticArmor,heatArmour,flameIMD,designable
| BodyName | Component Name found in Names.txt and all other files that refer to this body. This is the Name ID format. You choose this name yourself when making a new body. |
| techLevel | Technology level of the component |
| bodySize | This can be LIGHT, MEDIUM, HEAVY or SUPER HEAVY. |
| buildPower | Power required to build the component |
| buildPoints | Time modifier for building the component |
| weight | Component's weight. Makes it slower. |
| bodyPoints | Component's body points - how strong it is. |
| GfxFile | The PIE to draw for this component |
| systemPoints | Space the component takes in the droid (NOT USED) |
| weaponSlots | Increasing this will make a body able to carry more than one weapon... if the engine supports it, since they didn't use it in the game. You should also be able to make a body with no weapons... again, I haven't tried this... |
| powerOutput | The engine horsepower. Increase it to make a heavy body faster. |
| kineticArmor | Resistance to normal weapons, like bullets |
| heatArmour | Resistance to burning weapons |
| flameIMD | The .pie graphics file that will be rendered when the body is hit or burning. |
| designable | 1 means that you can use it on the design screen, 0 means that you can not. |
Refers to: -none-
Referred to in: Templates.txt, BodyPropulsionIMD.txt, Research.txt, ResultComponent.txt, RedComponents.txt, Names.txt
All propulsions used in the game, even legs for cyborgs and scavengers
The format is:
PropulsionName,techLevel,buildPower,buildPoints,weight,hitPoints,systemPoints,bodyPoints,GfxFile,Type,MaxSpeed,designable
| PropulsionName | Component Name found in Names.txt and all other files that refer to this propulsion. This is the Name ID format. You choose this name yourself when making a new propulsion. |
| techLevel | Technology level of the component |
| buildPower | Power required to build the component |
| buildPoints | Time modifier for building the component |
| weight | Component's weight. Makes it slower. |
| hitPoints | This is 1 for ground propulsions and 0 for VTOLs |
| systemPoints | Space the component takes in the droid (NOT USED) |
| bodyPoints | Component's body points - how strong it is. |
| GfxFile | The PIE to draw for this component |
| Type | The type of propulsion as found in PropulsionType.txt |
| MaxSpeed | Speed value |
| designable | 1 means yes, 0 means no. |
Refers to: PropulsionType.txt
Referred to in: Templates.txt, BodyPropulsionIMD.txt, Research.txt, ResultComponent.txt, RedComponents.txt, Names.txt
Since bodies have different sizes, a propulsion can be assigned a graphics file for each body - so tracks
will look different on the Vengeance and the Bug.
There must be a line here for each possible combination of body and propulsion, or else the propulsion will be
invisible in the game (like with the VTOL/Scorpion combination in the latest patches).
The format is:
BodyName,PropulsionName,leftGfx,rightGfx,ID
| BodyName | The component name of the body as found in Body.txt |
| PropulsionName | The component name of the propulsion as found in Propulsion.txt |
| leftGfx | The graphics file to render for the left leg/wheel/whatever. |
| rightGfx | The graphics file to render for the right leg/wheel/whatever. This can be 0 if the left propulsion takes up all the space (like on Hover). |
| ID | A unique ID for this body/propulsion combination. Just make one up if you are making your own new entries. |
Refers to: Body.txt, Propulsion.txt
Referred to in: -none-
Contains info on the different classes of propulsion
The format is
PropulsionType,GroundFlag,PowerRatio
| PropulsionType | The name of the propulsion type |
| GroundFlag | This can be either GROUND or AIR, indicating if it's flying |
| PowerRatio | The Power Ratio Modifier here works together with the body's power output to make a vehicle fast. higher numbers are faster. |
Refers to: -none-
Referred to in: Propulsion.txt, PropulsionSounds.txt, TerrainTable.txt
This table controls how fast different propulsions move over different terrain types
The format is:
TerrainType,PropulsionType,SpeedFactor
| TerrainType | This is a number that belongs to a specific terrain surface in EditWorld. Possible values are: 0 = SAND 1 = SANDY BRUSH 2 = BAKED EARTH 3 = GREEN MUD 4 = RED BRUSH 5 = PINK ROCK 6 = ROAD 7 = WATER 8 = CLIFF FACE 9 = RUBBLE 10 = SHEET ICE 11 = SLUSH |
| PropulsionType | This matches an entry in PropulsionType.txt. It's a number, not a text string. It refers to the entry you get in PropulsionType.txt if you count from the top, starting with 0. So Wheeled is 0, Tracked is 1, Jump is 8, etc. |
| SpeedFactor | Modifies how fast the propulsion goes over the terrain type. |
Refers to: PropulsionType.txt
Referred to in: -none-
This file contains all the pre-built templates (droid designs) that will be used in the game for both campaign and skirmish
The format is:
DroidName,DroidID,Body,Brain,Construction,ECM,PlayerID,Prop,Repair,DroidType,Sensor,TotalWeapons
| DroidName | Pick a name, any name. Just make sure to keep it consistent in all files that refer to this template. |
| DroidID | Unique ID number for the droid. It doesn't really matter what you type here. |
| Body | The component name of the body as found in Body.txt. Default=ZNULLBODY |
| Brain | The name of the brain as found in Brain.txt. This only applies to commanders. Default=ZNULLBRAIN |
| Construction | The name of the construction unit as found in Construction.txt. Default=ZNULLCONSTRUCT |
| ECM | Name of ECM as found in ECM.txt. This is not used for droids - only for the repair centre. Default=ZNULLECM |
| PlayerID | The player number - from 0 to 7 |
| Prop | The component name of the propulsion as found in Propulsion.txt |
| Repair | The repair turret (if there is one). Found in Repair.txt |
| DroidType | This can be DROID, PERSON, CYBORG, TRANSPORTER, CYBORG_SUPER, CYBORG_CONSTRUCT or CYBORG_REPAIR. Default=ZNULLDROID |
| Sensor | Found in Sensor.txt. Default=ZNULLSENSOR. For normal non-sensor droids use DefaultSensor1Mk1 |
| TotalWeapons | The number of weapons (not repair turrets, spades etc.) on the droid. This can be more than 1 if the body supports it. |
Refers to: Body.txt, Brain.txt, Construction.txt, ECM.txt, Propulsion.txt, Repair.txt, Sensor.txt
Referred to in: AssignWeapons.txt, Names.txt
The files conain many standards that are underlined in this document. Clicking them brings you to the right topic here
Some (but not all) files can contain comments. If you know Java(Script) or C(++), you already know
how to use comments. If not, read on...
To make lines inactive, or to embed small explanations that clarify your code, use comments. They can
be either one-line comments, where you type // and the rest of the line will be ignored, or multi-line
comments where you type /* and everything will be ignored until a */ statement is encountered.
To connect the units and components between the different stat txt files, each one must have a name ID.
This is a string that is unique for the unit. It mustn't be longer than 20 characters, and it can only
consist of letters (a-Z), numbers (0-9) and dashes (-).
I don't really know if it's case sensitive so just keep the case, or try it and write me a mail
telling me if it's case sensitive or not...
This represents the tech level of a component. It can have one of the following values:
Level One, Level Two, Level Three, Level One-Two, Level Two-Three, Level All
When used in stats, this has nothing to do with multi-player and skirmish. In fact, there is really no reason
to call it player number - it's more of a player type...
It can have the following values:
| 0 | Special units and cyborgs from the campaign |
| 1 | New Paradigm vehicles |
| 2 | The Collective vehicles |
| 3 | Nexus vehicles |
| 4 | Force Editor vehicles |
| 5 | Designs available to the player in Multi-player (though some must be researched first) |
| 6 | Skirmish templates for the AI |
| 7 | Scavenger vehicles |
All times are in 1/100th of a second, except for those in scripts (.slo/.vlo), they are 1/10 sec.
This section explains how a WDG file is built when you look at its hex values.
It assumes that you are familiar with hex editing and it is primarily intended for application
developers who want to make apps that access WDG files.
In this document, 0x before a number means that
it is hex. So 0x14 is 20 as decimal. Offset values start counting
from 0x0, so the byte at offset 0x4 is the fifth byte in the file.
Most numbers in the wdg are unsigned long integers - 4 bytes.
As in most binary files, the bytes are reversed when they are stored,
so for example the value 0xa56f3c1 is actually stored as C1F3560A.
If you use a hex editor to take the WDG files apart, you will want
to look for the C1F3560A number.
MakeWDG converts file names to 3.5-byte (the last nipple is always 0)
hex sequences, like a checksum on the file name. The names
are not actually stored in the file, so the WDG Explorer can only
find them by looking up the hex value in a database. They are
reversed, like the numbers. A name like "IMGPAGE" would
be converted to e1c45f5 and stored as F5451C0E.
I've been trying to make sense of those codes for a while and it seems
that MakeWDG starts out by converting all characters to lower-case. It then
converts them to hex values and subtracts 0x20 from them. It then runs
through them from right to left and puts the nipples (a nipple is 4 bits - one
hex digit) in groups of two. These are all added, creating the checksum.
When there is more than six characters, some of the nipples aren't in the
checksum - I haven't completely figured the system out yet. The left-most
nipple and the right-most nipple are never in a group - they can be extracted
intactly from the WDG.
I will write something more detailed on this when I figure it out.
This describes the function of every single byte in a WDG file.
The first 4 bytes say WDG5.
In warzone.wdg they say WDG4 and the sections 3 and 4 are missing.
The number at 0x4 expresses the number of wrf files used to compile this wdg.
0x10 bytes from offset 0x8 contain the internal name as ASCII.
The characters not used by the name have 0x0 values.
The internal ID is stored at 0x18.
The number at 0x1C says how many WDGs are required.
From 0x20 the names and IDs of the wdg files required are stored
in 0x14 byte sequences:
| Name: | 0x10 bytes, stored as in section 3 | |
| ID: | 0x4 bytes |
This sections lists all the wrf files used in this wdg. They are
stored as 0xC bytes long sequences:
| Name: | 0x4 bytes | |
| Offset: | 0x4 bytes, the byte offset in the wdg file where the files from this wrf are listed | |
| File count: | 0x4 bytes, the number of file entries in the wrf file, including passthru entries |
The number of wrf files was in section 2.
It usually ends with a MISCDATA entry although no such wrf was
used. This is used for maps.
That concludes the header of the WDG
There's a file list for each wrf used. It's position and length can be found in section 5. Each entry is a 0x14 byte sequence:
| Type: | 0x4 bytes, the type of the file as defined in the wrf when compiling. This is the CRC-style format. | |
| Filename: | 0x4 bytes | |
| Offset: | 0x4 bytes, the byte offset of the file in the section 7 data block. This is 0xFFFFFFFF for passthru entries. | |
| File size: | 0x4 bytes, this is the file's size in bytes + 1. The extra byte is there because MakeWDG appends a byte with the value 0x0 to the end of each file. This is 0xFFFFFFFF for passthru entries. | |
| Software flag: | 0x1 byte, special entry for some texpages. There are three possible values: 0x2 (hardware), 0x1 (software), and 0x0 (N/A). For the in-game graphics, there are two sets: one with transparencies and one without. This is probably read in the filename by MakeWDG, as all hardware entries have "hard" in their file name and all software entries have "soft". This is set even on pass-thru entries. | |
| Texture page: | 0x1 byte, a unique ID of the texture page. This is a number used by all texpages where the filename starts with page-xx. Two texpages can have the same number if their software flag is different. Like the software flag, MakeWDG reads this attribute from the filename. On non-texpages it's 0xFF. This is set even on pass-thru entries. | |
| End: | 0x2 bytes, this is always 0x0000 |
The raw data contained in each file is contained here, completely
intact -- except that there's an extra 0x0 byte at the end of
each file.
Like section 6, the data is grouped with each wrf file.
After each section 7 there's a section 6, again followed by a section 7, until the last wrf.
A simple wdg file could be constructed like this:
Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 4
Section 4
Section 5
Section 5
Section 6
Section 6
Section 6
Section 7
Section 7
Section 7
Section 6
Section 6
Section 7
Section 7