Jan 22th, 2014

Strike Commander: Assets Reverse engineering

On this page are referenced all the formats used in Strike Commander. Tools used so far are HexEditor, DOSBOx debug Mode and IDA.


TABLE OF CONTENT :

Part 1: Introduction
Part 2: Game Architecture
Part 3: Reverse Engineer Assets
Part 4: Play the game again
Part 5: Oculus Rift
Part 6: Epilogue

Archive system

Both PAK and TRE are 100% understood thanks to Mario's specs.

Archive can easily be manipulated/decompressed via TreArchive and PakArchvive in libRealSpace.

Jets

Jets are stored in fully contained file in IFF archives. They are 95% understood. Four key parts:

  1. Aerodynamic properties.
  2. Damage system and HP
  3. Weapon system
  4. Appearance
    1. 3D Data
    2. Textures

See JET Format specs.

Maps

Maps are 95% understood. They are store in a X.PAK but also reference textures in TEXTURES.TRE. See Map Format specs.
See Texture map Format specs.

Menus

Menu are 50% understood (Rendition but not logic).
No specs yet.

Animations

Animation are 50% understood:

  • Individual layers can be rendered and played.
  • Palette to use is understood.
  • Compositor to assemble layers together is not known.
See Animation Format specs.

Palettes

Palette are 100% understood : See Palettes Format specs.

IA/Game Logic

Not work done so far. This is probably all in the EXE.
Given the time and documentation found in the PlayTester Guide, I expect more than a simple decision tree: Probably a hierarchical state machines.
Read Arctificial Intelligence for Games for a good coverage of all techniques.

Savegame

The format of the saved game is 75%% known: See Savegame Format Specs

Next

Re-implementing Strike Commander

 

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