File format question.

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Vuld_Edone
Posts:2
Joined:Wed Jun 24, 2015 1:49 pm
File format question.

Postby Vuld_Edone » Thu Jul 02, 2015 9:20 am

Hi'.

What I'll ask is very basic but... well... I couldn't solve it on my own.
I have the GoG version of the game, and my goal is to edit the game's text (like planet names or dialogs...) with the very improbable prospect of doing the same with pictures.
No gameplay change whatsoever.

After having been, to my shame, unable to even understand how OCL_improved works (yeah I'm that bad), I decided I was too ashamed to ask and for my pride's sake I would edit the files directly through an hex-editor (Notepad++ with plugin).
- I learned the file format, header and content alike, and I can modify STARNAME.lbx to my heart content.
- I also learned, glad to this site, the content for palette and pictures, so yay.
But I'm stuck.

Some files, like RACESTUF.lbx for example, while still .lbx have a different format. Basically instead of the usual header beginning with:
-> 02 00 ad fe 00 00 00 00
which I'm familiar with, it begins with:
-> 0e ef ba ad 00 00 e0 a0
and everything else looks different. It's a known format, you must be familiar with it, MoO2 Workshop can read it and displays it in the usual format but despite trying for hours, I just can't get how it works.

So yeah, I'm still parsecs away from editing pictures (ah ah ah) and that's my basic question:
1) How should I read that "second" header? Let alone the content?
2) Why does that "second" format exist? What is it?
The moment I have the key, I can resume trial&erroring my way through those files.

So, uh... yeah.

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Rocco
Posts:242
Joined:Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:16 am
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Re: File format question.

Postby Rocco » Thu Jul 02, 2015 10:07 am

Best is to use the MOO2 Workshop, it can do text, picture editing and more:
http://mo3.fatal.ru/moo2_workshop_eng.htm

and the thread about it on this forum:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=413

Have fun and do not hesitate to ask more questions!

EDIT:
Some files, like RACESTUF.lbx for example, while still .lbx have a different format.... MoO2 Workshop can read it and displays it in the usual format but despite trying for hours, I just can't get how it works.
What do you actually mean with that: do you want to edit the contents and you cannot get MOO2 workshop to work with the files or do you want to understand how the files are build and you cannot get that?

Vuld_Edone
Posts:2
Joined:Wed Jun 24, 2015 1:49 pm

Re: File format question.

Postby Vuld_Edone » Fri Jul 03, 2015 10:34 am

Hi'.

Yes MoO2 Workshop is the tool I want and I'll probably go later on the dedicated thread to admit I couldn't use any of the editors correctly... but for now...

I want to understand how the files are built.

A simple example.
Let's open MAINTEXT.lbx, then go at offset 04 20. Yes, the section offset is already weird but it's really where it's located. Anyway, let's read it:
-> "01 c9 98 e6 8e e5 8c a0 e6 95 b0 e6 a5 a3 e6 b1 a1"
Preceded and followed by 00 of course. This, I know, means "No_Special" somehow, and I know that because I opened the file with MoO2 Workshop (LBX editor) and it told me that same section should be at offset 08 00, as usual, and when extracted it reads:
-> "4e 6f 20 53 70 65 63 69 61 6c"
I've taken away the first four usual bytes (number of strings, string length).

So yeah, I'm really curious now, I want to understand how those files work. Why they are so different, header and body alike, how they should be read.

So... yeah.


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