| BYTE[4] | 'e' 'g' 'g' 'f'' | The egg file specifier |
| BYTE | Gender | 0=random, 1=male, 2=female |
| BYTE | Image | 0..16 - Egg Image for Hatchery. |
| LONG | Reserved1 | Must be Zero |
| LONG | Reserved2 | Must be Zero |
| BYTE[4] | MumMoniker | The moniker of the mother. |
| BYTE[4] | DadMoniker | Can be 0,0,0,0 for virgin birth. |
| LONG | DescriptionSize | Length in bytes of the Egg description. |
| BYTE[] | Description | If DescriptionSize is 0, then there are no bytes here. |
| LONG | MumGenSize | Size in bytes of Mum Genetics file |
| BYTE[] | MumGenetics | Mother Genetics file. |
| LONG | DadGenSize | Size in bytes of Dad Genetics file - Not here if no father |
| BYTE[] | DadGenetics | Father Genetics file. Not here if no father. |
Sprite (S16) File Format
The Sprite file format for Creatures2 (The S16) files is not very complex. It consists of a file header, then sprite description blocks, and then sprite data…
S16 File Header
LONG flags
WORD SpriteCount
The Flags field is a 32bit field in which the upper 31 bits are reserved and should be zero. The least significant bit indicates the file format of the file. If the bit is set, then the file is in 565* format, if clear, then the file is in 555* format. The Sprite count is the number of images in the file. If the count is non-zero, then the following sections exist…
Sprite Headers
The Sprite Header section of the file is defined as follows…
{
| LONG | Offset | The offset into the sprite file of the image data. |
| WORD | Width | The width of the sprite. |
| WORD | Height | The height of the sprite. |
}[SpriteCount]
Therefore, there are two words and one long per sprite in the file at this point…
Sprite Data Section
In the sprite Data Section, the following is defined…
{
| WORD [Widthn*Heightn] | Sprite Data | Each word is a single pixel. |
The Agent File Format (COB)
The Agent files are compound files containing several "chunks" of data. The file format is designed such that if a program is not designed to handle a specific type of data chunk, it can merely skip it.
The following chunk types are defined at the time of writing…
· "agnt" - Agent Chunks contain the Object information.
· "file" - File chunks contain the resource files for the Object.
· "auth" - Author chunks contain information relating to the Agent Files' Authors.
The agent file format is this:
| BYTE[4] | 'c' 'o' 'b' '2' | Header information |
| CHUNK[] | FileChunks |
Where the CHUNK format is as follows…
| BYTE[4] | ChunkType | The Chunk Type |
| LONG | ChunkSize | Size of chunk excluding header |
| BYTE[ChunkSize] | Data | The Chunk Data |
Thus for those programs which cannot understand any particular chunks, they can skip the correct number of bytes and continue processing.
There is an additional format for agent files, which allows them to be automatically compressed. ".cob.gz" files are normal agent files which have their data compressed by the gzip program. These files are smaller than normal COB files, and can be handled natively by Agent Injector Version 1.1 and above.
The
Agent Chunks "agnt"
The
agent chunks are very complex and contain a lot of information.
The following definition is for a file dependency…
{
| WORD | FileType | 0=Sprite (.s16) 1=Sound (.wav) |
| STRING | FileName | Name of file (no path info.) |
} DEPENDENCY
The following is the agent chunk…
| BYTE[4] | 'a' 'g' 'n' 't' | |
| LONG | ChunkSize | |
| WORD | QuantityRemaining | 0xffff = Infinite |
| LONG | LastUsage | Time of last use. |
| LONG | ReuseInterval | In seconds. |
| BYTE | UseByDay | Expiry Date |
| BYTE | UseByMonth | Expiry Date |
| WORD | UseByYear | Expiry Date |
| LONG | Reserved1 | Must be zero |
| LONG | Reserved2 | Must be zero |
| LONG | Reserved3 | Must be zero |
| STRING | AgentName | |
| STRING | AgentDescription | |
| STRING | InstallScript | |
| STRING | RemovalScript | |
| WORD | NumberOfEvents | |
| STRING[NumberOfEvents] | EventScripts | |
| WORD | NumberOfDeps | |
| DEPENDENCY[NumberOfDeps] | FileDeps | |
| WORD | ThumbnailWidth | Describes agent thumbnail image for injector. |
| WORD | ThumbnailHeight | Describes agent thumbnail image for injector. |
| WORD[Width*Height] | Thumbnail | Describes agent thumbnail image for injector. |
Notes
about Agent Chunks
An
agent can only be injected if QuantityRemaining is non-zero and
the LastUsage time is more than ReuseInterval seconds ago.
LastUsage is "the number of seconds elapsed since midnight (00:00:00), January 1, 1970, coordinated universal time".
File Dependencies state which files to check/install. Without them file chunks are entirely useless.
The Agent Thumbnail must be in 565 format.
File
Chunks "file"
File
chunks are used to include non-standard resources in the
COB files. Their format is very simple and is as follows…
| BYTE[4] | 'f' 'i' 'l' 'e' | |
| LONG | ChunkSize | |
| WORD | FileType | 0=.s16, 1=.wav |
| LONG | Reserved | Must be Zero. |
| LONG | FileSize | Size of File |
| STRING | FileName | E.G. "foo1.s16" |
| BYTE[FileSize] | Data | The file data itself. |
Notes
about Stored Sprite Files…
If
you include a sprite file (.s16) in your agent file, it is imperative
that you store it in 565 format. If you do not, then problems
will occur during injection.
Author
Chunks "auth"
The
author chunks contain a small amount of data allowing people
to "sign" their agent files. They are not required by the
injector. Here is the Author format:
| BYTE[4] | 'a' 'u' 't' 'h' | |
| LONG | ChunkSize | |
| BYTE | DayCreated | Creation date of file |
| BYTE | MonthCreated | Creation date of file |
| WORD | YearCreated | Creation date of file |
| BYTE | Version | |
| BYTE | Revision | |
| STRING | AuthorName | |
| STRING | AuthorE-Mail | |
| STRING | AuthorURL | |
| STRING | AuthorComments |
Image Formats
The images for Creatures2 are stored in one of two formats - the first is 565 format. However, some graphics cards do not use the full 16bits for colour and so 555 format images are used on those cards.
The following tables indicate what the bits mean in each format…
565 Format
555 Format
| 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| R | R | R | R | R | G | G | G | G | G | G | B | B | B | B | B |
| 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 0 | R | R | R | R | R | G | G | G | G | G | B | B | B | B | B |
Example of an S16 file
| 01 00 00 00 | //565 set |
| 01 00 | //One Sprite in file |
| 0E 00 00 00 | //Sprite starts at byte 14 |
| 02 00 | //2 Pixels Wide |
| 02 00 | //2 Pixels High |
| FF FF 00 00 | //First Row - White/Transparent |
| 00 00 FF FF | //Second Row - Transparent/White |
History File Format
| BYTE[4] | Moniker | |
| CString | Name | |
| BYTE[4] | MumMoniker | |
| CString | MumName | |
| BYTE[4] | DadMoniker | |
| CString | DadName | |
| CString | Birthday | |
| CString | Birthplace | |
| CString | OwnerName | |
| CString | OwnerURL | |
| CString | OwnerNotes | |
| CString | OwnerEMail | |
| LONG | State | //0=alive, 1=dead, 2=exported |
| LONG | Gender | //1=male, 2=female |
| LONG | Age | |
| CString | Epitaph | |
| LONG | GravePhotoIndex | |
| LONG | TimeOfDeath | |
| LONG | TimeOfBirth | |
| LONG | TimeOfAdolescence | |
| LONG | DeathRegistered | //0=no,1=yes |
| LONG | Genus | //1=norn, 2=grendel, 3=ettin |
| LONG | LifeStage | |
| BYTE[256] | ChemsAtDeath | |
| LONG[9] | Padding | //Must be zero |
Game Log File Format
The gamelog file in the history folder contains a simple event log of actions in your Albia. The log is a text file whose lines are constructed as follows…
<MONIKER> | <TIMESTAMP> | <ACTION> | <PARAMS> |
The Moniker is a four character moniker of the creature in question. The timestamp is an unsigned integer in decimal format. The timestamp is in the same format as the times for the history and agent files. The Action and parameters for the action are as follows…
| Action | Meaning | Parameters |
| B | Creature was born | None |
| A | Creature has proceeded to next life stage | New Lifestage |
| D | Creature has died | None |
| N | Creature was named | New Name |
| E | Creature was exported | None |
| I | Creature was imported | None |
Topic Keywords: creatures2 fileformat