Quote:
Originally Posted by areo16
We have S3D to open the .dat file and show its objects and relationships but I don't think we have a .dat decompiler that can output some sort of file format that is readable to such a script.  |
Don't need to decompile the dats.
I can read them in Hex as many of the old modders did from the start.
Some of us still know the format of the dats.
Here's a little sample:
SH III DAT FILE FORMAT
Skip the first 20 bytes they seem to be always the same.
Next 4 bytes are a long with the header string lenght.
Next is the author name and the "using Kashmir" stuff, total lenght as read above.
Next, file is made of "chunks". All chunks are like this:
ChunkType 4 bytes
Chunk Subtype/Version 4 bytes
chunk_size long (4 bytes)
Data (chunk_size bytes)
Chunk types and internal structure of each one:
type 0: EMPTY chunk
it's just 12 "00" bytes, so type, subtype and size are 0
type 1: 3D chunk
after the Chunk type, subtype/ver and size, format of the data part is like follows:
chunk_id: 8 bytes //this is used to reference this part inside the file. References usually found inside NODE (type 4) chunks
010 can be scripted to do what ever one wants to do to the dats in that case.
S3D is a fine Tool! Many of us old modders contributed information during it's development.
But it has it's limits. Working with a great Hex editor excides what S3D can do.