Cracking Rez Files (via text editor)

[devon919]

interesting i think we should have some expert coders look into this xD

[XXXDEATHTOLLXXX]

i've seen and used the .rez extractor posted here a while back on my head textures and all i get is .DTX files which are annoying because my programs cant open them. Apparently theyre created and usable by a program called Docu-Tech or something like that. If anyone has that they might be able to mess with the extracted files.

[B1ackAnge1]

Ok apparently there seems to be some confusions amongst you guys as to how this game (or any LithTech (LT) based game) is structured, what tools are required & what's possible. It's frustrating to see people repeat the same (or new) inaccurate information that will only confuse people trying to figure this out. I've been working/modding LT based games since Shogo (yeah that's the 90's... i'm old...) and everytime a new Lith game got released we went through the same cycle of people not understanding or wrongly assuming things, so let me sum up the basics to make this clear for everyone:

a) A Rez file is a BINARY file, which is nothing more than a container for other files. Think of it like a custom Zip / Rar file format, but without the compression (basically a TAR file)

b) It being a binary file opening it up in a any text editor will do no good, nor will changing the font. If anything - if you were to try to save it again it would most likely corrupt the file (No offense to who posted that, but I had to actually laugh when I read that... )

c) This game uses a 'custom' version of the standard REZ File format found in all previous lithtech games such as: FEAR, No One Lives Forever 2, AvP2, Shogo, etc etc. As previously posted it has an extra 44 bytes in the header which is why all the tools for those games don't understand this newer rez file.

d) I Wrote something in about an hour last Friday to Extract THESE rez files called 'RezXTract' (See attachment in this post). Given some time i'm sure I could figure out the extra 44 bytes and add full support to WinRez so you can Extract AND create the Rez files for this game.

e) Ok so now that you've got files extracted, what do these files do?
As posted here depending on the file extension they are:

TXT = Attribute Files - Specifies game /model settings etc etc. (Binary Encrypted in this game - so again See point (B) above: no text editor or font change is going to let you open this until we figure out how they encrypted it and convert it back to a plain old text files)

WAV = Obviously WAV Files for sounds (should support MP3 (or MP3encoded Wav) as well from what I recall)

DTX = Texture Files - NOTHING to do with Docu-Tech. Think PNG files (images that support transparency) There's some DTX Plugins floating around for Photoshop though i'm not sure these would work with what appears a newer/modified DTX Format. Normally these files are created through the LithTech World Buildling Application called DEdit. I could probably figure this one out since I did just that with the old DTX File Format.

SPR = Sprite (Links to multiple DTXs for animations)

LTB = Model File (usually made from a LTA/LTC file that never gets released - used to be a LTB Converter floating around the NOLF Forums that may work ) This is the actual 3d Model of the weapons/characters etc etc an uses the DTX Files for it's textures

DAT = Level Files / Maps (Generated by DEdit Application) again uses DTX Files for textures.

f) If you're playing on an online server, any changes you make locally will either a) only show up on your machine b) not have any effect at all with the server pushing it's configuration as a basic means to prevent 'cheating'.
You'd have to run a local server mode etc to see the changes (or if there's a single player mode run that).

g) If you want to try ANY existing tools and see if they work, your best bet will be the F.E.A.R. tools since this was the latest big game to have the tools released for it.

h) In your main folder you will see an engine.exe and a combatarms.exe these are as you guessed the actual engine & a launcher jsut to get the game started.

i) Most lithtech games support running with all rez files extracted in the game folder which makes it easier to test things (Rez-ing is only required to 'distribute' your files to others). Haven't tried it , but unless they specifically removed this feature from the engine there's no reason this wouldn't work for this game either.

j) All the game logic sits in the Game Folder with the content. CShell.DLL in particular is where all the clientside code sits. (Built from C++). There does not seem to be a server side DLL as normally found with most LT games.

[joi121]

waiting you to realease that Rez Extractor! or you can just decode the Player.txt

[XxLatino4LifexX]

LAWL DUDE DIS IS AWESOME1!!!!! I GOT MY CHARACTAR LOOKING HALF ZOMBIE AND HALF SUPER SPY!!!!!!!!!!!1 (how do u post screenie?)

[yosty]

Ty very much, but now how do i edit all those files u explained?

[joi121]

Ty very much, but now how do i edit all those files u explained?

w8, he is now working on the decompiler or WinRez how he say we need to have a program, in Text Editor(Notepad) this is not possible

[B1ackAnge1]

Well made some progress on the textures... no idea why they changed what they did besides just to make sure the existing tools didn't work...

Should be able to turn this into a Paint.NET plugin or so, so that you guys are at least able to edit textures

Small sample:

[zeco]

You rock dude +1 internets.
On a more serious note, how did you do it? Did you just modify your existing tools or what? And how did you figure out what was different between your version and theirs?

[euhsoftware]

zeco, after C++ learn Python. Python en:Table of Contents - Notes <= a good tutorial to begin

B1ackAnge1, did you make it in C or C++? If so, how many lines of code did it need?

Bye!

[B1ackAnge1]

You rock dude +1 internets.
On a more serious note, how did you do it? Did you just modify your existing tools or what? And how did you figure out what was different between your version and theirs?

Thanks! My old tool collection (WinrezLT Suite) had a Rezzing program, DLL String Editor, DTX Texture Viewer and DTX Shell Extension so that it hooks into windows to allow them to be visible in thumbnail mode (see above). As far as the 'how' I Basically just opened the new files side-by-side to some 'old' ones and started comparing in a hex-editor, then changed code based on what I thought they changed, debugged a few things and voila

I've got WinRez Reading the REZ Files now as well so I'll probably post that up later tomorrow or so. The only thing still a mystery is the extra 44 bytes they have in theirs which i'll have to figure out and see how critical those are or if I can just put garbage in there.. (funny thing is: I haven't even ran the game yet to try out anything lol)

B1ackAnge1, did you make it in C or C++? If so, how many lines of code did it need?
Bye!

Which part? The RezXtract program a few posts back is C# (I was planning a C# version of WinRez but never finished it, but had some code to deal with the Rez Files already - I may just start on it again since i could make a much nicer version in no time), while WinRez & the DTX Viewing etc is all C++. And how many lines of code? hahah I haven't thought about lines of codes in years... i had to actually run a utility to get that number for ya My entire winrez LT Studio project is about 20k lines of code, while for instance just the DTX reading etc is about 2k. Pretty small I'd say (I'm used to working on 500k+ lines projects )



Now we're getting somewhere

[FragInABox]

My notepad crashes when I open the rez files. D:

[pureflame212]

My notepad crashes when I open the rez files. D:

Haha Lol Mines doesnt

[B1ackAnge1]

My notepad crashes when I open the rez files. D:

Don't use Notepad - go back a few posts and look for my post with the 'RezXTract' attachment in it.. Or wait till tomorrow when i'll upload a version of WinRez which will work with the Rez File (extract only)

[beaster11]

Don't use Notepad - go back a few posts and look for my post with the 'RezXTract' attachment in it.. Or wait till tomorrow when i'll upload a version of WinRez which will work with the Rez File (extract only)

yo ur rez xtract was awesome, but (kinda new at doing this stuffins) what would i do with it all extracted?