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Ashen reverse engineering

Reverse engineering of an N-Gage game Ashen

  • Can extract game resources

Usage

Setup

  1. Place the ROM
    mkdir rom/
    cp /path/to/packfile.dat rom/packfile.dat

Extracting files

File parsing is in test suite only, for now.

  • Unpack game resources
    1. Run deflate test
      cargo test --release -- --ignored parse_rom_packfile
    • This will split and deflate game files into output/deflated/ directory.
    • Files are named with the address as they appear in the asset table.
    • Files that begin with decompression signature are automatically decompressed and named with -deflated suffix. This automatic decompression doesn't work well for collection assets such as textures.
  • Parse resources (make sure to unpack first)
    1. Run parsing tests
      cargo test --release -- --ignored parse_rom_asset
    • This will parse select few game files into output/parsed/ directory
    • Directions on how to opened parsed files are available here

Roadmap

File formats and extraction

  • Gamma table
    • Purpose
      • Look up table for brightness when changing gamma in settings
    • Output format
      • PNG image
  • Color map
    • Purpose
      • Look up table for 12-bit RGB colors, because textures are stored in 256 indexed color format
      • There is also ghost version for when you use Ghost Vision Goggles in game
      • There are unique color maps for monsters, pick-ups (and some other models), UI sprites, and levels
    • Output format
      • PNG image
  • Model
    • Purpose
      • Texture, geometry, and model data
    • TO DO
      • Figure out what to do with pre-calculated face and vertex normals
    • Output format
      • Blender Python script that can be executed with
        blender -P /path/to/script.py
      • Automatically sets up Cycles material and animations as shape keys in dope sheet's shape key editor
  • Sky
    • Purpose
      • Color map and skybox texture
    • Output format
      • PNG image
  • Skins
  • Level geometry
  • Level collision
  • Level waypoints
  • Sprite
  • Texture
    • Purpose
      • Texture info - offsets, texture dimensions
      • Texture data - color indeces
    • Output format
      • PNG image
      • GIF image for animated textures
  • Music and sound effects
    • Purpose
      • Sound effects
      • Music
    • Output format
      • WAV audio file
  • String table
    • Purpose
      • Printable strings in UI
    • TO DO
      • Figure out weird non-text characters (probably for controlling in-game events)
    • Output format
      • Plain text

File structure

Important

I use the packfile that comes with Ashen 1.06. Your packfile may have different order, I didn't test with different versions.

Address (HEX) Asset
00 gamma table
01 creature colormap
02 creature colormap (ghost)
03 ghost creature colormap (ghost)
04 pickup colormap
05 pickup colormap (ghost)
06 jacob colormap
07 level colormap (ghost)
08 player hands colormap
09 player hands colormap (ghost)
0A aquagore
0B broodmaw
0C cryptcrawler
0D firedeacon
0E hunter
0F psistalker
10 stormfluke
11 tentacle
12 wraith
13 primeentity
14 playermodel
15 vanessa
16 rocket
17 grenade
18 fxblast
19 aquagore shot
1A broodmaw shot
1B cryptcrawler shot
1C firedeacon shot
1D gib generic 1
1E gib generic 2
1F gib generic 3
20 blood generic 1
21 charles
22 human gib generic 1
23 human gib generic 2
24 human gib generic 3
25 pickup ammo pistol
26 pickup ammo double pistol
27 pickup ammo shotgun
28 pickup ammo machinegun
29 pickup ammo sniper
2A pickup ammo grenade
2B pickup ammo rocket
2C pickup ammo gatlinggun
2D pickup weapon pistol
2E pickup weapon double pistol
2F pickup weapon shotgun
30 pickup weapon machinegun
31 pickup weapon sniper
32 pickup weapon grenade
33 pickup weapon gatlinggun
34 pickup weapon shockwave
35 pickup ghostvision
36 pickup focitalisman
37 pickup letter
38 pickup key1
39 pickup flakjacket 25
3A pickup flakjacket 50
3B pickup flakjacket 100
3C level1 sky
3D level2 sky
3E level3 sky
3F level4 sky
40 level5 sky
41 level6 sky
42 level1 sky palette (ghost)
43 level2 sky palette (ghost)
44 level3 sky palette (ghost)
45 level4 sky palette (ghost)
46 level5 sky palette (ghost)
47 level6 sky palette (ghost)
48 jacob skin red
49 jacob skin green
4A jacob skin blue
4B jacob skin yellow
4C level1a
4D level1a collision
4E level1a waypointnav
4F level1a colormap
50 level1b
51 level1b collision
52 level1b waypointnav
53 level1b colormap
54 level2a
55 level2a collision
56 level2a waypointnav
57 level2a colormap
58 level2b
59 level2b collision
5A level2b waypointnav
5B level2b colormap
5C level3a
5D level3a collision
5E level3a waypointnav
5F level3a colormap
60 level3b
61 level3b collision
62 level3b waypointnav
63 level3b colormap
64 level4a
65 level4a collision
66 level4a waypointnav
67 level4a colormap
68 level4b
69 level4b collision
6A level4b waypointnav
6B level4b colormap
6C level5a
6D level5a collision
6E level5a waypointnav
6F level5a colormap
70 level5b
71 level5b collision
72 level5b waypointnav
73 level5b colormap
74 level6
75 level6 collision
76 level6 waypointnav
77 level6 colormap
78 level7
79 level7 collision
7A level7 waypointnav
7B level7 colormap
7C level8
7D level8 collision
7E level8 waypointnav
7F level8 colormap
80 leveldm1
81 leveldm1 collision
82 leveldm1 colormap
83 leveldm2
84 leveldm2 collision
85 leveldm2 colormap
86 leveldm3
87 leveldm3 collision
88 leveldm3 colormap
89 leveldm4
8A leveldm4 collision
8B leveldm4 colormap
8C levelmonsters
8D levelmonsters collision
8E levelmonsters waypointnav
8F leveldoors
90 leveldoors collision
91 leveldoors waypointnav
92 sprites
93 texture info
94 sprite texture info
95 textures
96 sprite textures
97 sound data
98 stringtable english uk
99 stringtable english us
9A stringtable french
9B stringtable italian
9C stringtable german
9D stringtable spanish

Discoveries

  • Test level for enemies
    • There is a pool with fish enemies, which I don't remember seeing in the game
  • Test level for doors
    • Collision by itself works with other level geometry, geometry by itself also works, but not together

Resources

Releases

No releases published

Packages

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