Game data files

File Format
Name	Game data files
Ontology	Electronic File Formats Game data files

Overview

Many popular games use proprietary file formats to store their assets. These include custom image, sound and video formats and custom archive formats. There is no way that all of these can be enumerated here in some way or another. And as long as the games can still be run by an Emulator it's not that much of a deal. However, a lot of work has been put into deciphering, decrypting and hacking these files, and that work should be preserved.

See also: Interactive Fiction for data formats related to text adventure games, Puzzles for puzzle-game files, and Saved Games for data saved by games to store a player's game status.

References

• Xentax Wiki
• ReWiki
• QuickBMS, a tool suite to describe archives in an abstract BASIC-like language, and lots of scripts for even more games

General Game Formats

This section details formats such as Interplay ACM and Unreal Music Format which are used in a number of games.

Audio / Music

• beatmania / IIDX simulation
  • BMS
• Commodore Amiga
  • AC1D-DC1A Packer
  • AMOS Music Bank
  • Channel Players
  • Digital Illusions
  • Game Music Creator
  • Jason Page
• Electronic Arts
  • Electronic Arts MUS
• Epic Megagames MASI
• id Software Music Format
• Interplay ACM
• Inverse Frequency Sound format
• Ken's Adlib Music
• Sierra AGI
• Sierra SCI
• Westwood Studios ADL
• Westwood Studios AUD
• Xbox IMA ADPCM
• Nintendo GameCube / Wii
  • Nintendo GameCube / Wii AST
  • Nintendo GameCube / Wii BRSTM

Other

• NetImmerse / Gamebryo Engine
  • KF
  • NIF

• Outerra engine (.otx) (used in Anteworld game)

Individual Game Formats

This section details formats which are specific to a single game, such as God of Thunder Music Format.

• Alter Ego (1986)
  • Alter Ego Vignette Script format
• BVE, OpenBVE, Boso View Express (railroad simulator)
  • BVE object formats
  • BVE route formats
  • BVE train.dat file

• Cartooners
  • Cartooners actor file
• Commander Keen 1
  • Commander Keen 1 Level format (.ck1)
• Crystal Caves
  • Crystal Caves Sound format
• Dance With Intensity
  • Dance With Intensity simfile (.dwi)
• Dangerous Dave
  • Dangerous Dave level format
  • Dangerous Dave tileset format
  • (also uses Inverse Frequency Sound format)
• Donkey Konga 2
  • Donkey Konga 2 DSP
• DTX Mania
  • DTX Mania simfile
• Duke Nukem
  • Duke Nukem level format
  • Duke Nukem graphics format
• God of Thunder
  • DAT (God of Thunder)
  • God of Thunder Music Format
• In the Groove
  • In the Groove PCK
• Kick It Up
  • Kick It Up simfile (.ksf)
• Mario Paint
  • Mario Paint Composer
  • SHI
  • SHO
• StepMania
  • StepMania simfile (.sm)
  • StepMania 5 simfile (.ssc)
  • StepMania AMX simfile (.sma)
• Supaplex
  • Supaplex Level format
• Super Paper Mario
  • BRSTMPSM (music data)
• Vinyl Goddess From Mars
  • Vinyl Goddess From Mars Instrument Format
  • Vinyl Goddess From Mars Music Format

External links

• Possibly the first video game, in 1958
• Nintendo Ultra64 Programming Manual
• Sega Pengo: bug found in maze generating algorithm
• How to 'hack' Candy Crush
• Glitch game files, released into the public domain
• A Theory of Fun for Game Design: ISBN 1-932111-97-2
• WAR in a Bottle
• A Journey to the End of the World (of Minecraft)
• Prince of Persia source code (Apple II)
• Inside the Epic Online Space Battle That Cost Gamers $300,000
• Some Apple II invader games (in-browser emulation)
• DICE: emulator of early discrete-circuit video games
• Random game concept generator
• Web designers wave goodbye to Unity plugin
• All these years later, there’s still nothing better than Doom
• Conquer the Video Craze (1982 album)
• Museum acquires 'virtually complete' source code from Atari's arcade heyday
• Spacewar! for the PDP-1 (1962) (with in-browser emulation)
• Games with hidden developer messages
• Video on hacking game consoles