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modquest, posted Wed Jan 28, 2015 12:17 am (2932)

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Rise of Legends - Need to extract .BIG & more with Quick BMS

Hello,

This request is for the videogame Rise of Legends.
- Released in 2006 by Microsoft and Big Huge Games
- It is a RTS (real time strategy) game (with some rpg hero and turn based elements)
- For PC, runs on Windows XP/Vista/7/8
- Uses the AGEIA PhysX physics engine
- Uses .BIG files for game data

I'm trying to extract .BIG and other files from the game. The developers never gave the game full modding capability so some modders are stuck in trying to extract any needed data to mod.

We have tried programs including Quick BMS, Dragon Unpacker and X-Ripper and the files can load but never extract anything because we probably need a script.
The game itself has a Modpack.exe which extracts some, but not all, data for modding. You can download that file here.

A modder has commented about modding Rise of Legends: "In ROL the modpack didn't extract the unit/building graphics file, and this is something you need in order to create new graphics for units. They didn't extract the graphics file for us, as it is I'm trying to decipher it all in hex which is a pain, honestly I'd be happy if they'd just update the modpack to extract the rest of the files so we could edit them. I'm sure an experienced programmer could do in an hour what takes me days."

Download File Samples
I have located over 90 .BIG files which total to around 600mb.
Download the file HERE, here are the contents:

.BIG - buildings and units, mod and multiplayer data, scripts, and more various samples
.BH3 - meshes (animations)
.bhs - scripts (some of these can be opened with a text editor)
.pfa - meshes (this may be building animations)
.pfb - prefabs (prefabrications - graphics/3d models)
.spt - trees (graphics for trees)
.tga - various (graphics)

Payment For Services
I'm willing to pay any programmer(s) for help with creating scripts, extracting the files and anything else needed to do modding on this game.
I can send you for free an official complete patched dvd copy of the Rise of Legends game, by postal mail worldwide

I also have official "review discs" of the game which may or may not contain different files or a way to extract them.
There are beta versions of the game but are rare and I haven't been able to get a copy in case that also may help.

If you have played and modded any RTS games such as StarCraft, WarCraft, Age of Empires, Age of Mythology, Total Annihilation Kingdoms, Rise of Nations, Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth, Command and Conquer, Warhammer Dawn of War, ParaWorld, Seven Kingdoms, Divinity Dragon Commander, Populous 3, NetStorm, etc - then you may like this game!

You can also email Skybox here (who re-released Age of Empires 2 HD, Age of Mythology Extended Edition and Rise of Nations Extended Edition) to give support and feedback for a Rise of Legends Extended Edition which may enable more modding.

More Game Info
Anyone interested can find out more info about the game at these links:
Wikipedia
Youtube
Heavengames fansite
Forum
Mod Database
Mobygames Database

A modder comments on modding problems and limitations here.
The 3 mods he was able to create on his own anyway are here.

Thank you for your time.

puggsoy, posted Wed Jan 28, 2015 8:54 am (2940)

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Tried downloading the ZIP, it seems to be corrupt? I can't open it.

aluigi, posted Wed Jan 28, 2015 8:59 am (2941)

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Yes the ZIP is corrupted, from offset 0x7532000 it's all zeroes.

modquest, posted Wed Jan 28, 2015 8:48 pm (2952)

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I re-uploaded the file and did a test, it seems to be working. Sorry for the problem, I had trouble uploading it so maybe it got messed up.

aluigi, posted Thu Jan 29, 2015 9:08 am (2961)

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The format of the BIG files was easy:
http://aluigi.org/papers/bms/others/rise_of_legends.bms

modquest, posted Thu Jan 29, 2015 10:03 pm (2980)

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Thanks Aluigi! So what's the next step with the Bigs?

aluigi, posted Thu Jan 29, 2015 10:06 pm (2981)

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If you want to mod the game:
- extract
- edit
- check if the game loads the files without the archive, if not then reimport the modified files (quickbms.txt section 3)

I can help only with the extraction of the archive.

modquest, posted Thu Jan 29, 2015 10:49 pm (2983)

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Ok I managed to extract some of the bigs, not all yet. I now see a lot of BXML files. I can view and edit XML files in a text editor, but when viewing the BXML files I see gibberish.

I search online and see others have problems with BXML, should I submit the BXML file now as a new request?

I'm new to this so thank you for your patience.

modquest, posted Fri Jan 30, 2015 3:17 am (2989)

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Update: I managed to get the multiplayer data all extracted so it works for me.

I have 3 comments on the success and new problems:

1 I have extracted almost all of the Big files except 9:

game eye candy dish
gametextablemgr
game constants
soundinfo
ui render manager
patch1 - game constants
patch7 - game constants
patch8 - game constants
patch8 - ui render manager

You can download them all HERE.

Here is the Quick BMS error log:

Quote:

QuickBMS generic files extractor and reimporter 0.6.1d
by Luigi Auriemma
e-mail: *****
web: aluigi.org
(Dec 28 2014 - 21:19:39)

http://quickbms.aluigi.org
http://twitter.com/luigi_auriemma
http://zenhax.com

- GUI mode activated, remember that the tool works also from command-line
where are available various options like folder scanning, filters and so on

- select the BMS script or plugin to use
- select the input archives/files to extract, type * or "" for whole folder and
subfolders
- select the output folder where extracting the files
- open input file C:\*****\rol bigs\BIGS\ui_render_manager.big
- open script C:\*****\rise_of_legends.bms
- set output folder C:\*****\new bigs

offset filesize filename
--------------------------------------

Error: incomplete input file 0: C:\*****\rol bigs\BIGS\ui_render_manager.big
Can't read 12057518 bytes from offset 000004e0.
Anyway don't worry, it's possible that the BMS script has been written
to exit in this way if it's reached the end of the archive so check it
or contact its author or verify that all the files have been extracted.
Please check the following coverage information to know if it's ok.

coverage file 0 100% 1248 1248

Last script line before the error or that produced the error:
39 getdstring NAME NAMESZ

Press RETURN to quit

file 1

This same error (in bold above) happens for all of the 9 files. I can't see anything common besides the names as the sizes vary.


2 And none of the TGA image files can be viewed or edited.

When trying to open any TGA file in Gimp I get this error:

Quote:

Could not load image "example", TGA image has invalid dimensions.

Or this error:

Quote:

TarGA image Message
Unknown image type 0 for "example"

GIMP Message
Opening "example" failed: TarGA image plug-In could not open image

In Paint Net Pro I get this error:

Quote:

System.FormatException: unknown TGA image type
at PaintDotNet.Data.TgaFileType.OnLoad(Stream input) in d:\src\pdn\paintdotnet\src\PaintDotNet\Data\TgaFileType.cs:line 457
at PaintDotNet.FileType.Load(Stream input) in d:\src\pdn\paintdotnet\src\Data\FileType.cs:line 477
at PaintDotNet.Functional.Func.Eval[T1,TRet](Func`2 f, T1 arg1) in d:\src\pdn\paintdotnet\src\Base\Functional\Func.cs:line 158

In IrfanView I get this error:

Quote:

Warning!
The File "example" is a DDS file with incorrect extension! Rename?

You can download a sample HERE.

Maybe the TGA images are corrupted or what? I tested on Gimp, TGA Viewer, Gmax, IrfanView and Paint Net Pro - some crash or nothing loads.
EDIT: I have had some success converting some of the TGA to PNG and then back to TGA and they work, anyone know why this may have happened?


3 And as mentioned above there are BXML files which are can't be edited - is there a solution? I have tried viewing as XML but it doesn't work. I read here about others comments on BXML.

You can download a sample HERE.

puggsoy, posted Fri Jan 30, 2015 6:27 am (2990)

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Those TGA files are just DDS with an incorrect extension, as IrfanView says. If you say OK and allow it to change the extension then you can view them. I don't know why they have that extension but if you batch rename them you should be able to view them.

I think I partly understand those BXML files, I'll see if I can figure out how to turn them into XML.

aluigi, posted Fri Jan 30, 2015 7:03 am (2991)

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Script fixed, now it's version 0.1.1.

modquest, posted Fri Jan 30, 2015 10:13 am (2992)

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Thanks Luigi,

Here's what I found after the update,
The remaining BIG files get extensions named after the filename itself:

game_constants.game_constants
game_sounds.game_sounds
etc...

In a text editor it's just gibberish with a few recognizable names so I'm not sure of what the files should be.
Any suggestions?

Thanks so much for your help thus far, I am singing your praises!
"Hail Luigi! He helped opened up the world of Aio, he is a legend among scripters."
And there is a thunderous sound of applause and fanfare as the people clap, cheer and bow as you are given a hero's welcome in the land,
...riding into the city on a golden chariot with flowers and rice raining from the heavens above.

aluigi, posted Sat Jan 31, 2015 6:36 pm (2996)

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They are custom files, maybe someone else is interested in working on them.

dniel888, posted Sat Jan 31, 2015 6:37 pm (2997)

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here is what I found about the .bxml format:

Code:

long UNK1 //(Version = 1)

long numOfTags1
long numOfTags2
short UNK2 //(0xFFFF)
byte UNK3 //0x00
TreeIndex[numOfTags2] tree

long numOfProperties1
long numOfProperties2
short UNK4 //(0xFFFF)
byte UNK5 //0x00
PropertyIndex[numOfProperties2] props

long numOfNameStrings1
long numOfNameStrings2
short UNK6 //(0xFFFF)
byte UNK7 //0x00
String[numOfNameStrings2] nameStrings

long numOfValueStrings1
long numOfValueStrings2
short UNK8 //(0xFFFF)
byte UNK9 //0x00
String[numOfValueStrings2] valueStrings

long zero // 0x00000000

struct TreeIndex
{
   short parent
   short child
   short nextSiblings
   short numOfProperties
   long ptrToProperty (number of starting property in props)
} //size: 0xC

struct PropertyIndex
{
   byte ptrToNameString // (number of string in nameStrings)
   short ptrToValueString //(number of string in valueStrings multiplied by 0x10)
   byte type // (0x00 = no value, 0x20 = 4 byte hex, 0x40 = int, 0x50 = float, 0x60 = string)
   long value
} //size: 0x8

struct String
{
   long size
   wchar[size] str
}

modquest, posted Sun Feb 01, 2015 1:58 am (3002)

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Thanks Luigi and dniel888 for your help!

I have compiled the remaining Big files that now have custom extentions as a download HERE.

The originals were all Bigs and most now have the same extension as the filename:

branches_0.fxo.fxo
game_constants.game_constants
arctic.game_eye_candy_dish
gametextablemgr.gametextablemgr
gamesounds.gamesounds
init_icon.texs.ui_render_manager
...etc...

If anyone can figure out what to do with these files, there's no rush, and thanks very much!

modquest, posted Fri Jul 31, 2015 12:41 am (6721)

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aluigi wrote:

They are custom files, maybe someone else is interested in working on them.

dniel888 wrote:

here is what I found about the .bxml format:

Code:

long UNK1 //(Version = 1)

long numOfTags1
long numOfTags2
short UNK2 //(0xFFFF)
byte UNK3 //0x00
TreeIndex[numOfTags2] tree

long numOfProperties1
long numOfProperties2
short UNK4 //(0xFFFF)
byte UNK5 //0x00
PropertyIndex[numOfProperties2] props

long numOfNameStrings1
long numOfNameStrings2
short UNK6 //(0xFFFF)
byte UNK7 //0x00
String[numOfNameStrings2] nameStrings

long numOfValueStrings1
long numOfValueStrings2
short UNK8 //(0xFFFF)
byte UNK9 //0x00
String[numOfValueStrings2] valueStrings

long zero // 0x00000000

struct TreeIndex
{
   short parent
   short child
   short nextSiblings
   short numOfProperties
   long ptrToProperty (number of starting property in props)
} //size: 0xC

struct PropertyIndex
{
   byte ptrToNameString // (number of string in nameStrings)
   short ptrToValueString //(number of string in valueStrings multiplied by 0x10)
   byte type // (0x00 = no value, 0x20 = 4 byte hex, 0x40 = int, 0x50 = float, 0x60 = string)
   long value
} //size: 0x8

struct String
{
   long size
   wchar[size] str
}

puggsoy wrote:

I think I partly understand those BXML files, I'll see if I can figure out how to turn them into XML.

It's been a while, does anyone know what to do with the BXML and other files here?

dniel888 posted some code for the BXML, what do I do with this?

If you need me to create new download links for any files, let me know.

Thanks again for your time and help.

modquest, posted Thu Dec 17, 2015 9:09 am (10478)

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We're still looking for some help with this, here is a link to a summary of our ROL BIGs extraction modding project.

We are willing to pay some programmers to take a look and work on possible solutions, a free copy of the game can be mailed to you.

modquest, posted Wed Jul 20, 2016 2:12 am (15445)

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A BIG file archive program has been created for Rise of Legends by a programmer here, read more here

ROL BIG Archiver is available for download and can be used to mod the game.

If you have downloaded the ROL BIG Archiver and are making mods, you can post the mods at Heavengames and Moddb and start your own project thread for discussion in the forum here.

We still need some help with some of the file formats so if you're a fan of the game and/or a programmer take a look and post any questions in the HG forum.