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SCN/OFF saving problem solved!

The SCN/OFF format saving problem has been solved! We can now edit and save all files that uses this method. I read on some other forums where Nyerguds himself wrote about him incorporating the format in Engie, and thought that it was just weird that it wouldnt work properly. So on a whim I went through his various releases of the program, and to my great excitement I found that version 1.5.3 (the first version to include the feature) works like a charm!! :yeah:

Here is the link to Engie File Converter version 1.5.3:
http://nyerguds.arsaneus-design.com/...r_v1.05.03.zip

It also turns out that this particular compression format used by Dynamix was reverse engineered by Knt47, with further detail research conducted by Nyerguds. A detailed guide to the format has been released here:

https://moddingwiki.shikadi.net/wiki...N.2FOFF_format

DTS 3d models extracted

It seems we may soon have the possibility to edit the 3D models of Aces of the Deep after all!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X47...ew?usp=sharing

This archive contains all the .DTS files found inside SHAPES.VOL in Aces of the Deep. I extracted these files from the SHAPES.VOL archive using the program 3Space Studio. This program promises to also be able to edit and save these 3D model files in the future. According to the developer on GitHub, progress is already underway for supporting this.

https://github.com/3space-studio/3space-studio

Following is a description of the format found on https://github.com/3space-studio/3space-studio/wiki/DTS.

Quote:

DTS File Format
------------------

DTS is short for "Dynamix 3Space Shape" and is the most commonly used 3D model format across most of Dynamix's games, and the primary format for the Torque game engine. Common with these formats is a node graph which represents the skeleton of the model, and a series of objects which connect meshes to those nodes.

Each iteration of the 3Space engine also led to variations of the DTS file format, each with their own binary layout. Here is a (shortened) list of the variations of the DTS format:

3Space 2.0

DTS files with the { 0x08, 0x00, 0x14, 0x00 } tag are present in:
Aces of the Deep.

DTS files with the { 0x03, 0x00, 0x1e, 0x00 } tag are present in:
Earthsiege
Earthsiege 2.

DGS files contain DTS data, starting with the tag { 0x01, 0x00, 0xbc, 0x02 }, present in:
Earthsiege
Earthsiege 2.

DCS files contain DTS data, starting with the tag { 0xf8, 0x01, 0xbc, 0x02 }, present in:
Battledrome

https://tinyimg.io/i/XRhhMDA.png

After extraction I have tried several methods to open or edit these files myself, in various programs that express support for the .DTS format. There are converters for various programs that can convert between .DTS and newer formats, even 3ds, json, etc. Unfortunately those programs seem to only support the newer DTS format found in later Dynamix titles as well as the Torque 3d DTS format. I hope that there are someone out there who can figure out how to open and edit these files. If we only could open, edit and save back to the same format, we could possibly improve most of the 3d models. Fingers crossed that 3Space Studio will support this soon!

Here is something interesting. In subsim.exe there are two references to a debug mode/screen. I have not yet been able to provoke this screen, but it is referenced along with "memory left". And the free memory window you can provoke by pressing "left alt + left shift + M", so I have a strong feeling we should be able to call up a debug screen as well, with the right combination. If you look at the third HxD screenshot from the left, there are references to some special options that we cannot normally see.

I have also found two other features as you can see in the screens below.
"ctrl + alt + P" will toggle between "Port animations on/off", and "ctrl + alt + R" will toggle between "All rumors on/off". These combinations are not referenced either in the official manual, nor the last minute readmes afaik. Perhaps there are more like this.

Having access to the internal debug screen would be great as it could maybe lead us to understand AOD better, and to enable or disable various features.

I encourage everyone to try out key combinations and look for this. I know in Dynamix games like Betrayal at Krondor you could call up a "cheat" screen by going to the overhead map and holding down [Alt]+[right Shift]+[~] (tilde) keys for two or three seconds. I wouldn't be surprised if Piotr Lukaszuk did the same for AOD. I would very much like to be able to manipulate the wave action.

https://tinyimg.io/i/xcV5h5S.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andreas86 (Post 2792368)

Very interesting ! :up:

Maybe search for Keyboard Codes (in hex).

https://www.cs.yale.edu/flint/cs422/...pdf/APNDXC.PDF

Thanks for that file!

Is it the signed 8-bit integer, corresponding to the hex value that I should compare to keyboard scan codes? Or is it the HEX values as they stand. In example, the first encounter in subsim.exe with the phrase "debug" in HxD shows this in the decoded text:

Debug screen: %20s

In HxD that shows in Int8 values as: 58, 32, 37, 50, 48, 115.
(including the colon and blank)

Translating to the keyboard scancodes I get: F12, M, PRT SCRN, DOWN, UP. Unsure of 115..

If using only the HEX values I get:

3A = CAPS
20 = D
25 = K
32 = M
30 = B
73 = S

Am I totally wrong in my understanding here?