Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa and NCSoft .GLM Tool v1.0

Site: http://www.playtr.com
Developers: http://www.ncsoft.net/

Today we have deal with this great MMORPG from NCSoft, I played beta approximately one month and it's really great MMORPG comparing to WoW or other boring MMO's. So game have some kind of own file system "gloomy files", and I made tool which can handle those files from NCSoft, don't know if other games from NCSoft has same format( if some will test it let me know ). Tool can extract files from .GLM files ONLY, packing option not available yet. Anyway, now you can get those nice in game sound tracks, maps images, background images, level meshes etc., even this nice TR logo I got from gloomy files :) Thanks NCSoft.

Download: NCSoft .GLM Tool v1.0

Ancient Wars - Sparta .PAK Extractor v1.3

- Added support for Russian PAK files.( Also works with Russian addon "The Fate of Hellas" )
- Added license agreement splash screen.

Download: Sparta .PAK Extractor v1.3

Ancient Wars - Sparta .PAK Extractor v1.2

Whats new? Now it works with Italian and Spanish version of the game, thanks to that guy who gave me .pak samples and executable files. Enjoy.
Download: Sparta .PAK Extractor v1.2

Intel Turbo Memory Drivers BUG!

Few weeks ago I bought two modules of Intel Turbo Memory (ITM) for my laptop Asus G2S-A1, installed it without any problems, then downloaded latest version(1.1.0.1010) of ITM drivers. And tried to install for a few minutes everything was looking ok, driver was successfully installed for first 1Gb ITM module and then Windows tried to install drivers for second ITM module(also 1Gb) . I was very angry when figured out that drivers was NOT designed for simultaneous work with two installed ITM modules. So how I figured it out. I started analization from crash dump( it can be found at c:\Windows\Minidump\Mini%DATE%-%CrashDumpNumber%.dmp, in my case it was Mini101807-01.dmp ), so I opened my dump with WinDbg( can be downloaded from microsoft web site, it’s free :)

And what I have found there, driver “Probably caused by : iaNvStor.sys ( iaNvStor+44e7 )” tried to access to unavailable memory, and memory access violation exception was occured at address iaNvStor+44e7 “BugCheck 1000007E, {c0000005, a6b494e7, 830e3830, 830e352c}”

Here is the detailed crash dump log:

FAULTING_MODULE: 81c00000 nt

DEBUG_FLR_IMAGE_TIMESTAMP: 46929a5f

EXCEPTION_CODE: (NTSTATUS) 0xc0000005 - The instruction at 0x%08lx referenced memory at 0x%08lx. The memory could not be %s.

FAULTING_IP:

iaNvStor+44e7

a6b494e7 8b8664010000 mov eax,dword ptr [esi+164h]

EXCEPTION_RECORD: 830e3830 -- (.exr 0xffffffff830e3830)

ExceptionAddress: a6b494e7 (iaNvStor+0x000044e7)

ExceptionCode: c0000005 (Access violation)

ExceptionFlags: 00000000

NumberParameters: 2

Parameter[0]: 00000000

Parameter[1]: 00000164

Attempt to read from address 00000164

CONTEXT: 830e352c -- (.cxr 0xffffffff830e352c)

eax=c0000035 ebx=00000000 ecx=0000bb40 edx=85065d00 esi=00000000 edi=c0000035

eip=a6b494e7 esp=830e38f8 ebp=000026b8 iopl=0 nv up ei ng nz na pe nc

cs=0008 ss=0010 ds=0023 es=0023 fs=0030 gs=0000 efl=00010286

iaNvStor+0x44e7:

a6b494e7 8b8664010000 mov eax,dword ptr [esi+164h] ds:0023:00000164=????????

Resetting default scope

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT: 1

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID: WRONG_SYMBOLS

BUGCHECK_STR: 0x7E

LAST_CONTROL_TRANSFER: from 81c849f3 to a6b494e7

STACK_TEXT:

WARNING: Stack unwind information not available. Following frames may be wrong.

830e38f4 81c849f3 af7ef008 854705a8 8579d001 iaNvStor+0x44e7

830e38f8 af7ef008 854705a8 8579d001 00000000 nt+0x849f3

830e38fc 854705a8 8579d001 00000000 00000f98 0xaf7ef008

830e3900 8579d001 00000000 00000f98 af7ef008 0x854705a8

830e3904 00000000 00000f98 af7ef008 830e39b8 0x8579d001

FOLLOWUP_IP:

iaNvStor+44e7

a6b494e7 8b8664010000 mov eax,dword ptr [esi+164h]

SYMBOL_STACK_INDEX: 0

SYMBOL_NAME: iaNvStor+44e7

FOLLOWUP_NAME: MachineOwner

MODULE_NAME: iaNvStor

IMAGE_NAME: iaNvStor.sys

STACK_COMMAND: .cxr 0xffffffff830e352c ; kb

BUCKET_ID: WRONG_SYMBOLS

Followup: MachineOwner

So two registers (EAX and EDI) contains some 0xC0000035 Kernel status code, such codes returned by Native APIs, so I searched the WDK( Windows Driver Kit ), this code means “STATUS_OBJECT_NAME_COLLISION”, then I understood that driver trying to create or register the device with the same same and looks like Intel developers didn’t handle this in driver. But it was only my theory, so I disassembled the driver and checked my theory.

As we can see on screenshot, driver trying to register the device in system and set some device state, and moves the result code to EDI register thats explains why we got that error code in EAX and EDI registers.

Weird thing why the ESI register is zero when we got that error, since ESI was not used anywhere in driver code, and there is the rule that EBX, EDI, ESI and EBP registers shouldn’t be changed if we calling some API.

I already reported about this bug, so let’s hope Intel will fix this issue, and will release the driver update for it. Otherwise at least they should mention about that at their site, that you can’t install more than one ITM module.

I hope you liked my post, sorry if something is unclear english isn’t my native language J

With best regards,

int0.

Loki .XMD Decryptor / Encryptor

Finally I have found some couple of hours to update my blog :) So here it is, new tool for Loki MODers or cheaters ;) Now you can decrypt edit and encrypt back .XMD files, .XMD its simple but encrypted XML file. Such files as strings.xmd and FormatedStrings.xmd ( maybe some other too) can be edited in Microsoft(R) Excel, so you can translate game texts to your native language ;)

Loki: Home page
Download: Loki .XMD Decryptor / Encryptor

Centauri Production Resource Tool v1.0

I've managed another file format, now its from Centauri Production, file format has header "Centauri Production Resource File 3.00" and tool is able to handle files only with this header. The game "Evil Days of Luckless John" has this file format and I have tested my tool on it. Tool is able to read and create .res files, but I not guarantee that creation feature will work on 100%.
File Format:

Header
string Header; // "Centauri Production Resource File 3.00\n\n\0"
int FilesCount;
int TOCOffset;

ToC
string FileName;
long FileTime;
int isPacked; // 0 - false; 2 - true
int Offset;
int UnpackedSize;
int PackedSize;
int unk1; // Could be crc or something else.

Requirements: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
Download: Centauri Production Resource Tool v1.0

Cypron studios .file Tool v1.0

Here is new tool .file format which i found in two games "State of War 2" and "Gods Lands of Infinity" both using Cypron engine by Cypron studios. I have spend almost two days to investigate format and implement packing feature to create own Cypron .files, so I hope you will enjoy it ;)
Requirements: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
Download: Cypron studios .file Tool v1.0

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 .bundle Tool 1.0

Official site: graw2
Review: 1

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (GRAW2) is hot. Ubisoft has wasted new time firing another round of Ghost Recon action at gamers. The first Ghost Recon next-generation game was more than a success and helped push the series forward, and moved the franchise up on par with Ubisofts other hit Tom Clancy games like Rainbow Six, and Splinter Cell. It could be argued that Ghost Recon is now Ubisofts #1. I guess that depends on the sales because from a gaming standpoint, GRAW2 is an improvement on an already awesome foundation of a game.

The plot line revisits Mexico and its continued rebellious state against the United States. As Ghost solders the American government has placed you in behind enemy lines to siphon the madness. There is no time for a shot of tequila, as caption Scott Mitchell you suit up and become an invisible killing machine, a ghost. Along with your teammates and any additional support you gain during your mission, you traversing the hostile enemy territory you search out enemy camps, hidden missiles, and rescue downed solders, amongst other impossible feats. The ghost team faces a number of grave settings in this war torn theme that post more of a challenge then before. From urban streets, to the close quarters of building debris, to desolated desert locations, the ghost have no option for failure and you have to be relentless against the hostile forces. The theme is similar to the first edition of a hostile nation fighting within and against its borders. Advanced Warfighter 2 becomes another dark and gritty setting that keeps the death count rising, with blood on your hands and job to do.



GRAW2 is more intense then ever with a slightly (not greatly) improved A.I., a number of tricky situations, better enemy placement and a more diverse and tactical resistance. Even with GRAW2 amped up, it strange that I never felt a huge challenge while playing the game in normal, so that had to be rectified. After defeating the first level in normal, I decided to go back and start the game over in hard which made the experience more balanced. The enemy is basically the same assorted rebels that you had in the first Ghost Recon except this time their numbers are more, their eyes are a little sharper and they have access to more heavy armor. For gamers who have played through the first Advanced Warfighter game, I suggest you give the hard mode a try right off the get go, and then move down if it’s too challenging.



Like the original Advanced Warfighter you will have solo and team missions set along with a few vehicle based sequences that are actively spaced between each other. Each aspect of the action is appealing, although controlling a team seems to be more explosive and endearing. I felt the vehicle missions where approved upon, but they still feel a little out of place along side the urban based squad combat. I wouldn’t take them out because they are oddly satisfying, but it is a little much for the series. I don’t want to see GRAW turn into a modern version of Call of Duty.

Controlling extra vehicles and your teammates is still a hassle that turns into a small bit of micro management frustration. This really can’t be avoided and Ubisoft made on necessary adjustment that improves this situation greatly. By pressing the [rb] right bumper you can now get a full screen video feed of any asset on that battlefield. This means you can send a team of Ghosts to another section of the map and control them in first person. It doesn’t grant you full control, but it gives more options along with a better sit rep on your team. This follows through will all the vehicles in the game including friendly tanks. Until they can somehow lessen the burden of control on the gamer, this is a huge step forward for the Ghost Recon series.



What the new perspective and control also does is make the Cypher actually useable, and fun to navigate in a top down view. GRAW2 also hosts the new inclusion of a remote controlled scout vehicle called a Mule. The mule is mainly used to re-supply ground troops along with providing medical services. The Mule looks like a compact lunar rover with armor. The Mule controls the same as a solder in the game, so it’s easy to point the drone around and keep track of this little guy. Even though the Mule is useful, it seems like an unnecessary addition to the player’s bag of tricks. I hardly used the Mule, only for its required use of grabbing a specific weapon. This could be directly related to the difficulty level as well, it’s not the Mules fault I have a full gun of ammo and a spotless health bar.

If I had to make a complaint about GRAW2 it would be that the game feels like it’s over once you get the ball rolling. The single player campaign is packed full of action over a number of settings, but its over all too fast. I would have liked them to expand some of the areas over a few more minutes of action to get more life out of the game, and some areas the cemetery in level 2 was so eerie and impressive that I didn’t want it to end, and two minutes later, it was over. What saves GRAW2 from its short average six hour single player section is the bountiful multiplayer game that is still jacked up, along with some co-op action that can keep you busy.

It’s understandable once you boot up live and share in the multiplayer experience why Ghost Recon is still one of the most played games on Xbox Live. GRAW is simply well put together and fun. Like Sony’s Socom series, Ghost Recon has everything from clan based team games, to single player frag fests with up to 16 players in a room. The co-op game is equally a lot of fun and challenging. Getting a group to work as a team can be a drawn out experience on Xbox Live, but once you get a good team going the joy starts. You really can’t dispute the quality of the multiplayer and now the visuals have even leaked over online, GRAW2 should be unstoppable for the majority of 2007.


Requirements: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
Download: Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 .bundle Tool 1.0
Info: Tool is able to extract and create bundle files. Enjoy ;) Some people can ask: "Repacked .bundle files gets smaller, why?" thats because I have optimized saving algorithm and after repack there are no empty space between files in .bundle container.

Infernal .ZAP unpacker console version

I had many requests to write console version so here you go. Seems some people CAN'T understand that I can't and won't to do .zap packer, because I don't know full file format, even after my reply to them, they still annoying me to write zap packer.

Download: Infernal .ZAP unpacker console version

Enemy Territory - QUAKE Wars Beta .PK4 Encryptor / Decryptor

I've downloaded from the net leaked ETQW beta version, and found that id software encrypted their pk4 files. pk4 format its just renamed .zip files :)
Tool: Enemy Territory - QUAKE Wars Beta .PK4 Tool

Tools hosting

Thanks to Mr.Mouse from XeNTaX, tools was moved from free file sharing to xentax's hosting. See you soon... ;)

Lost Planet Extreme Condition .ARC Extractor v1.1

Requirements: Microsoft® .NET Framework 2.0
Download: Lost Planet Extreme Condition .ARC Extractor v1.1
Info: This version can handle more than ~70% file extensions of .arc files. Problem is file extensions are hashed with some algorithm which is not implemented in executable module, that is why tool will create some files with hash extensions like: "tool\Havok\Vertex\om4012_1.1AEB54D1". Game music was recorded and encoded with high quality and compressed in Ogg format.

Hospital Tycoon

Developer: Codemasters
Publisher: Deep Red Games

Minimum system configuration:

- Windows XP
- DirectX 9.0c
- Pentium 4 @ 1.6 GHz or Athlon 1600+
- 512 MB RAM
- Graphics Card: GeForce 3 / Radeon 8500 or above
- DirectX Compatable Sound Card
- 2x DVD-ROM Drive
- 750 MB Hard Drive Space

Recommended system configuration:

- Windows XP/Vista.
- DirectX 9.0c
- Pentium 4 2.8Ghz or Athlon 2800+ or better
- 1GB RAM
- Graphics Card: GeForce 6600 / Radeon X1300 or above
- DirectX Compatable Sound Card
- 2x DVD-ROM Drive
- 1.5 GB Hard Drive Space

That Bullfrog’s (Syndicate, Theme Park) original Theme Hospital was released way back in the same year that Duke Nukem Forever was first announced – 1997 -- should provide some consolation for those of you who feel they have waited far too long for an update to this classic sim game.

As a successor to one of the few games that remain playable today, despite the obviously dated graphics, CodeMasters have quite high expectations to live up to. But is Hospital Tycoon the miracle recovery after a 10-year coma? Or do we turn off the machine that goes “ping!”, call a code and order in a re-supply of body bags?


In Hospital Tycoon, much like its predecessor, you have to set up and run a hospital, making sure all the patients who walk in your front door leave the same way. You build rooms, buy a variety of crazy medical devices, hire doctors and nurses, janitors and receptionists, and generally try to keep things running smoothly so that patients don’t die on you. Equipment and salaries cost you money, while curing patients brings it in. Simple. So what’s changed in this new, updated version?

As far as graphics go, Hospital Tycoon’s visuals are a clear improvement on the decade-old original. As expected, this iteration sees a move from sprites to polygons. While it won’t be winning the “Polygon Pusher of the year” award for 2007, the graphics fit very well with the mood of the game. Big heads and exaggerated animations add to the humour, and sparkly animated effects on patients and machinery make the suffering of your sims thoroughly enjoyable.


It’s the gameplay, however, where Hospital Tycoon differs most significantly from what you might expect. While the basic functionality remains the same, you now have far less control over the hospital-running aspects of the game. Doctors essentially do their own thing, and while you can tell them to walk somewhere, you cannot tell them to treat a specific patient who’s near death at the end of the queue, or work in a certain room. Instead, the control focus is on having staff interact with other staff – you can make them fight, tell jokes, fall in love, etc.


While this is a neat idea to a degree, it adds nothing whatsoever to the gameplay. Your staff will still do all this without you telling them to, and you can play through the entire game without ever using this feature except where specifically directed to do so by the level objectives. There are no options that allow you to manage the economy of your hospital, nor to set the direction of your research: all research is now conducted automatically by one researcher when a patient with an unknown illness comes in. In fact, about the only aspect of this game where you have more control is in the decorating – you can now buy a variety of posters, plants and decorative features to improve the “beauty” rating of your hospital.

All in all, this game was a fun disappointment. The 'story' for the level-based part of the game is weak, uninteresting, and does not impact on the gameplay. For all the effort put into making staff with individual personalities and customisable hospital rooms, you lose any changes you made to these characters and rooms after each level, with the next starting with a default set-up. Despite this, the underlying gameplay is still solid and enjoyable.

Tool:
For all Hospital fans I've coded another fine tool.


Requirements: .NET Framework 2.0
Download: Hospital Tycoon .PAK Extractor v1.0

File Format:

4 - unk 1 // const 0x34FDF66A
4 - files count
4 - offset to FIT
4 - FIT size
4 - offset to FNT
4 - size of FNT
4 - offset to FDT
4 - size of FDT

FIT
4 - offset in FDT
4 - offset in FNT
4 - file size

Definition:
FDT - File data table
FNT - File names table
FIT - File info table

Types:
FDT - array of bytes;
FNT - array of null terminated string;
FIT - array of DWORDs

Broken Sword 4: The Angel of Death

Developer: Revolution
Publisher: THQ
Review:

Broken Sword is one of the few adventure series to still enjoy success across the world. In fact, it has been so successful that creator Charles Cecil has now had to go back on his original promise that it would be a trilogy, and the fourth game in the series is set for release in September. The game is published by THQ and developed by Revolution and Sumo Digital, and we managed to get a first play of it at Leipzig this year to see how protagonist George Stobart has been getting on.
The bad news is that George doesn't look to be doing too well at the start of The Angel of Death. Back in New York but unable to find legal work anymore, he's at a bit of a low point until a mysterious woman called Anna Maria enters his life. At this point, fans of the series may be wondering what happened to previous love interest Nico, but other than the news that she will appear as a playable character in the game, we have no details on that front.

Because it's an adventure game famed for its scripting, we pressed Cecil on the area of scriptwriting as he demonstrated the game. While he was incredibly cautious about revealing any potential spoilers, he was eager to talk about the scriptwriting process for the new game, which he believes is the strongest yet. The mechanics for each Broken Sword game has been forgotten knowledge, which resurfaces in the modern day. Thanks to George's inquisitive nature, this knowledge leads to a conspiracy and drives George through the adventure as he uncovers more clues. The fact that Cecil has visited both Egypt and New York to research the game might give an indication of where it's heading.


With the last game tying the story in to a nice, neat trilogy, many fans have been asking what direction the fourth game will be taking. Cecil talked about taking the game back to its roots, especially since the first game is his favourite, and the desire to create the feel of a 2D adventure game in 3D. In Broken Sword 3, the move from 2D to 3D was an incredibly controversial choice, and Cecil was open about the mistakes he had made. His biggest regrets are the number of crate puzzles in the game and the omission of a point-and-click interface. The second Broken Sword game in 3D, The Angel of Death has fewer crate puzzles and focusses more on adventuring, while complementing the keyboard interface with the restored mouse control for traditionalists.

Whereas Broken Sword 3 was released on the PC, Xbox and PlayStation 2, the fourth game in the series will be PC only. Despite overwhelmingly positive reviews, a massive proportion of the game's sales were on the PC, so console versions are off the menu this time around. However, the project features a controversial new development technique whereby Cecil remains creative control while development is outsourced to Sumo Digital. Since Cecil is still employing Neil Richards as scriptwriter and the people behind Outrun 2 to program the game, we're excited that this method will yield positive results.

During our demonstration, Cecil let slip that Anna Maria might not be all she's cracked up to be but that this will be revealed to the player. He went on to explain that this technique, which he has applied from cinema, is used to increase the attachment to George in the game. Just like in a horror movie where the audience knows when the murderer is going to jump out at someone, players should care more for George because of the danger presented by this girl. If they have been through previous adventures, it's likely that they'll also want to see him fall in love and live a normal life for a change.


When the game is launched in September, a soundtrack will be released to accompany it and dynamic game hints can be found in the menu system, in case you get stuck. We're hugely excited about continuing George's adventures, and we'll see if Cecil's ambitious storytelling and development methods have yielded another classic adventure in a couple of weeks' time.
______________________
Finally I found few minutes to post this tool, and I want to say I'm happy that more and more people like my tools, unfortunately for all I have no time because I have my job and need to do it :)
Requirements: .NET Framework 2.0
Download: Broken Sword 4: The Angel of Death .PAK Extractor v1.0

Blog Update

Unfortunately, at this moment I totally have no time to make new unpackers and update my tools :( but I prepared one gift for today. I will try to update blog every week, so be patient ;) also I received many emails with requests to help or write tools, but I cant help everyone, you should understand me, I doing my best.

Infernal .zap unpacker UPDATED

Seems I was in hurry and uploaded not stable version of Infernal .zap unpacker, thanks to people who reported me about problems here is new version of zap tool.

Download: Infernal .zap unpacker
Requirments: .NET Framework 2.0

Lost Planet Extreme Condition

Developer: Capcom
Publisher: Capcom
Official site: http://www.lostplanet-thegame.com
Info: Earlier this year Capcom scored a hit with the release of Lost Planet: Extreme Condition on the Xbox 360. Looking to expand on that success, Capcom is now bringing the game to the PC. The PC version of Lost Planet is a direct port of the Xbox 360 version with new multiplayer maps and optimized graphics and special effects. We played the game to see how it holds up on the PC.

In terms of content, you won't find anything new in the Lost Planet single-player game. The multiplayer game is mostly unchanged as well and still supports up to 16 players online with four different game modes. The PC version of the game does come with some new maps and an updated server lobby, but that's the extent of the new content. Lost Planet is branded as a Games for Windows product, but it isn't a part of the Games for Windows - Live program. That means there won't be any achievements or cross-platform multiplayer built into the game.

Instead of having new missions, enemies, or weapons, the PC version of Lost Planet has been enhanced and adapted for high-end gaming machines. The game supports both DirectX9 and DirectX10, so it's compatible with both Windows XP and Vista. Most notably, Lost Planet supports resolutions up to 2560x1600, so if you have a capable video card and monitor you can expect to see crisp, detailed effects on the PC that aren't possible on the Xbox 360. Lighting, shadows, and particle effects all show fairly significant improvement over the Xbox 360 version of the game, which already looked great to begin with. The team at Capcom has been working with graphics gurus at Nvidia to optimize Lost Planet for the PC. As a result, Lost Planet is part of Nvidia's "The Way It's Meant To Be Played" lineup of games.
______________
Textures and some other resources are packed as .ARC archive you can extract it with no problems by my tool. I used Lost Planet DX9 DEMO to create this tool so no any promises it will work with any other version, or wait release date June 2007 ;)

Download: Lost Planet .ARC Extractor v1.0
Requirements: .NET Framework 2.0

Medieval 2 Total War .PACK Extractor v1.0

Finally, I did it .pack file format compressed by some custom compression algorithm but i figure out how to decompress it and wrote this nice tool: Medieval 2 Total War .PACK Extractor v1.0
It was really a bit hard 8) Lost Planet .arc extractor will be next ;)

Medieval 2 Total War Packer

Searching in Google for Medieval 2 Total War unpacker I've found a tool MineHe.M2TW.ModSDK.Packer which can extract files from .pack files, but seems author don't know how to decompress files because after extraction files still are packed, unfortunately I have a lot of work this weekend and cant investigate .pack format properly :( But Ill asap. :)

Ascension to the Throne .PAK Extractor v1.0

Here I coded a new tool for Ascension to the Throne .PAK extractor file format in this game is super simple so it takes me 5 minutes to understand it just in hex editor.
FAT chain looks like:

private struct PAK
{
public string filename;
public int offset;
public int length;
}

Requirements: .NET Framework 2.0
Download: Ascension to the Throne .PAK Extractor v1.0

Ascension to the Throne

Developer: DVS
Publishers: 1C, Frogster Interactive
Home page:Ascension to the Throne
Review: IGN
Ascension to the Throne is a turn-based strategy game with RPG elements. In a world of fantasy the hero will have to pass many tests on his way to victory. Enemies seek to stop players from regaining power and having taking revenge, gain new friends to aid you in reclaiming the throne. Become the King you were born to be - wise, brave and courageous.

Players will act as the last offspring of the ancient family, which has ruled Airath for ages. But times have changed and traitorous enemies attacked the castle. They slaughtered his family and destroyed the settlement, but they didn't crush his will. A very powerful spell cast by a magician threw the hero far beyond the borders of the country. He was on his own - without relatives, friends, without an army and without money. He lost everything he was proud of but still he was alive and chose the path of vengeance.

Players will explore a new fascinating world, full of foes and friends. They will have to crush hordes of enemies and find new followers to regain the title and ascend to the throne.

Features

• Combination of real-time movement around the game world and turn-based battles
• Large-scale tactical battles. Up to 20 squads (up to 10 units in each)
• Players are not bounded by separate missions. They can go to any part of the game world and explore it. The game world is integral and players are free to choose any direction
• Original concept. The Hero is the player, and instead of giving orders and watching the battles from a safe place, he participates in them by himself. But remember, that you can easily loose your Hero in the heat of a battle

Minimum System Requirements:

• Microsoft Windows XP SP2
• Pentium IV 2.4GHz or higher
• 512MBRAM
• GeForce 6600 or higher graphic card with 128 MB RAM
• 2,4 GB free

Medieval II Total War

Developer: Creative Assembly
Publisher: Sega
Official site: Medieval II Total War
Reviews: GamePro EuroGamer Gamespot
Screen shots:
Medieval 2 is the latest and greatest game to be released in the best selling and award-winning Total War series. Set in the years 1080-1530 the most turbulent period in European history, the game combines a vast, deep-thinking turn-based strategy campaign with the most cinematic, epic and brutal real-time battles ever seen in the genre.

A vastly enhanced version of the Total War engine vividly portrays the pure bloodlust of Medieval warfare with massive battles of more than 10,000 troops splayed across new graphically rich environments. For the first time in the Total War series each troop is an individual, garbed with the rich heraldic colours and glinting arms and armour of the period.

On the battlefield they’ll survey their surroundings for threats and incoming opponents and react accordingly. When engaged they’ll string together a series of devastating moves as Medieval 2’s new combat animation brings the conflict to life like never before. Total War has never been so ferocious or realistic.

The Medieval 2 grand campaign will hand you the reins of one of an emerging faction as you set about sweeping throughout Europe, conquering all before you. Expand your borders and develop your lands for wealth and prosperity by building cities or swell your army by constructing vast castles to protect your land and keep your rivals quaking with fear.
Use Princesses for diplomatic gain, Priests to spread the influence of your religious beliefs and Merchants to fill your coffers for your war effort. All the time the Pope and the Papal States watch over the Christian world, assessing the strength of your faith and making demands to prove your loyalty. Do you cater to his whims and avoid excommunication or plot his downfall and rig the papal elections to place your own Pope in power?

Key Features Include:
Real-Time Battles On a Massive Scale

Epic Battles with Enhanced Unit Detail
Thunderous battles on a huge scale with thousands of units on screen. Armies are now made up of meticulously detailed troops built with unique heads, body, weapons and armour with unique animations and poses that gives each individual unit character and depth. Troops and cavalry are decorated with all the heraldic finery and colour of medieval warfare that’s gradually muddied and bloodstained through the course of battle.

New Unit Abilities
A legion of more than 250 new and unique units split over 21 factions, each with their own new special abilities that open up a wealth of intuitive battlefield tactics.

Advanced Combat System
Zoom to the frontline and witness the fast, visceral melee combat enhanced by new spectacular battlefield animations. Troops block and parry attack moves and string together deadly combo attacks and finishing moves before scanning the battlefield for their next kill.

New Explosive Sieges
Embark on spectacular siege battles as huge armies and fearsome siege machines rumble into action. Devastating cannon, pummel imposing defences of fully destructible cities and castles before setting them aflame under the night sky.

Advanced Lighting and Richer Environments
A newly enhanced graphics engine brings the battlefield environment to life like never before. The stunningly realistic landscapes feature detailed vegetation with sprawling settlements. Newly detailed dynamic weather effects beat down on new terrain types illuminated by enhanced lighting that captures every glint and spark as arms and armour clash under a gleaming sun.

Enhanced Multiplayer Battles
New multiplayer battle modes will ease the player’s passage to the battlefield and keep the online conflict raging.

A New All-Conquering Campaign

History in the Making
A huge campaign spanning from the years 1080-1530, that will take the player beyond the first Crusade up until the dawn of the renaissance. An extended campaign map will allow passage to South and Central America bringing the player into battle with the Aztecs.

New Settlement Types
Build through six levels of settlement ranging from humble villages to vast cities and wooden forts to mighty stone fortress. Develop your faction as a feudal aristocracy using you castles to keep the peasants in check whilst conquering your enemies with your powerful armies. Or build cities to develop a wealthy urban society, and battle your foes with diplomacy, bribery, assassination and armies of mercenaries.

A Supporting Cast
Put an array of ancillary characters to work and smooth your path to global domination. Boost your coffers with Merchants. Grease the cogs of diplomacy with Princesses and manage your faction’s path to religious enlightenment with Priests. Charge assassins to wipe out enemy generals and witness their cold-hearted killing first-hand with assassination movie sequences.

Embrace Religion
Will you obey the demands of the Papal States, catering to the whims of the Pope? Or shun his requests and risk facing his fearsome Inquisitors or even excommunication? Make a stand against him and you can infiltrate papal affairs by rigging elections.

Global Crusades
Win favour with the Pope and round up your armies for global crusades at his request. Players can even prompt the Pope to commission crusades as Catholicism wages a spiritual battle against the Muslim, Orthodox and Pagan religions.
_____________________________________

Seems developers from Creative Assembly also created some own file format to keep game resources, I checked it when I got a game, as for me its doable to make extractor for their *.pack files so maybe at this weekend I will post a new tool. :)

UFO Extraterrestrial xBIG Tool at Source Forge

Source forge approved xbig tool and added it to their projects. Thanks to Eblis
who started it at source forge.
Go to: xBIG Tool at source forge.

Ancient Wars - Sparta .PAK Extractor v1.1

As I said before this guys from World Forge made tricky file format and I find out what was the problem why some files wont work after extraction, thanks to Suuk who tried my extractor and reported this bug. Developers used 3 values to mark file state in .PAK container.

public int IsPacked; // 0 - Encrypted first 0x100 bytes; 1 - encrypted and compressed; 2 - plain.

I've updated saving routine, so you can find new version here: Ancient Wars - Sparta .PAK Extractor v1.1

Death to Spies ( SMERSH )

Developer: Haggard Games
European Publisher: Nobilis
Russian publisher: 1C
1C Game page: Death to Spies
Russian demo: download
Screen shots:

Smersh is the Russian for "Death to Spies" and was the name of a set of counterintelligence departments in the Soviet Army formed during World War II. Their mission was to secure the rear of the active Red Army by arresting traitors, deserters, spies and criminal elements. During the war these agents became the main force combating the German intelligence service.

The game's main character is a captain in the 4th department of the Soviet counterintelligence service. He is a professional spy trained to execute dangerous operations on his own. During missions he will have to complete various tasks in the heart of enemy territory including stealing important documents, eliminating different enemy officers or high-ranking officials, kidnapping and sabotage.

Game missions are based on real historical events and operations which were executed by the military intelligence and counterintelligence during the war.
_____________________________________

Another game, another quite simple extractor for it. Now developers prepared for us their .vfs format, vfs its abbr. from Virtual File System :) so I decided to investigate it.

Offset to file list I found less in a minute, I always checking end and begin of file, so at the EOF was two numbers very similar to offsets.

Byte order is little-endian (Intel) so 0x28BE and 0x73A5 numbers, and I decided to check some thing, what if EOF offset 0x6D3C3 - 0x28BE - 8 = 0x6AAFD( 8 is size of our 2 unknown numbers yet ) lets see what we got here:

Wow, that's zlib header 0x789C then 0x73A5 might be uncompressed size, after decompression I have found its our file list with offsets / unpacked size /packed size and so on... so you can try now my tool to extract all game resources:

Download: Death to Spies .vfs Extractor v1.0

Ancient Wars - Sparta

Developer: World Forge
Publisher: www.playlogicinternational.com
Official site: Ancient Wars - Sparta
Review: Eurogamer
Screen shots:


A great new RTS from Eidos and Playlogic, where u can control three empires Sparta, Persia or Egypt. Also Ancient Wars: Sparta isn't a game based on 300 a movie. Game gfx is looks like very nice at least in demo :) So you need a tech new computer.

Minimum System Requirements
System: Intel Pentium®4 2.4 GHz or Athlon XP or equivalent
RAM: 512 MB
Video Memory: 128 MB
Hard Drive Space: 4000 MB

I've coded a tool for this game, game using a pretty tricky encryption, it takes me two days to made stable tool and properly implement decryption algorithm.
Decryption routine looks like:

// ( outbuffsize == decrypt FAT) ? position in stream : size of decompressed stream.

public static byte[] Decrypt(byte[] buff, int outbuffsize)
{
// If buffer length > 0x100 then decrypt only first 0x100 bytes.
int num = ( buff.Length > 0x100 ) ? 0x100 : buff.Length;

for (int i = 0; i < num; i++)
{
int index = ( outbuffsize + i ) % 15;
buff[i] = (byte) (buff[i] ^ m_array[index]);
}
return buff;
}

File structure is simple and looks like:

[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct PAK
{
  public int LengthFileName;
  public string FileName;
  public int Offset;
  public int IsPacked; // 1 - true 2 - false
  public int PackedSize;
  public int UnpackedSize;
  public int Crc; // it looks like crc but I'm not sure.
}

I hope you like it: Ancient Wars - Sparta .PAK Extractor v1.0

New domain.

Now you can find me at http://www.inthegame.eu/
Thanks a lot to my friend K..

UFO Extraterrestrials

Publisher: Tri Synergy
Developer: Chaos Concept
Official site: here
Review: 1
Forum: forum
Screen shots:

Another UFO game, now from Czechs developers, very looks like first UFO Defense, game atmosphere is pretty nice, who played first UFO should to try this one.

Developers used own file format to keep their textures, music and other resources. I've done my tool at this weekend so you can extract modify and repack their XBIG files. Also you can find a lot of MODs for this game at official forum.
Tool requirements: .NET Framework 2.0
You can download tool here: UFO Extraterrestrials xBIG Tool v1.1

Infernal

Publisher: Playlogic
Developer: Metropolis Software
Official site: here
Reviews: 1 2
Game forum: here



Tool: Another quite simple Infernal .ZAP Unpacker for game archives with extension .zap Just open zap file and tool immediately start unpacking process it will create folder with unpacked files in the same directory.
How to convert zap to zip:
Using my tool you can convert zap to zip, just need to unpack all .zap files then pack unpacked files into .zip with same name and edit config file in game folder "standard_game.feel" change
Zip_compatible_packfiles 0 to 1. Now you can easily edit game resources with out any problems.

Halo 2 Delayed to May 22

Halo 2 for Windows Vista has been delayed to May 22nd, in order to make some improvements and address some technical issues, Microsoft announced. Halo 2 for PC includes the original Xbox game, plus the Halo 2 Multiplayer Map Pack, as well as a level editor to create your own multiplayer maps. Latest trailer you can be found here.

Dawn of Magic

Developers: Skyfallen Entertainment
Publisher: Deep Silver
Official site: here
Review: IGN

In Russia game known as "Blood Magic" and was published by 1C

I wrote small tool for .bm file format. You can create your own .bm file BM container support 3 different packaging ways of files into container ( Encryption/Compression/Plain ).
Some files could be compressed and encrypted at the same time, sound and video files should be in plain view.
Download: Dawn of Magic .BM Tool v1.0
Requirements: .NET Framework 2.0

Blog started

This blog will be about PC games, game resources and games related things.
I hope u will find a lot of useful stuff here :)