.vqp format doc
This commit is contained in:
Paul Chote
276
doc/vqp_info.txt
Normal file
276
doc/vqp_info.txt
Normal file
@@ -0,0 +1,276 @@
|
||||
|
||||
COMMAND & CONQUER GOLD AND C&C: RED ALERT *.VQP FILES
|
||||
|
||||
by Gordan Ugarkovic (ugordan@yahoo.com)
|
||||
http://members.xoom.com/ugordan
|
||||
|
||||
Revision 1.02
|
||||
|
||||
Command & Conquer is a trademark of Westwood Studios, Inc.
|
||||
Command & Conquer is Copyright (C)1995 Westwood Studios, Inc.
|
||||
Command & Conquer: Red Alert is a trademark of Westwood Studios, Inc.
|
||||
Command & Conquer: Red Alert is Copyright (C)1995-1999 Westwood Studios, Inc.
|
||||
|
||||
DESCRIPTION:
|
||||
I used to think that viewing the Red Alert movies in SVGA gives you a higher
|
||||
resolution, but recently I found out that this is not the case. The movie
|
||||
resolution remains the same, you simply stretch a low-res movie (320x156 or
|
||||
320x200) to double its width (640 pixels) and between two adjacent
|
||||
horizontal pixels you insert a third one that has a color which is the
|
||||
average value of the 2 pixels' colors.
|
||||
When I say average value, I don't mean averaging the indexes to palette,
|
||||
that would be very easy but incorrect. I mean averaging the COLORS themselves
|
||||
and finding a color in the palette that most closely matches the desired one.
|
||||
This process of searching is very slow, so a different method needs to be
|
||||
applied.
|
||||
This is where a VQP file comes in. In order to be able to average
|
||||
(interpolate) colors very fast, one needs a COLOR LOOKUP TABLE.
|
||||
That is the basic purpose of VQP files: to provide you with the neccessary
|
||||
color lookup tables.
|
||||
|
||||
FILE FORMAT:
|
||||
The VQP file format is actually very simple.
|
||||
First there is a LONG INT (4 bytes) value which represents how many
|
||||
lookup tables for the corresponding VQA movie the VQP contains.
|
||||
Since every palette has a different color order, we obviously need a new
|
||||
lookup table every time the palette changes.
|
||||
After the value come the lookup tables themselves. Every lookup table is
|
||||
exactly 32896 bytes long. I will explain why there are 32896 bytes in a
|
||||
lookup table and not 65536 (256*256) as someone might suspect.
|
||||
The reason for this is that some of the color values repeat, for example
|
||||
if you have an interpolation value for [23][176], you don't have to write
|
||||
the value [176][23] because the values will be the same. This saves space
|
||||
needed by almost 50% !
|
||||
|
||||
Let's consider a palette which has 5 colors.
|
||||
We would have to write the following combinations:
|
||||
|
||||
C1 C2 C1 C2 C1 C2 C1 C2 C1 C2
|
||||
------- ------- ------- ------- -------
|
||||
0 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 4 0
|
||||
1 1 2 1 3 1 4 1
|
||||
2 2 3 2 4 2
|
||||
3 3 4 3
|
||||
4 4
|
||||
|
||||
Note that none of the combinations repeat.
|
||||
The number of these combinations is [5+(5+1)]/2 = 15
|
||||
Likewise, if we had 256 colors, we would have [256+(256+1)]/2 = 32896
|
||||
different color combinations.
|
||||
|
||||
But enough of the math, here is some pseudo-code that will load
|
||||
the lookup table and fill all the values (it will expand the 32896 bytes
|
||||
to the full 65536 byte lookup table).
|
||||
(The lookup table is a 2D array, each dimension having 256 elements):
|
||||
|
||||
for C1 = 0 to 255 do
|
||||
for C2 = 0 to C1 do
|
||||
begin
|
||||
val = GetNextByte;
|
||||
lookup[C1][C2] = val;
|
||||
lookup[C2][C1] = val;
|
||||
end;
|
||||
|
||||
The function GetNextByte should return the next byte from the file
|
||||
or from the memory buffer.
|
||||
Every time the palette changes you run that piece of code
|
||||
to load the correct lookup table and you'll be fine.
|
||||
|
||||
Now, let's say that Left is the color of the left pixel, Right is the
|
||||
color of the right pixel and Middle is the color we need. We would
|
||||
get this color value by simply indexing into the lookup table:
|
||||
|
||||
Middle = lookup[Left][Right]; (or lookup[Right][Left], it's the same)
|
||||
|
||||
It is interesting to note that, with these lookup tables, it is
|
||||
possible to do a full interpolation of the movies, that is, interpolate
|
||||
in the vertical direction as well, unlike the Red Alert Win95 version
|
||||
which only interpolates in the horizontal direction.
|
||||
|
||||
Having said that, one can wonder: Where are all the VQPs located?
|
||||
For SIZZLE.VQA and SIZZLE2.VQA it was easy, but what's with all the
|
||||
other movies?
|
||||
|
||||
So, I started looking and, well, you know those 8 MB of unknown data
|
||||
located between the 640x400 VQA start movie and SPEECH.MIX in
|
||||
REDALERT.MIX... :)))
|
||||
|
||||
Anyway, here goes...
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
REDALERT.MIX OFFSETS OF *.VQP FILES
|
||||
FOR ALL RED ALERT MOVIES
|
||||
[ENGLISH RED ALERT VERSION ONLY]
|
||||
~~~~~~~
|
||||
|
||||
Movie names are from FILENAME.TXT by Moritz Mertinkat.
|
||||
Here is what he has to say about the document:
|
||||
|
||||
<These excerpts were taken from "The Red Alert Single Player Mission
|
||||
Creation Guide" (Release 1.1), Copyright 1997 by Andrew Griffin and
|
||||
C. F. Harkins (andrewg@light.iinet.net.au and cfhark@msn.com).
|
||||
The latest version can be found at: www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/5458
|
||||
|
||||
The text above was slightly modified by Moritz Mertinkat for use in
|
||||
RA-MIXer; i.e. I added some aspects and corrected some parts of the
|
||||
text which provided wrong (or not enough) information.
|
||||
|
||||
Moritz Mertinkat (ramixer@gmx.net), 23-MAR-1998>
|
||||
|
||||
NOTE: Although the offsets given here are for the English version of
|
||||
Red Alert, I assume the movie names are the same for all the
|
||||
other language versions and so is the ordering of the VQPs in
|
||||
REDALERT.MIX. In the English version, the VQPs follow immediately
|
||||
after the 640x400 VQA. The first one is one of the copies of VQP
|
||||
for the Lands of Lore 2 Sneak Peek (See note later in the document).
|
||||
The next one is for AAGUN, so if you are able to find the VQP for it,
|
||||
you will probably be able to find all the other offsets because
|
||||
they are stored in succession, one after the other.
|
||||
|
||||
Movie name Offset (from start of file, decimal)
|
||||
-----------------------
|
||||
AAGUN 16101380
|
||||
AFTRMATH 16134280
|
||||
AIRFIELD 20279388
|
||||
ALLY1 16167180
|
||||
ALLY2 16529060
|
||||
ALLY4 16561960
|
||||
ALLY5 16594860
|
||||
ALLY6 16660656
|
||||
ALLY8 16693556
|
||||
ALLY9 16759352
|
||||
ALLY10 16232976
|
||||
ALLY10B 16265876
|
||||
ALLY11 16298776
|
||||
ALLY12 16463260
|
||||
ALLY14 16496160
|
||||
ALLYEND 16792252
|
||||
ALLYMORF 16825152
|
||||
APCESCPE 16858052
|
||||
ASSESS 16890952
|
||||
AVERTED 20410984
|
||||
|
||||
BATTLE 16923852
|
||||
BEACHEAD 20443884
|
||||
BINOC 16956752
|
||||
BMAP 16989652
|
||||
BOMBRUN 20509684
|
||||
BRDGTILT 17022552
|
||||
|
||||
COUNTDWN 20542584
|
||||
CRONFAIL 17088352
|
||||
CRONTEST 17055452
|
||||
|
||||
DESTROYR 17121252
|
||||
DOUBLE 20575484
|
||||
DPTHCHRG 20608384
|
||||
DUD 17154152
|
||||
|
||||
ELEVATOR 17187052
|
||||
EXECUTE 20641284
|
||||
|
||||
FLARE 17219952
|
||||
FROZEN 17252852
|
||||
|
||||
GRVESTNE 17285752
|
||||
|
||||
LANDING 20707084
|
||||
|
||||
MASASSLT 17351552
|
||||
MCV 17384452
|
||||
MCVBRDGE 20739984
|
||||
MCV_LAND 17417352
|
||||
MIG 20772884
|
||||
MOVINGIN 21101848
|
||||
MONTPASS 17450252
|
||||
MTNKFACT 21134748
|
||||
|
||||
NUKESTOK 21167648
|
||||
|
||||
OILDRUM 17483152
|
||||
ONTHPRWL 21200548
|
||||
OVERRUN 17516052
|
||||
|
||||
PERISCOP 21233448
|
||||
PROLOG 17548952 and 21266348
|
||||
|
||||
RADRRAID 21792688
|
||||
REDINTRO 18075292 and 21825588
|
||||
|
||||
SEARCH 21858488
|
||||
SFROZEN 21891388
|
||||
SHIPSINK 18108192
|
||||
SHORBOMB 18173992
|
||||
SHORBOM1 18141092
|
||||
SHORBOM2 18173992
|
||||
SITDUCK 21924288
|
||||
SLNTSRVC 21957188
|
||||
SNOWBOMB 18305584
|
||||
SNSTRAFE 22022988
|
||||
SOVBATL 22055888
|
||||
SOVCEMET 22088788
|
||||
SOVFINAL 22121688
|
||||
SOVIET1 18338484
|
||||
SOVIET2 22450676
|
||||
SOVIET3 22483576
|
||||
SOVIET4 22516476
|
||||
SOVIET5 22549376
|
||||
SOVIET6 22582276
|
||||
SOVIET7 22615176
|
||||
SOVIET8 22648076
|
||||
SOVIET9 22746768
|
||||
SOVIET10 22286176
|
||||
SOVIET11 22319076
|
||||
SOVIET12 22351976
|
||||
SOVIET13 22384876
|
||||
SOVIET14 22417776
|
||||
SOVMCV 22812564
|
||||
SOVTSTAR 18371384
|
||||
SPOTTER 22878364
|
||||
SPY 18404284
|
||||
STRAFE 22911264
|
||||
|
||||
TAKE_OFF 22944164
|
||||
TANYA1 18437184
|
||||
TANYA2 18470084
|
||||
TESLA 22977064
|
||||
TOOFAR 18502984
|
||||
TRINITY 18535884
|
||||
|
||||
V2ROCKET 23009964
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
As you can see, even the low-res version of REDINTRO contains a VQP.
|
||||
|
||||
At least 3 VQAs have 2 copies of VQP data (PROLOG, REDINTRO and LoL 2 SP).
|
||||
I don't know why this is, but the copies appear to be the same.
|
||||
Clearly a waste of disk space (Lands of Lore 2 SP VQPs are each 1,7 MB !)...
|
||||
|
||||
Apart from the movies listed above, MAIN.MIX also contains a slightly
|
||||
different version of Lands of Lore 2 Sneak Peek than in the root
|
||||
of the CDs. As I said, a VQP for this movie exists, and there are 2 copies
|
||||
of it (offsets 14456576 and 18568784), but they don't contain
|
||||
lookup data for all 52 palettes, so the last 2 palettes are messed up.
|
||||
|
||||
I don' know why the guys at Westwood even bothered to store this VQA
|
||||
in MAIN.MIX, when there is one in the root of the CD, obviously
|
||||
more disk space wasted... :(((
|
||||
|
||||
Also, the VQP for one of the Allied briefings (I think ALLY1) indicates
|
||||
the corresponding VQA has more palettes than it actually has, but that
|
||||
shouldn't present a problem.
|
||||
|
||||
If you want to include these offsets in your program, please ask for
|
||||
my permission.
|
||||
If you have any questions or comments, feel free e-mail me.
|
||||
|
||||
--------------------------------
|
||||
|
||||
Gordan Ugarkovic (ugordan@yahoo.com)
|
||||
27 July 1999.
|
||||
|
||||
[END-OF-FILE]
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
|
||||
Reference in New Issue
Block a user