Picking apart filestypes for Worms: The Director's Cut

squirminator2k · 02 April 2021, 18:23

In 1997, Worms: The Director's Cut was released for the Amiga. As Team17's swansong to the system they got their start on, it's easily the most customizable Worms game in the entire series, allowing you to add your own terrain styles, mountain sets, and more besides.

Adding this stuff to the game is relatively easy - there are templates in IFF format that are fed into a tool called WormPrefs which spits out the relevant file - .MNT for mountain sets, .DIY for custom terrains, and .WRM16 for maps (although, for maps, you can just save an IFF file with a .WRM or .WRM16 extension - you just don't get any of the additional options or features that WormPrefs provides).

Unfortunately, because WormsDC was released 24 years ago for a platform that was already well into its death throes, the game isn't as well-known or as loved as other Worms games and, consequently, almost no work has gone into picking it apart in the way that people have done with other games in the series.

Consequently, we have absolutely no idea how exactly .MNT or .DIY files actually work. We can MAKE them, but to the best of my knowledge no one has tried to reverse-engineer either WormPrefs or the filetypes.

This, hopefully, is where one of you comes in - I would love to throw some .DIY and .MNT files at someone with knowledge, know-how and expertise who can figure out exactly how these files are generated, how they're packaged, and how they're used by the game. Mostly I'm hoping to flesh out the articles for these files in the Worms Knowledge Base.

So my question is this: Has anybody tried to pick these files apart, or if that hasn't happened, is anybody interested in giving it a go?

Hercules · 03 April 2021, 00:16

Maybe their are clues here? The hard disk images that Team 17 used for developing Worms have been imaged and uploaded, The links on this page will take you to archive.org.

https://www.perifractic.com/takeout-...4000-emulator/

squirminator2k · 03 April 2021, 00:38

I've had a poke about there, and the only interesting thing I found was the Amiga Format Preview Edition build of WormsDC. I unfortunately didn't find anything illuminating for the WormsDC filetypes - that sort of thing would most likely reside on Andy Davidson's A1200, if it's anywhere.

Hercules · 03 April 2021, 00:41

I would next try whizzing the files through xpk / xad just to check they not packed with some obscure file compressor.

02 April 2021, 18:23	#1
squirminator2k Dream17 / PortsCenter guy Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Los Angeles Age: 37 Posts: 311	Picking apart filetypes for Worms: The Director's Cut In 1997, Worms: The Director's Cut was released for the Amiga. As Team17's swansong to the system they got their start on, it's easily the most customizable Worms game in the entire series, allowing you to add your own terrain styles, mountain sets, and more besides. Adding this stuff to the game is relatively easy - there are templates in IFF format that are fed into a tool called WormPrefs which spits out the relevant file - .MNT for mountain sets, .DIY for custom terrains, and .WRM16 for maps (although, for maps, you can just save an IFF file with a .WRM or .WRM16 extension - you just don't get any of the additional options or features that WormPrefs provides). Unfortunately, because WormsDC was released 24 years ago for a platform that was already well into its death throes, the game isn't as well-known or as loved as other Worms games and, consequently, almost no work has gone into picking it apart in the way that people have done with other games in the series. Consequently, we have absolutely no idea how exactly .MNT or .DIY files actually work. We can MAKE them, but to the best of my knowledge no one has tried to reverse-engineer either WormPrefs or the filetypes. This, hopefully, is where one of you comes in - I would love to throw some .DIY and .MNT files at someone with knowledge, know-how and expertise who can figure out exactly how these files are generated, how they're packaged, and how they're used by the game. Mostly I'm hoping to flesh out the articles for these files in the Worms Knowledge Base. So my question is this: Has anybody tried to pick these files apart, or if that hasn't happened, is anybody interested in giving it a go? Last edited by squirminator2k; 02 April 2021 at 18:57.

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03 April 2021, 00:16	#2
Hercules Vodka monster. Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: UK Posts: 332	Maybe their are clues here? The hard disk images that Team 17 used for developing Worms have been imaged and uploaded, The links on this page will take you to archive.org. https://www.perifractic.com/takeout-...4000-emulator/

03 April 2021, 00:38	#3
squirminator2k Dream17 / PortsCenter guy Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Los Angeles Age: 37 Posts: 311	I've had a poke about there, and the only interesting thing I found was the Amiga Format Preview Edition build of WormsDC. I unfortunately didn't find anything illuminating for the WormsDC filetypes - that sort of thing would most likely reside on Andy Davidson's A1200, if it's anywhere.

03 April 2021, 00:41	#4
Hercules Vodka monster. Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: UK Posts: 332	I would next try whizzing the files through xpk / xad just to check they not packed with some obscure file compressor.

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