formats.md

Magic & Mayhem: File Formats

This is an incomplete list of information about the various file formats used by the game.

Maps

Map data is stored in Magic & Mayhem\Realms\ and contained in several different formats, the main ones being:

• *.map - map segments
• Terrain.ttd - "Terrain Type Data"
• Terrain.spr - terrain sprites for this map
• *.mps - map placement scheme
• *.evt - event list

.map

Encrypted by default; can be decrypted using Nikita Sadkov's unpacking routine, mmdecrypt.c. Always begins with a 76 byte header:

// CFsec02.map
struct MapHeader {
	uint32_t Version;     // 6

	uint32_t MapSizeX;    // 40 (tiles)
	uint32_t MapSizeY;    // 40
	uint32_t MapSizeZ;    // 23

	uint32_t MapArea;     // 1600  (MapSizeX × MapSizeY)
	uint32_t MapVolume;   // 36800 (MapSizeX × MapSizeY × MapSizeZ) i.e. total tile count

	uint32_t SegmentsX;   // 2 (i.e. 2 × 20 tile square segments across)
	uint32_t SegmentsY;   // 2

	int32_t  Side0_Edge0; // 2 (river)
	int32_t  Side0_Edge1; // 1 (path)
	int32_t  Side1_Edge0; // 0 (nothing)
	int32_t  Side1_Edge1; // 0
	int32_t  Side2_Edge0; // 1
	int32_t  Side2_Edge1; // 0
	int32_t  Side3_Edge0; // 0
	int32_t  Side3_Edge1; // 2

	int32_t  Unknown1;    // 512 (512 for every map file, except CPsec03.map)

	int32_t  Unknown2;    // -1 (-1 for every map file)
	int32_t  Unknown3;    // -1 (-1 for every map file)
};

The below image shows how the sides/edges are mapped. Smaller maps (e.g. 1 x 1 segments) have *_Edge1 set to -1 to indicate the lack of segment.

Immediately after the header, MapVolume number of map tiles follow. Map tiles begin at the bottom (ground) layer and build upwards layer by layer.

// CFsec50.map - first (bottom) layer values:
struct MapTile {
	int16_t TerrainIndex; // 589    index into terrain type data (.TTD)
	int16_t Unknown1;     // -1     always -1 for celtic forest
	int16_t Unknown2;     // -1     always -1 for celtic forest
	int16_t Unknown3;     // -1     always -1 for celtic forest - crashes if set to 0
	int16_t Unknown4;     // 1      ranges from 1-14338; never 0
	int16_t Unknown5;     // 1      bool? only 0/1; bWalkable?
};

Using the TerrainIndex value into the terrain .ttd / .spr files, it is possible to reconstruct the segments layer by layer:

Terrain.ttd / Terrain.spr

A list of tiles which can be used by map segments. Always begins with a 16 byte header:

struct TTDHeader {
	char     Signature[4]; // TTD\0
	uint32_t FileSize;     // Calculated by: TileCount * 356 (size of terrain type) + 16 (size of header)
	uint32_t Version;      // 4
	uint32_t TileCount;    // 1753
};

TileCount number of tiles/terrain types follow the header. Each terrain type block is 356 bytes containing many properties, e.g. which sprite a tile should switch to when it's burnt.

Tiles appear in the same order in both the .ttd and .spr files.

.mps

Map placement schemes specify where wizards, creatures, and items should spawn in a map segment. They begin with a 16 byte header:

// CFsec14.mps
struct MapPlacementSchemeHeader {
	char     Signature[4]; // MPS\0
	uint32_t Unknown1;     // ?
	uint32_t Version;      // 1
	uint32_t Elements;     // 11 (elements = things to spawn)
};

Elements are 40 bytes and contain a couple of custom structs:

struct MapPlacementSchemeElement {
	Location L; // X,Y,Z pos

	// Object/creature type
	ElementType Type;

	// Object/creature index; see Wizards\_default.wzd for object list; CFG\creature.cfg for creatures
	uint32_t Index;

	// Health / points?
	uint32_t Unknown6;

	// Only set for TYPE_CREATURE?
	uint32_t Unknown7;
	uint32_t Unknown8;
	uint32_t Unknown9;
	uint32_t Unknown10;
};

struct Location {
	uint32_t X;
	uint32_t Y;
	uint32_t Z;
};

enum ElementType {
	TYPE_UNDEFINED,          // 0
	TYPE_WIZARD_FRIENDLY,    // 1
	TYPE_WIZARD_ENEMY,       // 2
	TYPE_WIZARD_MULTIPLAYER, // 3
	TYPE_CREATURE,           // 4
	TYPE_ARTIFACT            // 5
	// TYPE_INVALID             default
};

.evt

A list of locations where events should take place (e.g. dialogue sequences, enemy deployment, experience awards, etc). Used in conjunction with *.cfg files in the map's parent directory. Begins with a 16 byte header:

struct EventHeader {
	char     Signature[4]; // EVT\0
	uint32_t Unknown;
	uint32_t Version;
	uint32_t EventCount;
};

// CFsec50.evt
struct Event {
	Location L1;
	Location L2;   // Often (but not always) the same location as L1
	char Name[48]; // CF50 Redcap1_1
};

Animations

Animation data is stored in .ani files which are kept alongside the corresponding sprite (.spr) files in Magic & Mayhem\Creatures and Magic & Mayhem\Sprites.

/**
 * wizard1.ani - 44 / 0x2C byte header
 */
struct AniHeader {
	char     Signature[4];   // ANI\0
	uint32_t FileSize;
	uint32_t FrameCount;     // Total number of frames in file; not all animation "slots" are used, e.g. non-flyers have null flying anims
	uint32_t Version;        // 1-2 "out of date"; 3-4 supported; 5 most common (always?)
	uint32_t Unknown;        // usually null
	uint32_t AnimCount;      // anim = group of frames that represent an animation
	char     SpriteFile[20]; // associated sprite file name
};

Following the header are AnimCount number of DWORDs which are the frame counts of each animation (subtracted from the previous value). After that are the animations themselves:

/**
 * 44 / 0x2C bytes per frame
 */
struct AniFrame {
	uint32_t FrameType; // 0 = sprite, 5 = something to do with events, 6 = end of anim
	int32_t  FrameData; // if FrameType == 0, this is the sprite index into the .spr file.
	uint32_t Unknown1;
	uint32_t Unknown2;
	char     Name[8];   // Name of sprite frame if type == 0

	// may not all be DWORDs
	uint32_t Unknown3;
	uint32_t Unknown4;
	uint32_t Unknown5;
	uint32_t Unknown6;
	uint32_t Unknown7;
};

It appears that all .ani files are grouped in the same way, i.e. the first animation group is walking/flying movement, followed by lightning strike, followed by attacking, etc.

Every animation appears in a group of eight, one for each rotation (N, NE, E, etc).

My guesses as to the animation groups are as follows:

Group #	Description
1	Walking / flying
2	Electrocution
3	Melee attack 1
4	Melee attack 2
5	Melee attack 3
6	Melee attack 4
7	UNUSED
8	UNUSED
9	Idle 1
10	Idle 2
11	Idle 3 / standing → sitting
12	Idle 4 / sitting → standing
13	?
14	?
15	Taunt/intimidate/cry?
16	UNUSED
17	UNUSED
18	UNUSED
19	Take damage
20	UNUSED
21	UNUSED
22	UNUSED
23	Flying
24	UNUSED
25	Walking → flying
26	UNUSED
27	UNUSED
28	UNUSED
29	UNUSED
30	Dying
31	UNUSED
32	Flying attack (or landing?)
33	Ranged attack
34	UNUSED
35	UNUSED
36	UNUSED
37	?
38	?
39	?
40	?
41	?
42	?

Enabling Developer Logs

It is possible to enable basic logging by editing Chaos.exe; simply change the value at offset 0xD59CA from 0x75 to 0x74 and the following log files will be created in the game directory next time the game is launched:

• Creature.plc
• events.plc
• mapgen.log
• mapplace.plc
• objects.plc
• region.plc
• Section.plc
• Wizard.plc