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Windows file formats
Every file of the 1995 Windows release, and every layout in them, byte by byte, with the evidence each one rests on.
Addresses of the form 1068:0180 are segment:offset in COLONIZE.EXE, the
shipped, patched build. Counts are measured over a complete install, and the
figures on these pages are re-derived from one by the
win-tools test suite, which fails when a
page drifts from the data. The same tools extract every format here to editable
files and rebuild the game from them.
Start with what is in each file: all 64 files of an install and what each one holds.
| Format | Where it is | Status |
|---|---|---|
| NE container | every .DLL and .EXE |
rebuilds byte-identical |
SPRT |
915 across 7 modules | re-encodes byte-identical |
CVPC |
96 across 8 modules | re-encodes pixel-identical |
CTAB |
43, all in COLDATA8 |
re-encodes byte-identical |
| Palettes | built at runtime, stored nowhere | the mechanism is decompiled |
TEXT |
737, mostly COLTEXT0 |
re-encodes byte-identical |
FLIC |
1, in COLDATA7 |
decoded; carried through on rebuild |
| Windows DIBs | bitmaps, icons, cursors | bitmaps round-trip |
| ARCV | COLONIZE.$00 |
solved |
Not solved #
CRDS, CRED, MONS and SHIP — five record tables in COLDATA5 and
COLDATA9 — have no known layout. They are carried through untouched rather
than shaped into a plausible-looking table.
COLWIN.PRF (412 bytes of preferences) and SETUP.INF (the installer's own
compressed script) are likewise unread.
Saves and maps #
AUTO01.SAV and AMER2.MP are in formats the DOS release shares byte for
byte, so they are documented once, under
shared file formats: .SAV saves
and .MP maps.
The other release #
The DOS game of 1994 shares the rules, the map file and the save layout, but keeps its art in entirely different containers. See DOS file formats, and the two releases compared.