ResViewer v1.32 for Flight Unlimited
Standard Disclaimer
ResViewer is provided as is and comes with no warranty of any kind.
While every attempt has been made to provide a stable product
there can be no guarantee and the author assumes no liability
for any damages resulting from the use or misuse of this software.
You use ResViewer at your own risk and if you do not agree to these
terms you should delete ResViewer immediately.
ResViewer is provided as FREEWARE and may not be distributed as part
of any software package or bundled CD-ROM without written permission
from the author.
Table of Contents
Description
Acknowledgements
Installation
What's New?
Things You Need To Know
Known File Types
Note about images
Known Issues
Usage
Goto Feature
Changing Aircraft Name
Viewing 3D Models
Exporting Files
Importing Files
Appendix - Interesting .res Files
Description
ResViewer lets you view and modify the resources of Flight Unlimited III
This includes: aircraft textures, 3D models, panels, cockpit art, sounds, menus, maps etc.
(It will also work with some of the FU2 resources)
Please send me any bug reports, questions, suggestions and comments.
Gideon Pertzov
pertzov@netvision.net.il
http://www.geocities.com/alive.geo/flight3.html
Acknowledgements
BMP routines based on code by Colosseum Builders, Inc.
Compress/Uncompress uses external utilities: PKZIP25 and DCL2ZIP by PKWARE Inc.
Interface based on VisualFX code by Zoran M. Todorovic - SCA Software International S.A.
The rest of the code is mine :)
Installation
1. Unzip ResViewer.zip to a folder of your choice (e.g. C:\ResViewer )
2. Run ResViewer.exe
Make sure you have enough free disk-space (50Mb or more) for temporary
Files created during the operation of the program.
(Temporary files will be deleted when you exit the ResViewer)
| Always BACKUP your
original .res files before modifying them |
What's New?
Version 1.32
* Aircraft name can now be changed without exporting/importing
Version 1.3
* New Goto feature lets you jump straight to aircraft voices, sounds, textures, 3D models, palette and cockpit resources
* Moving parts are now rendered when viewing 3D models (parts are not animated but they are visible)
* Improved support for FU2 aircraft- textures and 3D models are now viewed/exported/imported correctly
Version 1.2
* New Import->Script feature lets you import multiple files
* Added support for Corel PhotoPaint palettes (.cpl)
* 3D routines optimized for better performance
* Added keyboard support to 3D models control
* Updated resource descriptions
* ResViewer now "remembers" ALL last used folders (Open, Import, Export)
* Fixed display bug with the Beechjet under-wing textures
Version 1.1
* Added support for viewing 3D models
* Name of currently open file now appears in the Title Bar
* ResViewer now "remembers" the last File->Open folder and Export->Multiple folder
* The Info Window (bottom right) now displays additional information:
- Dimensions and color depth for images
- Number of polygons for 3D models
Things You Need To Know
The resources are stored in files with a .res extension, these files reside in
Sub-folders under the main Flight3 folder.
To find the .res files simply do a search for *.res under your main Flight3 folder
(For a list of interesting .res files see the end of this file)
The .res files contain resources of different types - sounds, images, 3d models etc.
Some of the file formats I have been able to identify, these files will be displayed
in the ResViewer according to their file-types (WAV files can be played, textures are
displayed as bitmaps etc.)
File formats which are still unknown will be displayed in their original format in
Hex representation.
Known File Types:
3D Models - rendered in 3D (can be rotated and zoomed in/out)
Sounds - can be played from inside the ResViewer
Images - displayed as bitmaps
Palettes - displayed as a table of palette entries
You can also view these files in their original format
By selecting View -> As Hex from the View menu.
Note about images:
Many images are in 8-bit format and require a palette to display correctly.
Since the palette is usually stored separately from the image,
ResViewer uses the first palette it finds in the .res file as the default palette
This may cause some of the images to look "strange" since they will use the wrong palette.
If the .res file contains more than one palette you can cycle between the palettes
by using the < > keys (no SHIFT).
You can select a palette directly by using the number keys 1-9
(e.g. click 4 to use the 4th palette in the .res file, if it exists)
When viewing a palette you can select it as the current palette by clicking the
"Make Current Palette" button.
Known Issues:
* Changing the current palette re-loads the image and may take a few seconds
* Some images in sky.res and mainmen.res can not be viewed as bitmaps
Support for these images may be implemented in future updates
Usage
Open a .res file by selecting Open from the File menu or by clicking the Open File icon.
After the .res file is opened, you will see in the left pane a list of all the files it contains
To view a file - click on its name
Some files contain several items, to view the list of items
click on the + sign next to the file name.
In the bottom right you will see information about the currently selected item
(Type, Resource Id, Compressed size and Uncompressed size)
NOTE: some files are large (megabytes) and take several seconds to display
This also applies to items inside a large file, even if the item is small
it may take some time to load.
Goto Feature
The Goto menu lets you jump straight to the following aircraft resources:
Voices (ATC voices)
Sounds
Textures
3D Models
Palette*
Cockpit* (panels and interior cockpit views)
The Goto feature will skip to the first resource in the selected section.
For example: if you select Goto -> Textures you will see the first texture in the textures section.
* palette and cockpit resources are not accessible in FU2 aircraft .res files
Changing Aircraft Name
Open the aircraft's .res file with ResViewer then find the File with
Resource ID 2052
It is usually the first File with a '+' sign next to it.
For example: File 86 in trainer.res
Click on this File and you will be displayed with a form where you can change the name
Viewing 3D Models
3D models can be found in each aircraft's .res file (beechjet.res, trainer.res etc.)
The models' location is different for each .res file but generally they are located
after the aircraft exterior textures.
To go straight to the 3D models select Goto -> 3D models from the menu.
A few examples to get you started:
Mooney Bravo - bravo.res Files 79 - 96
Trainer - trainer.res Files 67 - 83
Windhawk - windhawk.res Files 68 - 85
You can rotate the model, zoom in/out and display it as a textured model or as a wireframe
Rotation: Click & Hold the left mouse button (inside the viewing area)
Move the mouse to rotate the model around two axes
(To rotate it around the third axis, click & hold the CTRL key)
You can also rotate the model by using the Arrow Keys and the PageUp/PageDown keys
(You must first click with the mouse inside the viewing window)
Zooming: Click & Hold the RIGHT mouse button
Move the mouse forward to zoom in, backwards to zoom out
You can also zoom in/out by using the "KEYPAD +" and "KEYPAD -" keys
(You must first click with the mouse inside the viewing window)
Display Mode: Double Click inside the viewing area to switch between
Textured and Wireframe modes
Exporting Files
There are several export options, all are accessible from the Export menu.
Export -> Convert - Exports the currently selected file/item and converts it
to a common format:
* Sounds will be exported as .WAV files
* Images as .BMP files
* Palettes as Paint Shop Pro .pal files
or as Corel PhotoPaint .cpl files
Export -> Original Format - Exports the currently selected file/item in its
original format as stored in the .res file
(unknown resources will always be exported in their
original format, even if you select Export -> Convert)
Export -> Multiple - Opens a dialog with a list of all the files inside the .res file.
1. click the "Browse..." button and select a destination folder
2. select multiple files from the list by using the mouse and the
Control and Shift buttons (like selecting files in Explorer)
3. If you would like the files to be converted (to BMP, WAV etc.)
make sure the Convert box is checked.
4. Click the "Export" button
5. Wait patiently while the files are being exported to the
destination folder you have selected.
The files will be named using the following convention:
<res file name>_<index>_<resource id>.<extension>
For example, the 3rd file in beechjet.res will be named:
beechjet_003_11005.wav
Export -> Options - Lets you choose your desired palette format
Supported formats:
1) PaintShop Pro
2) Corel PhotoPaint
Importing Files
| *** Be sure to BACKUP the
original .res file before importing - there is NO UNDO!
*** |
NOTE: Importing a file (even a very small file) takes a long time, please wait patiently
until the import process is completed.
There are two Import options:
Import -> Single - Imports a file to replace the currently selected file/item.
Import -> Script - Lets you import multiple files by creating an import script
Instructions for Import Script:
1. Open a .res file (for example: trainer.res)
2. Select Import->Script from the menu
3. In the "Import Script" dialog you have several buttons:
Add - adds a script entry (a file to be imported)
Remove - removes entry/entries from the script
Load Script - Loads a script file (*.rvs)
Save Script - Saves a script to a file
Import - Executes the script
To create a new script:
1. Click Add
2. In the Add Entry dialog:
1) Click Browse and select a file you want to import (for example: PanelDayIFR.bmp)
2) Fill the File number (for example: 99)
3) Fill the Item number (if there are no items in this file, fill 0 )
4) Click OK
You will see a new entry in the script window.
3. Repeat the above steps to add more entries.
To remove entries, select entry/entries by clicking on them (in the File column) and then click Remove
When you're finished adding entries, you MUST Save the script before you can execute it.
*** IMPORTANT ***
Save the script in the same folder as the files you want to import !!!
This means all the files you want to import and the script file should reside
in the SAME FOLDER.
You can not import files if they are in different folders.
*****************
To execute the script click on the "Import" button.
You will see a status dialog with a progress bar and information messages about the import process.
*** Validation in this process is limited! ***
*** So make sure you're importing the files into the correct Files/Items ***
Appendix - Interesting .res Files
- All folders relative to the main Flight3 folder.
- Folder names may differ in international versions.
Aircraft - All the aircraft .res files are located in the \plnpile\ folder
(beechjet.res, bravo.res etc.)
AI Planes - All AI planes textures and 3D models are located in:
\engpile\models.res
Files 1 - 249 are textures
Files 250 - 538 are 3D models
Maps - Outer Terrain maps are located in \engpile\rfltpln.res
Region maps for Seattle and Sanfran located in:
\regions\Seattle\engpile\resreg.res
\regions\Sanfran\engpile\resreg.res
Sounds - Many .res files contain sounds, here are a few:
\genpile\gensnds.res
\genpile\plyrsnds.res
\genpile\tertsnds.res
\genpile\vcomctrl.res
All .res files in \regions\Seattle\genpile\ and in \regions\Sanfran\genpile\
contain region specific sounds