Palettes · bei.pm
The file formats described on this page are based on the technical analysis of intellectual property by Dynamix, Inc. and Sierra Entertainment.
The intellectual property is now part of the Activision Publishing, Inc. / Activision Blizzard, Inc. estate and is currently owned by Microsoft Corp..
The information has been gathered through Reverse Engineering and Data Analysis for the purposes of archiving and interoperability with historical data.
No proprietary or confidential specifications were used.
The game is currently available for purchase as a download at gog.com.
| Addr | x0 | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 | x6 | x7 | x8 | x9 | xA | xB | xC | xD | xE | xF | char | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | 50 | 50 | 41 | 4c | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | P | P | A | L | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Offset | Data type | Designation | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | uint(32) | Magic Bytes | |
| 0x0004 | uint(24) | Pallet length | Indicates the number of palettes found in this file, contrary to the normal block format - not the length of the block in bytes. |
| 0x0007 | uint(8) | Flags | Probably, as usual, flags. However, I am not aware of any flags; since all the values I know correspond to |
The palette information is very straightforward to read.
It consists of a header and a data segment.
Palette Header
| Addr | x0 | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 | x6 | x7 | x8 | x9 | xA | xB | xC | xD | xE | xF | char | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | 68 | 65 | 61 | 64 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | h | e | a | d | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Offset | Data type | Designation | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | uint(32) | Magic Bytes | |
| 0x0004 | uint(24) | Pallet length | Indicates the number of palettes found in this file, contrary to the normal block format - not the length of the block in bytes. |
| 0x0007 | uint(8) | Flags | Probably, as usual, flags. However, I am not aware of any flags; since all the values I know correspond to |
| 0x0008 | uint(32) | Pallet format version? | Probably defines which palette format version the palette adheres to. All Outpost2 palettes appear to have version |
Palette Data
| Addr | x0 | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 | x6 | x7 | x8 | x9 | xA | xB | xC | xD | xE | xF | char | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | 64 | 61 | 74 | 61 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | d | a | t | a | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Offset | Data type | Designation | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | uint(32) | Magic Bytes | |
| 0x0004 | uint(24) | Block length | |
| 0x0007 | uint(8) | Flags |
The data section includes the individual pallet entries. The number of pallet entries is determined by the block length / 4.
The individual entries have the following simple structure;
| Addr | x0 | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 | x6 | x7 | x8 | x9 | xA | xB | xC | xD | xE | xF | char | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | -- | -- | -- | 04 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Offset | Data type | Designation | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | uint(8) | Red component | Indicates the red component of the colour |
| 0x0001 | uint(8) | Green component | Indicates the green component of the colour |
| 0x0002 | uint(8) | Blue component | Indicates the blue component of the colour |
| 0x0003 | uint(8) | Unknown - Flags? | It is unclear what this value means, as it apparently is fundamentally |
Regarding the palettes, it can additionally be said that the following rules apply to palettes used for animations:
- The first colour is ALWAYS transparent, regardless of what value is specified there.
-
Palette entries 1-24 are to be considered as player colours in palettes 1-8.
Where the colours, apart from player 1, originate from is unclear to me.
I suspect that the remaining colours are hardcoded.
Palette Reference