Volumes · 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.
The volumes are a data container for the game, similar to an archive format like a tarball. At least in Outpost 2, the format recognises only files - no folders. However, these could probably be simulated through appropriate filenames.
A volume consists of the volume header as well as several volume blocks that correspond to the actual files.
"Volumes" are the files with the extension 'vol' in the game directory.
| Addr | x0 | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 | x6 | x7 | x8 | x9 | xA | xB | xC | xD | xE | xF | char | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | 56 | 4f | 4c | 20 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | V | O | L | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | |
| Offset | Data type | Designation | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | uint(32) | Magic Bytes | |
| 0x0004 | uint(24) | Block length | |
| 0x0007 | uint(8) | Flags |
Volume Header
| Addr | x0 | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 | x6 | x7 | x8 | x9 | xA | xB | xC | xD | xE | xF | char | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | 76 | 6f | 6c | 68 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | v | o | l | h | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Offset | Data type | Designation | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | uint(32) | Magic Bytes | |
| 0x0004 | uint(24) | Block length | |
| 0x0007 | uint(8) | Flags |
The Volume Header does not contain any user data.
It serves merely as a container.
The first entry in the Volume Header should be the Volume Strings, followed by the Volume Information.
Volume Strings
| Addr | x0 | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 | x6 | x7 | x8 | x9 | xA | xB | xC | xD | xE | xF | char | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | 76 | 6f | 6c | 69 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | v | o | l | i | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Offset | Data type | Designation | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | uint(32) | Magic Bytes | |
| 0x0004 | uint(24) | Block length | |
| 0x0007 | uint(8) | Flags |
| Addr | x0 | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 | x6 | x7 | x8 | x9 | xA | xB | xC | xD | xE | xF | char | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | 76 | 6f | 6c | 73 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | v | o | l | s | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Offset | Data type | Designation | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | uint(32) | Magic Bytes | |
| 0x0004 | uint(24) | Block length | |
| 0x0007 | uint(8) | Flags | |
| 0x0008 | uint(32) | Payload length | Indicates how many bytes of the following data are actually usable data. The remaining data of the volume strings list is evidently to be considered as garbage. In files with a later date, this 'remaining data' is 0x00, which could suggest shortcomings with the toolchain used during the game's development, meaning that only very late in the process did a developer address the correct initialisation of the buffers, as it has no impact on the game whether the data is initialised or not. |
| 0x000c | uint(8)[] | List of filenames | This is a 0-byte terminated list of file names that, at least in the present data component, only appears to expect ASCII characters. It is not necessary to evaluate this data block in more detail when parsing the data, as the offsets of the file names are directly referenced in the volume information anyway. |
The volume strings refer to a list of file names that are contained within the volume.
Volume Information
| Addr | x0 | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 | x6 | x7 | x8 | x9 | xA | xB | xC | xD | xE | xF | char | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | 76 | 6f | 6c | 69 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | v | o | l | i | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Offset | Data type | Designation | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | uint(32) | Magic Bytes | |
| 0x0004 | uint(24) | Block length | |
| 0x0007 | uint(8) | Flags |
The volume information contains more detailed information about the files. In a way, it is a sort of FAT directory entry (FAT = File Allocation Table).
The number of files is determined by dividing the block size by the length of the directory entries - 14 bytes.
The individual directory entries each have the following structure:
| Addr | x0 | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 | x6 | x7 | x8 | x9 | xA | xB | xC | xD | xE | xF | char | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Offset | Data type | Designation | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | uint(32) | Filename offset | Indicates at which offset (!) within the list of filenames (volume strings) the filename of the file can be found. This refers to the beginning of the data block. |
| 0x0004 | uint(32) | File offset | Indicates the offset within the entire volume file where the file is located. |
| 0x0008 | uint(32) | File size | Indicates how large the file is in bytes. |
| 0x000c | uint(16) | Flags? | Apparently, additional information about the file encoding is provided.
|
Volume Block
| Addr | x0 | x1 | x2 | x3 | x4 | x5 | x6 | x7 | x8 | x9 | xA | xB | xC | xD | xE | xF | char | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | 56 | 42 | 4c | 48 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | V | B | L | H | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . |
| Offset | Data type | Designation | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0x0000 | uint(32) | Magic Bytes | |
| 0x0004 | uint(24) | Block length | |
| 0x0007 | uint(8) | Flags |
A volume block is a container that holds files. It contains the file size redundantly once more - due to the block format - and is directly followed by the actual data.