Gfx Extract from Lands of Lore and .shp file format how to

takis76gr · Post by **takis76gr** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 8:05 pm

I have post a sub topic in the topic Eye of the beholder music is here
about graphics extraction from Lands of Lore. But this is another subject.

The problem is , how to extract .shp file and display them.

The XCC_Mixer and XWE and GFE can only extract and displays

.cps graphics only and CXX_Mixer only displays few .wsa graphics only

I am using a difficult technique witch I have discribe in the Eye of the beholder music topic.

But how can I display .shp , I have allready extract these graphics with
GFE and CXX_Mixer.

My friend DK said he has this programm

My friend DK could you tell me where can I found a programm witch displays .shp image files on the screen or convert them in bmp or pcx images.

Or Is there any program ,utility like witch extracts and displays .shp files.

Wall sets and monsters.

Thank you very veru much and I am waiting about Ideas and I will explain again my technique.

Post by **Gambit37** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 8:36 pm

I've looked into this myself and couldn't find anything to display the .shp files from Lands of Lore. As you say, several tools will extract them, but nothing will actually display them. Another tool that is very useful is Dragon Unpacker, but it can't display .shp files:

http://www.elberethzone.net/index.php?page=dup5

I think they are compressed, in which case a cleverer person than me would need to work out the compression algorithm.

Until then, it's a case of screengrabs and cropping out the stuff you want.

DK · Post by DK » Tue Jul 13, 2004 10:05 am

Greetings,
as Takis say, I've made a program to extract and display graphics from old Westwood games (EoB1/2, LoL2, Kyrandia1/2/3, Dune2). It can show CPS, SHP and WSA animations (and other file VOC, ICN, MSC, VMP/VCN, MAZ).
But, this is a personal experiment, born when I making a movie player for the old VQA format (kyrandia3 movies), so isn't public; it's just for personal fun, as I like very much these games

However, seems there are other peoples interested "exploring" resources of these games, so I'm considering to release it to the public; but first I must reorganize the interface to make it more usable and write some docs.
Until then, if someone want a W.I.P. version, can contact me (dk@pollodigomma.net).

DK

Selur · Post by **Selur** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 4:24 pm

DK can u share this extractor with us ?
I need any extractor to some old RPG's....

DK · Post by DK » Thu Jun 09, 2005 9:55 pm

Sorry,
my post is very old

and I do not check this thread from month.
If you are interested (and if others are interested) send me a mail.
dk@pollodigomma.net

bye,
DK

Selur · Post by **Selur** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 4:07 pm

Hi DK are you still around here ?

Selur · Post by **Selur** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 1:05 am

Hi again

There is a new tool for extracting resource from (EoB2 & Lands of Lore).

http://eob.wikispaces.com/Tools

There is a tool called "WestPak2"
Well I've checked it but unfortunetly it is not working good.
After few minutes of extracting *.shp files the extractor hangs up...
"Error ..."
Is anyone can check it ?
(I'm using Win98 osr2).

please let me know if u can extract *.shp files with original palette and animation frames..

Post by **Gambit37** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 9:47 pm

It more or less works but I haven't got the palette right yet. Had a few crashes too.

I'm sure with patience it can be done...

Selur · Post by **Selur** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 2:10 am

Well I've clicked first on some *.cps objects and then a few times on *.shp and sometimes right pallete appeared.
But for me it's too unstable and crashes my Win98 so I must restart windows each time.
And when I click *.shp "convert to gif" animations it's writing wrong palette !
Only *.pga (but each frames is separated) writing fine.

Post by **Gambit37** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 1:27 pm

Actually, it's too buggy to be useful. When paging through all the sprites in a SHP file, the background of the window doesn't redraw so each sprite overlays the previous and makes bloody mess.

I think this tool needs further work to be really useful.

Marco · Post by **Marco** » Wed Dec 19, 2007 2:21 pm

Has any progress been made with the extraction of graphics from Lands of Lore 1? Years ago I tried out some of the tools that were posted here, but I was never able to get them to work properly.

Marco.

DK · Post by DK » Sun Dec 23, 2007 4:57 pm

Has any progress been made with the extraction of graphics from Lands of Lore 1? Years ago I tried out some of the tools that were posted here, but I was never able to get them to work properly.

Greetings,
I'm the author of WestPak2.
It work very well on Westwood adventure (The Kyrandia saga), Dune2, EoB1 and partially EoB2.

Lands of Lore 1 is a work in progress:
CPS are fully supported.
Text from ENG file (and FRE and GER) is decoded.
Most of SHP can be viewed (I've found a good palette in the archive O01a.pak - file GERIM.CPS).
Most of WSA can be played (still some WSA are different from standard spec - so give errors).

And yes, is buggy, specially opening many SHP.
And showing SHP work in animation mode, not clearing the background, so you can see the animation of various frames.
Of course, if into SHP aren't frames of animation, but objects, they show (very confusing) one over the other.
I must insert a button to switch the two modes (single object and animation).

For VCN (wall graphics data) I'm still finding the structure; well...I've the specs, but there is something wrong and they do not show up correctly

Unfortunately I have no time to investigating more on LoL1 and fix bug, so, public version of Westpak2 is stopped for over one year ago; you can download from SourceForge) the 0.67c.

My goal is to fully support EoB2, EoB3 and LoL1 (and maybe some other game).
But, I do not have a date

maybe next year...

Meanwhile, if you found other bugs, have requests, feedback, email me.
Ah, my old address (pollodigomma.net) do not work anymore, to contact me, you can use the button at bottom of this message.

ian_scho · Post by **ian_scho** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 5:53 pm

Keep us updated of any major milestones in your project

Good luck!

ShaggyDowns · Post by **ShaggyDowns** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 7:19 am

Hey all,

Anyone still around in the forums that is familar with this WestPak2 program? I have a quick question about it regarding Lands of Lore 1 .shp files.

When I display a .shp using the WestPak2, the image's dimensions are very small like less then 100x100 pixel. I can export the images no problem, but the dimensions are so tiny.

I was wondering if there is a way you can increase the dimensions of the image with WestPak2 before you export them? Sorta like how you can increase the image's size with the XWE program? The tiny dimensions on the exported images are not doing me any good!

Thanks in advance,

~SD~

Post by **Gambit37** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:02 am

I did play around with it, but all that stuff is now deleted from my computer and archived. I'd have to reinstall it all and I don't have the time for that these days.

As far as I recall, the extractors were very buggy with LoL content; I couldn't get anything very useful out of it.

Sorry I can't be more help.

DK · Post by DK » Thu Apr 24, 2008 3:20 pm

Hey all,
Anyone still around in the forums that is familar with this WestPak2 program?

Yes, I'm still interested in Westpak2 and slowly working to support this and others games, but times is never enough

I have a quick question about it regarding Lands of Lore 1 .shp files.
When I display a .shp using the WestPak2, the image's dimensions are very small like less then 100x100 pixel. I can export the images no problem, but the dimensions are so tiny.

Really I do not remember which version had this bug, but... you can try the newest version

I've just uploaded it on SF.

Here some new addition:

Code: Select all

+ added a switch beetween animation mode/object mode for wsa/shp
+ export sheet of frames/objects (for WSA and SHP)
* faster file list updates
! small user interface fix & speedup (listview scroll, pagecontrol tabs)
! saving BMP/PNG do not preserve 8bit original color palette and transparency
! fix bug for CPS with height<200
! fix SHP decompression (work but display incorrect some frame)
! fix SHP type 3 decompression (do not display correct palette)

The most interesting is the "export sheet", that make a single pic of all the small bitmaps that are into .shp or .wsa.

But with this version, I think some old game do not work correctly (like Dune2 wsa or shp). But I think LoL support is better.
And unfortunately, still there are some very nasty bug (memory allocation, I think), so, after decoding some number of WSA or SHP, it freeze! Just terminate it with task manager and re-launch, sorry

I'm still investigating, but I do not have a clue... it hangs anywhere, not with a specific .shp or .wsa

For ex. if open Westpak2, load LoL1 GENERAL.PAK->FIREBALL.SHP, it hang!
If open Westpak2, load LoL1 GENERAL.PAK->FACE01.SHP then load FIREBALL.SHP, it work!!!

DK · Post by DK » Thu Apr 24, 2008 3:37 pm

When I display a .shp using the WestPak2, the image's dimensions are very small like less then 100x100 pixel. I can export the images no problem, but the dimensions are so tiny.

Whoops, I reading better now... maybe you're referring to the real dimension of pics in the viewer?
Mmmm... you're right, they are very small!
Really I've a zoom routine, but isn't enabled yet.
However, I can post somewhere an experimental build...
...
WestPak2 build with predefined zoom x2 for SHP and WSA.

Hope to make this function better in the future.

ShaggyDowns · Post by **ShaggyDowns** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 5:11 pm

Hey DK,

Didn't know you were still around, but sweet program! A tad buggy for sure, but would be awesome when it's fully operational. I have a couple things that maybe you can help me out with?

First off, the zoom feature you added works great and is exactly what I needed, thanks! When I first start your new updated WestPak2 with the zoom, I get an error that says it can't find the file called checker.bmp? This doesn't seem to be a big issue though, because the program still runs and works.

Although, I am having trouble pulling good .shp images with the correct pal colors. I really want to get the monster images exported and the only ones that seem to look good with pal colors are from chapter 1 & 4. Chapters 2-3 & 5-8 .shp files don't look good at all. I can't figure out what pal colors will make them look correct. Do you have any idea what I would need to do?

Thanks in advance, the help is much appreciated!

~SD~

DK · Post by DK » Sat Apr 26, 2008 10:49 pm

Didn't know you were still around, but sweet program!

Yes, always around

A tad buggy for sure, but would be awesome when it's fully operational. I have a couple things that maybe you can help me out with?

yes, if you're not in a hurry...

When I first start your new updated WestPak2 with the zoom, I get an error that says it can't find the file called checker.bmp? This doesn't seem to be a big issue though, because the program still runs and works.

Ops, my fault, it's a bitmap to render better the "transparency" background in "animation mode". Here.
However, isn't mandatory.

Although, I am having trouble pulling good .shp images with the correct pal colors. I really want to get the monster images exported and the only ones that seem to look good with pal colors are from chapter 1 & 4. Chapters 2-3 & 5-8 .shp files don't look good at all. I can't figure out what pal colors will make them look correct. Do you have any idea what I would need to do?

Yes, this is a very difficult thing; you must mix palette

But, I've found a combination, I must have the correct palette somewhere... or you just can make a screenshot of the game and import the palette from PNG, shoul'd work.

DK · Post by DK » Mon Apr 28, 2008 2:34 pm

Ok, found something.
Here.

You can find other palettes into other .PAK files, for ex. FOREST.PAK etc.
Or you can find a CPS with a palette (like GERIM.CPS).
Then select the pal and "save palette" to create a .PAL file.
So, you can use this "new" .PAL file into the palette list; the palette of CPS should automatically work, but I need check better why not always they are correct! (if you export into .PAL file they are fine).

Let me know if you find the correct pal, so we can make a list and auto-apply the correct palette for the .SHP and .WSA files.

ShaggyDowns · Post by **ShaggyDowns** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:17 pm

Sweet,

Thanks DK! I will take a look at this later today when I get some free time and let you know what I come up with.

~SD~

ShaggyDowns · Post by **ShaggyDowns** » Sat May 03, 2008 2:32 pm

Hey DK,

I have messed around with the different color pals for quite some time. Although, I still haven't been able to find the correct pal colors. Have you had any luck on your end?

Take care!

~SD~

DK · Post by DK » Sat May 03, 2008 3:20 pm

I have messed around with the different color pals for quite some time. Although, I still haven't been able to find the correct pal colors. Have you had any luck on your end?

What file/monster you are trying to show up correctly?
I do not have tried all of them... only a few.

Post by **Gambit37** » Sat May 03, 2008 4:14 pm

Am I missing something here? I downloaded the newest version above, but when viewing an image, if I select a new palette (either from the drop-down or by importing), the image doesn't change colours.

How do I update the images with different palettes? Can you give exact steps please?

Post by **Gambit37** » Sat May 03, 2008 4:38 pm

I'm afraid I'm find this still too buggy to be useful, sorry!

(1)
If I open GENERAL.PAK and try and select some images, I can click the first few CPS files, but when I click FIREBALL.SHP I receive an error:

Code: Select all

Access violation at address 0040825F. Write of address 02020000

After this, I can't click any SHPs or CPS without it crashing with a similar error.

I get similar problems opening some of the other PAK files, esepcially the LXX.PAKs and the OXXA.PAKS.

Post by **Gambit37** » Sat May 03, 2008 4:46 pm

Sorry, I just realised you mentioned these bugs earlier!

Looking some more, I agree with ShaggyDowns: there are definitely lots of palettes missing in the LOL data files; I haven't been able to find any usable palettes for many monsters, or some of the backgrounds (SWAMP, URBISH, etc) -- the gerim.pal works for some parts of many images, but some of the colours are messed up, so it's not the right palette for most images.

ShaggyDowns · Post by **ShaggyDowns** » Sat May 03, 2008 5:19 pm

Ummm...

Yeah there is a lot of errors, you just have to keep on reloading it. Still I wouldn't mind it so much if the pal colors were correct! Basically, all the .shp files from the chapter.pak's 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, & 8 have incorrect color pals. Some of the .shp's from chapter.pak's 1 & 4 work fine, but then again, not all of them. I can't get the guard.shp to open from chapter.pak 1 for the life of me. I get an error every time!

I went through and grabbed all the pals from the .cps files and tried finding the correct pal on some monsters, but it didn't work. One time I did find a correct match, but then when I went to move the animation slider to to next slide, it changed the colors on me so it messed up again. Also, I am not sure which combo I used to get it to match up correctly, I was going through a ton of pals. At this point, it seems like it would be easier to run the game through DosBox and take screenshots, which I could edit up.

~SD~

Post by **Gambit37** » Sat May 03, 2008 5:45 pm

Yeah, I've just been looking at this. Ignore the slider, sometimes this seems to mess up the palette -- if you get the first frame looking correct with a palette you've found, export it to a sheet and don't use the slider. Seems to work OK -- I got the CAVEDWLR this way (from LO7.PAK) this way, though I'm not sure what palette I applied!

I've found a better way is to use Dragon UnPacker to extract all the SHP and CPS from all the paks to a separate folder, then use Westpack to browse that folder. Put your PALs in there too (you can use Westpack to extract them from CPS files). When you next open that folder in westpack, all the available palettes are show.

So you then simply select a SHP file and browse through the palette dropdown until you the image changes to something usable. Then export to a sheet.

It's not foolproof, but seems to be giving better results.

Post by **Gambit37** » Sat May 03, 2008 5:50 pm

Sorry, for got to say the the palettes from INVENT1.CPS and INVENT4.CPS (in GENERAL.PAK) seem to give good results for some monsters.

Post by **Gambit37** » Sat May 03, 2008 5:57 pm

That tip I gave about ignoring the slider bar might be rubbish, I can't consistently repeat it.

I selected a monster SHP, applied a palette that made it look more or less correct, then exported it to a sheet and it came out with completely different colours!

Does DOSBOX run in 8-bit mode? If so, we can extract the correct palettes from screengrabs.