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ART file variantsART FILES BY IMAGINATION PILOTS
Technical overview by Daniel Marschall 15 Feb 2018
VERSION 1.x (16-bit era, "IPE16")
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Version 1.0 For game: "Blown Away" (1994)
* File signature "Art" + 20 NUL bytes
* Image names up to 23 characters
(unsure if the 23th byte must be a zero terminator)
* LZW implementation: GIF standard implementation
- variable code length between 9 and 12 bits
- clear code (256)
- end code (257)
* Pictures can only be 8-bit
* Each picture can either be LZW compressed (code "P")
or uncompressed (code "p", lower case)
* Decompressed/raw data: Top-down pixel data
* Attached: Optional palette (R,G,B), uncompressed.
(Sprites usually do not have a palette, so the game
will use the palette of the parent picture)
Version 1.1 For games: "Panic in the Park" (1995)
"Where's Waldo? At the Circus" (1995)
* Codes for compression/raw are now "Q" and "q" instead of
"P" and "p"
* Each picture has now a relative X- and Y-offsets for 'fine-tuning'.
These offsets cannot be negative, though.
VERSION 2.x (32-bit era, "IPE32")
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Version 2.0 For games: "Where's Waldo? Exploring Geography" (1996)
"Eraser Turnabout" (1997)
"Virtual K'Nex" (1998)
* File signature "ART_DATA"
* Image names up to 8 characters;
no zero termination required after the 8 characters.
* LZW implementation by Mark R. Nelson and Shawn M. Regan
- variable code length between 9 and 13 bits
- clear code (256)
- end code (257)
* Pictures are divided into chunks. Each chunk can be compressed or
uncompressed. Limitations:
- Each compressed chunk (except the last one) must decode into
exactly 16382 (0x3FFE) bytes of uncompressed data.
- The size of the compressed data of a chunk must not exceed the
size of the original uncompressed data.
* The size of each chunk (raw or compressed) is limited
to max. 32767 Bytes (0x7FFF).
* Decompressed/raw data: Windows Bitmap (without file header);
therefore, theoretically every color depth/compression/etc. can be used.
For 8-bit pictures, the palette is included in the Bitmap.
* Re-using of parent palette is not possible.
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Please also see my pages for other Imagination Pilots games: Blown Away | Panic in the Park | Waldo at the Circus | Waldo Exploring Geography | Eraser Turnabout | Virtual K'Nex |
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