Hardcoded files

This page describes fixed files retrieved and loaded by the game, used internally for mechanics and data sources that end up as the basic data tables and resources that are consumed at runtime.

Keep in mind that while these hashcodes, loading order and format are all set in stone, the files themselves (as well as their names and contents) are not, other than their general structure.

The files are listed in chronological order since game startup, unless otherwise indicated.

Game boot

Hidden loading bar and nothing else gets rendered.

HT_File_F01_Bootup

./_bin_PC/F01_Boot.edb

Sphinx\Grafix\Maps\Misc\FE_Bootup.elf

One bootup file for all languages, even if there are multiple ELFs they decided to use the English version.

After this, we also need to load the language-dependent pickups file; which includes the main font and the memcard dialog. Because every language has its own font, with a different set of Unicode glyphs, we need it now.

HT_File_O01_PickUps HT_File_O01_PickUps_French HT_File_O01_PickUps_Italian HT_File_O01_PickUps_German HT_File_O01_PickUps_Spanish HT_File_O01_PickUps_Korean

./_bin_PC/O01_Pick.edb ./_bin_PC/O01_Fren.edb ./_bin_PC/O01_Ital.edb ./_bin_PC/O01_Germ.edb ./_bin_PC/O01_Span.edb ./_bin_PC/O01_Kore.edb

Grafix\Maps\Misc\FE_Misc.ELF Grafix\Maps\Misc\FE_Misc_French.ELF Grafix\Maps\Misc\FE_Misc_Italian.ELF Grafix\Maps\Misc\FE_Misc_German.ELF Grafix\Maps\Misc\FE_Misc_Spanish.ELF Grafix\Maps\Misc\FE_Misc_Korean.ELF

At this time we also start loading the text file, at least the section zero for the memcard text. Keep in mind that this file is pretty big, and only the basic header and the needed sections are actually relocated on RAM. Everything else persists on disc.

HT_File_Text

./_bin_PC/Text.edb

Section 0

Sphinx\Grafix\Maps\Misc\Text.ELF

Black until now. After all these files are synchronously loaded HT_Script_Bootup_MainScript is retrieved and starts showing. This script has a special HudScript_Button scripted event of type HT_HudScriptButton_Memcard_StartupCheck that will wait for the memcard to be ready before proceeding. The button sets the next chained script to HT_Script_Bootup_LegalScreen, that will become active when reaching the HudScript_Jump event at the end of the timeline. So the only hardcoded part is that this main script is loaded, most of the other events are configurable.

The initial legal screen script (HT_Script_Bootup_LegalScreen) should start after the HudScript jump, the game waits for the legal script to start before proceeding any further and starting the hidden loading screen, all the previous synchronous files should be loaded at this point.

One-off static data initialisation

All these spreadsheets and resources are asynchronously loaded, their data imported and their EDB files unloaded, all this is only done once while the legal screen is showing. It won't fade out until all these files are processed.

HT_File_ContextActions	OO_Actio.edb		Maps\Misc\OO_Actions.elf
HT_File_InventoryItems	OO_Inven.edb		Maps\Misc\oo_InventoryItems.elf
HT_File_LoadScreensGC HT_File_LoadScreensXB HT_File_LoadScreensPS2	OO_LSGC.edb OO_LSXB.edb OO_LSPS2.edb	HT_SpreadSheet_LoadScreensGC HT_SpreadSheet_LoadScreensXB HT_SpreadSheet_LoadScreensPS2	Maps\Misc\OO_LoadScreenGC.elf Maps\Misc\OO_LoadScreenXB.elf Maps\Misc\OO_LoadScreenPS2.elf
HT_File_LevelData	oo_ldata.edb		Maps\Misc\OO_LevelData.elf
HT_File_ShopPrices	oo_shopp.edb		Maps\Misc\oo_ShopPrices.elf
HT_File_CharacterSounds	oo_chars.edb		Maps\Misc\OO_CharSnd.elf
HT_File_Hud	oo_Hud.edb		Animations\Scripts\oo_Hud.elf
HT_File_BOS_Obj	oo_BosOb.edb		Animations\Scripts\oo_BosObj.elf
HT_File_MonsterTweaks	MonsterT.edb		Animations\MonsterTweaks.elf
HT_File_SurfaceTypes	Surfaces.edb		Maps\Misc\Surfaces.elf
HT_File_Icons1	OO_Icons.edb		Animations\Scripts\OO_Icons1.ELF

Front-end

These are normal, technically playable Mummy maps, at least at surface level. Due to the way each of these files are loaded, they receive a somewhat special treatment from the game. Each language has its own clone of the main menu map, Eurocom calls it the FrontEnd. Depending on the current language these and their PickUps counterparts are conditionally loaded, falling back to the English version if the format isn't supported.

HT_File_F00_FrontEnd HT_File_F00_FrontEnd_German HT_File_F00_FrontEnd_French HT_File_F00_FrontEnd_Italian HT_File_F00_FrontEnd_Spanish HT_File_F00_FrontEnd_Korean

F00_Fron.edb F00_Germ.edb F00_Fren.edb F00_Ital.edb F00_Span.edb F00_Kore.edb

Sphinx\Grafix\Maps\Misc\FE_Main.elf Sphinx\Grafix\Maps\Misc\FE_Main_German.elf Sphinx\Grafix\Maps\Misc\FE_Main_French.elf Sphinx\Grafix\Maps\Misc\FE_Main_Italian.elf Sphinx\Grafix\Maps\Misc\FE_Main_Spanish.elf Sphinx\Grafix\Maps\Misc\FE_Main_Korean.elf

The front end level can also be loaded from the pause menu. Each of these files contain the Uruk map itself, a simple script that works as a cutscene and has the choreographed camera movement loop, another HudScript that lays out the main menu buttons and submenus, which is also extensively configurable. With the limitation of using special HT_HudScriptButton_ types for hardcoded behavior, like triggering the memcard dialogs, loading or creating a new game, launching the video player or for the inner working of the dynamic settings and their labels.

Incidentally, the other major HudScript is the pause menu. Counter intuitively, neither the HUD itself nor the item rotator nor the Book of Sphinx use HudScripts, choosing to use hardcoded entities and scripts whose behavior is directly controlled by the game's code, instead of being laid out in EuroLand via a simple event timeline.

EngineX script → not to be confused with a map gamescript (which is a piece of code used in a map trigger instance), scripts are Adobe Flash-like scenes; visual timelines used to lay out timed events in 2D or 3D. They are mainly used for cutscenes, as well as working as the final container for character animations when configuring their AI, attack patterns, collisions, weak points and behavior. They are extremely flexible.

They can contain animated characters, particle effects, loop points, animated cameras, timeline-animated entity instances and much more. For example: a breakable vase might be made out of a few static entities (a normal version plus a version broken into several pieces) and particle effects, the script is where all those ingredients are turned into the final object; maybe the first frame shows the unbroken vase, and the timeline is tagged to be frozen there with a special event tag that will play the rest whenever a hit happens. The other frames will animate the instances of the flying pieces and the object slowly fading away frame-per-frame until reaching a stop point.

HudScript → a special type of EngineX script with clickable buttons and conditional jump points that can be configured directly via EuroLand using a few specific event primitives. It can call and contain animated movement, as well as other sub-scripts; for example, reusable button templates. Again, it's made out of normal 2D and 2.5D entities. For example: the game over screen and its swirling background.

Hardcoded screen elements → special game windows that are overlaid over the in-game camera and can use fixed entities, texture regions, text and scripts and affect them programmatically. The assets are usually referenced by hashcode, so they can be skinned, but we can't add or alter buttons without changing the game's source code. For example: the health bar with the Gold Ankhs or the Bronze Scarab counter.

Level initialisation

This article is under construction. You can help the Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy Wiki by editing it.

Each time we switch to a playable level, several things happen.

HT_File_BOS_Obj	OO_BosOb.edb	Animations\Scripts\oo_BosObj.elf	HT_Script_BOS_Notes HT_Script_BOS_Artifacts ...
HT_File_Icons1		HT_SubFile_File02 HT_SubFile_File03 HT_SubFile_File01	HT_Texture_HUD_ButtonTexturesGC HT_Texture_HUD_ButtonTexturesXB HT_Texture_HUD_ButtonTexturesPS2
HT_File_Fonts1		HT_SubFile_File01 HT_SubFile_File02 HT_SubFile_File03 HT_SubFile_File04 HT_SubFile_File05 HT_SubFile_File06 HT_SubFile_File07 HT_SubFile_File08	HT_Font_Default_US HT_Font_Default_UK HT_Font_Default_FRENCH HT_Font_Default_GERMAN HT_Font_Default_ITALIAN HT_Font_Default_SPANISH HT_Font_Default_JAPAN HT_Font_Default_KOREAN
HT_File_Hud		HT_SubFile_File01 HT_SubFile_File03 HT_SubFile_File02	GC XB PS2
Reload localised pickups file
Start loading the current map
HT_File_PickUps
HT_File_IN02_tru HT_File_IN03_blu HT_File_IN04_sap HT_File_IN05_Pin HT_File_IN06_cra			If Sphinx is active.
HT_File_IN18_ony			If the Mummy/Tut is active.
HT_File_FX_MummyGeneral HT_File_FX_General			If the Mummy/Tut is active.
HT_File_FX_Sword			If Sphinx is active.
HT_File_FX_Shield			If Sphinx is active and the Character Anim Files field in LevelData sets the AnimDataFlag_Shield flag.
HT_File_FX_Blowpipe			If Sphinx is active and the Character Anim Files field in LevelData sets the AnimDataFlag_Blowpipe flag.
HT_File_FX_General HT_File_FX_Water HT_File_FX_Beetle			If Sphinx is active.
HT_File_FX_Generic
Deactivate players, move them to {0,0,0} and reset camera if this is the FrontEnd.
Deload previous soundbanks. Grab the combat music from LevelData or fall back to MFX_Danger1, MFX_Danger2 and MFX_Danger3. Either load the alternate level soundbank (as specified in the load level trigger) or the one specified in LevelData.
Count the active cutscenes for the loaded map file and add them to the right-click menu, only while in -dev mode. If cutscenes aren't disabled in the Watcher it tries to trigger a cutscene previously selected from the Presentation section of the right-click menu.
Load the player animations asynchronously, conditionally loading the sections depending on the animation flags set in LevelData. Follows below.		(See the Player EDB subfiles section below)
HT_File_Sphinx			If Sphinx is active.
HT_File_Tut / HT_File_Mummy			If the Mummy/Tut is active. Depends on the player spawn Tut flag.
Load IO file from LevelData, if any.		(This allows loading time to be put into the level load and stops the panic loads)	External file for trigger objects, common.
Load CS file from LevelData, if any.		(This allows a cutscene file to be loaded before going into a level to speed things up)	External file for cutscenes. Less common.

More unsorted tidbits, TBD

HT_File_Text

./_bin_PC/Text.edb

Section assigned in LevelData

Sphinx\Grafix\Maps\Misc\Text.ELF

A map can only contain at most 128 submaps.

Forced GeoFile when loading a HudScript

When trying to create a HudScript window, the game has a fixed set of rules to override which EDB/GeoFile is used to load certain script.

At the time of Sphinx, this was only used to ensure that the following scripts are loaded from the language-dependent pickups file, instead of the English one. Even when directed to load the English one by other parts of the game. A bit hacky, but the list is fairly small.

HT_Script_HudScript_PauseMenuConfirmation	Replaced HT_File_O01_PickUps by the current one, see the table in the Game boot section.
HT_Script_HudScript_PauseMenu_Options	(disabled; probably done for Buffy, as the HudScripts were originally made for that project and references multiplayer)

This functionality isn't used for anything else.

Player EDB subfiles

During level initialisation and just before loading any IO files, the game loads the EDB files for the current player: HT_File_Sphinx, HT_File_Tut or HT_File_Mummy. Depending on the flags set in LevelData portions of the player EDB (i.e. subfiles) can be preloaded while on level initialisation to save time.

Internal name	GeoFile section		Matching AnimDataFlag	AnimDataFlag bit value
ExtIdles	HT_SubFile_File01		AnimDataFlag_ExtendedIdle	0x00000001
HitDie	HT_SubFile_File02		AnimDataFlag_HitDie	0x00000002
Ledge	HT_SubFile_File03		AnimDataFlag_Ledge	0x00000004
Climb	HT_SubFile_File04		AnimDataFlag_Climb	0x00000008
PushPull	HT_SubFile_File05		AnimDataFlag_PushPull	0x00000010
Context	HT_SubFile_File06		AnimDataFlag_Context	0x00000020
(Free, usable)	HT_SubFile_File07		AnimDataFlag_Subfile07	0x00000040
	HT_SubFile_File08		AnimDataFlag_Subfile08	0x00000080
	HT_SubFile_File09		AnimDataFlag_Subfile09	0x00000100
	HT_SubFile_File10		AnimDataFlag_Subfile10	0x00000200
	HT_SubFile_File11		AnimDataFlag_Subfile11	0x00000400
	HT_SubFile_File12		AnimDataFlag_Subfile12	0x00000800
	HT_SubFile_File13		AnimDataFlag_Subfile13	0x00001000
	HT_SubFile_File14		AnimDataFlag_Subfile14	0x00002000
	HT_SubFile_File15		AnimDataFlag_Subfile15	0x00004000
	HT_SubFile_File16		AnimDataFlag_Subfile16	0x00008000
Sword	HT_SubFile_File17		AnimDataFlag_Attacks	0x00010000
Shield	HT_SubFile_File18		AnimDataFlag_Shield	0x00020000
Blowpipe	HT_SubFile_File19		AnimDataFlag_Blowpipe	0x00040000
Rope	HT_SubFile_File20		AnimDataFlag_Rope	0x00080000
Carry	HT_SubFile_File21		AnimDataFlag_Carry	0x00100000
Ceiling	HT_SubFile_File22		AnimDataFlag_Ceiling	0x00200000
Water	HT_SubFile_File23		AnimDataFlag_Water	0x00400000
Electric	HT_SubFile_File24		AnimDataFlag_Electricity	0x00800000
Fire	HT_SubFile_File25		AnimDataFlag_Fire	0x01000000
(Free, usable)	HT_SubFile_File26		AnimDataFlag_SubFile26	0x02000000
	HT_SubFile_File27		AnimDataFlag_SubFile27	0x04000000
	HT_SubFile_File28		AnimDataFlag_SubFile28	0x08000000
	HT_SubFile_File29		AnimDataFlag_SubFile29	0x10000000
	HT_SubFile_File30		AnimDataFlag_SubFile30	0x20000000
	HT_SubFile_File31		AnimDataFlag_SubFile31	0x40000000
	HT_SubFile_File32		AnimDataFlag_SubFile32	0x80000000

Keep in mind that the per-level player animation flags also control which FX files get loaded, not only which player chunks. The level initialisation table has more information about that.

This reference sheet originally made for jmarti856 may be of interest, too: https://gist.github.com/Swyter/dc660d27204a14323256e2ca8dc42fe2

Hardcoded Pickupable and PathTrigger sounds

When a Pickupable falls, it always plays SFX_GEN_DROP_OBJECT. And additionally, when the current map is HT_File_Map_lu_pyra / HT_File_Map_hl_ws1 / HT_File_Map_hl_ws2 also plays SFX_OBJ_CAGE_LAND. This was probably hastily hardcoded because there is only a visual script change when smashing the pickupable (see the optional Smash Script drop-down list in Values), not when it lands safely on the ground. So a sound probably could not get played easily or adding a new option wasn't worth it. I can probably add a new trigger value/combobox in the future if there is enough interest. Ask me about it. Similarly, for PathTrigger: If the current level is HT_File_Map_lu_pyra / HT_File_Map_mu_eye / HT_File_Map_mu_sewr and the moving sound flag is set, then it plays SFX_SPEC_MECH_GEARS2 when moving and (if not) SFX_SPEC_STONE_SCRAPE for every other map.

Hardcoded hashcode files for in-game look-up

The PC versions of the game try to load most of the hashcode files on startup for internal use, this will let you use normally-missing tools like the inventory-item or objective editor from the Watcher, and things like SFXs also show up labeled in 3D space.

Errors and debug prints also show the correct label instead of an unhelpful HashCode Not Found fallback.

Because the game uses relative paths to retrieve these files (once) they need to be copied or symlinked into the game's root.

Put an Albert and a Sonix folder next to _bin_PC. Here is the full listing of accessed files. Replay is a folder that previously stored recorded button presses.

./Albert/hashcodes.h
./Albert/Objectiv.ini
./Albert/GameSave.txt
./Albert/Replay

./Albert/HashCode_SubFile.h
./Albert/HashCode_Function.h
./Albert/HashCode_AnimBone.h

./Sonix/SFX_Defines.h
./Sonix/MFX_Defines.h

The original console versions also tried to load them from the virtual Filelist filesystem, and, in fact, that is why these hashcode files were included with some retail game versions and why we could see them before the Authoring Tools DLC were released much later. The game uses them.

Hardcoded teleport to the credits

When a load level trigger points to HT_File_F00_FrontEnd (that one is the English one, it gets later swapped by the current per-language frontend EDB hashcode) and HT_Objective_Urk_SetDead is set to 1, it will jump to play HT_Script_Menu_Credits. Usually when this happens (from the pause menu via HT_HudScriptButton_StartFrontEnd) it goes to HT_Script_Menu_MainTitle.