GFX Loading

GFX Loading

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What Is Confirmed

• Graphics are loaded from external .32 files (not embedded pixel blobs).
• The filename strings live in code hunk 0 as C strings at 0x0212..0x035E.
• A relocated pointer table in the DATA hunk points at those strings.
• Runtime loading goes through the resource/file wrapper family near 0x25222, 0x254CC, and 0x25528.

Filename Pointer Table

In DATA hunk 0, offset 0x07B0..0x0838 is a contiguous array of relocated longwords that resolve to code-hunk string addresses (catalogue begins @ DATA_gfx_and_dat_filenames / 0x230):

• disk.32
• globe.32
• book.32
• throw.32
• intro.32 (title background — see 38-title-screen-and-intro-assets.md, animation 39-title-screen-animation.md)
• introclips.32 (title animated clips — pegasus overlays + peekers)
• xfer.32
• sky.32
• event.dat
• nwcp.32
• master.32
• townf.32
• townt.32
• townb.32
• town.32
• cavef.32
• cavet.32
• townb.32 (reused)
• cave.32
• castlef.32
• castlet.32
• townb.32 (reused)
• castle.32
• outdoor1.32
• outdoor2.32
• outdoor3.32
• outb.32
• outf.32
• desert.32
• ocean.32
• tundra.32
• swamp.32
• endgame.32
• str.dat
• map.dat
• roster.dat

The .dat files are in the same table, so this appears to be a unified asset/resource list, not a graphics-only list.

Combat sprites are not a .32 sheet. Monster art is NN.anm (TV animation blobs) indexed by monsters.dat byte @ 0x15 & 0x7F. On PC DOS the parallel atlas is MONSTERS.4 / MONSTERS.16 (see 54-pc-dos-graphics-formats.md). There is no monsters.32 in the retail Amiga install or filename catalogue.

Not planar graphics: globe.32 is an XOR-obfuscated blob of copy-protection / title string tables (decoded by tools/decode_globe_amiga.py; UI prompts documented in 20-copy-protection-table.md). disk.32 is a similar XOR blob. Both share the .32 extension and loader path but are not Amiga image-chunk tilesets.

Loader Mechanics

• 0x25222 validates an index against a 6-byte-per-entry resource table (-0x34E(A4) base, count at -0x5E6E(A4)), then dispatches via 0x25528.
• 0x251D6 uses 0x254CC to test/open an entry's backing name pointer from that table.
• 0x25300 is a central cleanup/reload routine that iterates the resource table and tears down/rebuilds handles.

Practical Model

1. Startup builds or restores the resource-entry table.
2. Entries reference names through the relocated filename pointer table.
3. Screen/game-mode transitions request resources by index.
4. The wrapper layer (0x254CC/0x25528 family) performs open/read/close and handle lifecycle.

Follow-Up: ANM/TV Decode

The numbered animation files (NN.anm) are now partially decoded as the same TV family used by the .32 loader path.

• See EXTRACTED/docs/07-anm-tv-format.md for current format notes.
• See tools/decode_anm.py for a working parser that exports metadata and per-plane blobs.
• See EXTRACTED/decomp/mm2_anm_codec.h and EXTRACTED/decomp/mm2_anm_codec.c for a C loader/saver API.

Still Unknown

• Exact semantics of some prelude/sequence control bytes (0x30.. block).
• Full meaning of per-frame flags fields (mostly observed as zero in sampled files).
• Exact runtime mapping between wrapper call sites and playback behavior in-engine.