a collection of Python scripts for working with WAD and related binary file formats
WAD is a portable data archive format. It is used Doom-engine games to store game-data separately from the executable.
Wadder uses standard Python libraries.
python3 wadder.py "filename"python3 wadder.py "parameters" "filename"
If given a filename, this script will determine if the file has a valid WAD header and print the header information. The last parameter on the command line is taken as the filename. Other capabilities of this script are accessed via additional command-line parameters.
- examples:
python3 wadder.py --list Valiant.wadpython3 wadder.py --start=100 --end=120 --list freedm.wadpython3 wadder.py --index --find=VILE freedoom2.wadpython3 wadder.py --find=PLAYPAL --save aaliens.wad
The script can list the metadata for every entry in the WAD directory, or limit the list to a range indicated by "--start=" and "--end=". It can also find entries by name with "--find=" and it will save the lump data for every entry listed/found as a ".lmp" file if you pass the "--save" flag. For more information and features, access the help text using the following flag.
python3 wadder.py --help
python3 paller.py "filename"python3 paller.py --index=13 --save-lump "filename"python3 paller.py --index=9 --save-hexmap "filename"python3 paller.py --index=0 --save-pixmap "filename"
This script works with the 24bpp binary palette PLAYPAL format. It's designed to take a PLAYPAL lump file and split it into its 14 component 256-color maps. It can save these as smaller binary lumps, hex values in a text file, or render them as 256-color pixmaps.
python3 patter.py "filename"python3 patter.py --save-pixmap "filename"python3 patter.py --playpal=PLAYPAL0.lmp --save-pixmap "filename"
This script works with lump files formatted in DOOM "picture format". It can render the binary data as a 256-color pixmap with a transparency mask. If you do not supply it with a PLAYPAL data lump it will render the image with 256 gray shades instead of the intended colors.
WAD files have a 12-byte header, the first 4 bytes of which are "Magic Bytes" which identify the file as an "IWAD" or a "PWAD". Presumably, any four-letter word ending in "WAD" could be used to identify a WAD file if more WAD-like formats are created.
The rest of the header specifies the number of "lumps" (essentially files) in the WAD and the location of the lump directory. The directory likewise specifies the location, size, and name of every lump in the WAD. These features of the format make it easy to parse all the information contained in a WAD.
Lumps that are extracted from the WAD and saved as ".lmp" files can be worked on using the other scripts in this collection.
The filename extension ".lmp" identifies a file formatted in exactly the same way as it would exist inside a WAD, such as the Doom picture format. It is usually seen in the names of text files that are to be inserted directly into a WAD, like the "dehacked.lmp" file that signals the engine's internal DeHackEd features. Wadder extracts lumps from a WAD in the exact state they are found without converting or reformatting them, so the ".lmp" extension is used to name each extracted file for clarity.
Wadder doesn't preform many checks on the file supplied or the command-line arguments. If your command-line argument is malformed, Python may raise an error and exit. Wadder does check if the Magic Byte "?WAD" is present in the header, but it may parse a file anyway if you tell it to.
If new WAD formats are created in the future, Wadder can accomodate them. Wadder recognizes anything with "?WAD" on the first 4 bytes and can be programmed to access a longer header if indicated. Wadder can be programmed to collect more metadata from the directory and retrieve it with extended metadata names.