File Formats

All inclusive list of REDengine file formats

Created by @manavortex Published April 10 2023 Game version: 2.1

For an exhaustive list, see the W2RC File Format Table.

.app (Appearance definition)

This file contains a list of appearances with their associated components. To load them, you require a root entity .ent. The .app files also contain extensive parameters for wounds and dismemberment, determining which meshes to use for different types of garment an NPC might be wearing, and even the physics behavior of these meshes.

pageAppearance: .app files

Holds a list of components.

.ent (Entity)

Root entity

The entry point for the game to display an NPC or prop. It is a collection of components that the entity is comprised of, determining their parameters or referencing the files that have said parameters. For instance, NPC .ent files have over a hundred components each, such as entAnimatedComponent (references the correct .anims, .animgraph and .rig files), entTemplateAppearance (references all .app files that are applicable to the entity) and entEffectSpawner (references all .effect files for decals or particles that the entity can spawn). Many of these components have configurable parameters, and the .ent file itself has many under the "entity" section. Many of these parameters, however, are merely the initial state of the entity and are modified in gameplay (such as the boolean isRagdolling).

From ArchiveXL item additions, this kind of file is usually called a root entity.

Mesh entity / Component entity

For player items, an .ent file can serve as a wrapper, splitting components out of the .app file by putting them in their own file.

pageEntity: .ent files

Components

Not a file type but an internal data structure and part of .ent or .app files. Components are how the game adds anything to the in-game world, from pag3d data over player interaction prompts to explosion sounds.

pageComponents

.inkatlas (Texture mapping)

.mesh (3d object)

A 3d object, holding appearances, materials, and rigging. Meshes for inanimate objects also tend to contain the physics parameters of these objects, whereas NPC meshes tend to contain some garment parameters.

A mesh can have several submeshes, which can be displayed or hidden via chunkmasks.

.mi / .mt / .remt

A material definition for a shader. You can assign those to CMaterialInstance entries in your mesh and then define their qualities by changing their parameters.

For further detes on materials, see here. For an explanation on .mi files, see here.

Relevant properties:

Different per material — see parameters/[2] for a list of properties	e.g. BaseColor, Metalness, NormalStrength or VectorField, FresnelColor, Albedo

.streamingsector (world data)

This file holds world environment information and -properties. Due to its complexity, information is grouped on its sub-page.

pageThe whole world: .streamingsector

.xbm (Texture)

A regular texture file. Can be exported to .png via WolvenKit, edited, and imported back into the game. The type of texture is often indicated at the end of the filename. For instance, diffuse textures are specified as "_d" and normals are specified as "_n".

If you stick to the game's naming schema, Wolvenkit will auto-detect the right import settings for you.

Normal maps

Can be either blue or yellow (inverted), both exist. For a guide how to make your own, see here.

Cyberpunk normal maps are swizzled (a technique originally employed in DTX-5).

• The red channel stores the X axis

• The green channel stores the Y axis

• The blue channel is empty, since the Z-data will be calculated from red and blue.

Texture Atlases

Texture atlases contain multiple textures that the game may choose at random (such as blood splatters, as seen in fx_blood_splatter_2x2_01_d.xbm) or play sequentially (as seen in splash_texture.atlas_n.xbm, used by the game for the blood puddle animation). Texture atlases won't always have "atlas" in their filename, but can still be quickly identified by the size of the grid. For instance, "3x3" in the filename means a grid of nine textures. In the asset browser, right-clicking on the file and selecting "Find Files Using This" will take you to files that allow further customization of how the game interacts with the grid.

Relevant properties:

IsGamma	Override in-game gamma (lighting)? - Set to "false" for normals - Set to "true" for diffuse/albedo and any parts of the UI

W2RC File Format Table

Extension	Description	Fully Parsed
actionanimdb	Animation databases that rename and organize animations for use in scripts and other files such as animation graphs
acousticdata	Audio
aiarch	Pathfinding/AI
animgraph	Animation and physics graphs, used for visual scripting of all animations associated to an entity, as well as physics behavior of dangling objects such as necklaces
anims	Collections of individual animations and their data
app	Mesh appearance configurations, as well as wound/dismemberment configurations
archetypes	?
areas	Terrain related
audio_metadata	?
audiovehcurveset	?
behavior	A.I. behavior graphs, can be used to influence NPC reactions to various stimuli
bikecurveset	?
bk2	Bink video
bnk	Bink video
camcurveset	Camera curve preset
cfoliage	?
charcustpreset	Character editor preset
cminimap	Minimap
community	Quest related
conversations	Cutscene related
cooked_mlsetup	See mlsetup
cooked_anims	See anims
cookedapp	See app
credits	Configuration for credits
cubemap	6-sided cube texture
curveset	Determines the curve graph values of things such as fall damage and level scaling
devices	?
dtex	?
effect	Master file for visual effects such as particles and decals. Holds parameters and has a second tab for editing the associated .particle file.
ent	Entity, master file that contains all components and parameters of which an entity is comprised
env	Environment definition
envparam	?
envprobe	?
es	Behavior parameters for attacks, weapons and explosions. Highly influential on gameplay.
facialcustom	?
facialsetup	?
fb2tl	?
fnt	Font
folbrush	Foliage brush
foldest	Destructible foliage element
fp	?
gamedef	Game main configuration file
garmentlayerparams	?
genericanimdb	Animation database that determines which animations should play based on various enum inputs (see associated .csv to see which parameter corresponds to what number)
gidata	?
gradient	?
hitrepresentation	Hit detection for different body parts, as well as visual feedback based on whether the material is flesh, metal, cyberware, etc.
hp	Hair profile
ies	?
inkanim	UI animation
inkatlas	UI texture atlas
inkcharcustomization	UI character related
inkfontfamily	UI font
inkfullscreencomposition	UI
inkgamesettings	UI settings
inkhud	UI
inklayers	UI
inkmenu	UI
inkshapecollection	UI
inkstyle	UI
inktypography	UI
inkwidget	UI
interaction	UI
journal	Quest info
journaldesc	Quest info
lane_connections	?
lane_polygons	?
lane_spots	?
lights	?
lipmap	?
location	?
locopaths	?
loot	?
mappins	Pins on map
mesh	Mesh/model, often containing physics settings (for inanimate objects) and some garment parameters (for NPCs)
mi	Instanced external shaders/materials
mlmask	Masks for multilayer supershader
mlsetup	Setup file for multilayer supershader
mltemplate	Template file for multilayer supershader
morphtarget	Blend shapes/shape keys
mt	Base shader
navmesh	AI navigation meshes
null_areas	?
opusinfo	Audio
opuspak	Audio
particle	Parameters for particles and decals, can be configured in the second tab of .effect files
phys	Nvidia PhysX physics parameters, also present in many .mesh files
physicalscene	Nvidia PhysX physics parameters, also present in many .mesh files
physmatlib	Physics Material definitions. Governs bullet penetration, A.I. visibility through different materials, friction, etc., but tweaks to it are only partially applied in-game
poimappins	Point of Interest Map pin
psrep	?
quest	Quest
questphase	Quest progression
regionset	?
remt	Similar to mt, difference is unclear
reslist	Resource list
rig	Rig/skeleton for animation, definition of bone groups and ragdoll physics
scene	Cutscene
scenesversions	Cutscene versioning
smartobject	?
smartobjects	?
sp	Skin profile
spatial_representation	?
streamingquerydata	Terrain
streamingsector	The world in manageable pieces
streamingsector_inplace	Terrain
streamingworld	Links all the sectors
terrainsetup	Terrain
texarray	Multiple textures
traffic_collisions	?
traffic_persistent	?
voicetags	?
w2mesh	Leftover mesh file with RED3 extension
w2mi	Leftover mi file with RED3 extension
workspot	?
xbm	Texture
xcube	Texture

Generic Format

<explanation>

Generic FIle Format Table

Extension	Description
csv	Standard CSV file, spreadsheets containing definitions for various parameters and enums that are used in other files
wem	Audio file

Archive Format

File Structure

Name	Type/Size	Info
Header	Header	See specification of Header below.
Custom Data	Custom Data	WolvenKit only. See specification of custom data below.
Files	data	Raw file data
File List	File List	See specification of file list below.

Header

Name	Type/Size	Info
Magic	char[4]	Constant: "RDAR"
Version	uint32	Currently 12
IndexPosition	uint64	Offset of beginning of file list
IndexSize	uint32	Size of file list
DebugPosition	uint64	Always 0
DebugSize	uint32	Always 0
Filesize	uint64	Size of file (excluding Filesize)
CustomDataLength	uint32	WolvenKit only

Custom Data (WolvenKit)

The following data only applies for archives created with WolvenKit

Name	Type/Size	Info
Magic	char[4]	Constant: "LXRS"
Version	uint32	Currently 1
Size	int32	Size of uncompressed data
ZSize	int32	Size of compressed data
PathCount	int32	Number of custom paths
PathStrings	zstring[PathCount]	Custom file paths

File List

Name	Type/Size	Info
FileTableOffset	uint32	Always 8
FileTableSize	uint32
CRC	uint64	Checksum of ???
FileEntryCount	uint32	Number of files
FileSegmentCount	uint32	Number of file segments
ResourceDependencyCount	uint32	Number of resource dependencies
FileRecords	File Record[FileEntryCount]	See specification of file record below.
FileSegments	File Segment[FileSegmentCount]	See specification of file segment below.
ResourceDependencies	uint64[ResourceDependencyCount]

File Record

Name	Type/Size	Info
NameHash64	uint64	FNV1A64 hash of the filename
Timestamp	int64	Windows filetime of file creation
NumInlineBufferSegments	uint32	Number of inline buffers
SegmentsStart	uint32	Index of the first file segment
SegmentsEnd	uint32	Index of the last file segment
ResourceDependenciesStart	uint32	Index of the first resource dependency
ResourceDependenciesEnd	uint32	Index of the last resource dependency
SHA1Hash	uint8[20]	SHA1 hash of the file

File Segment

Name	Type/Size	Info
Offset	uint64	Offset of the data
ZSize	uint32	Size of compressed data
Size	uint32	Size of uncompressed data