File Formats

Written & Published: April 10 2023 by @manavortex Game version: 2.1

.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.

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.

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.

.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.

Relevant properties:

.opusinfo/.opuspak (audio)

OpusPaks are collections of opus audio files, they are described by the sfx_container.opusinfo file. For more info see the Audio Files page:

.streamingsector (world data)

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

.wem (audio)

A Wwise audio file, usually containing a voice-over or music. You can find more info on the Audio files page:

.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".

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:

W2RC File Format Table

Generic Format

<explanation>

Generic FIle Format Table

Archive Format

File Structure

Header

Custom Data (WolvenKit)

The following data only applies for archives created with WolvenKit

File List

File Record

File Segment