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Rena Kunisaki edited this page Sep 30, 2021 · 26 revisions

In-game text is stored in gametext/[MapName]/[Language].bin. These files contain the text itself, the font graphics, and instructions on how to assemble the font texture from those graphics.

File Format

u32 numCharStructs;
characterStruct[numCharStructs];

u16 numTexts;
u16 strDataLen;
gametextStruct[numTexts] texts;

u32 numStrings;
u32 strOffset[numStrings]; //offsets into `strings`
char[] strings[strDataLen];

u32 unknownLen;
u8 unknownData[unknownLen]; //all bytes are 0xEE in every file
//this might be referenced later by the font code?

struct {
    u16 texFmt; //destination texture format
    u16 pixFmt; //bits per pixel of font image
    u16 width;
    u16 height;
    byte pixels[];
} fontTextures[]; //ends when width == 0 && height == 0

characterStruct: Character Data

Assigns positions within the font texture to character codes.

The file gametext/Boot/English.c.new contains the struct defintion:

typedef struct {
        UCS4            character;      // unicode number
        unsigned short  xpos;           // coordinate of leftmost texel in font bitmap
        unsigned short  ypos;           // coordinate of topmost texel in font bitmap
        signed char     left;           // spacing
        signed char     right;          // spacing
        signed char     top;            // spacing
        signed char     bottom;         // spacing
        unsigned char   width;          // size
        unsigned char   height;         // size
        unsigned char   font;           // Index into GameTextFonts[] in GameTextData.h
        unsigned char   texture;        // Index into Textures[] in the binary file
} characterStruct;

gametextStruct: Messages

Defines the dialogue messages.

English.c.new also contains this struct definition:

typedef struct {
        unsigned short  identifier;     // which game text is this
        unsigned short  numPhrases;     // how many phrases this text has
        unsigned char   window;         // preferred window
        unsigned char   alignH;         // horizontal alignment
        unsigned char   alignV;         // vertical alignment
        unsigned char   language;       // LANGUAGE_xxx from GameTextData.h
        UTF8            **phrases;      // pointer to <numPhrases> pointers to localised strings
} gametextStruct;

Strings

After the gametextStruct array is a u32 giving the number of strings, followed by one u32 offset per string, followed by the UTF-8 strings themselves. The total size of the string data (excluding the offset table) is given by the strDataLen value before the gametextStruct array.

Each offset is relative to the beginning of strings. Each string is null-terminated, but may contain control codes that include null bytes, so it's necessary to parse those to read the entire string.

The strings are grouped by their Decimal IDs:

  • 0 - 9999: Generic text.
  • 10000 - 19999: Descriptions shown in pause menu or PDA.
  • 20000 - 29999: Sequence text. In many cases, sequence N uses text (N + 20000).

The highest valid ID is 21352. These groupings don't seem to serve any purpose in the game and were probably just used during development to organize them.

Unknown

This block begins with its length as a u32, and is just filled with 0xEE. The game skips this section when parsing the file, but appears to copy it elsewhere as well. The game seems to run just fine if this section is truncated to a length of zero.

Font Textures

This section contains multiple texture graphics, which are referenced by the character data.

The distance from the beginning of one texture to the beginning of the next is given by:

length = (((width * height * pixFmt) >> 4) * 2) + 4

The texture format is mapped: 2 => 0, 1 => 5; the result is a standard GameCube texture format ID:

Fmt Name
00 I4
01 I8
02 IA4
03 IA8
04 RGB565
05 RGB5A3
06 RGBA32
08 C4
09 C8
0A C14X2
0E BC1 / CMPR

Font IDs

Within the files, font textures are assigned a font ID:

  • Font 0: Japanese and some Latin characters, rendered in monochrome. Used for Japanese text.
  • Font 1: Does not exist.
  • Font 2: Button icons.
  • Font 3: Flags.
  • Font 4: Latin characters, rendered in monochrome. Used for non-Japanese text.
  • Font 5: Character faces.

Font 4 appears to be "EurostileBQ-Regular.otf" and Font 0 appears to be "FOT-RodinNTLG Pro B.otf", both at 20pt. The others are custom made.

Note that Japanese text includes some Latin characters, but uses the Fullwidth versions, eg 'Ａ' (U+FF21) rather than 'A' (U+0041). (These may appear identical in your browser.)

Font Slots

Four fonts can be loaded at a time. Each slot is used for a particular purpose:

  • Slot 0: The currently loaded font for dialogue (various directories).
  • Slot 1: The currently loaded font for a cutscene (directory Sequences).
  • Slot 2: The error message font (directory Boot).
  • Slot 3: The HUD font (directory Link).

Font Loading

Each font slot has two textures: one monochrome (for character graphics - fonts 0, 4) and one colored (for icons - fonts 2, 3, 5).

To load a GameText file, each of these is assigned a blank texture. The graphics from the file are copied into the textures as directed by the characterStruct array. Each entry specifies a font ID, and which of the two textures contain the character.

This makes it impossible to use the Japanese flag, since both it and the joystick icon are assigned the letter J. (TODO: investigate how the European versions fix this.)

Control Codes

Within the messages, some control codes are supported. Each code is a UTF-8 Private Use character, followed by some number of 16-bit parameters. Note that the parameters can contain null bytes, so it's necessary to decode these to find the actual end of the string.

Code UTF-8 Encoding Description Param1 Param2 Param3 Param4
E000 EE 80 80 Seq Id ID - - -
E018 EE 80 98 Seq Time ? Time ? -
E020 EE 80 A0 Hint ID ID - - -
F8F2 EF A3 B2 ? unused ? ? - -
F8F3 EF A3 B3 ? unused - - - -
F8F4 EF A3 B4 Set Scale Scale - - -
F8F5 EF A3 B5 ? unused ? - - -
F8F6 EF A3 B6 ? unused ? - - -
F8F7 EF A3 B7 Set Font Font - - -
F8F8 EF A3 B8 Justify Left - - - -
F8F9 EF A3 B9 Justify Right - - - -
F8FA EF A3 BA Justify Center - - - -
F8FB EF A3 BB Justify Full - - - -
F8FC EF A3 BC ? unused - - - -
F8FD EF A3 BD ? unused - - - -
F8FE EF A3 BE ? unused - - - -
F8FF EF A3 BF Set Color Red Green Blue Alpha
  • Seq Id: Unknown purpose. Parameter is the ID of the sequence that displays this text. Changing it doesn't seem to have any effect. (Possibly leftover debug info)
  • Seq Time: Sets timing parameters for displaying this text in a sequence.
    • Param 0: Unknown. Usually 0, sometimes 1. Changing to 1 prevents text from appearing.
    • Param 1: When to display (number of seconds since start of sequence). (XXX verify units)
    • Param 2: Unknown, maybe controls fade-in speed?
    • general pattern is bbbb increases with each phrase unless aaaa=1
    • the text stays until replaced by another; the game removes texts by replacing them with a single space
      • sequences also begin with a single-space text with all params set to 0
  • Hint ID: Found at the start of the hint texts shown on the Continue screen and Slippy's Advice. The game doesn't seem to actually use this code for anything.
    • With each of these texts, the first phrase is the description shown on the Continue screen after you've completed it (eg "Discovered Krystal's Staff") and the rest are the hint shown in the Slippy's Advice section of the PDA before you've completed it (eg "...Look out for something sticking out of the ground.").
    • Each of these is referenced by a GameBit.
  • Set Scale: Set the font size. Parameter is an integer, where 256 = 100%.
  • Set Font: Select a font to use from here on. Parameter is a font ID.
  • Justify: Set the text justification mode.
  • Set Color: Set the font and shadow colors. Params are r, g, b, a, with the high byte of each being unused.
    • There is another routine that interprets the params as two sets of rrgg, bbbaa, rrgg, bbaa, where the first two are text color and the next are shadow color. This might not actually be used?

Icons

Icons are used by selecting the font and printing the corresponding character:

Font Char Icon
2 A A Button
2 B B Button
2 C C Stick
2 J Joystick
2 L L Trigger
2 R R Trigger
2 S Start Button
2 X X Button
2 Y Y Button
2 Z Z Button
3 D German flag
3 F French flag (mirrored)
3 I Italian flag
3 J Japanese flag
3 S Spanish flag
5 T Tricky face
5 c Slippy face
5 n King EarthWalker face
5 y ThornTail face

Not all icons are available in all maps/languages. The English version, lacking the language select feature, doesn't include any flag for the English language. (European versions use a British flag, and correct the French flag.)

Sequences

Under gametext/Sequences/ is GameText files used by sequences. These are in the same format as the others, except that some additional information is present before the actual strings. (The offsets still point directly to the strings, so parsing works the same as the other files.) This information contains, among other things, the string's length in bytes.

Each file's name is an ID number (in decimal) and a language, eg 4_English.bin.

Sequence Lookup Table

At 0x802C8860 is a table, which assigns object sequence IDs to text sequence IDs. Running an object sequence automatically loads the corresponding text sequence file.

If subtitles are turned off, the file won't be loaded, with the exception of the following object sequences:

  • 0x0069: SB_OpeningScene
  • 0x006D: SB_YourAdventureBegins
  • 0x0083: SB_MeetScales
  • 0x0490: WM_KrystalLand
  • 0x0493: WM_DinoOpenDoorTest1
  • 0x0492: WM_DinoAfterTest1
  • 0x0180: WM_ReleaseSpirit1
  • 0x047F: SH_PickupStaff
  • 0x001D: SH_StartStaffTutorial
  • 0x0020: SH_DoneStaffTutorial
  • 0x03C8: MMP_BringSpiritToPalace

(These are spoken in Dino Language, so they'd be difficult to understand otherwise.)

  • ID: Object sequence ID
  • Seq#: Text sequence ID
  • Each entry also has a directory ID which is omitted here because every entry is 0x29 (Sequences).
  • Names are made up
ID# ID Dec Seq# Seq Dec Name
00D1 209 0004 4 Tricky_ThatsMyMa
04F7 1271 0006 6 WM_RescueKrystal
017C 380 0009 9 CF_FirstLanding
004B 75 000B 11 CF_GetPowerKey
0285 645 000C 12 CF_PowerIsDown
04EA 1258 000E 14
0041 65 0010 16 CF_ScalesAttackQueen
047A 1146 0011 17 CF_RescueDino
046C 1132 0013 19 CF_RescuedQueen
01D7 471 0015 21 CF_GiveFlute
0477 1143 0016 22 CF_GotSpellStone
0205 517 0031 49 CR_GetSpellStoneOut
01B0 432 0037 55 LV_MakeBirdStop
0075 117 0038 56 LV_StartTrackingTest
02E5 741 003C 60 LV_StartStrengthTest
0078 120 003D 61 LV_HonoraryMember
0499 1177 003F 63 VFP_PeppyExplainForcePoint
001E 30 0042 66 SH_WarpStone_Got3Stones
000C 12 0043 67 SH_GiveMoonPassKey
0027 39 0048 72 NW_ReturnArtifact
00A7 167 004B 75 CC_TrickyShooCloudRunner
00AD 173 0056 86 CC_LightFootStayAway
020F 527 005A 90 MMP_WakeUp
0023 35 005F 95 SH_WallCityNotReturned
04C3 1219 0092 146
00E4 228 00A6 166 SH_TrickyDadIsGateKeeper
001C 28 00A7 167 SH_GetLargeScarabBag
00FE 254 00AA 170 DIM_NPC_HelpGetFree
0105 261 00AB 171 DIM_RescuedMammoth
00FF 255 00AD 173 DIM_LearnFlame
0121 289 00AE 174 DIM_NPC_NeedFood
056A 1386 00AF 175 DIM_LostTricky
00FA 250 00B1 177 DIM_NPC_NeedMore
00FB 251 00B2 178 DIM_NPC_SoHungry
00FC 252 00B3 179 DIM_NPC_LetsSmash
01AA 426 00B8 184 LV_ItsATrap
01AB 427 00B9 185 LV_BabiesClimbTrees
016E 366 00CA 202 DIM_MeetBelinaTe
01A4 420 00CB 203 DIM_BelinaYouMadeIt
007A 122 00E6 230 LV_ExplainTests
0324 804 00F0 240
0338 824 01F8 504 DR_RescuedHighTop
035A 858 01FE 510 DR_GotLastSpellStone
049C 1180 0203 515 DFP_AllStonesReturned
053E 1342 0205 517 WC_DadOk
0510 1296 020A 522 WC_GotSpellStone
0544 1348 020B 523 WC_ByeTricky
0462 1122 0265 613 CF_FloorUnstable
0532 1330 0288 648 DIM_RescueBelinaTe
008E 142 0289 649 CF_GrabTheStaff
0282 642 028A 650 CF_LetsGetOut
01DB 475 028C 652 CF_GiveDisguise
0045 69 028E 654
00E3 227 02A0 672 SH_SavedEggs
001F 31 02B4 692 SH_GateKeeperOpenPortal
04E8 1256 02B9 697 WM_FoxFirstWarpIn
04E9 1257 02BA 698 WM_FoxMeetKrystal
0127 295 02F1 753 SP_WinScarabGame
0128 296 02F2 754 SP_LoseScarabGame
0487 1159 02F3 755 MMP_KrystalHelp
03C4 964 02F4 756 MMP_LookOut
03C8 968 02F5 757 MMP_BringSpiritToPalace
0464 1124 4E21 20001 CF_FindAllChildren
0481 1153 4E22 20002 CF_GetMeOut
0483 1155 4E23 20003 CF_GetMeOut2
053D 1341 4E24 20004 DIM_NPC_ThanksClimbOn
02D8 728 4E25 20005 CF_WakeUpInDungeon
04FB 1275 4E26 20006 CC_NPC_HidMyGold
04FE 1278 4E27 20007 CC_NPC_SharpClawCapturedCloudRunner
0505 1285 4E28 20008 CC_NPC_ShouldAbleFind
0503 1283 4E29 20009 CC_NPC_SecretChambers
0052 82 4E2A 20010 SH_TrickyStayHere
004F 79 4E2B 20011 SH_NeedLantern
0050 80 4E2C 20012 SH_GotLantern
011B 283 4E2D 20013 NW_BringFrostWeeds
0571 1393 4E2E 20014 SH_NPC_SharpClawPutOutBeacons
0074 116 4E2F 20015 LV_FailedTest
007B 123 4E30 20016 LV_WinTrackingTest
0383 899 4E31 20017 LV_WinStrengthTest
0384 900 4E32 20018 LV_FailStrengthTest
0515 1301 4E34 20020 AND_MeetAndross
0549 1353 4E35 20021 AND_FalcoGreet
0148 328 4E36 20022 NWSH_MeetScales
014A 330 4E37 20023 NWSH_BeatScales
033A 826 4E38 20024 DR_WhatIWasLookingFor
001D 29 4E3D 20029 SH_StartStaffTutorial
0020 32 4E40 20032 SH_DoneStaffTutorial
0388 904 4E41 20033
0395 917 4E42 20034 DR_SpellStoneIsInside
015C 348 4E43 20035 DIM_HesGotSpellStone
058B 1419 4E44 20036 LV_MaybeSpiritHere
0283 643 4E45 20037 CF_ThisMightHelp
02AA 682 4E46 20038 CF_LoseRace
0064 100 4E84 20100 IM_HeyScaleFace
0069 105 4E89 20105 SB_OpeningScene
0083 131 4E8B 20107 SB_MeetScales
0490 1168 4E8C 20108 WM_KrystalLand
008B 139 4EAB 20139 NW_TrickyCrazy
0598 1432 4EAC 20140 AND_YouLose
059A 1434 4EB6 20150 WC_ThanksReturnStone
00C9 201 4EE9 20201
00CA 202 4EEA 20202
00CB 203 4EEB 20203
00D2 210 4EF2 20210 SH_QueenNeedsShrooms
00D5 213 4EF5 20213 SH_QueenSaved
00EA 234 4F0A 20234 IM_HotSpring
0115 277 4F35 20277
0118 280 4F38 20280
011E 286 4F3E 20286 NW_MeetGarundaTe
01FA 506 501A 20506 SH_PepperFirstLanding
01FC 508 501C 20508 SH_MeetQueen
0080 128 5078 20600 SH_GetMedScarabBag
0271 625 509B 20635
0493 1171 50B5 20661 WM_DinoOpenDoorTest1
006D 109 50D7 20695 SB_YourAdventureBegins
0180 384 50D8 20696 WM_ReleaseSpirit1
059C 1436 50DC 20700 DR_RescuedEarthWalker
035F 863 517F 20863 SH_WarpStoneIntro
047F 1151 529F 21151 SH_PickupStaff
0492 1170 52B2 21170 WM_DinoAfterTest1
049D 1181 52BD 21181 SH_QueenExplainSpellStones
0548 1352 5368 21352 SH_NobodyBringsGifts

Debug Text

The debug text systems don't use the Gametext files at all. There's the more complex debugPrintf system, used for most debug text, which supports the following control codes:

  • 0x81 rr gg bb aa: Set color
  • 0x82 yyyy xxxx: Set position
  • 0x83: Leave fixed-width mode
  • 0x84: Enter fixed-width mode
  • 0x85 rr gg bb aa: Set background color?
  • 0x86 aa bb: ?
  • 0x87 aa bb: ?
  • only 0x81 is used.

These are literal bytes, so write eg "\x81\xFF\x00\x00\xFFpotatoes" rather than UTF-8 encoding.

This uses texture IDs 1 (uppercase), 2 (lowercase), and 0x25D (digits and punctuation).

The second system, debugPrintfxy, is used for the crash handler and is much more basic, supporting no control codes and using a built-in font.

GAMETEXT.bin

The files GAMETEXT.bin and GAMETEXT.tab in the disc root are old, unused versions. Their format isn't known, and they contain old dialogue not present in the final game.

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