PEW File Format

Introduction

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Legend

Type	Description
byte	8 bit (1 byte)
short	16 bit signed short (2 bytes)
int	32 bit signed integer (4 bytes)
float	32 bit signed single precision floating point value (4 bytes)
asciiz	Null terminated (0x00) variable length ascii string
ascii	fixed length ascii string

Although technically there should never be negetive values for many of the 16 bit & 32 bit values, it's 'safer' in programming terms to use signed datatypes as opposed to unsigned datatypes.

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File Format

The following is a mix of pseudo-code and structure references that could be used to describe the file format of POSEW60.pew project design file.

Any naming definitions or naming conventions used may or may not be accurate.

• This file format is principally used with Armed Assault v1.09 and later plus the ArmA Tools Suite Final release (v1.14).

POSEW60 { structHeader Header; int NoOfObjectTypes; structObjectType[NoOfObjectTypes] ObjectTypes; short Unknown; short Unknown; short RoadNetworkTypesIndicator; if(RoadNetworkTypesIndicator == 0) { int NoOfRoadNetworkTypes; structRoadNetworkType[NoOfRoadNetworkTypes] RoadNetworkTypes; int Unknown; } int TerrainGrid_X; int TerrainGrid_Z; float[TerrainGrid_Z,TerrainGrid_X] TerrainGridHeights; int NoOfBlueFloats = (TerrainGrid_X / 16) * TerrainGrid_X; float[NoOfBlueFloats] BlueEdgeTerrainHeights; //Always zero values. int Unknown; int NoOfObjects; if (NoOfObjects != 0) { structObject[NoOfObjects] Objects; while (i < NoOfObjects) { short Indicator; if (Indicator != 0) { short Unknown; int InstanceId; float TransformColumn_1_Row_1; // described here to solidly illustrate to reader float TransformColumn_1_Row_2; // this is a standard DirectX Transform matrix float TransformColumn_1_Row_3; // but in COLUMN format; float TransformColumn_2_Row_1; float TransformColumn_2_Row_2; float TransformColumn_2_Row_3; float TransformColumn_3_Row_1; float TransformColumn_3_Row_2; float TransformColumn_3_Row_3; float Unknown; float Unknown; int NoOfCharsInInstanceName; ascii[NoOfCharsInInstanceName] InstanceName; float RelativeSurfaceElevation; byte[4] OutlineColour; // rgba 0xFFFF FFFF means 'default' byte[4] ObjectColour; // rgba 0xFFFF FFFF means 'default' int ObjectTypeId; } } } int NoOfLayers; structLayer[NoOfLayers] Layers; }

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Structures

structLayer

struct structLayer { int NoOfCharsInLayerName1; ascii[NoOfCharsInLayerName1] LayerName1; int LayerSizeType; int NoOfCharsInLayerName2; ascii[NoOfCharsInLayerName2] LayerName2; short DefaultIndicator; int NoOfTerrainMaterials; if (NoOfTerrainMaterials != 0) { structTerrainMaterial[NoOfTerrainMaterials] TerrainMaterials; } }

structTerrainMaterial

struct structTerrainMaterial { int Unknown; int NoOfCharsInMaterialName; ascii[NoOfCharsInMaterialName] MaterialName; int Unknown; }

structObjectType

struct structObjectType { int NoOfCharsInObjectModelFilename; ascii[NoOfCharsInObjectModelFilename] ModelFilename; int NoOfCharsInObjectName; ascii[NoOfCharsInObjectName] ObjectTypeName; int ObjectClassId; byte[4] OutlineColour; // rgba 0xFFFF FFFF means 'default' byte[4] ObjectColour; // rgba 0xFFFF FFFF means 'default' switch (ObjectClassId) { case ObjectClassEnum.Natural // 1 { byte[118] VariousInfo; } case ObjectClassEnum.Artificial // 2 { byte[118] VariousInfo; } case ObjectClassEnum.Road // 3 { byte[214] VariousInfo; } } int NoOfArtificialSubObjects; if (NoOfArtificialSubObjects != 0) { structArtificialSubObject[NoOfArtificialSubObjects] ArtificialSubObjects; } int MarkerType; //See MarkerTypeEnum int ObjectTypeId = VariousInfo.Offset(16).[4].ToInt; // The 4-bytes at offset 16 in the VariousInfo is the ObjectTypeId. }

NB: While the 'VariousInfo' byte array is decernable at this time it essentially defines various floats, integers, transforms etc. that denote the 'default' and/or 'seed' values for a given ObjectType.

The most important data is the ObjectTypeId found at the 16th byte and is an 4-byte int.

structArtificialSubObject

struct structArtificialSubObject { int NoOfCharsInArtificialSubObjectName; ascii[NoOfCharsInArtificialSubObjectName] ArtificialSubObjectName; int Something1; int Something2; float[6] arySomethingFloats; }

structRoadNetworkType

struct structRoadNetworkType { int NoOfCharsInRoadNetworkTypeName; ascii[NoOfCharsInRoadNetworkTypeName] NetworkTypeName; byte[4] KeyPartsColour; // rgba 0xFFFF FFFF means 'default' byte[4] NormalPartsColour; // rgba 0xFFFF FFFF means 'default' short FilledLine; // 0x0000=No, 0x0100=Yes float[4] Unknown; // 4 x Unknown floats int NoOfStraightParts; if (NoOfStraightParts != 0) { structRoadNetworkTypeStraightPart[NoOfStraightParts] RoadNetworkTypeStraightParts; } int NoOfCurveParts; if (NoOfCurveParts != 0) { structRoadNetworkTypeCurvePart[NoOfCurveParts] RoadNetworkTypeCurveParts; } int NoOfSpecialParts; if (NoOfSpecialParts != 0) { structRoadNetworkTypeSpecialPart[NoOfSpecialParts] RoadNetworkTypeSpecialParts; } int NoOfTerminatorParts; if (NoOfTerminatorParts != 0) { structRoadNetworkTypeTerminatorPart[NoOfTerminatorParts] RoadNetworkTypeTerminatorParts; } }

structRoadNetworkTypeStraightPart

struct structRoadNetworkTypeStraightPart { int NoOfCharsInStraightPartName; ascii[NoOfCharsInStraightPartName] StraightPartName; int ObjectId; short StraightPartType; short CanChangeBankAngle; }

structRoadNetworkTypeCurvePart

struct structRoadNetworkTypeCurvePart { int NoOfCharsInCurvePartName; ascii[NoOfCharsInCurvePartName] CurvePartName; int ObjectId; short CurvePartType; }

structRoadNetworkTypeSpecialPart

struct structRoadNetworkTypeSpecialPart { int NoOfCharsInSpecialPartName; ascii[NoOfCharsInSpecialPartName] SpecialPartName; int ObjectId; short SpecialPartType; short CanChangeBankAngle; }

structRoadNetworkTypeTerminatorPart

struct structRoadNetworkTypeTerminatorPart { int NoOfCharsInTerminatorPartName; ascii[NoOfCharsInTerminatorPartName] TerminatorPartName; int ObjectId; short TerminatorPartType; short CanChangeBankAngle; }

structLayer

struct structLayer { int NoOfCharsInTerminatorPartName; ascii[NoOfCharsInTerminatorPartName] TerminatorPartName; int ObjectId; short TerminatorPartType; short CanChangeBankAngle; }

Enums

ObjectClassEnum

enum ObjectClassEnum { Natural = 1, Artificial = 2, Road = 3 }

MarkerTypeEnum

enum MarkerTypeEnum { Rectangular = 0, Elliptical = 1 }