Item Definition

Item Definition

IDE Sections: 2DFX • AMAT • ANIM • CARS • HIER • HAND • MLO • OBJS PATH • PEDS • TANM • TOBJ • TREE • TXDP • WEAP

Item definition files, usually identified by the file extension .ide, are used to declare many different aspects for the map system or to specify special behaviour rules for one of the aspects.

Format

The files are plain text, so they can be opened with text editors such as Notepad. They resemble CSV files, but with some extra features.

Comments

Comments are prefixed with the # symbol. Anything after that symbol is ignored, which means that comments can appear on their own lines as well as at the end of other lines:

# This comment has its own line.
data1, 183, 2.2 # This comment is at the end of a line.

Sections

Files are separated into sections with section...end directives:

section_name
# ...
end

Sections are global – multiple files can contribute to them

Data

Data values can be comma- or space-delimited: commas are replaced with spaces when the game reads a line from the file.

# Both are valid:
123, mystring, 22.4
123 mystring 22.4

Additionally, because the game uses sscanf() to parse these files, any number of spaces is read whenever a single space is encountered in the format string in the game code. As such, values can be aligned into columns:

# Identifier     Some value     Another value
  1              a_value        12345
  2              another        67890

Rockstar developers used this alignment ability a lot.

Rules and details

• The game only reads 256 characters per line. Anything longer will be truncated.
• Section identifiers and the end string are case-sensitive.
• The files are ASCII-encoded. The game does not expect non-ASCII characters to appear, so they will likely cause issues.
• Decimal places in floating-point values must use . as the decimal point character. , would be replaced with a space when read.
• Any ASCII control characters – anything less than the space character, 0x20 – is replaced with a space when the game reads the character. The same is done for commas.
• After reading a line, the game re-reads it to find the first character that is not a space or control character. The final line string starts from this character. This is equivalent to trimming the start of the string.
• In 3D era games, the section identifiers are always 4 characters long. GTA IV largely adheres to this convention, but not always.

Sections

The following table contains all known sections in the item definition. The supported games column lists games that support the sections but it doesn't necessarily means they're functional in the games.

Section	Supported games	Description
objs		Defines simple objects. They can be placed into the world through the inst section of the item placement files.
tobj		Defines time objects. The section functions similarly to objs but has two additional parameters defining the in-game time range the object can get rendered. These objects can be placed into the world through the inst section of the item placement files.
hier		Defines clump objects for use in cutscenes.
cars		Defines vehicle objects.
peds		Defines pedestrian objects (random NPC's).
path		Adds path nodes to defined objects. This section is unstable in Vice City.
2dfx		Adds particle effects and simple ped behaviors to defined objects.
weap		Defines weapon objects.
anim		Defines animated objects. The section functions similarly to objs but has one additional parameter indicating an IFP or WAD animation file to assign an animation to the object. These objects can be placed into the world through the inst section of the item placement files.
txdp		Used to virtually extend texture dictionaries.
tanm		Used to combine tobj and anim sections. Those objects get placed inside the inst section of the WPL.
tree		This section is not functional.
vnod		–
link		–
mlo		Used to create interiors. This section does also contain information about portals (previous enex connections) and dimensions of the interior which influences certain aspects, like the weather, for example. All objects are placed relative to an offset placed using mlo+ inside the IPL or WPL file.
amat		This is Audio Materials. Possible Used to make a sound effect at the model. Usually used for dynamic objects.
lodm		This section is not functional.
agrps		–
hand	VC Xbox/Mobile	–

IDE Flags

Flags are used in order to specify the behaviour of objects. They are interpreted as signed 32-bit integer values where each bit describes a boolean value of a different aspect.

GTA III

Bits	Dec	Hex	Name	Description	Examples
0	1	0x1	-	Cull model if player doesn't look at it? Read, but ignored.	Fences
1	2[1]	0x2	DO_NOT_FADE	Do not fade the object when it is being loaded into or out of view.	Some lampposts
2	4[1]	0x4	DRAW_LAST	Model is transparent. Render this object after all opaque objects, allowing transparencies of other objects to be visible through this object.	Trees
3	8	0x8	ADDITIVE	Render with additive blending. Previous flag must be enabled too.
4	16[1]	0x10	IS_SUBWAY	Model is a tunnel, i.e. set the object as invisible unless the player enters cull zone flag 128. This flag works only with static models.	Tunnels, some dynamic objects
5	32	0x20	IGNORE_LIGHTING	Don't use static lighting, we want dynamic if it's possible.	Some lampposts and trafficlights
6	64[1]	0x40	NO_ZBUFFER_WRITE	Model is a shadow. Disable writing to z-buffer when rendering it, allowing transparencies of other objects, shadows, and lights to be visible through this object. Not implemented in the PS2 version.	Shadow

GTA Vice City

Bits	Dec	Hex	Name	Description	Examples
0	1	0x1	IS_ROAD	Identifies objects to draw "wet reflections" on them.	Roads
1	2	0x2	DO_NOT_FADE	Do not fade the object when it is being loaded into or out of view.	Some night objects, North Point Mall
2	4	0x4	DRAW_LAST	Model is transparent. Render this object after all opaque objects, allowing transparencies of other objects to be visible through this object.	Fences, trees
3	8	0x8	ADDITIVE	Render with additive blending. Previous flag will be enabled automatically.	Night windows
4	16	0x10	-	Read, but not used.	_dy, _dt objects
5	32	0x20	IGNORE_LIGHTING	Don't use static lighting, we want dynamic if it's possible.	Interior objects
6	64	0x40	NO_ZBUFFER_WRITE	Model is a shadow. Disable writing to z-buffer when rendering it, allowing transparencies of other objects, shadows, and lights to be visible through this object.	Tree shadows
7	128	0x80	DONT_RECEIVE_SHADOWS	Do not draw dynamic shadows on this object.	Small objects, pickups, lamps, trees
8	256	0x100	IGNORE_DRAW_DISTANCE	Ignore draw distance for this object (sets its "level" (island id) to 0).	LOD models, North Bridge
9	512	0x200	IS_GLASS_TYPE_1	Breakable glass type 1: glass object changes its textures when breaking.	Small windows
10	1024	0x400	IS_GLASS_TYPE_2	Breakable glass type 2: glass object doesn't change its textures when breaking.	Large windows

Reference table

Bits	Dec	Hex	Name	Model info flag	Ref address	Ref description
0	1	0x1	IS_ROAD	0x04	0x4CA1D7	CRenderer::RenderRoads() if (CModelInfo::GetModelInfo(entity->m_nModelIndex)->m_nFlags & IS_ROAD) entity->Render();
1	2	0x2	DO_NOT_FADE	0x20	0x4C7E03	CRenderer::ShouldModelBeStreamed(CEntity *,CVector const&) if (model->m_nFlags & DO_NOT_FADE) { if (distance >= model->GetLargestLodDistance() + 30.0f) return true; } else if ( distance >= model->GetLargestLodDistance() + 50.0f) return true;
2	4	0x4	DRAW_LAST	0x40	0x56F4F3	CSimpleModelInfo::SetupBigBuilding(int,int) if (model->m_nFlags & DRAW_LAST) { model->m_nFlags &= ~DRAW_LAST; dbgprint("%s was draw last\n", model->m_szName); }
3	8	0x8	ADDITIVE	0x80	0x582590	CVisibilityPlugins::RenderFadingAtomic(RpAtomic *,float) if (model->m_nFlags & ADDITIVE) RwRenderStateSet(rwRENDERSTATEDESTBLEND, rwBLENDONE);
4	16	0x10	-	0x100	-	-
5	32	0x20	IGNORE_LIGHTING	0x200	0x56F7C4	CSimpleModelInfo::SetAtomic(int,RpAtomic *) if (model->m_nFlags & IGNORE_LIGHTING) atomic->geometry->flags &= ~rpGEOMETRYLIGHT;
6	64	0x40	NO_ZBUFFER_WRITE	0x400	0x581390	CVisibilityPlugins::RenderFadingEntities(CLinkList<CVisibilityPlugins::AlphaObjectInfo> &) if (model->m_nType == MODEL_INFO_SIMPLE && model->m_nFlags & NO_ZBUFFER_WRITE) RwRenderStateSet(rwRENDERSTATEZWRITEENABLE, FALSE);
7	128	0x80	DONT_RECEIVE_SHADOWS	0x800	0x48AF21	CFileLoader::LoadObjectInstance(char const*) if (model->m_nFlags & DONT_RECEIVE_SHADOWS) entity->m_nFlags.bDontCastShadowsOn = true;
8	256	0x100	IGNORE_DRAW_DISTANCE	0x1000	0x487CDE	CEntity::SetupBigBuilding() if (model->m_afLodDistances[0] > 2500.0f || model->m_nFlags & IGNORE_DRAW_DISTANCE) entity->m_nLevel = 0;
9	512	0x200	IS_GLASS_TYPE_1	0x2000	0x488CCD	CEntity::PreRender(), probably in-lined CModelInfo::IsGlassModel(int) @0x488CAA bool CModelInfo::IsGlassModel(int modelId) { CBaseModelInfo *model = CModelInfo::GetModelInfo(modelId); if (model->m_nType == MODEL_INFO_SIMPLE || model->m_nType == MODEL_INFO_TIME) { CSimpleModelInfo *simpleModel = reinterpret_cast<CSimpleModelInfo *>(model); return simpleModel->m_nFlags & IS_GLASS_TYPE_1 || simpleModel->m_nFlags & IS_GLASS_TYPE_2; } return false; }
10	1024	0x400	IS_GLASS_TYPE_2	0x4000	0x488CE7	CEntity::PreRender() if (CModelInfo::IsGlassModel(modelId)) { if (!(CModelInfo::GetModelInfo(modelId)->m_nFlags & IS_GLASS_TYPE_2) ) { CGlass::AskForObjectToBeRenderedInGlass(entity); entity->m_nFlags.bIsVisible = false; } }

GTA San Andreas

Bits	Dec	Hex	Name	Description	Examples
0	1	0x1	IS_ROAD	This model is a road.	Roads
1	2	0x2	-	Not read, but present in IDE files.
2	4	0x4	DRAW_LAST	Model is transparent. Render this object after all opaque objects, allowing transparencies of other objects to be visible through this object.	Fences, trees
3	8	0x8	ADDITIVE	Render with additive blending. Previous flag will be enabled automatically.	Night windows
4	16	0x10	-	Not read, not present in IDE files.	-
5	32	0x20		Works only with animated objects ('anim' section in IDE).	Doors
6	64	0x40	NO_ZBUFFER_WRITE	Disable writing to z-buffer when rendering this model, allowing transparencies of other objects, shadows, and lights to be visible through this object.	Shadows, lights
7	128	0x80	DONT_RECEIVE_SHADOWS	Do not draw shadows on this object.	Small objects, pickups, lamps, trees
8	256	0x100	-	Not read, not present in IDE files.	-
9	512	0x200	IS_GLASS_TYPE_1	Breakable glass type 1 (additional parameters defined inside the object.dat file, otherwise there is no effect)	Small windows
10	1024	0x400	IS_GLASS_TYPE_2	Breakable glass type 2: object first cracks on a strong collision, then it breaks (does also require object.dat registration).	Large windows
11	2048	0x800	IS_GARAGE_DOOR	Indicates an object as an garage door (for more information see GRGE – requires object.dat registration).	Garage doors
12	4096	0x1000	IS_DAMAGABLE	Model with ok/dam states.	Vehicle upgrades, barriers
13	8192	0x2000	IS_TREE	Trees and some plants. These objects move on wind.	Trees, some plants
14	16384	0x4000	IS_PALM	Palms. These objects move on wind.	Palms
15	32768	0x8000	DOES_NOT_COLLIDE_WITH_FLYER	Does not collide with flyer (plane or heli).	Trees, street lights, traffic lights, road signs, telegraph pole
16	65536	0x10000	-	Not read, but present in IDE files.	Explosive things
17	131072	0x20000	-	Not read, but present in IDE files.	chopcop_ models
18	262144	0x40000	-	Not read, but present in IDE files.	pleasure-DL.dff
19	524288	0x80000	-	Unused special object type. Read, but not present in IDE files.	-
20	1048576	0x100000	IS_TAG	This model is a tag. Object will switch from mesh 2 to mesh 1 after getting sprayed by the player.	Tags
21	2097152	0x200000	DISABLE_BACKFACE_CULLING	Disables backface culling – as an result the texture will be drawed on both sides of the model.	Roads, houses, trees, vehicle parts
22	4194304	0x400000	IS_BREAKABLE_STATUE	Object with this model can't be used as cover, i.e. peds won't try to cover behind this object.	Statue parts in atrium

GTA IV

This section is incomplete. You can help by fixing and expanding it.

Difference between GTA III and GTA IV engines

GTA IV not only uses different formats to the previous games, it also does not use IDs to identify objects anymore. While GTA III era games use an ID as an index inside an array of definitions, GTA IV uses the hashes of the model name as a key inside a hash table. For more information about this see Map system.

Tools

• KEd – By JernejL
• MEd – By Tonywob
•  GTAGarage: IDEditor – By Xmen
•  GTAForums: IDE-IV in GTA-IV script centre – by Gforce
• FlagValue Calculator – By Aschratt - Calculates all flagvalues (even those unknown).

See also

• Item placement
• Map system
• Dynamic Object

References

• ^  GTAForums: Screenshots of flags in GTA III

External links

•  GTAForums: GTAVC IDE Definitions - topic by ODIE covering specific details of IDE files in GTA VC
•  GTAForums: GTA3/VC Map File Documentation and Troubleshooting - topic by Opius covering general features of IDE files in GTA3 and GTA VC
• ID Flagvalue Decoding Project - project to decode all missing flag values