RenderWare binary stream file

RenderWare binary stream files are hierarchically structured binary data files used by the RenderWare 3.x graphics engine utilized by Rockstar North for their GTA III trilogy (only on PC, PS2 and XBOX, not PSP!) and related games (Manhunt, Bully).

GTA's model files use the file extension .dff and texture archives use .txd. Other possible extensions, not used by the GTA games, are .rws, .bsp and .dma. GTA3 does use .anm, for some of its cutscene animations, but it is the only GTA to do so.

File Format

RW streams are split up into sections. Each section has a 12 byte header and can either be empty, contain data or more child sections. Section content, especially of data sections, is determined by an ID in the header.

There is only one data structure common to all RW streams - the section header:

4 byte - DWORD - section identifier
4 byte - DWORD - section size, including child sections and/or data
4 byte - DWORD - RW version ID

The RW version ID varies depending on the RW engine version used for exporting the files. It must be the same for all headers within one file. Backwards compatibility is very limited.

Valid RW Section IDs

See the list of RW section IDs.

Rockstar's Custom Section IDs

Rockstar added several vendor specific RW plugins, which have their own ID range (0x0253F2F*).

• Specular Material (0x0253F2F6)
• 2dfx (0x0253F2F8)
• Night Vertex Colors (0x0253F2F9)
• Collision Model (0x0253F2FA)
• Reflection Material (0x0253F2FC)
• Mesh Extension (0x0253F2FD)
• Frame (0x0253F2FE)

Common RW Version IDs

The following is an (incomplete) list of plain text RW versions commonly used in GTA and their encoded equivalent:

3.0.0.3 - 0x0003FFFF
3.1.0.0 - 0x00000310
3.3.0.2 - 0x0C02FFFF
3.4.0.3 - 0x1003FFFF
3.6.0.3 - 0x1803FFFF (GTA SA)

Common File Structures

Model Files (DFF)

-coming soon-

Texture Archives (TXD)

• Texture Dictionary
  • Struct - 4 byte, 2x word, first one is the texture count
  • Texture Native *
    • Struct - header and actual image data
    • Extension - empty
  • Extension - empty

* These sections (and their child sections) can appear multiple times.

Tools & Scripts

• RW Analyze
• various model file and texture archive related tools

See also

• Original DFF format description by KCow
• RW Analyze discussion thread on GTAForums with lots of format descriptions
• Official RenderWare Site