RenderWare binary stream file

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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*).

Common RW Version IDs

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

3.1.0.0 - 0x00000310 - GTA III multi-dff and generics. (old version encoding)
3.1.0.0 - 0x00000310 - Android / OSX GTA III multi-dff and generics. (old version encoding)
3.1.0.0 - 0x0400FFFF - GTA III 
3.2.0.0 - 0x0800FFFF - PS2 & PC GTA: III.
3.3.0.2 - 0x0C02FFFF - GTA: VC. 
3.4.0.2 - 0x1003FFFF - Android GTA: III vehicles.
3.4.0.2 - 0x1003FFFF - Android / OSX GTA VC multi-dff, generic and vehicles.
3.4.0.3 - 0x1003FFFF - X-BOX GTA III, GTA VC & GTA SA.
3.5.0.0 - 0x1400FFFF - Android / OSX GTA SA multi-dff.
3.6.0.3 - 0x1803FFFF - GTA SA & Manhunt.
3.7.0.0 - 0x1C000000 - GTA SA Cuts.

Common File Structures

Model Files (DFF)

Texture Archives (TXD)

Texture Archives PS2 (TXD)

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

** Not always present, effect also unknown.

*** Require Pipeline Set to work for static objects, by default only for vehicles.

A byte may contain two indices, if bpp == 4.

16 bit images are in 1555 ARGB format or 565 (used by VC only on ancient hardware such as Riva TNT2 when you choose 16 bit color mode and game builds non-dxt version of txd files on disk).

The indices are swizzled and saved in a PS2 friendly format (CLUT).

Note: There are slight differences between GTA: III and VC formats concerning the raster/image format.

Tools & Scripts

See also