tensi@lan.informatik.tu-muenchen.dbp.de (Thomas Tensi) (05/02/89)
Hi,
some time ago I asked if somebody knew the format of the files for the Ferrari
Formula One game.
Bernie Cosell (cosell@wilma.bbn.com) [thanks, Bernie] directed me to a survey
by Mark Kyprianou (kyp@stsci.EDU) which was posted about a year ago.
I tried to complete the information on the so-called "*.ses" files which
describe the current standings in a season and the drivers' and cars'
characteristics. Nevertheless I couldn't find out everything as I did't dive
into the machine code but only checked it out by experimenting.
I also couldn't get any hints on the track files structure. I guess the
panorama view in the upper half of the game is run length encoded, but I keep
on trying, because I want to change the courses (additional s-bends).
Maybe some other guy can give hints on that.
By the way: does the game run faster (e.g. in real time) on 68020 machines?
Greetings from Germany,
Thomas Tensi, Institut fuer Informatik, Technische Univ. Muenchen,
Arcisstr. 21, 8000 Muenchen 2, West Germany
| E-Mail:
| tensi@lan.informatik.tu-muenchen.dbp.de (X.400)
| tensi%lan.informatik.tu-muenchen.dbp.de@relay.cs.net (arpa/csnet)
| tensi%lan.informatik.tu-muenchen.dbp.de@unido.uucp (uucp)
| tensi%lan.informatik.tu-muenchen.dbp.de@ddoinf6.bitnet (bitnet)
-- FERRARI FORMULA 1, "ses" file format
-- <> indicates a nonterminal, "--" a comment, [] a footnote;
-- obviously blanks in file act only as separators, number is not significant;
11 -- unknown
1 -- unknown
formula <num> -- <num>::= 1 | 2 | 3 -- formula driven
<xx> -- number of next race (1=rio, 2=jerez ...)
-- now (<xx>-1) lines of points the 8 drivers achieved in previous races
<a> <b> <c> <d> <e> <f> <g> <h> -- points for first race
. . .
-- now 8 lines (driver entries) of the form
<AA> <BBBBBBBBBB> <CCCCCCC> <D> <E> <FF> <GGG> <HHH> <III> <JJ> <KKKKKKK>
--********************************************************************
--********************* drivers entries ***********************
--********************************************************************
--| <AA> driver's number (0..99)
--| <BBBBBBBBB> driver's name (max. 9 letters)
--| <CCCCCCC> driver's country (max. 7 letters)
--| <D> colour of car's wheel caps and labels on body (0..7, see below)
--| <E> car's body colour (0..7, see below)
--| <FF> colour of driver's entry in season overview (0..15, see below)
--| <GGG> driver's and car's ability [a]
--| <HHH> car's ability (???) [b]
--| <III>
--| <JJ>
--| <KKKKKK>
--|************************
--| colour codes used for <D> <E> (3 bit, dual playfield mode):
--|
--| 0=black, 1=blue, 2=yellow, 3=dark green,
--| 4=gras green, 5=red, 6=asphalt grey, 7=white
--|
--| colour codes used for <FF> (4 bit screen, obviously not all colours
--| used):
--|
--| 0=black, 1=dark grey, 2=black, 3=black,
--| 4=light grey, 5=dark green, 6=dark red, 7=orange,
--| 8=black, 9=light grey, 10=black, 11=black,
--| 12=white, 13=light green, 14=yellow, 15=orange
--+---------------------------------------------------------------------
start <date> <time> -- start of game, 1st practice day at Fiorano
curtime <date> <time> -- actual game time when this file is loaded
--********************************************************************
--******************** date and time format **************************
--********************************************************************
--| <date> ::= <month>/<day>/<year> -- numerical notation
--| <year> ::= 86 -- I didn't check, if this is necessary
--| <time> ::= <hour>:<minute> -- 24 hour notation
--+---------------------------------------------------------------------
-- now several 9-line entries of the form
track <track file name> <LLL> <MMM> <N> <O> <P> <QQ> <RR>
<track name> -- internal name of track
goto <date> <time> -- arrival date and time
pract1 <date> <time> <time> -- date, start and end time of first practice
qual1 <date> <time> <time> -- date, start and end time of first qual.
pract2 <date> <time> <time> -- date, start and end time of second practice
qual2 <date> <time> <time> -- date, start and end time of second qual.
warmup <date> <time> <time> -- date, start and end time of warmup
race <date> <time> <time> -- date, start and end time of race
--********************************************************************
--********************** track parameters [c] ************************
--********************************************************************
--| <LLL> x-coordinate in pixels on airplane world map (0..319)
--| <MMM> y-coordinate in pixels on airplane world map (0..199)
--| <N> continent (well :-) for calculation of travel time
--| 1=Europe, 2=N.America, 3=S.America, 4=Asia, 5=Australia
--| <O> country (well, San Marino and Italy count as one...) for
--| calculation of travel time (arbitrary number)
--| <P> ???
--| <QQ> ???
--| <RR> ???
--+---------------------------------------------------------------------
end <date> <time> -- end of file marker
--********************************************************************
--************************ FOOTNOTES ******************************
--********************************************************************
--| [a] this number gives the driver's and car's performance; the
--| qualification time is approx. indirectly proportional to that
--| number (with some random offset) : t1/t2 = G2/G1; as soon as you
--| have a valid qualification round, the times get adjusted with
--| t=b+m/G (m, b are some track constants);
--|
--| [b] this number is specific for a certain car make or team (both
--| Williams and McLaren drivers have identical numbers); I don't know
--| if this is for car ability or some info on failure probabilities of
--| car's parts (as the numbers vary very much, I guess it's a set)...
--|
--| [c] these parameters obviously only give information before the track
--| is visited (e.g. position on world map, travel time); e.g. the flag
--| shown on the race course tower seems to be coded into the track
--| file...
--+---------------------------------------------------------------------