Game data terminology: Difference between revisions

Game data terminology (view source)

Revision as of 14:20, 27 July 2015

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 ;.dat file
-".dat" is a generic suffix originally used by Oni for all kinds of data, including [[persist.dat]]. The proper, specific name for the .dat files containing level data, as opposed to the .dat files containing the save-game data, films, etc. is "instance file". That being said, ".dat" has only been used by the community historically to refer to instance files, so you can reasonably assume that's what is meant when you see the suffix. On occasion, ".dat" also refers to the complete set of level data files, .dat/.raw[/.sep].
+".dat" is a generic suffix originally used by Oni for all kinds of data, with file names such as level0_Final.dat, [[persist.dat]], and developer-related files such as saved_film*.dat, level_*_corpse.dat, etc. The proper, specific name for the .dat files containing level data is "instance file". That being said, ".dat" has only been used by the community historically to refer to instance files, so you can reasonably assume that's what is meant when you see the suffix by itself. On occasion, ".dat" also refers to the complete set of level data files, .dat/.raw[/.sep].
 ;Instance, resource, file
-This one can be confusing. An instance is often called a file on this wiki, but an instance is not the same as an "instance file". An instance is an individual resource, such as a texture. They are called files because they are distinct pieces of data stored and cataloged in a "file system" composed of a set of .dat/.raw[/.sep] files. In at least some cases they were indeed actual, separate files on the developer's computer before being packed into the level data files.
+The use of these terms can be confusing. An instance is often called a file on this wiki, but an instance is not the same as an instance <u>file</u>. An instance is an individual resource, such as a texture. They are sometimes called files because they are distinct pieces of data stored and cataloged in a "file system" composed of a set of .dat/.raw[/.sep] files. In at least some cases they were indeed actual, separate files on the developer's computer before being packed into the level data files.
 When OniSplit is used to split level data files into individual files for each resource, in effect it is creating thousands of "single-instance instance files", at which point "instance", "file", and "instance file" become basically synonymous. The format of instance files is documented [[dat|HERE]].
 ;Raw file, .raw / Separate file, .sep
-These level data files are companions to an instance file. The kinds of resources stored in these files are generally those with large data like textures and sounds.
+During development, these types of level data files were eventually created as companions to instance files. The kinds of resources stored in these files are generally those with larger amounts of data, like textures and sounds.
 Raw files are found in both Windows and Mac Oni, whereas separate files only occur on Macs and in the Windows demo. When separate files are present, raw files are much smaller because several resource types have their data stored in the separate file instead.
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 ;.oni
-Generated by [[OniSplit]], these files are Windows-format .dat files which basically contain a single instance extracted from an instance file, with all the instance data that was contained by the .raw/.sep files appended at the end.
+Generated by [[OniSplit]], these files are Windows-format .dat files which basically contain a single instance extracted from an instance file, with any of the instance's data that might have been contained by the .raw/.sep files appended at the end.
 [[Category:Modding information]]