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Topic: Game Script Extraction (Read 3,234 times)

Firestorm717
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Game Script Extraction
« Thread Started on Jan 17, 2008, 1:19am »

So, I wanted to share a little program I came across, which allows you to extract the script (and image, sound, etc) files from any Macromedia Flash-based PC game. Generally, when you look in the installation directory of the game, or the CD/DVD itself, you will come across various system files. These files contain the encoded data that the game engine refers to when it runs the game, fetching text lines, images, and so forth. In the case of Flash-based engines, you can easily tell with an extension of .swf at the end of most major files. This is what we are seeking.

The clearest example probably comes from Animamundi. In the /sys folder you will find a file called scriptdata.swf, which contains the entire script of the game. Now, we want to first of all decompile this file. In most cases, without knowing the type of encryption, one would need to write one's own decompiler by using a program such as Hex Workshop, identifying patterns in the hex code, and doing a lot of experimenting that I personally have no experience in, although if you want to give it a shot, this site has a very nice tutorial.

However, in this case, we are lucky because a commercial company, Sourcetec, already published a SWF Decompiler that does all the hard work for you. All you need to do is install the decompiler program, apply the crack, then open up your scriptdata.swf file (or whatever you suspect the script file is named - generally, it is < 1 MB). Click on it in the left hand pane, and in the right hand pane you should see some sub-files show up. These are packed within the swf file. For scripts, we are in particular looking in the Actions sub-file branch, which contains all the major coding for the game. Now, once you have figured out which sub-files contain the script (you will see the raw program code in the center pane), you can tick its box and then select Export Resource. This will export that sub-file to a Macromedia Action Script filetype, which you can in fact open up in any text editor to read, modify, translate, etc.

Re-inserting the text is very simply accomplished with the SWF Quicker program. Without going into details, you can drag along the timeline at the top of the screen to see different frames (depending on the game, the programmers may have split the script up into many frames or stuck them all into one) and at the bottom, you will find the corresponding raw script + code that appeared in the middle pane of SWF Decompiler. Make your changes there as you would in any text editor, then when you are set, go to the toolbar and select Export Movie (SWF). This will create a new script data file with all the changes you administered. Note that SWF Quicker is not compatible with all Flash features, for example, buttons will not work properly.

Alternatively, BP discovered SWF Decompiler Trillix, which is a more user-friendly interface for inserting modified images (necessary if you are editing the buttons in the menu, for example). You can extract images as you would text, make changes in Photoshop, then simply go to Edit --> Images --> select the image in the left hand panel and replace at the bottom. Note that in order for transparency to work in PNG files, you must choose JPEG (I believe this is a programming error).

Lastly, if you are familiar with Macromedia Flash and have a copy yourself, you can simply make a new document in it, then File --> Import the swf file you are looking to change. I can't give you much direction here because I haven't used Flash much. However, in most cases, you will need to utilize a program like SWF Unlocker to get rid of author protection before you can open up a file.

I have so far tested this on two Karin Entertainment titles - Animamundi and Princess Nightmare. In Animamundi, I was able to both extract the scripts, as well as make simple text modifications that showed up in-game. Similarly, menu edits as well as in-game dialogue was correctly inserted in Princess Nightmare. I leave you with the main script as well as the miscellaneous chapter titles that I extracted from the latter so you can take a look. Hopefully, if enough people are interested, we can start up a translation project where Hirameki left off!

I still have much to learn since I just began experimenting - specifically, in order to insert text properly, one needs to implement word wrapping and font changes, which I have not yet delved into. Any advice and/or tutorials are, as always, greatly appreciated.

« Last Edit: Jan 20, 2008, 12:58am by Firestorm717 »