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ArmA 1 POSE v60

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ArmA 1 aka Armed Assault (ArmA)

POSE v60 file format for ArmA.

Legend

Type Description
byte 8 bit (1 byte)
short 16 bit signed short (2 bytes)
int 32 bit signed integer (4 bytes)
float 32 bit signed single precision floating point value (4 bytes)
double 64 bit signed single precision floating point value (8 bytes)
asciiz Null terminated (0x00) variable length ascii string
ascii fixed length ascii string(UTF-8)

Although technically there should never be negative values for many of the 16 bit & 32 bit values, it's “safer” in programming terms to use signed data types as opposed to unsigned data types.

File Format

The following is a mix of pseudo-code and structure references that could be used to describe the file format of POSEW60.pew project design file.

Any naming definitions or naming conventions used may or may not be accurate.

This file format is principally used with Armed Assault v1.09 and later plus the ArmA Tools Suite Final release (v1.14). 

POSEW60
{
	structHeader Header;
	int NoOfObjectTypes;
	structObjectType[NoOfObjectTypes] ObjectTypes;
	short Unknown;
	short Unknown;
	short RoadNetworkTypesIndicator;
	if (RoadNetworkTypesIndicator == 0)
	{
		int NoOfRoadNetworkTypes;
		structRoadNetworkType[NoOfRoadNetworkTypes] RoadNetworkTypes;
		int NoOfCrossRoads;
		structCrossRoadType[NoOfCrossRoads] CrossRoadsTypes;
	}
	int TerrainGrid_X;
	int TerrainGrid_Z;
	float[TerrainGrid_Z,TerrainGrid_X] TerrainGridHeights;
	int NoOfBlueFloats = (TerrainGrid_X / 16) * TerrainGrid_X;
	float[NoOfBlueFloats] BlueEdgeTerrainHeights; // Always zero values.
	int Unknown;
	int NoOfObjects;
	structObject[NoOfObjects] Objects;
	int NoOfLayers;
	structLayer[NoOfLayers] Layers;
	RoadNetworks; // As yet undefined...
	int NoOfBackgrounds;
	structBackground[NoOfBackgrounds] Backgrounds;
	EndBlocks; // Sort of defined, needs more work...
}

Structures

structObject 

structObject
{
	short Indicator;
	if (Indicator != 0)
	{
		short Unknown;
		int InstanceId;
		float TransformColumn[3][4];
		// described here to solidly illustrate to reader
		// this is a standard DirectX Transform matrix
		// but in COLUMN format;
		double ObjectRelativeSize; // decimal percentage
		int NoOfCharsInInstanceName;
		ascii[NoOfCharsInInstanceName] InstanceName;
		float RelativeSurfaceElevation;
		byte[4] OutlineColour; // rgba 0xFFFF FFFF means 'default'
		byte[4] ObjectColour; // rgba 0xFFFF FFFF means 'default'
		int ObjectTypeId;
	};
};

structLayer 

struct structLayer
{
	int NoOfCharsInLayerName1;
	ascii[NoOfCharsInLayerName1] LayerName1;
	int LayerSizeType;
	int NoOfCharsInLayerName2;
	ascii[NoOfCharsInLayerName2] LayerName2;
	short DefaultIndicator;
	int NoOfTerrainMaterials;
	if (NoOfTerrainMaterials != 0)
	{
		structTerrainMaterial[NoOfTerrainMaterials] TerrainMaterials;
	}
}

structTerrainMaterial 

struct structTerrainMaterial
{
	int Unknown;
	int NoOfCharsInMaterialName;
	ascii[NoOfCharsInMaterialName] MaterialName;
	int Unknown;
}

structObjectType 

struct structObjectType
{
	int NoOfCharsInObjectModelFilename;
	ascii[NoOfCharsInObjectModelFilename] ModelFilename;
	int NoOfCharsInObjectName;
	ascii[NoOfCharsInObjectName] ObjectTypeName;
	int ObjectClassId;
	byte[4] OutlineColour; // rgba 0xFFFF FFFF means 'default'
	byte[4] ObjectColour; // rgba 0xFFFF FFFF means 'default'
	switch (ObjectClassId)
	{
		case ObjectClassEnum.Natural // 1
		{
			byte[118] VariousInfo;
		}
		case ObjectClassEnum.Artificial // 2
		{
			byte[118] VariousInfo;
		}
		case ObjectClassEnum.ArtificialAndDefinedInRoad // 5
		{
			byte[118] VariousInfo;
		}
		case ObjectClassEnum.Road // 3
		{
			byte[214] VariousInfo;
		}
	}
	int NoOfArtificialSubObjects;
	if (NoOfArtificialSubObjects != 0)
	{
		structArtificialSubObject[NoOfArtificialSubObjects] ArtificialSubObjects;
	}
	int MarkerType; //See MarkerTypeEnum
	int ObjectTypeId = VariousInfo.Offset(16).[4].ToInt; // The 4-bytes at offset 16 in the VariousInfo is the ObjectTypeId.
}

NB: While the “VariousInfo” byte array is determinable at this time it essentially defines various floats, integers, transforms etc. that denote the “default” and/or “seed” values for a given ObjectType.

The most important data is the ObjectTypeId found at the 16th byte and is an 4-byte int.

structArtificialSubObject 

struct structArtificialSubObject
{
	int NoOfCharsInArtificialSubObjectName;
	ascii[NoOfCharsInArtificialSubObjectName] ArtificialSubObjectName;
	int Something1;
	int Something2;
	float[3][2] StartEndPosXYZ;
}

structRoadNetworkType 

struct structRoadNetworkType
{
	int NoOfCharsInRoadNetworkTypeName;
	ascii[NoOfCharsInRoadNetworkTypeName] NetworkTypeName;
	byte[4] KeyPartsColour; // rgba 0xFFFF FFFF means 'default'
	byte[4] NormalPartsColour; // rgba 0xFFFF FFFF means 'default'
	short FilledLine; // 0x0000=No, 0x0100=Yes
	double MaxAngle; // degrees
	double MaxBankAngle; // degrees
	int NoOfStraightParts;
	if (NoOfStraightParts != 0)
	{
		structRoadNetworkTypeStraightPart[NoOfStraightParts] RoadNetworkTypeStraightParts;
	}
	int NoOfCurveParts;
	if (NoOfCurveParts != 0)
	{
		structRoadNetworkTypeCurvePart[NoOfCurveParts] RoadNetworkTypeCurveParts;
	}
	int NoOfSpecialParts;
	if (NoOfSpecialParts != 0)
	{
		structRoadNetworkTypeSpecialPart[NoOfSpecialParts] RoadNetworkTypeSpecialParts;
	}
	int NoOfTerminatorParts;
	if (NoOfTerminatorParts != 0)
	{
		structRoadNetworkTypeTerminatorPart[NoOfTerminatorParts] RoadNetworkTypeTerminatorParts;
	}
}

structRoadNetworkTypeStraightPart 

struct structRoadNetworkTypeStraightPart
{
	int NoOfCharsInStraightPartName;
	ascii[NoOfCharsInStraightPartName] StraightPartName;
	int ObjectId;
	short StraightPartType;
	short CanChangeBankAngle;
}

structRoadNetworkTypeCurvePart 

struct structRoadNetworkTypeCurvePart
{
	int NoOfCharsInCurvePartName;
	ascii[NoOfCharsInCurvePartName] CurvePartName;
	int ObjectId;
	short CurvePartType;
}

structRoadNetworkTypeSpecialPart 

struct structRoadNetworkTypeSpecialPart
{
	int NoOfCharsInSpecialPartName;
	ascii[NoOfCharsInSpecialPartName] SpecialPartName;
	int ObjectId;
	short SpecialPartType;
	short CanChangeBankAngle;
}

structRoadNetworkTypeTerminatorPart 

struct structRoadNetworkTypeTerminatorPart
{
	int NoOfCharsInTerminatorPartName;
	ascii[NoOfCharsInTerminatorPartName] TerminatorPartName;
	int ObjectId;
	short TerminatorPartType;
	short CanChangeBankAngle;
}

structBackground 

struct structBackground
{
	int NoOfCharsInBackgroundFilename;
	ascii[NoOfCharsInBackgroundFilename] BackgroundFilename;
	int NoOfCharsInBackgroundName;
	ascii[NoOfCharsInBackgroundFilename] BackgroundName;
	float OffsetX;
	float OffsetY;
	float SizeX;
	float SizeY;
	int Transpareny;
	short Visible;
}

Enums

ObjectClassEnum 

enum ObjectClassEnum
{
	Natural = 1,
	Artificial = 2,
	ArtificialAndDefinedInRoad = 5,
	Road = 3
}

MarkerTypeEnum 

enum MarkerTypeEnum
{
	Rectangular = 0,
	Elliptical = 1
}