BOL (File Format)

A BOL file contains information about a course's setup. A variant of the BOL format has been used in Mario Kart DS and Mario Kart Wii. This article describes the Mario Kart: Double Dash!! BOL format.

File Header

File header of a BOL file

Offset	Size	Description
0x00	4	File magic, always '0015' in ASCII
0x1A	2	Number of Section 1 entries.
0x1C	2	Number of Section 2 groups.
0x1E	2	Number of Section 5 entries.
0x20	2	Number of Section 7 entries.
0x22	2	Number of Section 8 entries.
0x24	2	Number of Section 3 routes.
0x40	4	Start of the file, always 0x00.
0x44	4	Section 1 offset, always 0x7C.
0x48	4	Section 2 offset.
0x4C	4	Section 3 offset.
0x50	4	Section 4 offset.
0x54	4	Section 5 offset.
0x58	4	Section 6 offset.
0x5C	4	Section 7 offset.
0x60	4	Section 8 offset.
0x64	4	Section 9 offset.
0x68	4	Section 10 offset.
0x6C	4	Length of the file in bytes.
0x70	12	Padding.
0x7C	End of this file header

Sections

The file consists of a series of sections, each describing a different aspect of the course setup:

Section 1

Section 1 describes enemy/item points; the routes of CPU racers and items such as red shells. The CPU racers and items attempt to follow the path described by each group of points. Each entry is a 0x20 byte structure as follows:

Offset	Size	Description
0x00	float[3]	A 3D position vector of the position.
0x0C	short	Point setting.
0x0E	short	Link of current group if start of group. Link to next group if end of group. Otherwise -1.
0x10	float	Scale.
0x14	short	Group setting if start of group. Otherwise 0. 0: Enemy and items can enter group. 1: Items can enter group.
0x16	byte	Group.
0x17	byte	Point setting.
0x18	byte[8]	Padding.

Section 2

The first part of Section 2 describes checkpoint grouping; how the routes of checkpoints link together. Each entry is a 0x14 byte structure as follows:

Groups

Offset	Size	Description
0x00	short	Point length. The number of points in this group.
0x02	short	Group link.
0x04	short[4]	Previous group. The indices of up to 4 group links that follow to this one. Unneeded slots are set to value -1.
0x0C	short[4]	Next group. The indices of up to 4 group links to follow after this one. Unneeded slots are set to value -1.

The second part of Section 2 describes checkpoints; the routes players must follow to count laps. The racers must follow the path described by each group of points (as determined by the first part of Section 2). Each entry is a 0x1C byte structure as follows:

Points

Offset	Size	Description
0x00	float[3]	A 3D position vector of the start of the check point line.
0x0C	float[3]	A 3D position vector of the end of check point line.
0x18	byte[4]	Padding.

Section 3

Section 3 describes routes; these are routes for many things including cameras and objects. Each entry is a 0x10 byte structure as follows:

Offset	Size	Description
0x00	short	Point length. The number of Section 4 entries in this group.
0x02	short	Point start. The index of the first Section 4 entry in this group.
0x04	byte[12]	Padding.

Section 4

Section 4 describes route points. Each entry is a 0x20 byte structure as follows:

Offset	Size	Description
0x00	float[3]	A 3D position vector of the route position.
0x0C	byte[20]	Padding.

Section 5

Section 5 decribes objects. Each entry is a 0x40 byte structure as follows:

Offset	Size	Description
0x00	float[3]	A 3D position vector of the start position.
0x0C	float[3]	A 3D scale vector of the start position.
0x18	int[3]	A 3D rotation vector of the start position?
0x24	short	Object ID
0x26	short	Route ID. Links to Section 3. 0xFFFF if no route is used.
0x28	byte[24]	Unknown. Probably object settings.

Section 6

Section 6 describes kart points; the starting positions of racers. Each entry is a 0x28 byte structure as follows:

Offset	Size	Description
0x00	float[3]	A 3D position vector of the start position.
0x0C	float[3]	A 3D scale vector of the start position.
0x18	int[3]	A 3D rotation vector of the start position?
0x24	byte	0: Pole position is left. 1: Pole position is right.
0x25	byte	Player ID. In courses with multiple start positions (such as battle courses), this determines which players start here. Otherwise set to 0xFF to set all players start positions to this point.
0x26	short	Padding.

Section 7

Section 7 describes areas; used to determine for example which camera to use. Each entry is a 0x38 byte structure as follows:

Offset	Size	Description
0x00	float[3]	A 3D vector of the area's position.
0x0C	float[3]	A 3D vector of the area's scale.
0x18	int[3]	A 3D vector of the area's rotation.
0x24	short	Unknown.
0x26	short	Unknown.
0x28	byte[16]	Unknown.

Section 8

Section 8 describes Cameras. Each entry is a 0x48 byte structure as follows:

Offset	Size	Description
0x00	float[3]	A 3D position vector of the first view point
0x0C	int[3]	A 3D rotation vector
0x18	float[3]	A 3D position vector of the second view point
0x24	float[3]	A 3D position vector of the third view point
0x30	byte	Unknown
0x31	byte	Camera Type
0x32	ushort	Start Zoom
0x34	short	Camera Duration (in 1/60 second units)
0x36	ushort	Unknown
0x38	ushort	Unknown
0x3A	ushort	Unknown
0x3C	short	Linked Route ID (-1 if none)
0x3E	ushort	Route Speed?
0x40	ushort	End Zoom
0x42	short	Next Camera (-1 if none)
0x44	char[4]	Camera Name? (Most of the time "null" or "para")

Section 9

Section 9 describes Jugem points; the respawn positions. Each entry is a 0x20 byte structure as follows:

Offset	Size	Description
0x00	float[3]	A 3D position vector of the respawn position.
0x0C	int[3]	A 3D rotation vector of the respawn position?
0x18	short	Respawn ID?
0x1A	short	Unknown
0x1C	short	Unknown
0x1E	short	Unknown