BRRES (File Format)
Overview
The BRRES (Binary Revolution RESource) are archive-like files containing object data, models, textures, and animations.
Format
BRRES files are similar to U8 files. They contain multiple sections, sometimes known as files. The format has been used in many games by Nintendo. This article describes Mario Kart Wii BRRES files.
Header
The file begins with the header. It is a 0x10 structure as follows:
| Offset | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0x00 | String | File magic. bres in ASCII. |
| 0x04 | UInt16 | Byte order mark (BOM): The value is always 0xFEFF. If value 0xFFFE is read, then the false endian is used. Mario Kart Wii uses nearly always big endian (bytes 0xFE,0xFF). |
| 0x06 | UInt16 | Padding (usually 0x0000). Some other formats with similar file header like BREFT/BREFT use the field as version number. |
| 0x08 | UInt32 | Length of the file in bytes. |
| 0x0C | UInt16 | Offset to root section relative to start (usually 0x0010). |
| 0x0E | UInt16 | Number of sections (including root). |
| 0x10 | End of file header | |
Sections
Root
The root section of the brres file contains all pointers to files and file names. The header of the root is 0x8 in length.
| Offset | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 0x00 | String | Section magic. root in ASCII. |
| 0x04 | UInt32 | Length of section in bytes. |
This header is then followed by a BRRES Index Group. The entries in this group are the folders of this brres file, and point to more BRRES Index Groups within the root section. These then point to the actual sections of the BRRES file.
Others
Other BRRES sections tend to be within specific folders, as set out by the root section. The identifiers of these sections, as well as the normal folder and a description are listed below. BRRES Files contain only a few file formats, they are:
| Identifier | Folder | Subfolder | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MDL0 | 3DModels(NW4R) | – | Model files. |
| TEX0 | Textures(NW4R) | – | Texture files. |
| SRT0 | AnmTexSrt(NW4R) | – | Texture movement animations. |
| CHR0 | AnmChr(NW4R) | – | Model movement animations. |
| PAT0 | AnmTexPat(NW4R) | – | Texture swapping animations. |
| CLR0 | AnmClr(NW4R) | – | Color changing animations. |
| SHP0 | AnmShp(NW4R) | – | Polygon morphing (used in flags). |
| SCN0 | AnmScn(NW4R) | LightSet(NW4R) | Scene file for games with live rendered videos. |
| AmbLights(NW4R) | |||
| Lights(NW4R) | |||
| Fogs(NW4R) | |||
| Cameras(NW4R) | |||
| PLT0 | Palettes(NW4R) | – | Color Palettes for CI4 and CI8 textures. |
| VIS0 | AnmVis(NW4R) | – | Bone visibility. Not seen in Mario Kart Wii. |
String Table
At the end of the BRRES file is a string table. This is a series of 4-byte length prefixed strings, padded to start at four byte offsets. Various sections point to this table, which is how all text in BRRES files is stored.
GNU C Header Example
typedef struct brres_header_t
{
char magic[4]; // = string "bres"
u16 bom; // byte order mark
// the data is 'bom' dependent big or little endian
u16 bom_padding; // usally 0
u32 size; // file size
u16 root_off; // offset of root section
u16 n_sections; // number of sections
}
__attribute__ ((packed)) brres_header_t;
typedef struct brres_entry_t
{
u16 id; // entry id
u16 unknown; // always 0?
u16 left_idx; // index to left element in virtual tree
u16 right_idx; // index to right element in virtual tree
u32 name_off; // offset into string table
u32 data_off; // offset to data
}
__attribute__ ((packed)) brres_entry_t;
typedef struct brres_group_t
{
u32 size; // size of complete group
u32 n_entries; // number of entires
brres_entry_t entry[0]; // list of entries, N := 1 + n_entries
// entry with index #0 is a special
// root node not counting in 'n_entries'
}
__attribute__ ((packed)) brres_group_t;
typedef struct brres_root_t
{
char magic[4]; // = string "root"
u32 size; // size of complete header
brres_group_t group[0]; // first group
}
__attribute__ ((packed)) brres_root_t;
Tools
The following tools can handle BRRES files:
- BrawlBox, by Kryal and BlackJax
- BrawlCrate, by soopercool101
- CTools Pack, by Chadderz
- RiiStudio, by Riidefi
- SZS Modifier, by MrBean35000vr and Chadderz
- Wiimms SZS Tools, by Wiimm
Notes
- Wiimms SZS Tools are able to extract all files of a BRRES file. They are also able to create a complete new BRRES file from scratch by copying the content of a local directory structure.
- BrawlBox is able to add materials and shaders to models, as well as import new animations and textures into a BRRES. However, it was designed for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but has support for Mario Kart Wii's files (as of version 0.65b).