Archives and compression
Finding a resource and decoding its bytes can involve several layers: an archive index, a compressed payload and a container inside that payload. Patch selection adds a separate question: which copy is active? Each row links to the page that states it, with its confidence.
| Engine / game | Container and index | Compression and encryption | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| FromSoftware / Sekiro and Elden Ring | BHD5 indexes address BDT ranges by path hash; BND4 groups nested files | RSA-wrapped indexes, selected AES-128-ECB data ranges, DCX KRAK (Oodle Kraken). Elden Ring’s encrypted regulation uses DCX ZSTD; DFLT is documented as zlib but its presence in these installs is not established |
BHD5/BDT, BND4, DCX, engine comparison |
| Anvil / Riders Republic | Forge indexes hold typed resources with 64-bit identities | Chunked data blocks use version 2 / algorithm 5, zstd; equal stored and decoded sizes denote raw chunks. Checksums are Adler-32 seeded with zero over stored bytes | Forge, data blocks |
| Anvil / Ghost Recon Breakpoint | Forge resources; lookup can be global or scoped | Community-described version 3 / algorithm 3 uses Oodle Mermaid, with checksummed chunks | Data blocks, lookup scope |
| RAGE / GTA V Enhanced | RPF7 contains directories, binary files and resources; an uncompressed entry can be another RPF | Raw DEFLATE; NG and AES cipher paths, including encrypted script bodies | RPF7 |
| Frostbite / skate. | TOCs locate bundle manifests and chunk ranges in base or patch CAS files | CAS ranges concatenate individually framed blocks; documented codecs include stored, zlib and Oodle variants | Data folders, bundles, CAS |
| ForzaTech / FH6 | PGZP minizips use indexed entries without stored names; companion files supply names and types. Ordinary ZIPs hold other assets | GeoChunks use stored, raw DEFLATE and raw LZ4. Platform ZIP method 21 is described as XMemCompress LZX; method 22 wraps DEFLATE in TFIT encryption | PGZP, encryption |
| Insomniac / Sunset Overdrive | A central toc maps 32-bit asset ids to copies in twenty archives; assets contain DAT1 containers |
The toc uses zlib; archives are plain concatenations. All measured zones are individually LZ4-compressed | Archive index, zones |
| SEGA Ninja / SA2B | Stage data lives in relocatable REL modules; Chao stages can add a PRS wrapper | SA Tools loads PRS where flagged, then SaCompGC, then applies REL fixups. PRS also wraps GVM textures | Stage modules |
| Unity / documented players | Serialized files hold object tables; UnityFS bundles hold files across compressed blocks. SkateBIRD uses loose files, Sledding adds Addressables, Big Walk packs its player data | Measured UnityFS blocks use LZ4HC or stored bytes; the documented flag table also names LZMA, LZ4 and LZHAM | Serialized files, UnityFS |
| MonoGame / STUNTBOOST | XNB version 5 wraps individual assets with a type-reader table; game-specific readers hold glTF JSON, buffers and derived collision | All 1,873 shipped XNB files are uncompressed. MonoGame documents LZ4 and LZX compression flags, neither present in this install | XNB containers |
| Unreal / MECCHA CHAMELEON | IoStore pairs a .utoc index with .ucas data; the game also ships a version-11 pak and a separate global container |
Main IoStore data uses Oodle or stored blocks in a 65,536-byte address-space division; the global container is stored. Neither IoStore container is encrypted or signed; the pak’s exact contents are not established | IoStore and pak files |
Compression belongs to a layer
Section titled “Compression belongs to a layer”FromSoftware’s DCX envelope wraps one file, which can itself be a binder. Frostbite CAS blocks instead reconstruct an asset by concatenating decoded blocks. UnityFS file offsets refer to the concatenated decoded data, independently of compressed block boundaries; see UnityFS directories.
Unreal’s IoStore chunk offsets likewise address uncompressed data, with a separate table locating compressed blocks in
the .ucas. Its compression-method table names Oodle; that page does not identify a more specific Oodle codec.
See IoStore blocks.
ForzaTech’s track geometry and textures are readable without the key needed for its TFIT-protected database and settings. Its localized string tables are ordinary DEFLATE ZIPs. Encryption therefore does not characterize every file of the install. See encrypted and plain files.
Patches and overlays
Section titled “Patches and overlays”| Engine / game | How copies relate | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Anvil / Breakpoint | Community-described global lookup favors higher numeric patch priority; scoped lookup can search attached patches and split siblings separately | Archive resolution |
| Anvil / Riders Republic | Base and patch contain both shared and exclusive ids; a patch-replacing union fits checked dependency closure, but live mounting priority is not established | Archive resolution |
| RAGE / GTA V Enhanced | DLC XML, startup and map groups select active resources. Overlay-first, then later-mount precedence is an inference from shipped data; script-driven edge cases are not established | Mounts and overlays |
| Frostbite / skate. | File references distinguish base and patch data and record archive locations | TOC references |
| Insomniac / Sunset Overdrive | One asset id can have several archive copies; this is distinct from the world’s story/quest zone overlays | Archive copies, zone overlays |
Riders Republic’s live forge priority and GTA V’s complete overlay/on-demand behavior remain unresolved on their archive-resolution and mount pages. Breakpoint’s raw-chunk reader support also does not settle the reported cloth-loading failures; see compressed blocks.