The file formats on the CD

The original’s formats were opened up one at a time. Each one supplies a different part of what the first launch derives.

Overview

Format	Contents
CWP	tiles and objects
CWM	maps, with over 130 sections per file
CWR	unit sprites — ROBO.CWR yields 4307 unit pictures
CWD	fonts, including the original interface typeface
CWA	effects
InstallShield cabinet	the packed contents of the CD
GAME.EXE	tables — 12 in total together with the map files

Mission briefings

Briefings appear on the original’s own screen: the picture sits in BRIEFG.DAT, the text in BRIEFG.TXT, and the typeface is the game’s own. All 33 mission texts are reproduced character for character.

How a reading becomes valid here

Every mechanic is reconstructed from the original binary before it is implemented — even where inventing something would be quicker. A reading only counts once there is a number behind it:

• counted across every map,
• held against a second implementation,
• measured in the running engine.

What comes from the data and what is our own assumption is kept apart and named in the code. Misreadings get withdrawn rather than overwritten.

How progress is measured

A map format counts as understood once a file is consumed with zero bytes left over — nothing remains that has no explanation. That is the case for 26 map files.