.Vol file format
by Nathan Martin · in General Discussion · 07/05/2002 (6:49 pm) · 11 replies
Does anyone know of the .vol file format that tribes
uses as a archive file for containing a bunch of files
in? Because I want to develop an application that will
be able to archive and unarchive .vol files that works
well instead of using WinVol nor vT since those are
known to be quite limited what you can do. Any
information would be greatful, thanks.
uses as a archive file for containing a bunch of files
in? Because I want to develop an application that will
be able to archive and unarchive .vol files that works
well instead of using WinVol nor vT since those are
known to be quite limited what you can do. Any
information would be greatful, thanks.
About the author
By day I work as an embedded microcontroller programmer for mainly Blackfin MCU/DSPs, and by night, and free time too, I'm a hobbyist game developer.
#2
archiving and compression are actually two different schemes, archiving is when putting files together as one file and compressing is making file size smaller.
.vol files are not compressed in any way at all, they are just archived. You even tell just by renaming a mod's scripts.vol file to scripts.vol.txt and view it in notepad, and see all the script files inside one file with what appears to be header block bytes at the begining of each and every file that is archived.
07/06/2002 (12:02 am)
.vol is an actual file format and it is not a zip file because zip files are compression archives, .vol's are just archives, and yes there is a major difference.archiving and compression are actually two different schemes, archiving is when putting files together as one file and compressing is making file size smaller.
.vol files are not compressed in any way at all, they are just archived. You even tell just by renaming a mod's scripts.vol file to scripts.vol.txt and view it in notepad, and see all the script files inside one file with what appears to be header block bytes at the begining of each and every file that is archived.
#3
07/06/2002 (12:28 am)
I always used winrar to open the Vol files.... so I'm guessing it was a standard format (I tought it was zip... but hey, now you say it isn't compressed...)
#4
07/06/2002 (1:52 am)
Are you sure it's WinRAR? I just tried it and I get an error stating "file is formatted incorrectly or damaged". hmmmm =\
#5
07/06/2002 (7:09 am)
I think it's a simple .zip without compression, you can archive only inside a zip... Try winace www.winace.org IIRC
#6
07/06/2002 (11:33 am)
Still, after my own tests, WinZip CAN open them. Sooooo... Compressed or not, it's not a format, just an extention :-p
#7
07/06/2002 (2:56 pm)
WinAce cannot open .vol files either and I think you guys are testing the wrong files. I am talking about the volume files that are apart of Tribes 1. I have tested many archiving tools and I have yet to find any that are able to open .vol files that tribes 1 mods are archived in in order to work.
#9
Starsiege .VOL files were simliar, but had differences.
Tribes 2 .VL2 files were a standard .ZIP file
07/06/2002 (11:21 pm)
Tribes 1 .VOL files were a proprietary formatStarsiege .VOL files were simliar, but had differences.
Tribes 2 .VL2 files were a standard .ZIP file
#10
07/07/2002 (9:14 am)
I would've SWORE i was right.... Ah well, just proves i shouldn't be allowed to do anything that requires thought when I haven't slept for three days :-\
#11
07/07/2002 (10:26 am)
Oh and .VOL files can be compressed, even though the ones that came with Tribes 1 are not. 
Paul Robertson
Easy way to test my assumption would be try to open one using WinZip.