TotalA Reverse Engineering (totala-re)

Rapid reverse engineering of Total Annihilation’s engine with emphasis on HPI resource archives and runtime subsystems.

Goals

• Document the original Windows engine architecture and data flow well enough to guide a clean-room reimplementation (targeting Rust).
• Provide reliable tooling for unpacking game assets, validating extracted data, and converting proprietary formats (SQSH, TMH/F) into modern equivalents.
• Share progressive findings in a structured way so additional contributors can extend the work (AI, networking, rendering, etc.).

Current Artefacts

• Docs – see docs/PROJECT_PLAN.md, docs/ENGINE_OVERVIEW.md, docs/HPI_AND_RESOURCES.md, plus supporting references in docs/.
• Tools – hpi_parser.py, extracted_files_checker.py, tmhf_to_wav.py, hpi_assembler.py support archive extraction, validation, audio conversion, and archive reassembly.
• Status – HPI/SQSH formats decoded, TMH audio normalised, groundwork laid for engine reimplementation.

Tool Usage

# List archive contents (console view)
python3 hpi_parser.py totala1.hpi --list

# Extract everything into ./extracted
python3 hpi_parser.py totala1.hpi --extract-all extracted

# Sanity-check extracted assets
python3 extracted_files_checker.py extracted

# Convert TMH/TMHF audio to WAV
python3 tmhf_to_wav.py extracted/sounds converted_wav

# Rebuild archive, ensuring bit-identical output
python3 hpi_assembler.py totala1.hpi extracted totala1_rebuild.hpi

# Double-check hashes (optional)
shasum -a 256 totala1.hpi totala1_rebuild.hpi

Temporary outputs (e.g. extracted/, converted_wav/, totala1_rebuild.hpi) can be removed after verification.

GUI MVP Renderer

A minimal Pygame-based renderer for .GUI files is available to validate parsing and layout against real assets.

Features (MVP):

• Parses TDF-style .GUI (sections like [GADGETx] and [COMMON]).
• Uses GADGET0 width/height for window size.
• Renders labels and button-like controls with hover/press.
• Supports disabled/grayed state, default focus, and quickkeys (ASCII codes).
• Handles centering sentinels for xpos/ypos (-1 center, -2 center with offset approximation).

Quick start:

# From repo root
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install --upgrade pip setuptools wheel
pip install pygame

# Run a sample GUI (e.g., main menu)
python pygame_gui_mvp.py extracted_by_go/guis/MAINMENU.GUI

Notes:

• This MVP uses simple shapes/colors (no GAF/PCX/palette yet).
• Next targets: resource loading (palettes, PCX/GAF), listbox/slider/text input handlers, save-under composition, and overlay/merge support.