MFC serialized data

MFC serialized data is used in Creatures 1 and Creatures 2 for saved worlds (.sfc files) and creatures (.exp files). Similar to CreaturesArchive data, it contains serialized objects from the game engine, essentially an on-disk representation of the internal game state. Objects are serialized using the built-in Windows MFC serialization routines.

Although the format is not fully understood, openc2e is capable of extracting enough data from SFC files to enable default worlds (or any without creatures present) to be loaded almost entirely. Its source code contains a Python script for doing this, as well as the C++ code used by the engine itself.

SFC files

SFC files (.sfc) are the world save format for Creatures 1 and Creatures 2. They contain all modifiable information about worlds - such as rooms, agents and creatures.

The default world - which the Emergency Kit and World Switcher use to reset or make a new world - is stored in Eden.sfc, and the current world in World.sfc - although you can also use different files if you're using cheats or the World Switcher. Third-party worlds come with their own SFC files.

EXP files

EXP files (.exp) are files for exported creatures in Creatures 1 and Creatures 2. EXP files include a snapshot of the chemical condition of the norn, the genetic D-DNA, the state of the norn brain and information about pregnancies. A common trick for preserving the original exp file in Creatures 1 was to open its properties and check 'read-only'. The game would not then delete the original file upon importing the creature, although it made the game hang a bit.

Common structures

MFC serialized data is a dump of binary engine data, with most objects serialized with a CArchive header.

CArchive object header

Objects serialized through CArchive start with a header which specifies whether the object is:

type	description
uint16	persistent id
uint32	32-bit persistent id (only if 16-bit persistent id == 0x7FFF)

If the persistent id is 0, this is a NULL object.

If the persistent id is -1 (0xFFFF), then this is a new object using a new class, specified by the following:

If the persistent id is not -1 and persistent_id & 0x8000 is not empty, then this is a new object using an already-seen class at persistent_id & ~0x8000.

type	description
uint16	schema number
uint16	class name length
...	class name in ASCII

If the persistent id is anything else, then it is a reference to an already-seen object.

New persistent ids are assigned whenever a new class is seen, and whenever a new object is seen (if both, then the new class is assigned an id first).

strings

type	description
uint8	length
uint16	length (only if 8-bit length == 255)
uint32	length (only if 16-bit length == 65535)
char[length]	string

Creatures 1 Object

Parent class of other objects, and appears as the first part of their data. CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint8	unused portion of classifier (e.g. eventno, which makes no sense here)
uint8	species
uint8	genus
uint8	family
uint8	movement status (0 = autonomous, 1 = mousedriven, 2 = floating, 3 = invehicle, 4 = carried)
uint8	ATTR
uint32	limit_left
uint32	limit_top
uint32	limit_right
uint32	limit_bottom
Object	carrier
uint8	ACTV
CGallery	sprite
uint32	tick value
uint32	ticks since last tick event fired
Object	OBJP
char[4]	current sound name
uint32	OBV0
uint32	OBV1
uint32	OBV2
uint32	number of scripts
Script[number of scripts]	scripts

Script

Not CArchive serialized.

type	description
uint8	eventno
uint8	species
uint8	genus
uint8	family
string	text

Creatures 1 Entity

An object part, CArchive serialized:

type	description
CGallery
uint8	sprite_pose_plus_base // e.g. ADDV BASE POSE (the actual index into the CGallery)
uint8	sprite_base // e.g. BASE
uint32	z-order (maybe a signed integer)
uint32	x
uint32	y
uint8	has animation
uint8	animation frame (only if has animation)
char[32]	animation string (null-terminated) (only if has animation)

Creatures 1 CGallery

CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint32	number of images
char[4]	filename
uint32	first sprite
uint32	refcount
Image[number of images]	images

Image

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
CGallery	parent
uint8	status (bitfield: 1 = incache, 2 = ownmem, 4 = locked)
uint32	width
uint32	height
uint32	offset

SFC structures

Creatures 1 SFC file

All CArchive objects in a Creatures 1 SFC file have a schema number of 1.

type	description
MapData	world map
uint32	number of objects
Object[number of objects]	objects
uint32	number of sceneries
Scenery[number of sceneries]	sceneries
uint32	number of scripts
Script[number of scripts]	scripts
uint32	scrollx
uint32	scrolly
Creature	current norn
FavoritePlace[6]	favorite places
uint16	size of speech history
string[size of speech history]	speech history
uint32	number of macros
Macro[number of macros]	macros
uint32	number of death row objects
Object[number of death row objects]	death row objects
uint32	number of event objects
Object[number of event objects]	event objects
uint32	current score
uint32	current health
uint32	hatchery eggs
uint32	natural eggs
uint32	dead norns
uint32	live norns
uint32	breeders score
uint32	sys tick
uint32	number of stuffed norns
Creature[number of stuffed norns]	stuffed norns

Script

Not CArchive serialized.

type	description
uint8	eventno
uint8	species
uint8	genus
uint8	family
string	text

FavoritePlace

Not CArchive serialized.

type	description
string	name
uint16	x
uint16	y

Creatures 1 MapData

CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint32	unknown, always zero
uint32	time of day
CGallery	background sprite
uint32	number of rooms
Room[number of rooms]	rooms
uint32[261]	groundlevel
Bacterium[100]	bacteria

Room

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint32	left
uint32	top
uint32	right
uint32	bottom
uint32	type (0=Indoors, 1=Surface, 2=Undersea)

Bacterium

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint8	state (0 = Not present, 1 = Dormant, 2 = Active)
uint8	antigen
uint8	fatal_level
uint8	infect_level
uint8	toxin1
uint8	toxin2
uint8	toxin3
uint8	toxin4

Creatures 1 Macro

Currently running scripts, CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint32	destroy object afterwards
uint32	INST
uint32	text length plus six
string	script
uint32	instruction pointer
uint32[20]	stack
uint32	stack pointer
uint32[10]	vars
Object	OWNR
Object	FROM
Object	EXEC
Object	TARG
Object	_IT_
uint32	PART
char[4]	label of most recently visited subroutine
uint32	address of most recently visited subroutine
uint32	WAIT

Creatures 1 Scenery

Subclass of Object:

type	description
Entity	part

Creatures 1 SimpleObject

Subclass of Object:

type	description
Entity	part
uint32	z-order (should match the part's z-order)
uint8[3]	click bhvr
uint8	touch bhvr

Creatures 1 PointerTool

Subclass of SimpleObject:

type	description
sint32	relx
sint32	rely
Bubble	speech bubble
char[25]	text (null-terminated)

Creatures 1 Bubble

Subclass of SimpleObject:

type	description
uint8	life
Object	creator
char[25]	text (null-terminated)

Creatures 1 CallButton

Subclass of SimpleObject:

type	description
Lift	associated lift
uint8	floor id

Creatures 1 CompoundObject

Subclass of Object:

type	description
uint32	number of parts
CompoundPart[number of parts]	parts
Hotspot[6]	hotspots
uint32[6]	functions_to_hotspot

CompoundPart

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
Entity	entity
sint32	x
sint32	y

Hotspot

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
sint32	left
sint32	top
sint32	right
sint32	bottom

Creatures 1 Vehicle

Subclass of CompoundObject:

type	description
sint32	x velocity * 256
sint32	y velocity * 256
sint32	coordx * 256
sint32	coordy * 256
uint32	cabin left
uint32	cabin top
uint32	cabin right
uint32	cabin bottom
uint32	bump

Creatures 1 Lift

Subclass of Vehicle:

type	description
uint32	number of floors
uint32	next or current floor
sint32	current call button
uint8	delay counter
{uint32, CallButton}[8]	y-position for floor i, and arbitrary activated callbutton slot i.

This is very silly. Here's what's going on with the last field: there are up to 8 floors, and thus also up to 8 activated callbuttons. Unfortunately these do not share the same order but are paired together for serialization. lift_data_items[i].floor_y is simple, it's the y-position for floor #i. However, lift_data_items[i].activated_callbutton_slot is unrelated to floor #i. The lift treats these as an arbitrary set of activated callbuttons that it can scan through to find its next floor (finding the callbutton's floor indirectly by looking at its floor id and then reindexing back into the lift's own data).

Creatures 1 Blackboard

Subclass of CompoundObject:

type	description
uint8	background color
uint8	chalk color
uint8	aliascolor
uint8	text x position
uint8	text y position
BlackboardWord[16]	words

BlackboardWord

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint32	value
char[11]	text (null-terminated)

Creatures 1 Creature

Subclass of Object. Same as in EXP files.

EXP structures

Creatures 1 EXP file

All CArchive objects in a Creatures 1 EXP file have a schema number of 1.

type	description
Creature	exported creature
CGenome	genome
CGenome	child genome (e.g. the zygote) (only if pregnant)

Creatures 1 Creature

Subclass of Object:

type	description
char[4]	moniker
char[4]	mother's moniker
char[4]	father's moniker
Body	body
Limb	head
Limb	left thigh
Limb	right thigh
Limb	left arm
Limb	right arm
Limb	tail
uint8	direction facing
uint8	downfoot (0=left 1=right)
uint32	foot x
uint32	foot y
uint32	z-order
string	current pose
uint8	expression (0=normal 1=happy 2=sad)
uint8	eyes open
uint8	asleep
string[100]	poses
string[8]	gait_animations
CreatureVocabulary[80]	vocabulary
ObjectPosition[40]	remembered object positions
Stimulus[36]	stimuli
Brain	brain
Biochemistry	biochemistry
uint8	sex
uint8	age
uint32	biological tick
char[4]	gamete (my moniker)
char[4]	zygote (child's moniker, if pregnant)
uint8	dead
uint32	age in ticks
uint32	number of instincts to be processed
uint32	dreaming
CInstinct[number of instincts to be processed]	instincts
Goal[40]	goals for remembered objects
SimpleObject	zzzz
uint32[27][3]	voice lookup table (NOTE: voice data is similar to VCE files, but the lookup table comes before voices)
{ char[4], uint32 }[32]	voices { name, delay_ticks }
string	history_moniker (reversed and hex-encoded)
string	history_name
string	history_moms_moniker (reversed and hex-encoded)
string	history_dads_moniker (reversed and hex-encoded)
string	history_birthday
string	history_birthplace
string	history_owner_name
string	history_owner_phone
string	history_owner_address
string	history_owner_email

CreatureVocabulary

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
string	in
string	out
uint32	strength

ObjectPosition

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
int32	x
int32	y

Stimulus

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint8	significance
uint8	input
uint8	intensity
uint8	features (bitfield, 0=modulate 2=iprange 4=ifasleep)
uint8	chemical0
uint8	amount0
uint8	chemical1
uint8	amount1
uint8	chemical2
uint8	amount2
uint8	chemical3
uint8	amount3

Goal

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint32[16]	drives

Creatures 1 BodyPart

Subclass of Entity:

type	description
uint32	angle
uint32	view

Creatures 1 Body

Subclass of BodyPart:

type	description
uint8	body_data[0][0].x
uint8	body_data[0][0].y
...	up through body_data[0][9], inclusive
...	up through body_data[5], inclusive

Creatures 1 Limb

Subclass of BodyPart:

type	description
LimbData[10]	limbdata
Limb	next limb

LimbData

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint8	startx
uint8	starty
uint8	endx
uint8	endy

Creatures 1 CBrain

CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint32	number of lobes
Lobe[number of lobes]	lobes
Neuron[...]	neurons (number depends on counts inside each lobe)

Lobe

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint32	x
uint32	y
uint32	width
uint32	height
uint32	perceptible (0 = no 1 = yes 2 = mutually exclusive)
uint8	activity
uint8[4]	chemicals
uint8	threshold
uint8	leakage
uint8	reststate
uint8	inputgain
uint8[10]	svrule
uint8	flags
DendriteType	d0_type
DendriteType	d1_type
uint32	number of neurons (should be width * height)
uint32	number of dendrites

DendriteType

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint32	source lobe
uint8	min
uint8	max
uint8	spread
uint8	fanout
uint8	min ltw
uint8	max ltw
uint8	min strength
uint8	max strength
uint8	migration
uint8	relaxsuscept
uint8	relaxstw
uint8	ltw gain rate
uint8	gain rate
uint8	lose rate
uint8[10]	gain rule
uint8[10]	lose rule
uint8[10]	suscept rule
uint8[10]	reinforce rule

Neuron

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint8	x
uint8	y
uint8	output
uint8	state
uint8	wta disable
uint8	exclusive
uint8	number of d0 dendrites
uint32	dendrites starting index
Dendrite[number of d0 dendrites]	d0 dendrites
uint8	number of d1 dendrites
uint32	dendrites starting index
Dendrite[number of d1 dendrites]	d1 dendrites

Dendrite

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint32	source (index into source lobe's cells)
uint8	home x
uint8	home y
uint8	suscept
uint8	stw
uint8	ltw
uint8	strength

Creatures 1 CBiochemistry

CArchive serialized:

type	description
Creature	owner
uint32	number of emitters
uint32	number of receptors
uint32	number of reactions
ChemicalData[256]	chemicals
Emitter[number of emitters]	emitters
Receptor[number of receptors]	receptors
Reaction[number of reactions]	reactions

ChemicalData

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint8	concentration
uint8	decay

Emitter

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint8	organ
uint8	tissue
uint8	locus
uint8	chemical
uint8	threshold
uint8	rate
uint8	gain
uint8	effect

Receptor

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint8	organ
uint8	tissue
uint8	locus
uint8	chemical
uint8	threshold
uint8	nominal
uint8	gain
uint8	effect

Reaction

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint8	reactant1_amount
uint8	reactant1_chemical
uint8	reactant2_amount
uint8	reactant2_chemical
uint8	rate
uint8	product1_amount
uint8	product1_chemical
uint8	product2_amount
uint8	product2_chemical

Creatures 1 CInstinct

CArchive serialized:

type	description
InstinctDendrite[3]	dendrites to be stimulated
uint32	decision to be taken (motor)
uint32	reinforcement chemical (reinforcer)
uint32	reinforcement amount
uint32	phase

InstinctDendrite:

Not CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint32	lobe
uint32	cell

Creatures 1 CGenome

CArchive serialized:

type	description
uint32	length, in bytes, of genes data
char[4]	moniker
uint32	sex (1=male 2=female)
uint8	life stage
...	genes data, as in GEN files

External links

• Reversing the C1 .exp file format part 1 (General layout and extracting the genome) at The Shee's lost knowledge
• EXP File Format (Creatures 2) at the Creatures Developer Resource
• Kaitai Struct formats to parse .exp files (Github)