The MVL file contains multiple MVE movie files, it is just
an archive. Unlike the HOG file, in MVL first ALL "directory" entries are listed
and then then data follows - in the same order as in the directory!
All available MVL files contain MVE movies only! However the format
itself would support even other file types!
Note that there was a tool to extract and play MVE and MVL files called
Descent Manager MVEEXTRACT32. However the tool had to be removed from our pages
due to copyright problems with Interplay.
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Comparison to HOG file format
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So note the technical difference between HOG and MVL files:
HOG files have the structure:
FILE_HEADER1 | DATA1 | FILE_HEADER2 | DATA2 | FILE_HEADER3 | DATA 3 |...
While MVL files have the following structure:
FILE_HEADER1 | FILE_HEADER2 | FILE_HEADER3 |...| DATA 1 | DATA 2 | DATA 3 |...
The file format of MVL is quite easy... only the format of
the files it contains - the MVE file format - is quite complex (and we don't have any
specs for it...):
//MVL File format - Written by Heiko Herrmann
char sig[4] = {'D','M', 'V', 'L'}; // "DMVL"=Descent MoVie Library
int num_files; // the number of files in this MVL
struct {
char file_name[13]; // Filename, padded to 13 bytes with 0s
int file_size; // filesize in bytes
}DIR_STRUCT[num_files];
struct {
char data[file_size]; // The file data
}FILE_STRUCT[num_files];
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List of MVL files packaged with Descent 2
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The following MVL files are delivered with Descent 2
Commercial and -with less contents- also with Descent 2 Destination Quartzon:
| INTRO-H.MVL |
containing Intro and ending
movies in 640x480 |
| INTRO-L.MVL |
containing Intro and ending
movies in 320x200 |
| OTHER-H.MVL |
containing escape sequences
and entering-system movies in 640x480 |
| OTHER-L.MVL |
containing escape sequences
and entering-system movies in 320x200 |
| ROBOTS-H.MVL |
containg the robots for
briefings in 640x480 |
| ROBOTS-L.MVL |
containg the robots for
briefings in 320x200 |
The following MVL files are being added, when installing the Vertigo Series:
| D2X-H.MVL |
containg the Vertigo robots
for briefings in 640x480 |
| D2X-L.MVL |
containg the Vertigo robots
for briefings in 320x200 |
