Codemasters common .BDL audio archive

[Ferrari formula 1]

Hello everyone!

I've been recently looking at the codemasters racing games and found that all of them (DIRT,GRID series) use the same archive type for storing sound data(Like engine revs)

After a long search I couldn't find any extraction tools for this format, so I thought that maybe someone will be able to take a look at them?

I think they should contain a bunch of sounds in one file like they usually do

Here are the examples,I hope someone can figure them out!
http://www.mediafire.com/download/7ctwb ... _DIRT3.rar

[daemon1]

Latest version. Supports both Codemasters ADPCM & m-law in all files I had. Tested with Dirt 2, Dirt 3, F1 2014.

[Ferrari formula 1]

It must be possible. Some kind of ADPCM. I see 19-byte chunks with 3 byte indexes here. Do you know what type of adpcm their engine use? What do they look like?

I don't know...
Since It's an archive with audio files,maybe it's a bit simmiliar to other audio files in the game?

There's a "Ego Audio Tool" which works with .WIM, .WIP and .DIC files from various codemasters games.
They contain music and some sound FX,but not the engine sounds and I can't even get it to work,since it does not have proper function for manual file opening and autodedects the game(I guess,only steam editions can be detected)

(Link for a tool)

Code: Select all

http://www.moddb.com/games/dirt-3/downloads/ego-audio-tool

And there was some research with .WIN files
http://zenhax.com/viewtopic.php?t=795

However, .BDL files are still a mystery

[daemon1]

Well, mu-law is interesting, but these DBL files doesn't look like mu-law to me. As I said before, more like ADPCM. What would you like to be decoded first: this or NFS?

[Ferrari formula 1]

Well, mu-law is interesting, but these DBL files doesn't look like mu-law to me. As I said before, more like ADPCM. What would you like to be decoded first: this or NFS?

Well,I think that this archive type is more important because it's used by a lot of games from Codemasters and should be common...
So yeah,I'd love to have an ability to decode this .BDL sound format first

[daemon1]

ok, thats what I was able to decode from your files

http://www61.zippyshare.com/v/g3oOSSQZ/file.html

Please note that this is only the first attempt, assuming it is 44100Hz and decoding is not precise yet. This is really a sort of XA ADPCM designed by codemasters specifically to encode engine sounds. I'm saying that because of the special parameter tables they used in the algorythm.

[Ferrari formula 1]

ok, thats what I was able to decode from your files

http://www61.zippyshare.com/v/g3oOSSQZ/file.html

Please note that this is only the first attempt, assuming it is 44100Hz and decoding is not precise yet. This is really a sort of XA ADPCM designed by codemasters specifically to encode engine sounds. I'm saying that because of the special parameter tables they used in the algorythm.

That sounded awesome!

Judjing by the game's structure,every car has more than one file for sounds.


I suppose that one of them should include gearbox/etc sounds,another one should be including sounds you just decoded and the last one,well,maybe looped samples from different rpm's? (That would make sence,I don't understand how some games can make car sound like a car by using only 2 sounds )

I can send more samples If you need. Oh,and seems like the game is using different samples for AI cars and splitscreen mode

[daemon1]

Yes I need more samples. Each of the 3 files you sent contain the same type of engine sounds. 4 in each file. And considering their length, all the files on this screenshot are the same.

p.s. there's no need for "loops at different RPMs". These accel/decel files can be used for this. You can hear the idle loop on one side of it, the overrev one on the other. Everything in the middle in used on different RPMs

[Ferrari formula 1]

Yes I need more samples. Each of the 3 files you sent contain the same type of engine sounds. 4 in each file. And considering their length, all the files on this screenshot are the same.

p.s. there's no need for "loops at different RPMs". These accel/decel files can be used for this. You can hear the idle loop on one side of it, the overrev one on the other. Everything in the middle in used on different RPMs

Here's a load of different example files
http://www.mediafire.com/download/4d179 ... AMPLES.rar

Well,I never really succeded in looping theese but I will try again

[daemon1]

Well,I never really succeded in looping theese but I will try again

What do you plan to do with these sounds?

In addition to 4 audio samples, these BDL files contain a lot of tables. Such as 1024-elements table of RPMs, 8 to 14 tables with values about 0.9 - 1.4, and some more. I think they are using some advanced techniques to mix small parts of these samples to loop them into the engine sound needed. At least something similar was going on in NFS.

Now the samples you sent now are all the same type: 4 engine sounds each, but those inside AI & splitscreen folders are simply encoded with mu-law. While All in the root are in this special ADPCM codec. Let's see what can I do with these now.

[Ferrari formula 1]

Well,I never really succeded in looping theese but I will try again

What do you plan to do with these sounds?

In addition to 4 audio samples, these BDL files contain a lot of tables. Such as 1024-elements table of RPMs, 8 to 14 tables with values about 0.9 - 1.4, and some more. I think they are using some advanced techniques to mix small parts of these samples to loop them into the engine sound needed. At least something similar was going on in NFS.

Now the samples you sent now are all the same type: 4 engine sounds each, but those inside AI & splitscreen folders are simply encoded with mu-law. While All in the root are in this special ADPCM codec. Let's see what can I do with these now.

I want to use them to make a couple of mods for NFS/GTA and just for private use(audiophile )

Pretty hard and impressive technology in my opinion
I also can hear in the game sounds of engine startups,exhaust and others,are they inside or maybe I'm missing something?

[daemon1]

I also can hear in the game sounds of engine startups,exhaust and others,are they inside?

No, the only thing inside of these files you sent me is of the type I already uploaded. The engine sound samples, similar to GIN files of NFS.

[Ferrari formula 1]

I also can hear in the game sounds of engine startups,exhaust and others,are they inside?

No, the only thing inside of these files you sent me is of the type I already uploaded. The engine sound samples, similar to GIN files of NFS.

Well,as I search trough the other files,I found theese,here are the samples

Other files found
Maybe you could make a convertor for both .BDL and .WIP files?
I know that This programm I mentioned should work,but it does not,and can't even autodetect the game or give me an ability to open files manually



http://www.mediafire.com/download/8lp4n ... dd_mec.rar

[Ferrari formula 1]

Oh,I found a way to make this programm work properly

Well then,theese .BDL file are the only that need to be converted...

[daemon1]

Well, these WIP files are plain PCM. You don't even need any program to open them. Just open in any sound editor as RAW 16-bit mono files. But if you really need it, use this one: http://www.moddb.com/games/dirt-3/downl ... -extractor (use the link to github)

All of engine start/stop, gears, horns, you will find in WIP files.