Pak Format
A custom archive format for storing multiple files with compression.
This document contains information about the format structure of Pak files. If you are interested in using tools to create your own, please visit here.
Overview
Kula Quest uses a custom archive format for storing multiple compressed files into one file, similar to .ZIP files. This file format is known as .PAK, and is primarily used for storing levels in a world, though it is used for other purposes such as storing HUD textures and demo completion screenshots.
All values are in little endian, and the following data types will be used:
| Encoding | Description |
|---|---|
| u32 | Unsigned 32-bit integer |
Structure
The format is comprised of the following structure:
- File count
- Offset and compressed size of each file
- Offset to each filename
- Filenames
- Compressed file data
Header
| Offset(h) | Size | Type | Field | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0x00 | 4 | u32 | file_count | Number of files in the archive |
File Table
Starting at offset 0x04, each file entry is 8 bytes:
| Offset(h) | Size | Type | Field | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| +0x00 | 4 | u32 | offset | Absolute offset to compressed file data |
| +0x04 | 4 | u32 | size | Size of compressed file in bytes |
File Names
Offsets for each filename immediately follow after the file table:
| Offset(h) | Size | Type | Field | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0x04 + (file_count x 8) | 4 x file_count | u32[] | filename_offsets | Array of absolute offsets to filename strings |
Each filename is a null-terminated string with a newline character:
| Component | Size | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Filename | - | ASCII filename (e.g., "LEVEL 1") |
| Line Feed | 1 | 0x0A (newline character) |
| Null Terminator | 1 | 0x00 (end of string) |
File Data
The files are compressed with zlib, an old and commonly used compression algorithm. Each buffer starts with the zlib header 78 9C.
Oddities
Some Pak files contain residual data after the filenames:
| File | Garbage Data | ASCII |
|---|---|---|
| FIELDFI.PAK, HAZEFI.PAK | 4D 4F 4E 20 | "MON " |
| HILLSFI.PAK | 53 49 | "SI" |
These fragments appear to be remnants from the SIMON naming convention found in COPYCAT.PAK. They serve no functional purpose and appear to be padding artifacts that align data to 4-byte boundaries.