4D/Stunts Replay Data Viewer for Windows ======================================== Version 1.2 Copyright 1998 Lukas Loehrer August, 27th 1998 This program is freeware. This means that you can use it free of charge and at your own risk. So, if it should cause damage to your game, your hard drive, your computer of even your dog, it is not my fault. You are permitted to reverse engineer, decompile, tamper with, or modify this program in any way, but if you bother to do so, you should seriously consider getting a life ;). Anyway, enough of this very formal legal talk; just have fun using it! 1. What is this program? ======================== RPLINFO is a little utility that allows you to view some data of replay files (*.rpl), that were recorded with Mindscape's 4D Stunts Driving or Broderbund's Stunts. That data is: o the name of the track used in the replay o the time achieved (cf. question 4) o the opponent's name o your and the opponent's car and their colour (cf. question 5) o the gear shift mode (auto or manual) new in the Windows version: o version information o information on the number of different key strokes (like in Robert Riebisch's Replay Analysor) RPLINFO also lets you extract the track that was used to record the replay save it in a file. This version was ported from the original DOS version 1.25 to the Windows environment. Enhancements include full drag and drop support (Win32 only) and some additional replay information. A new version is used to determine the version of the game that was used to record the replay (cf. q. 10). 2. Why should anybody want such a program? ========================================== The need for this tool arose when I held a driving contest for 4D/Stunts and therefore had to deal with a lot of replay files. It became tedious to always start the game only to determine the colour of the car. RPLINFO solves this problem. The new Windows version is particularly useful as it integrates well into the familiar Windows environment. It supports drag and drop (Win32 only) and allows you to accociate replay files (*.rpl) with it. 3. How do I use this program? ============================= The program is mainly self expanatory. You can open a replay file via the 'Load' button or by dragging an dropping (Win32 only) it onto the program window. 4. What does the checkbox behind the lap time indicate? ======================================================= This checkbox corresponds to the '(finished)' message of the DOS version of the program. If it is checked, RPLINFO 'guessed' that you completed a whole lap in that replay. It will then subtract one second from the actual length of the replay in order to get the time it took you to for the lap. If '(finished)' is not shown, RPLINFO will display the total length of the replay. The method used to determine whether or not the lap was completed is *not* entirely fool proof. In fact, RPLINFO may tell you that the lap was finished altough it was *not*; however, it will never tell you that the lap was not finished if it actually *was*. (cf q. 9) 5. Why does it say 'Unknown car' or 'Unknown colour'? ===================================================== This is because RPLINFO only knows the standard car that came with the game. If any additional home-made cars were used to record a replay, RPLINFO will not be able to tell its name or its colour. The colour of a car seems to be stored somewhere in the ST????.p3s files. If you happen to know the exact location, please tell me. 6. Can I report a bug? ====================== Please do so. Contact me by e-mail and try to describe you experience in way that enables me to reproduce the steps that lead to the occurrence to the bug. If possible, you should also send me the replay that provokes the bug. I will then do my best to fix it. 7. I have more questions ======================== You are welcome to ask them via e-mail. 8. I love (or hate) this program and want to tell you about it ============================================================== Contact me under: lukasl@dataway.ch (Lukas Loehrer) 9. What is that 'not fool proof' method to determine if a lap was finished? =========================================================================== A finished replay is usually exactly one second longer than the lap time that was achieved. During that additional second, the game doesn't record any key strokes. Because the key code sampling frequency is 20 and the value for 'no activity' is '00', we can find at least twenty 00s at the end of a finished replay. RPLINFO checks that to determine whether or not a replay ended with the completion of a lap. The catch to this method is that RPLINFO will consider every replay that ends with one second of inactivity as 'finished' and even worse, it will display a wrong time. 10. How is the version of the game determined? ============================================== In the DOS version of RPLINFO, the version detection was somewhat unprecise, i.e. it was based on the assumption that all replays of the new format have the byte sequence "14 00" at offset 0x16. There are however replays that do not meet this condition. For the Windows version, a new detection method by Robert Riebisch was used. It is based on on the size of the replay rather than the occurance of a certain byte sequence which makes it more reliable. Have a look at the source code for details. 11. How is the player's name determined? ======================================== RPLINFO searches the direcotry of the replay file for a highscore file (*.hig) named [Track Name].hig, where [Track Name] is the name of the track that was used to record the replay. If such a highscore file is found, rplinfo will search it for an entry that matches the time and the car name of the current replay. It will then display the driver name of that entry. Otherwise, "N/A" will be displayed. That's it. I hope this programme will be of any use to you. Keep 4Ding or Stunting and have a good time, Lukas Loehrer