ICC III - PUB Extractor and Down the PUB

[matlhDam]

You can now get "Down the PUB", a tool that can both read and (to an extent) write PUB files further down the thread.

Disclaimer: I only have the ICC III demo at the moment, as I'm waiting for my copy to arrive. If the file formats are different between the demo and the boxed version, then this may break horribly. Hell, this will probably break horribly anyway.

So, it turns out that the PUB format isn't that complicated. It's basically a very simple indexed archive format without any compression or encryption. Furthermore, the textures stored within the PUB files are (mostly) in a very simple 4-bytes-per-pixel BRGA format, which makes them trivial to extract. (The only exception to that I've seen is the splash screen, which uses a format I haven't quite cracked yet.)

I've attached a quick hack that I've written in Python that should be able to extract content out of PUB files. Theoretically, it should work on any Windows 2000 and XP computer, but I can't vouch for it. At any rate, the procedure (if the program works) is pretty simple:

• Extract the zip file
• Run PubExtractor.exe
• Select the PUB file you want to extract
• Select the directory you want it extracted to (the program will create a new directory within the selected directory)
• Hit Extract
• Wait

If all goes well, a directory will be created with the data in there. There are no file names within the PUB files, only 32-bit IDs, so that's what gets used for the file names. Textures will also be output in PNG format.

At this stage, this is read-only, but it should be fairly easy to develop it to at least replace textures. I'll post an updated version when time permits (hopefully in the next few days) that can do that.

For anyone who can code in Python, the source code is in the zip file in the "Source" directory. My notes on the PUB format are also in there.

Good luck. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I need to go another three and a half years before posting again...

 

[Hooper]

Farout, what a useful first post!

 

[evertonfan]

You absolute beauty. Anyway to crack the AUS media files used for commentary?

 

[lancashire666]

wicked. well done mate

 

[Yorkshire_No1]

Possibly the greatest ever first post from someone.

Does this mean kits can be made etc.

 

[Simbazz]

Possibly the greatest ever first post from someone.

Does this mean kits can be made etc.

Ill check it out now Ill report here before i go to sleep

Im afraid, once ive extracted it, the 4 or is it 5 files in the folder are just unknown files and not PNG, i chose both Hampshire and England, both to no avail!

 

[Kerry_OKeeffe]

Awesome stuff.

 

[RoboRocks]

This is great stuff mate.
A major breakthrough.

 

[iloveireland]

Could someone please post the PUB file for the Australian Cricket Top with the real colours.

 

[Sureshot]

The thread title got Kev all excited

 

[Simbazz]

The thread title got Kev all excited

The day i can Zip up a pub is the day i know heaven is finally on earth

 

[alan t]

The day i can Zip up a pub is the day i know heaven is finally on earth

haha too right !!

That has to be your sig now!

 

[matlhDam]

IMPORTANT: Back up all the PUB files in your ICC3 directory before attempting to modify them! If you don't, I cannot be held responsible!

After an evening's hacking, I've now got a little program that will both read and write (to a limited extent) PUB files. Importantly, I also got my copy of ICC III today, so I can now confirm that it seems to work.

The drill's pretty much the same as the earlier PUB extractor -- download the DownThePUB-0.1.zip file, unzip it to a convenient location, and run DownThePUB.exe. You will be confronted with a window from which you can open PUB files, examine the assets within them, and save the PUB file when you're done.

At present, the only asset type supported is textures, which can be exported to PNG files via the "Save As..." button and re-imported via the "Import" button. If you import a modified PNG file, note that the dimensions of the imported file must be exactly the same as the original -- if you're modifying a 256x256 texture (as most of the shirts and pants seem to be, for example), you can only import a 256x256 PNG file in its place. Once you've imported any modified textures you want to use, you can save the PUB file from the top toolbar.

Other asset types are presently only supported to the extent of being able to save the binary data to a file. This is really just a debugging convenience for me and anyone else who feels game to figure out some of the other data types used in the game.

The source code is in DownThePUB-source.zip, if anyone's interested.

Next up: proof that this actually works.

(Oh, before I forget, someone asked about the AUS files earlier. There's definitely PCM audio data in there, but I haven't been able to extract the pristine data yet. I've got a busy few months coming up, so I can't guarantee that I'm going to get to it -- if anyone else has some audio knowledge and wants to have a play, treating it as signed mono 8-bit raw PCM data at 22050 Hz should allow you to at least hear what's going on, albeit with quite a bit of noise from whatever encoding mechanism has been used.)

 

[matlhDam]

You want the proof? You can't handle the proof!

*coughs*

Sorry, sleep deprivation has kicked in, I think. Anyway, England seems to be going along well in the before pic, but in the after pic, they seem a bit washed out. Must be having to suffer through all that awful weather.

 

[evertonfan]

Your right, it does work. Cheers.

And any help you can offer with the AUS file cracking would be much appreciated. I would dearly love to make a commentary patch.