ii.AscendancyLib 0.7.7-alpha.1

This is a prerelease version of ii.AscendancyLib.
dotnet add package ii.AscendancyLib --version 0.7.7-alpha.1
                    
NuGet\Install-Package ii.AscendancyLib -Version 0.7.7-alpha.1
                    
This command is intended to be used within the Package Manager Console in Visual Studio, as it uses the NuGet module's version of Install-Package.
<PackageReference Include="ii.AscendancyLib" Version="0.7.7-alpha.1" />
                    
For projects that support PackageReference, copy this XML node into the project file to reference the package.
<PackageVersion Include="ii.AscendancyLib" Version="0.7.7-alpha.1" />
                    
Directory.Packages.props
<PackageReference Include="ii.AscendancyLib" />
                    
Project file
For projects that support Central Package Management (CPM), copy this XML node into the solution Directory.Packages.props file to version the package.
paket add ii.AscendancyLib --version 0.7.7-alpha.1
                    
#r "nuget: ii.AscendancyLib, 0.7.7-alpha.1"
                    
#r directive can be used in F# Interactive and Polyglot Notebooks. Copy this into the interactive tool or source code of the script to reference the package.
#:package ii.AscendancyLib@0.7.7-alpha.1
                    
#:package directive can be used in C# file-based apps starting in .NET 10 preview 4. Copy this into a .cs file before any lines of code to reference the package.
#addin nuget:?package=ii.AscendancyLib&version=0.7.7-alpha.1&prerelease
                    
Install as a Cake Addin
#tool nuget:?package=ii.AscendancyLib&version=0.7.7-alpha.1&prerelease
                    
Install as a Cake Tool

iiAscendancyLib

iiAscendancyLib is a C# library targetting .NET8, supporting the modification of files relating to Ascendancy, the 1995 4X science fiction turn-based strategy computer game. The library supports:

Name Read Write Comment
COB
RAW
SAV File format is not fully decoded
SHP
WAV
VOC

Usage

Sample code to use the library is provided below.

var gameDir = @"D:\Games\ascendancy\ASCEND\";
var assetDir = @"D:\data\Ascendancy\";

//----------------------------------------------------------------------
//----------------------------------------------------------------------

Console.WriteLine($"Extracting all files to {assetDir}");
// Open a COB file
var cobFiles = new string[] { "ASCEND00.COB", "ASCEND01.COB", "ASCEND02.COB" };
var cr = new CobReader();
foreach (var cobFile in cobFiles)
{
    var file = cr.Read(Path.Combine(gameDir, cobFile));
    Console.WriteLine($"{cobFile} contains {file.files.Count} files");

    // Save all files to disk
    for (int i = 0; i < file.files.Count; i++)
    {
        var fileName = string.Join("", file.fileNames[i].filename).Split('\0')[0].ToString();
        fileName = fileName.StartsWith("\\") ? fileName.Substring(1) : fileName;
        fileName = Path.Combine(assetDir, Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(cobFile), fileName);
        var directory = Path.GetDirectoryName(fileName);
        Directory.CreateDirectory(directory);
        using var fs = new FileStream(fileName, FileMode.Create, FileAccess.Write);
        fs.Write(file.files[i], 0, file.files[i].Length);
        fs.Flush(flushToDisk: true);                    
    }
}

// Create a new COB file from the files just extracted
Console.WriteLine($"Repacing ASCEND00.COB into 00COPY.COB");
var cobWriter = new CobWriter();
cobWriter.Write(Path.Combine(assetDir, "00COPY.COB"), Path.Combine(assetDir, "ASCEND00"), Path.Combine(assetDir, "ASCEND00\\"), "*.*");

//----------------------------------------------------------------------
//----------------------------------------------------------------------

// Convert a VOC to a WAV
Console.WriteLine($"Converting VOC to WAV");
var vc = new VocConverter();
vc.ConvertVoc(Path.Combine(assetDir, "ASCEND01", "data", "blueexit.voc"), Path.Combine(assetDir, "ASCEND01", "blueexit.wav"), true);

// Convert a RAW to a WAV
Console.WriteLine($"Converting RAW to WAV");
var rawConverter = new RawConverter();
rawConverter.ConvertRaw(Path.Combine(assetDir, "ASCEND01", "data", "shield.voc"), Path.Combine(assetDir, "ASCEND01", "shield.wav"));

// Convert a RAW to a WAV and play it
Console.WriteLine($"Converting RAW to WAV and playing it");
rawConverter.ConvertRaw(Path.Combine(assetDir, "ASCEND02", "data", "theme04.raw"), Path.Combine(assetDir, "ASCEND02", "theme04.raw.wav"));
var player = new SoundPlayer { SoundLocation = Path.Combine(assetDir, "ASCEND02", "theme04.raw.wav") };

player.Play();
Console.WriteLine("Playing theme04 - press [Enter] key to stop");
Console.ReadLine();
player.Stop();

//----------------------------------------------------------------------
//----------------------------------------------------------------------

//  Convert all SHP files
Console.WriteLine($"Converting all SHP files in ASCEND01.COB and saving the first frame");
var converter = new ShpConverter();
List<string> shps = new List<string>(Directory.EnumerateFiles(Path.Combine(assetDir, "ASCEND01", "data"), "*.shp"));
foreach (var shp in shps)
{
    try
    {
        var shpFile = converter.ConvertShp(shp);
        shpFile.Images.First().Save(Path.Combine(assetDir, "ASCEND01", $"{Path.GetFileNameWithoutExtension(shp)}.bmp"), ImageFormat.Bmp);
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(shp + " " + ex.ToString());
        Console.WriteLine();
        Console.WriteLine();
        Console.WriteLine();
    }
}

//----------------------------------------------------------------------
//----------------------------------------------------------------------

Console.WriteLine($"Loading resume.gam");
var savReader = new SavReader();
var savegame = savReader.Load(Path.Combine(gameDir, "resume.gam"));

Console.WriteLine($"Saving resume.new");
var savWriter = new SavWriter();
savWriter.Save(Path.Combine(assetDir, "resume.new"), savegame);

Compiling

To clone and run this application, you'll need Git and .NET installed on your computer. From your command line:

# Clone this repository
$ git clone https://github.com/btigi/iiAscendancyLib

# Go into the repository
$ cd src

# Build  the app
$ dotnet build

Licencing

iiAscendancyLib is licenced under the MIT License. Full licence details are available in licence.md

Product Compatible and additional computed target framework versions.
.NET net9.0 is compatible.  net9.0-android was computed.  net9.0-browser was computed.  net9.0-ios was computed.  net9.0-maccatalyst was computed.  net9.0-macos was computed.  net9.0-tvos was computed.  net9.0-windows was computed.  net10.0 was computed.  net10.0-android was computed.  net10.0-browser was computed.  net10.0-ios was computed.  net10.0-maccatalyst was computed.  net10.0-macos was computed.  net10.0-tvos was computed.  net10.0-windows was computed. 
Compatible target framework(s)
Included target framework(s) (in package)
Learn more about Target Frameworks and .NET Standard.

NuGet packages

This package is not used by any NuGet packages.

GitHub repositories

This package is not used by any popular GitHub repositories.

Version Downloads Last Updated
0.7.7-alpha.1 135 5/20/2025
0.7.0-alpha.1 116 3/27/2025