Homebrew [Question] Extract .zdat files (from Mario Party)

[EpicLPer]

Hello there,

So I've recently extracted all files from Mario Party Island Tour to get to the different music titles in there, however I came to another file extension before the actual music files now...

.zdat

However I've searched all around the web to find a way to extract them yet I can't really find one and 7zip fails to determind if or what archive this could be. My best guess now is that this is just another propriety thing Nintendo likes to do...

Does anyone know how to handle those files and how to get to its contents? I've already opened that file in a text editor and luckily enough the file names are actually listed there (even tho scrambled as hell of course) and there is indeed a .bcsar file in it which I'd need to get to the music stuff.


Thanks in advance!

 

[kje123]

From what I found it's a file type used by Microsoft Zoom search engine (I dunno why MP:IT uses it for audio...) Try opening it in a web browser.

 

[Joom]

It's a compressed DAT file, which can be used by a myriad of things. A web browser won't be able to open it since this one's specifically for Mario Party.

 

[DesuIsSparta]

From what I found it's a file type used by Microsoft Zoom search engine (I dunno why MP:IT uses it for audio...) Try opening it in a web browser.

That's because it's not a Microsoft Zoom file. If you want to be sure if it's a known filetype, open the file in a hex editor and grab the file header. If it matches the other known file type file headers, then you have a match. if not, chances are it's a custom format. In most cases, games use their own file formats because they're created specifically for that game. A file extension is nothing more than a string of characters the programmer decides, though it usually includes characters involving the type of data it's storing or the project it's involved with. You

If you have no experience in reverse engineering, you can still check out the file, find where the music data starts and where it ends (note: it's not the beginning and end of the file..), and run it against known audio codecs to see which it fits. Sometimes it's a rewritten stream of MIDI and other times it's a very compressed MP3 or such. I don't know much about audio but that's my experience.

 

[EpicLPer]

That's because it's not a Microsoft Zoom file. If you want to be sure if it's a known filetype, open the file in a hex editor and grab the file header. If it matches the other known file type file headers, then you have a match. if not, chances are it's a custom format. In most cases, games use their own file formats because they're created specifically for that game. A file extension is nothing more than a string of characters the programmer decides, though it usually includes characters involving the type of data it's storing or the project it's involved with. You

If you have no experience in reverse engineering, you can still check out the file, find where the music data starts and where it ends (note: it's not the beginning and end of the file..), and run it against known audio codecs to see which it fits. Sometimes it's a rewritten stream of MIDI and other times it's a very compressed MP3 or such. I don't know much about audio but that's my experience.

Well from what I've seen zdat is a compressed format so simply searching for the specific BCSAR string and streaming it into a file would probably not work.
I could try the format header option but is there any website where I can cross-check it with?

 

[EpicLPer]

So there's no way to extract this yet I guess? Oh man...

 

[_eyCaRambA_]

You got a sample file to look at?

 

[EpicLPer]

You got a sample file to look at?

Since it's copyrighted Nintendo stuff I'm probably not allowed to share it here... Not even sure if it's also not allowed to share via DM.

 

[EpicLPer]

Nothing still?

 

[VinsCool]

Could be a stupid question, but did you dig in it with an hex editor? We never know, lol

 

[Mega-Mew]

Could be a stupid question, but did you dig in it with an hex editor? We never know, lol

Theses files are compressed, so you need to make a tool who can ripp the file.

 

[VinsCool]

Theses files are compressed, so you need to make a tool who can ripp the file.

Right. But wouldn't there be a header or something? Even strings or file fragments. Anything could help.

 

[EpicLPer]

Right. But wouldn't there be a header or something? Even strings or file fragments. Anything could help.

I could send you one, not here tho as you know... GBATotallyLegal :^)

 

[VinsCool]

I could send you one, not here tho as you know... GBATotallyLegal :^)

Pm me then, lol. Not that I have the time to look at it right now. Currentlyt work, lol

 

[ThatTrueStruggle]

Wrote a QuickBMS script a while back to extract them: http://pastebin.com/BvL8f0tu
Using a type of ZLIB compression.

 

[EpicLPer]

Wrote a QuickBMS script a while back to extract them: http://pastebin.com/BvL8f0tu
Using a type of ZLIB compression.

YOU, sir, ARE MY F*CKING HERO RIGHT NOW

Thanks a ton, this actually works <3