HOG2 Workshop
HOG2 Workshop is a tool for modding the game Descent 3.
Download HOG2 Workshop, by Dark Knight of Camelot Systems.
The readme is included below:
HOG2 Workshop
made by Dark Knight(dkknight@quebectel.com)
Website: http://camelot.warzone.com
What HOG2 Workshop is used for
First of all, a HOG2 file is a single file containing many other files, just like zip files. It is used by Descent 3 for vital data(.hog files), mission files(.mn3 files), and some other extensions.
HOG2 Workshop can be compared like WinZip, or any other ZIP viewing software. You can see all the files stored in the HOG2, extract them, import some others, delete, rename, etc. This is recommended if you want to make some HOG files for your levels/mods, or anything else that require the use of HOG2 files.
BE CAREFUL WITH THIS SOFTWARE! You should never modify the vital d3 files, like the "d3.hog" file located in your main directory. If you modify them, Descent 3 may not work properly in multiplayer games, or in other games. You can extract some files in it however.
Known bugs
- None right now.
Quick FAQ
Q. Why do you always say HOG2 files? The extension is .hog, not .hog2! A. In Descent 1 and 2, Parallax was using the HOG(1) files in the same way D3 does. In Descent 3, Outrage enhanced the HOG file format, and it is now called HOG2. The reason why they didn't used the .hog2 extension is still unknown to me! ;)
Q. After opening the d3.hog file, HOG2 Workshop tells me that the file date is 12/31/1969! That's impossible! A. No, because no date has been specified in this HOG2 file. Since their file date system begins in 12/31/1969, it shows this. It's not a bug.
Q. You said there was other extensions used for HOG2 Files. What are they? A. I can't tell them all, but the best way to know whether a file is a HOG2 or not, is to open it with an hexadecimal file viewer and to look if there's the "HOG2" string straight at the beginning of the file. If you find it, it is a valid HOG2 File. If not, well it's another kind.
Q. All right, where can I get that hexadecimal file viewer? A. There's one I particularly like, and it is Hex Workshop. You can get it at http://www.bpsoft.com but it's shareware. I think the Quick View included in Windows can do hexadecimal view, but I'm not sure. Many viewers have this function integrated however.
Q. How did you deciphered the HOG2 File format? A. It would be too long and hard to explain, and it wouldn't be the right place to do that anyways... ;)
Future of HOG2 Workshop
As D3Stats, I'll only continue developing it if I get feedback/comments from it. Also, in the upcoming patch for Descent 3, 1.1, they may make changes to the HOG File Format(would be very surprising, but we never know), so HOG2 Workshop may not work anymore. I'll check that as soon as the patch is released, of course.
End of document.