This is a very simple set of scripts for extracting and viewing assets from the Fantastic Dizzy game (Copyright Codemasters, 1991). The tools work with the DOS version of the game.

The scripts contain some notes about the data formats used by the game.

These tools are public domain. The code may be freely incorporated into other projects, either source or binary.

The following tools are provided:

The unpack.py script unpacks the DIZZY.NDX and DIZZY.RES files into the individual files (chunks). Although the game binary hardcodes filenames for some chunks they are accessed using a 16-bit chunk id. To unpack the chunks:

python unpack.py DIZZY.NDX DIZZY.RES

This will create a directory called out/ in the current directory with the unpacked files. The file names have the form:

out/file_<chunk_id>_<file_index>.bin

The repack.py script packs a directory of file chunks into a new DIZZY.NDX and DIZZY.RES file. To repack the out directory:

python repack.py out

This will generate a new DIZZY.NDX and DIZZY.RES file in the current directory. These can be copied to your Fantastic Dizzy game directory to modify the game.

The sprite_view.py script is used to view a set of sprites. The game has five sprite sets, with hardcoded chunk indexes in the game binary. To view a sprite set:

python sprite_view.py DIZZY.NDX DIZZY.RES <sprite_set_index>

Note that the colours of some sprites may be incorrect because sprite sets can include sprites for multiple stages which have different palettes.

The stage_view.py script can be used to view the game stages. The game binary hardcodes filenames for the stages. To see the list of available stages:

python stage_view.py DIZZY.NDX DIZZY.RES

To view a stage:

python stage_view.py DIZZY.NDX DIZZY.RES tree1.stg

The arrow keys can be used to move the view and the number keys can be used to switch the layer being displayed. Stages use layers to store optional different rooms and backgrounds.

Note some colours are displayed incorrectly in stages. The palette encoding for tiles is not fully understood.