Open IV: OpenIV is a versatile editor and archive manager for the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV and the Liberty City episodes. It is a multi-task editor and an archive for GTA V on PC. It allows managing the game files. It is a closed-source application.
OpenIV was created in 2008 as part of a research project on RAGE, codenamed «.black». Its main goal was to research the file formats used by Rockstar.
RAGE: A proprietary video game engine developed by the RAGE Technology Group team, a subdivision of Rockstar San Diego studio, belonging to the developer and publisher Rockstar Games. This graphics engine was realized in collaboration with Rockstar North in 2006, to facilitate the development of Rockstar games. The first game to use this technology was the game Table Tennis. With each new game released, a new version of RAGE is born. (ex: Table Tennis → RAGE 1; GTA IV → RAGE 2; GTA V → RAGE 7)
Code Walker: This is an open-source modification application for GTA. It therefore allows users to download, extract and modify the game files.
The application is divided into several parts: 3D Map Viewer, 3D Model Display with the possibility to modify them, Markers: place markers at precise points in the world, Selection: Users can view, select and interact with a variety of aspects of the game world in selection mode, Options concerning the behavior of the application, the camera and the commands, Options controlling rendering and display modes, Lighting and shading commands, Animations
Code Walker RPF Explorer: a separate CodeWalker application that allows general exploration and editing of GTA V game files through a file manager.
Sollumz: This is an "add-on" developed by Skylumz, Colton Fox and alexguirre
to import, export and create GTA V resources in XML format for Codewalker. This allows, for example, opening GTA V "assets" on Blender to modify them and then reinject them into the game.
Add-ons: This is an extension of a video game or software. It allows including new content and can be considered as an improvement of the software.
Assets: This word is used to designate any distinct element of a video game, whether graphic, sound or textual. For example, a character, a vehicle, a building, a voice or even an accessory.
Textures: Graphic elements that allow giving a real or particular aspect to compositions. They allow adding characteristics to the different 3D models.
Shader: Shaders (shader) parameterize part of the rendering process via the graphics card or a rendering engine, these are programs integrated into the video game that define how the appearance of the game elements interact with their environment: color, shine, transparency, relief, reaction to light.
“.black”: Code name of the private research project of the group that created the Open IV program in 2008. It is also a program based on the same core as Open IV and which allows exploring games based on the RAGE engine. The program will remain private and is not intended for the public.
.RPF: (RAGE Package File) GTA V file that groups several game files, such as 3D models (.YFT), textures (.YTD), sounds, scripts, etc.
.XML: (Extensible Markup Language) It contains a set of formatted data intended to be processed by a website, a web application or a software. XML files can be considered as textual databases.
.YFT: (Y-File Texture or sometimes just "fragment" of model) A YFT file is a 3D model used by GTA V. It contains a fragment of a larger object, such as a vehicle, for example, rendered with one or more levels of detail. GTA V stores its YFT files in vehicles.rpf. These files define the geometry, textures and sometimes the animations associated with these objects.
.YTD: (Texture Dictionary) A GTA V texture file that stores the textures of objects appearing during the game, such as buildings.
.YDD: (Drawable Dictionary) A 3D model of GTA V that contains a feature of the character, such as a head, a facial trait, hair or clothing. YDD files are similar to .YDR files, which contain 3D objects.
.YLD: (Y Cloth Dictionary or Y Lightweight/LOD Dynamic) A file that defines the physics for certain elements of the character or accessories, notably clothing, capes, hair, or accessories that must react dynamically (movement, wind, gravity) → (mesh physics / cloth simulation). Linked to a .ydd file of the same name, the .yld adds dynamic physical behavior for the parts of the model.
.YDR: (Drawable) A 3D model of GTA V that contains an object, such as a building, an accessory or a weapon, which appears in the game. YDR files are compressed with Zlib compression and can be decompressed to access the untextured 3D model (file .odr) and the textures stored therein.
.YCD: (Rockstar Animation Clip Dictionary) An animation file used by a Rockstar Games video game, such as GTA V (or Red Dead Redemption 2). It contains compressed and encrypted data used to animate a game object.
.YMT: (Compiled Meta Table) A metadata file used by video games developed with RAGE (Rockstar Advanced Game Engine). It contains text in XML format, compressed and encrypted. YMT files define various game attributes, such as character information, object data, behaviors, various parameters (vehicles, NPCs, AI, etc.).
YTYP: (Y map types, archetype) A file used to store a structure that contains several archetypes, i.e. a file containing information about the model, collisions and texture. It is the configuration file that allows defining the properties of objects. Therefore, in itself, the file that tells the game what can be placed, how it is defined, with what properties, but not necessarily where (the position is often in the .ymap file). Therefore, a .ytyp file contains several archetypes, each with: name → Unique name of the archetype, flags → Binary attributes (ex. solid, destructible, interactive...), lodDist → LOD (level of detail) rendering distance, bbMin / bbMax → Bounding box (bounding box) for collisions or optimization, hdTextureDist → Distance at which the high-resolution texture is loaded, drawableDict → Link to the visual model (.ydd), physicsDict → Link to the collision or physics (.ybn/.ybd), clipDict → Link to the clipping data, if necessary, children → For composite objects (ex. multi-room interiors).
archetype: A data structure that describes all the necessary properties for an object to function in the game. It can represent: A prop (street lamp, box, barrier...), A static car or a vehicle generated by the game, An interior (MLO) or a decorative element, A dynamic element like a fabric or a physical object.
.YMAP: (Y platform Map Data) A map data file used by GTA V that contains the placements (instances) of objects (props, buildings, vegetation, roads, etc.) in the game world. Each instance refers to an archetype (defined in a .ytyp file).
.YND: (Ymap Navigation Data) GTA V traffic path files, i.e. the game files that determine the navigation of NPCs, i.e. the paths that can be taken to indicate where and how cars or pedestrians can move in a certain area of the map.
.YBN / .YBD: (Y Bound Node / Y Bound Dictionary) Two formats for collision files used in GTA V. These files describe the physical collision structure (shapes, boxes, spheres, simplified meshes) for game objects, so that the game engine knows how to handle collisions with the elements.
.MTL: Material parameter file used by 3D object editing applications, such as Adobe Photoshop and Autodesk Maya. It is stored with an .obj file and describes how a program should apply textures to that object.
.DSS: Configuration backup created by DiskStation Manager (DSM), a web operating system included with Synology network storage devices (NAS). DSS files allow restoring the configuration of a system. It contains the parameters of a system, including users, groups, shared folders, workgroup, domain, passwords and file sharing methods.
.OBJ: An OBJ file is a standard 3D image format, exportable and readable by various 3D image editing software. It contains a three-dimensional object, including its 3D coordinates, textures, polygonal faces and other information. OBJ files can also contain references to one or more .MTL files containing the surface shading data of the object.
.EXE: Executable program running under Microsoft Windows. It contains an application, such as notepad.exe or msedge.exe, which opens when you double-click on it. Some EXE files, such as installers downloaded from the Internet, install a program on your Windows computer as soon as they are opened.
.GXT2: (Game Text File V2) File used by GTA V (and other Rockstar games) to store the texts displayed in the game: dialogues, place names, HUD messages, menus, subtitles, etc. It is a compressed binary format, successor to the GXT format used in the old GTAs. .gxt2 files can be opened, edited and reimported using tools such as OpenIV, GXT2 Editor, or even text editors by exporting them to .openFormats, thus allowing the game text to be modified or the content to be translated.
.GFX: (Scaleform Graphic File) Compiled Flash file used by Rockstar for the game's user interfaces (menus, HUD, dashboards, computer screens, etc.). .gfx are .swf files compiled with Scaleform, an interface engine developed by Autodesk based on Flash. They often contain visual elements (vector textures, animations, texts, fonts). These files can be opened and modified via JPEXS Free Flash Decompiler (FFDec) and/or Adobe Animate CS6, after export from OpenIV.
.SWF: (Shockwave Flash) Vector animation file format created by Adobe (formerly Macromedia).
.SWF files contain graphics, sounds, scripts and interactive animations. They are the basis of the format used by Scaleform, which then compiles into .gfx for GTA V. In modding, they are used to modify or create interfaces, change fonts or add custom animations before conversion to .gfx.
.DLL: (Dynamic Link Library) Dynamic link library file used by Windows and many games to load external code. It contains functions, classes or resources that can be called by a program without being directly integrated into its executable. In GTA V modding, .dlls are often plugins used by loaders like ScriptHookV, allowing new features or scripts to be added to the game.
.ASI: (Assembly Script Interface) Format specific to GTA V and other Rockstar games, used for scripts and plugins loaded via ScriptHookV. .asi files work similarly to .dlls but are specially designed to interact with the game engine (RAGE). They allow adding mods such as menus (trainer), gameplay scripts, HUD modifications, etc. They must be placed in the game's main directory (alongside GTA5.exe).
.LUA: (Lua Script File) Text file containing code written in the Lua language, a lightweight and fast language often used for scripting. In the context of GTA V modding, .lua files are used with frameworks such as FiveM, RagePluginHook or ScriptHookVDotNet + Lua Plugin. They are used to execute custom scripts: mission creation, adding features, AI, interactions or specific events.