Dealing with Game Resources

(This is a crosspost from the Project Ironfist wiki, see link)

(You can also learn this by watching the video tutorial "Modding with an Iron Fist: Episode 3: Adding New Creatures")


Packaging Resources

Heroes II keeps all of its resource files (artwork, sounds, etc) in .agg (aggregate) files. .agg files are similar to .zip files, except that they have no compression. All original game files are placed into HEROES2.AGG, while all files for the Price of Loyalty expansion are in HEROES2X.AGG. Likewise, all files for Project Ironfist are placed in ironfist.agg.

You will need to install the game and download the Ironfist Tools. Find the file "ironfist.agg" in your Heroes II DATA folder. Unzip the Ironfist tools and find "H2AGGUnpack.exe" in the agg directory. Drag-and-drop "ironfist.agg" onto "H2AGGUnpack.exe" and it will create the folder "ironfist" in the DATA directory, containing all resources used by Project Ironfist.

Put whatever files you want in the "ironfist" folder. Drag-and-drop "ironfist.agg" (NOT the folder) onto "H2AGGPack.exe" to package them up into a new "ironfist.agg" file. Congratulations, the game can now find your new resources!

One cool thing is that the game will look for files in ironfist.agg first, meaning that you can replace any existing files by adding one with the same name. For example, you can alter the graphics for the pikeman simply by adding a different PIKEMAN.ICN file toironfist.agg.

One thing to keep in mind is that all filenames must be in the 8.3 filename format. 8.3 filenames have at most eight characters, optionally followed by a period "." and a filename extension of at most three characters. For example, "BLCKDRGN.ICN" and "roc.x" are both in the 8.3 format, but "BLACK_DRAGON.ICNX" is not.