Playing and viewing

Where the data comes from

Every subcommand accepts the disc directly via --disc - no extraction step required to play. Without --disc, tools read an extracted/ tree (--extracted-root, default extracted, resolved against the current directory) produced by legaia-extract (getting started). Commands use the bare ./tool form; source builds live at target/release/.

1 · Boot the engine

./legaia-engine play-window --disc "/path/to/Legend of Legaia (USA).bin"

This boots the scene town01 (Rim Elm) straight off the disc: field rendering, BGM, NPC scripts, dialog. Keyboard defaults: arrows = D-pad, Z = Cross, Esc = quit. In-window extras: left-mouse drag orbits the camera, T cycles the camera-distance preset, R toggles precise free-angle movement (an opt-in enhancement - retail-style movement is the default), V mutes audio. --boot-ui starts at the title screen → save-select flow instead of jumping into the scene.

2 · Pick a scene

./legaia-engine list-scenes --disc "/path/to/disc.bin"
./legaia-engine play-window --disc "/path/to/disc.bin" --scene town04

list-scenes prints every scene name the game's file map exposes with the PROT entry range each covers - the same names feed --scene, and a range start is where that scene's files land in extracted/PROT/.

3 · Play the FMVs

./legaia-engine play-str MOV/MV1.STR --disc "/path/to/disc.bin"

With --disc, the argument is the movie's path inside the disc image and the interleaved XA audio track plays in sync (the video clock is driven off the audio cursor). Without --disc it plays a raw extracted .STR file (video only). To dump frames as PNGs instead, use mdec (extracting assets). Background: cutscene subsystem.

4 · Saves and config live next to you

The engine resolves its files against the current directory: key bindings in legaia-input.toml, options (camera preset, movement mode) in legaia-options.toml, and save slots under saves/. Run from the same directory each time - or pass explicit paths where supported (--save-dir, config set --config-file).

Rebind keys with config:

./legaia-engine config show
./legaia-engine config set --binding Space=Cross
./legaia-engine config set --binding Enter=Start

KEY=BUTTON uses friendly key names (Z, Up, Enter, RShift) and PSX pad button names (Cross, Circle, Start, L1).

5 · Record and replay a session

./legaia-engine record --disc "/path/to/disc.bin" --out session.toml
./legaia-engine replay --input session.toml

record is play-window plus input capture into a small j-replay-v1 TOML file. The file is checkpointed to disk about once a second and finalized on window close (Esc), so an interrupted session still yields a valid file up to the last checkpoint. replay runs it back headless and deterministic - the same file always produces a bit-identical engine trace, and it needs no disc at all. Details: determinism + replay.

legaia-engine --help lists many more subcommands; the COMMAND GROUPS footer separates the player-facing ones above from the development diagnostics (parity oracles, synthetic state drivers) you can ignore.

6 · Browse assets interactively

asset-viewer reads the extracted/ tree (there is no --disc here - run legaia-extract first). The field and dialog demos additionally need the dialog font at extracted/font/, which the pipeline writes by default (or font-extract --disc rebuilds).

./asset-viewer prot extracted/PROT.DAT --cdname extracted/CDNAME.TXT   # archive browser
./asset-viewer tim  extracted/tim_scan/<entry>/raw_off<HEX>.tim        # one texture
./asset-viewer tmd  extracted/tmd_scan                                 # cycle 3D meshes
./asset-viewer vab  extracted/PROT/<entry>.BIN --sample 0              # play a sample
./asset-viewer field --scene town01                                    # playable field demo

In the PROT browser: N / P = next/prev entry, PgDn / PgUp = jump 10, Esc = quit; each entry's format is auto-detected and the first viewable sub-asset is shown. tmd pointed at a directory walks every mesh with the same keys. The tim subcommand also takes extracted/PROT.DAT itself with --offset/--clut for the system-UI textures that live outside any TOC entry.

7 · Read the game's scripts

The field/event VM (script VM) drives every scene. Its disassembler is a release binary too:

./field-disasm scan-prot --prot extracted/PROT.DAT     # sweep for event scripts + FMV triggers
./field-disasm file <extracted-script-body>            # walk one raw script linearly

For a specific scene's per-scene scripts (LZS-compressed inside the scene's MAN sub-asset), the engine has the direct path:

./legaia-engine man-scripts --scene town01 --disc "/path/to/disc.bin"

See also