Archives (SZS / ARC)

What they are

A .szs or .arc is a folder of files (models, textures, course data) packed into one archive, usually compressed with Yaz0. Revolution Editor also reads Wiimm's .wbz and .wlz track formats.

Double-click an archive in the Project Navigator and it opens as a tab. Browse it like any folder, and double-click a file inside to edit it in place with the right editor.

Editing an archive

• Add Files: add one or more files to the top level, or paste files you've copied in Finder.
• New Folder: adds a subfolder inside the selected folder.
• Rename, Delete, Extract from the right-click menu.
• Yaz0 Compress: leave this on to save a compressed file like the game expects; turn it off only if you need an uncompressed copy. Settings can turn it on by default for new archives.
• Save writes the archive back to wherever it came from, including archives nested inside other archives.

Make a new archive

Right-click in the Project Navigator and choose New. You can create an ARC or SZS archive, a BRRES model file, a BMG message table, a KMP (course data or battle arena), a text file and more. In an existing folder, Make Archive, Make .brres and Make .brstm pack things up for you.

The Info button

Not sure what belongs in a .szs? Click Info in the archive toolbar. It's a searchable catalogue, per game, of the archive types and the files each one expects. You can hide the button in Settings.

Verify Archive

Verify Archive checks that a Mario Kart Wii custom track or New Super Mario Bros. Wii level has what it needs to load in-game. It doesn't just look for filenames: every file is parsed with the app's real format readers, so a present-but-truncated file is caught too. Fix what it lists, then verify again.

Scale Track

Right-click a track .szs in the Project Navigator and choose Mario Kart Wii > Scale Track…, or use the button in an open archive's toolbar. Scale Track… makes a whole Mario Kart Wii course bigger or smaller. The course, sky and minimap models, the collision and every KMP point scale together so everything still lines up. Tick the option to scale object (GOBJ) sizes too, so trees and item boxes grow with the track. Object models and karts otherwise keep their size.