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FC5 weapon wheel icon encoding

FC5 weapon wheel icons are stored as Base64-encoded binary blobs in .feu (Flash Export Unit) files. The binary structure is a simple packed format with character ID, dimensions, and texture path.

Binary format​

Offset  Size  Type    Description
------  ----  ------  -----------
0x00    2     u16 LE  Character ID (weapon/character index)
0x02    2     u16 LE  Width (pixels)
0x04    2     u16 LE  Height (pixels)
0x06    var   string  Texture path (UTF-8, null-terminated)

The entire structure is then Base64-encoded for storage in the .feu XML.

Encoding/decoding​

The base64 crap.exe tool (C# / .NET 8) handles conversion:

1 — Decode Base64 → extract character ID, width, height, texture path
2 — Encode new entry → pack fields → output Base64 string

Source: base64/Program.cs

FC5-specific notes​

  • FC5 FEU files require trailing AAAA padding (4+ bytes) after the icon data
  • Sometimes 1-2 = padding characters are also needed
  • Best results with 22-character filenames
  • The FEU may reject icons — use Flash decompiler as fallback for SWF-based FEUs
  • Icon dimensions should match in-game display for 1:1 scaling

Hash format​

The icon data uses standard Base64 encoding. The binary payload is little-endian packed: u16(char_id) + u16(width) + u16(height) + null-terminated UTF-8 string.

Source​

BIRDdude12, Discord Far Cry modding community, Feb 2026.