Modern implementation of frc.exe for Freelancer (2003)
Conversion of RDL (XML) → FRC (runtime text)
Note
This project is part of the Lizerium ecosystem and belongs to the following project:
If you're looking for related engineering and support tools, start there.
Lizerium.RDL.Converter is a custom implementation of
frc.exe (Freelancer Resource Compiler), rewritten from scratch in C#.
Original tool:
- frc.exe
- Author: Jason Hook (Adoxa)
- Tools: https://adoxa.altervista.org/freelancer/tools.html#frc
- GitHub: https://github.com/adoxa
Important
This project is based on the analysis of the original frc.exe implementation,
written in C by Jason Hook (Adoxa).
The algorithms were rethought and reimplemented in C#, addressing the limitations of the original tool.
Caution
The original tool may exhibit the following issues:
- Data loss during extraction
- Text artifacts
- Improper Unicode handling
- Issues with Cyrillic encoding
- Incorrect repacking behavior
The conversion process:
RDL (XML markup)
↓
FRC (string-based runtime format)
Supported elements:
<TRA>— styles (bold / italic / underline / color / font)<TEXT>— text<PARA>— line breaks<JUST>— alignment
Tip
The library does not simply convert XML — it reproduces the runtime behavior of Freelancer’s text system.
- Reconstructed
data / mask / deflogic - Correct color handling (bitwise + nibble swap)
- Preserves text formatting
- Fault-tolerant XML parsing
- Error logging
- Unit tests for core functions included
using LizeriumRDL;
var parser = new RdlParser();
string xml = File.ReadAllText("input.xml");
string frc = parser.ConvertXMLtoFRC(xml, "id", "file");
File.WriteAllText("output.frc", frc);The library is used in the project:
All text resources and information cards in the project are generated using this converter.
Tip
The project can be used as a standalone converter or as part of a larger Freelancer resource processing pipeline.