RuneLibris

Introduction

RuneLibris is a downloadable MediaWiki installation that documents server-side interactions of RuneScape (mainly RuneScape 3). It is fully localized and can be run offline once the archive is downloaded.

Data on RuneLibris is recorded in many forms, but it is mainly a cluster of WEBM and WEBP files. Furthermore, this archive contains the data repository of the RuneScape Preservation Unit.

Purpose

Unlike most other games, RuneScape is not properly archivable due to it being an MMORPG. This means that the game code is held on distant servers. In other words, only the game assets and client are actually downloaded on the user's side.

This means that one day, the game's server will shut down and the core of RuneScape will be lost. My goal is to do a "translation" of this core so that it can be preserved for posterity.

Demonstration

A short visual demonstration of RuneLibris can be seen by watching this YouTube video.

Images

Right click the images to open them in full resolution.

Methodology

Data on RuneLibris is recorded through MediaWiki pages. Those pages describe how a piece of content behaves in-game. When visual data need to be referenced, the wiki provides a link that is redirected to a file stored in RuneLibris - a WEBM or WEBP file in most cases.

Furthermore, this wiki makes use of mindmaps to describe complex behaviors, such as NPCs dialogue trees.

Size

RuneLibris is designed to have a very small file size. Using the methodology described above, the file sizes are smaller than conventional video recordings. Here's an example:

All visual data (PNG, WEBM, WEBP) related to the quest Cook's Assistant weights 17,7 mb. For comparison, a standard 01:32 .AVI video file that contains the recording of an NPC dialogue weights 26,0 mb.

Content

RuneLibris is made up of two central parts: The wiki and the Data Library.

The wiki describes how server-sided interactions of RuneScape behaves. It also includes documentation about the RuneScape 2 engine.

The Data Library is a folder consisted various files archived by the RuneScape Preservation Unit. They are mostly technical datasets such as ID lists, RuneScript snippets, debug names, examine data, spawn data, etc.

Specifications

RuneLibris uses MediaWiki 1.35.5 and a heavily modified DarkVector theme. It is compatible with Windows 7 and above. Instructions and documentation included assume you are a 64-bits Windows 7+ user. You can probably get it to work on MacOS and Linux with enough technical experience.

Software

The RuneLibris archive includes some software setups:

• Xampp v3.3.0
• FreeMind 1.0.1
• Advanced Batch Image Converter x86 1.2.2
• FFmpeg Batch AV Converter 2.82
• Firefox 93.0 (64-bit)
• Notepad++ v7.2.2 (32-bit)

Simply downloading RuneLibris do not require you to run any setup or installer. The installation guide will recommend you to install Xampp, Firefox and Notepad++, but they can be substituted for other programs if you know what you are doing.

Hosting

RuneLibris is NOT designed to be hosted. That being said, you could probably host it since it's based on MediaWiki. I would highly recommend against doing this as software within RuneLibris is not up to latest security standards.

Download

RuneLibris can be downloaded at the Internet Archive.

Extracting the archive require you to have a file archiver utility such as 7zip or Winrar.

Instructions to set up RuneLibris can be found in the "INSTRUCTIONS" folder.

Update Log

You can see when RuneLibris was last updated here. It is usually updated on every Thursday.

Written by manpaint on 28 November 2022.