PhxGUI Stable

Use these tools at your own risk. Modifying game files may result in instability, crashes, or bans in online play. Always back up original content.

Official archive management utilities developed by KornnerStudios for modding Halo Wars: Definitive Edition.

  1. Overview
  2. How to Use It
    1. 1. Launch and Select Game Version
    2. 2. Set Paths
    3. 3. Drag-n-Drop Operations
      1. .era files → Extract
      2. .xmb files → Convert
      3. .eradef file → Rebuild
      4. .exe file → Patch
  3. Tips
  4. Known Issues
  5. Advanced Features
  6. PhxTool (CLI)

Overview

PhxGUI and PhxTool are essential tools used to interact with .era files, the game’s compressed archive format for content like units, XML, textures, and more.

  • PhxGUI is a user-friendly drag-and-drop interface.
  • PhxTool is the command-line version with advanced flexibility.

Each .era contains different types of game data, and every map in Halo Wars has its own .era file as well. If you’re looking to modify assets specific to a certain map, you can simply extract that map’s .era and work with it directly.
By default, it’s safe and common to extract all .era files together for a complete data dump.

If your extracted files are named like example.xml.xmb, this means they are still compressed. To properly unpack these, drag and drop the entire containing folder into PhxGUI instead of the individual .xmb files.

Both are part of the KSoft.Phoenix project and support .era, .eradef, .xmb, .xml, and executable patching for mod loading.

Download PhxGUI

PHXTool

How to Use It

1. Launch and Select Game Version

By default, PhxGUI is set to DE. You can choose Xbox 360 instead.

2. Set Paths

  • ERA Expand Path where extracted files will be dumped (ex: C:/HaloWars/Extracted)
  • ERA Build Path where rebuilt archives will go (ex: your install folder)

3. Drag-n-Drop Operations

.era files → Extract

Extracts files from the archive and generates a matching .eradef.

.xmb files → Convert

Converts .xmb into readable/editable .xml files. To use .xml instead of .xmb when rebuilding, use the “Always build with XML” toggle.

.eradef file → Rebuild

Rebuilds a new .era archive based on an edited .eradef.

.exe file → Patch

Patches the game executable to allow custom .era loading. Creates a backup with _UNTOUCHED.

Tips

  • .eradef = Manifest that controls what gets rebuilt into a new .era. All paths are relative to it.
  • .xmb = Compressed XML. Convert to .xml to edit. Convert back or toggle XML-preferred build mode.
  • Backup everything before patching your .exe or rebuilding .era files.
  • Watch the bottom of the GUI for messages. Log file: PhxGui.log.

Known Issues

  • Some game builds (Halo Wars Alpha) require “Skip Verification” to rebuild successfully.

Advanced Features

Feature Description
Validate Game Data Checks core XMLs for load errors and dependency issues.
Always build with XML Forces build to use .xml if found instead of .xmb. Useful for era-modding.
.ecf/.ecfdef support Can unpack and rebuild ensemble chunk files (used in many binary assets) (advanced feature).

PhxTool (CLI)

This command-line variant is left undocumented officially, but can handle most operations PhxGUI can. It is ideal for automation or scripting pipelines.