What is the WRPL file format?
A .wrpl file is a Widelands Saved Replay - a binary file created by Widelands, an open-source real-time strategy game. Rather than saving the full game status as a snapshot, a .wrpl stores the time-ordered stream of player commands issued from the start of the match. It can be used to replay the game by feeding those recorded moves back through the game engine, which re-executes them deterministically against a companion starting-state file.
Every .wrpl replay is always paired with a .wrpl.wgf savegame file - a snapshot of the map and initial game state stored in a ZIP-based container. Both files must be kept together in the game's replays folder for playback to work.
Because .wrpl stores commands rather than video frames, it cannot be opened in a media player. To capture a replay as video you must screen-record the in-game playback session. Replays are also version-specific: a .wrpl file generally only plays back in the same Widelands engine build that recorded it. The engine writes periodic sync checksum data during recording so that any version mismatch is detected and reported as a desync error during playback.
Security & safety
RISK: LOWA WRPL is passive game data with no executable code, so opening one in Widelands is low risk. The only practical issues are non-malicious: a replay won't play if its .wrpl.wgf companion is missing or if the Widelands version differs from the one that recorded it (desync). Only download replays from trusted community sources, and ignore any site offering a magic "WRPL to video converter" - they don't exist and are likely adware.
Format details
in a nutshellPrograms that open WRPL files
Windows1 app
Widelands
Open-source Place the .wrpl AND its .wrpl.wgf in the Widelands 'replays' folder, launch the game, and choose Single Player > Watch Replay. 
macOS1 app
Widelands
Open-source Copy both replay files into the Widelands 'replays' folder, then use Watch Replay in the game. 
Linux1 app
Widelands
Open-source Put the .wrpl and .wrpl.wgf in ~/.widelands/replays (folder may be hidden), then Watch Replay in the game. Technical details
deep spec| Encoding | Binary (little-endian engine-internal serialization) |
| Format type | Deterministic command-log replay - records player orders, not video frames |
| File pairing | Always paired with a companion .wrpl.wgf file; both must be present for playback |
| Companion file role | .wrpl.wgf holds a ZIP-based savegame snapshot of the starting map and game state |
| Compression | Command log (.wrpl) is an uncompressed binary stream; companion .wrpl.wgf uses ZIP compression |
| Typical size | Tens of KB to a few MB (command log is compact; .wrpl.wgf adds the bulk) |
| Magic bytes | No published fixed magic signature; identified by location in the replays folder and the matching .wrpl / .wrpl.wgf pair |
| Version compatibility | Version-specific - a replay generally only plays back in the same Widelands engine build that recorded it |
| Sync / integrity | Engine writes periodic checksum sync data during recording; version mismatches are flagged as desync errors during playback |
| Storage location | Saved into the replays subfolder of the Widelands user data directory |
| Playback method | Widelands in-game replay viewer re-executes recorded commands against the .wrpl.wgf starting savegame |
| Video export | Not natively supported; screen-recording of the in-game playback session is required |
| Supported platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Developer | The Widelands Development Team (open-source community project) |
| Released | Mid-2000s, with the Widelands open-source real-time strategy game |
| Latest version | Tied to the Widelands engine version that wrote the file (replays are version-specific) |
| Specification | www.widelands.org |
WRPL conversions
Community Q&A
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