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I'm not really asking anything at the moment, since Lone Wolf have answered my question sufficiently for me to find out the full information (i.e. to track down that it is Greenleaf's custom compression format that was used).
The documentation I had was for 2.2c because, as I said, the community members I'm working with are 2.2c users. Also, from what I was able to find the AB3 construction kit was either lacking or hiding its similarly technical documentation. The compression used seemingly hasn't changed between 2.2 and 3 anyway, so any information on the compression is equally relevant to new files. All of the additional information in the files is very basic stuff, at least for the important bits.
As for making it a usable format, I'm not saying that they should, just that it can certainly be advantageous to them in the long run. Lots of companies have a very closed mind about "it is ours and no-one else can have it", even over simple data files, but a more open mind-set of "it's ours, but we'll make it interoperable so that we can encourage a community of tools that could increase uptake" can have positive consequences that aren't normally factored in to the bottom line.
As for criticizing, as I said in my last post and one of the others, I was making a developer's evaluation. Given all of the information to hand (including information from the Greenleaf website and my knowledge of other archive file formats for computer games) a different choice could easily have been made that would have provided more flexibility. The developers have already admitted that they have considered alternate compression but that it isn't a high priority, which implies that even they think a better choice could have been made, or that compatibility in the compression may be a better way forward.
As I said, though, I've asked my question (what is the compression?), I've got my answer (custom modification of LZW), I've done my research (it is Greenleaf's custom format) and I now know what I need to know.
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