BSP File

What are BSP files and how to open them

Are you having problems opening a BSP file or are you simply curious about its contents? We're here to explain the properties of these files and provide you with software that can open or handle your BSP files.

What is a BSP file?

BSP files have multiple uses, and Quake BSP Map is one of them. Read more about the other uses further down the page.

Quake BSP Map

BSP stands for Binary Space Partitioning and is a technique used to store data for a 3D World. Quake was one of the first games to use this technique, and many games are still using it.

There are multiple variations of game map files using the BSP extension, and they are slightly different. This particular version was one of the first and was used in Quake and Quake II.

How to open BSP files

We have identified one BSP opener that is compatible with this specific type of BSP file.

Programs that open Quake BSP Map files

Last updated: August 25, 2026

All known file formats using extension .BSP

While Quake BSP Map is a popular type of BSP-file, we know of 7 different uses of the .BSP file extension. Different software may use files with the same extension for different types of data.

Half-Life BSP Map

A newer variation of the Binary Space Partitioning map format invented for Quake is used in Half-Life.

BSP opener for Windows

We have identified one BSP opener that is compatible with this specific type of BSP file.

Valve Source BSP Map

This is a newer variation of the Binary Space Partitioning map format originally invented for Quake. "Source" is the name of Value Software's game engine that is used in a wide array of popular games like Half-Life 2, Counter Strike, Left 4 Dead, Dota, Titanfall, etc.

While we have not verified the apps ourselves yet, our users have suggested ten different BSP openers which you will find listed below.

BSP Bitmap

BSP Bitmap format stores full screen graphics from a ZX Spectrum‐style environment including the picture area and optionally the surrounding border. It is intended for storing pixel‐perfect visual representations using the classic Spectrum resolution(s), with support for metadata such as title or author, and for variants like Gigascreen which combine multiple screens for flicker or color effects.

Creators like SpectraLab produce BSP Bitmap files. These tools write images in one of several modes (screen, screen plus border, gigascreen, gigascreen plus border), allow editing of pixel and color attributes, and save metadata in a header. After creation the files are used by image viewers or editors that support the format so the stored graphics, possibly including the border, can be displayed accurately with color attributes.

Internally BSP Bitmap files begin with a 70-byte header containing metadata fields such as title and author, and specify which variant (screen, screen+border, gigascreen, or gigascreen+border) is included. Following the header come image data including the bitmap pixels, colour attributes, and for border‐involved variants, compressed border data using run‐length encoding. The file starts with the ASCII signature "bsp" at offset 0.

Getic 3D BSP Map

Getic is a 3D editor with BSP compiler.

SPICE Binary SPK

SPICE Binary SPK files store high-precision trajectories (ephemerides) for spacecraft, planets, asteroids, comets, or other bodies, recording their position and velocity over time. They serve as part of NASA's SPICE (Spacecraft Planet Instrument C-matrix Events) toolkit by NAIF at JPL, which uses these kernels so that software can compute where an object is at any given epoch.

These files are created by SPICE utility or mission ephemeris-generation software, which segments trajectory data into time intervals with defined reference frames, centers, and target bodies. Applications using SPICE read and interpolate between those segments to get positions / velocities at requested times. Because the data's binary nature allows efficient storage of large and precise data sets, these files are used when mission operations or scientific analysis requires fast, accurate ephemeris access.

The file format is based on the Double Precision Array File (DAF) abstract file architecture developed by NAIF. Its first eight bytes hold the ASCII identifier "DAF/SPK " (with a trailing space if needed) to signal a valid binary SPK file. Trajectories are stored in one or more segments; each segment has a descriptor that includes: the start and end epochs (in ephemeris seconds past J2000), NAIF integer codes for target and center bodies, reference frame code, a representation (data type) code, and array addresses. Each segment's data array holds double-precision values encoding position, velocity, or other supported representation forms.

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy Map

This is a compiled game map file used for Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. It stores all the geometry, textures, entities, lighting, and spatial partitioning data needed to render and run a level during gameplay. The file is packaged inside the game's virtual file system (usually in PK3 archives or loose in the maps folder) so the game engine can load levels efficiently. Editors and game utilities may convert or extract data from it, but the game itself reads the .BSP directly.

Level designers create raw map data in a text-based or brush-based format (commonly .map) using level editors like GtkRadiant. Once they finalize the design, they compile it into this .BSP format. The engine uses the compiled file to quickly process visibility, collisions, lighting, and other real-time features. Tools exist to decompile .BSP maps back into .map for editing, though such conversions may not recover every detail perfectly.

This format begins with a binary signature at the very start of the file: the ASCII characters "RBSP" followed by eight zero bytes (hex 52 42 53 50 01 00 00 00) at offset 0.

Programs that open these BSP files

We have identified one BSP opener that is compatible with this specific type of BSP file.

Various apps that use files with this extension

These apps are known to open certain types of BSP files. Remember, different programs may use BSP files for different purposes, so you may need to try out a few of them to be able to open your specific file.

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