Extract text from game video files (VQA)
To convert VQA game videos to another format, you need VLC media player or other Video software.
To convert other file formats to the "Game Video Asset" file type, you need software like VLC media player or a similar tool.
The .vqa (Vector Quantized Animation) file is a proprietary video container format developed by Westwood Studios in the mid-1990s. It was engineered specifically to play full-motion video (FMV) cutscenes in classic PC games like Command & Conquer, Red Alert, and Dune 2000.
Historically, these files were built to run on slow CD-ROM drives and low-end processors using an 8-bit color palette and custom compression codecs, such as Westwood ADPCM for audio. Because .vqa is a heavily outdated and proprietary game asset, it is not supported by modern web browsers, smartphones, or default operating system media players like Windows Media Player or Apple QuickTime.
Users typically need to convert .vqa files to share retro game cutscenes online or edit them in standard video software. The best target formats are MP4 (for maximum web compatibility) or MKV (for lossless archival of the low-resolution streams). Note that converting these files will not improve their visual quality, as the original assets are strictly limited by their 1990s-era 8-bit color depth and low resolution.
Converting .vqa files is notoriously difficult. Because it is a closed, proprietary format tied to a defunct game engine, standard online video converters lack the specialized decoders required to process the vector quantization. Often, only community-built game extractors or advanced command-line tools like FFmpeg can decode the frames. However, convert.guru can still identify the file format, inspect the file headers, and show internal metadata. Just drag and drop your file to see what it is and convert it if supported.
Convert.Guru analyzes your VQA file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted MP4, YRO, CNC3REPLAY and PACKAGE files.
If you want to convert VQA file to MP4, AVI, MOV, WMV, FLV, WEBM, MKV, M4V, 3GP, OGV, ASF or RM, you can use VLC media player or similar software from the "Game FMV Video Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert MTS, MOV, RMVB, DIVX, RM, H264, TS, WMV, VOB, MP4, XVID or AVI files to VQA, try VLC media player or another comparable tool in the "Game FMV Video Storage" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our VQA converter.