What Is an EMI File?

This article explains what an EMI file is and how to open one on your computer.

What Is an EMI File?

A file with the EMI file extension is an emitter file used by the Pocket Tanks game. The game is a redesigned version of Scorched Tanks, both of which were created by Michael P. Welch from BlitWise Productions.

Pocket Tanks is a 1–2 person game that involves using tanks to attack an opponent with explosives. The purpose of EMI files within the game isn't clear, but we suspect they have something to do with storing weapon data.

Two EMI files are included with the game: default.emi is located at the root of the software's installation directory, and emitter.emi is stored in the \weapdata\ folder.

How to Open an EMI File

EMI files are used by the game Pocket Tanks, but they're not designed to be opened using the program interface. They're instead just program files the game can use when it needs to.

If your EMI file has nothing to do with Pocket Tanks, try opening it with a text editor like Notepad++. What this will do is let you open the EMI file as a text document.

If the file is 100 percent text, then what you have is simply a text file that you can read with the text editor. If only some of the text is readable, see if you can find a word or two that can help you understand what format the EMI file is in or what program was used to make it.

How to Convert an EMI File

Most file types can be converted using a free file converter, but EMI files are an exception because they're simply not as popular as other files like MP3s, PDFs, etc.

The program that opens a file can sometimes be used to convert the same file to a new format, but that's hardly the case with games, especially Pocket Tanks, since there's no way for you to manually open the file in the program.

Still Can't Open the File?

EMI files are rare, so chances are you don't really have one, but instead are working with a file that looks like the file extension says EMI.

For example, it just so happens that EMI and EML are very close in spelling, but the first uses an uppercase "i" and the second uses an uppercase "L." If what you really have is an EML file, trying to use it with Pocket Tanks won't get you anywhere. EML files are email files, so you can open one with email clients like Microsoft Outlook.

This file extension is also similar in spelling to ELM and EMZ, but again, neither of those formats are the same as an emitter file, so they won't work with Pocket Tanks. Neither will EMI files work in the programs that open ELM and EMZ files.

The basic idea here is that if you don't really have an EMI file, re-read the extension and research what you see so that you can learn more about the file's real format and see which programs or converters are available for it.