Shadow Of Mordor .arch05

[zardalu]

Hi Paul, thanks for this, works well

I got the same error at first. You need to use quickbms_4gb_files.exe with new_fear.bms to extract the embb files from the .arch05, then use shadow_of_mordor.bms to extract the files from the embb archives.

I then used your batch file on the files from the HD texture pack monsters_0.arch05, and everything seems to have converted correctly.

Unfortunately, sofar I'm not able to extract any of the arch05 files with quickbms. I keep getting error: "Not enough storage is available to process this command.". No matter what script/EXE I am using (EXE=standard or 4GB vs)...
And I tried this on several arch05 files.
p

ps: you'll need to download Swiss File Knife yourself (which is what I use to extract)
ps2: I've 4 GB Ram memory
ps3: you can easily adapt the batchfile to analogue file types (w/ header)

[Paul44]

@zardalu
Thx, that did the trick. I've also updated the batchfile since it did not take "spaces" into account. My folders contain spaces, and I'm sure some of the 'internal' files will as well; this version should handle that...
I've also added another batchfile which will "identify" the DDS type. Important to know for conversion/saving purposes.
p

ps: you need to download [Swiss File Knife] and [Crunch] (for DDS type).
ps2: you'll need to keep the header-files if you plan to reimport a file. Use [copy /b header_file+DDS_file original_file] for this purpose.

EDIT:
Forgot to mention this: I extracted 3 arch05 files (intro.arch05, sun.arch05, udun.arch05) - only using 1st script - then renamed the corresponding arch05 files temporarily, and renamed the resp. folders accordingly. The game keeps running fine, but loading times are loooooooooong now: about 7-8 minutes to load the map...
Not tried (yet) to see if it continues to run upon extracting the emb-files?!

UPDATE: You'll find an update version in later a post (pag5)

[Paul44]

I noticed that they use Bink 2 (.vib) files for the video scenes. Anyone happens to know where I can download the Radtools for this version. Apparently, I can't download them from the 'Bink' site (still v1.x)?!

thx in advance,
p

[gregkwaste]

So do you confirm that the game reads of folders with extracted content?
I can fix my explorer to extract in the arch05 directory for this reason

[Paul44]

@gregkwaste
Yes. Try it out with either 'sun' or 'udun' (2 major maps) extracted, and then use the "bottom" FastTravel.
As a final test, I renamed one of the extracted folders - still with the original arch05-files renamed - and when I then try to load the map (ie continue game), I get an error stating it can not find a particular file (forgot which one). Iow: it did not use the (renamed) arch05-file, but the appropriate folder.
For what it is worth: I only ran around a bit, but DID switch between maps (bottom FastTravel) without problems.
p

ps1:I've deleted the extracted folder_archives for now: too slow to load, and I needed the diskspace.
ps2: extract [son.arch05] to folder [son.arch05_EXT]; ren [son.arch05] to [son.arch05.temp] and then ren [son.arch05_EXT] to [son.arch05] (as an example)

EDIT:
You can simply extract ANY arch05-file into the \game folder, and that will work as well.
I also tried to extract the embb files, and use the same logic but that does not seem to work. The easiest way to test this, is with [monsters.arch05] and the Warg-files (= caragor). You'll see their icons on the hud-map, but you won't see them in the world (nor will they react to their environment). Location: there is always one in the cage in Udun Crossing (SE).
Maybe it could work if one could extract the .bndlxml05 file as well...
(and yes, I also tried copying them in the "main" \game folder; did not work either)

[Sordid]

Oh this is very interesting. Am I wrong in thinking this could be used to solve the "nobody likes the reforged dagger" problem? Extract the archive, replace the reforged model with the default model, and pack up the archive again? Can that be done?

[Mr.Mouse]

So do you confirm that the game reads of folders with extracted content?
I can fix my explorer to extract in the arch05 directory for this reason

I think a dedicated explorer/extractor like yours is much more user friendly than using a Quickbms script, and a dedicated tool. I would work on it more, if I were you.

Where's the latest version of the tool?

[Paul44]

Oh this is very interesting. Am I wrong in thinking this could be used to solve the "nobody likes the reforged dagger" problem? Extract the archive, replace the reforged model with the default model, and pack up the archive again? Can that be done?

If you mean, can one export, then import changes into the embb-file. Yes, it can. #aluigi already posted this in another topic (see pag2), but for completeness I'll add the scripts here as well.
Use [SoM_ImpExportEmbb-bndl.bms] (which I renamed to clarify its purpose) to export specific embb-files. If you get errors with particular embb-files, then you can use [ShadowOfMordor.bms] (which you'll find in this topic).
p

ps1: when you import, filesize of any changed file must be <= (LEQ) then the original size!
ps2: not sure about the [unpack.bms]; I had no need for it sofar.

UPDATE: You'll find an update version in later a post (pag5)

[Paul44]

The QuickBMS script already exists, it covers the compressed embb archives, the non-compressed ones, textures...
http://zenhax.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=208

@aluigi
Is there a way to automate export (and possibly import) of the files, using [quickbms_4gb_files.exe]? Via a batchfile, one can pipe 1 inputrequest, but not 3 as in the case of the arch05 export (security message, folder creation, overwrite prompt).
A possible solution would be to give possible requests a unique number/id, which can then be used/added to the command line...
p

ps: I've used quickbms extensively on Sniper elite 3 (which in some cases expects one to run the export twice through the "re-use" of the Temporary-file)...
Another feature I missed was an overview of files effectively imported/exported; and better still which one didn't.
Pipe usage: [echo y | quickbms_4gb_files SoM_ImpExportEmbb-bndl.bms warg.embb warg.embb_EXT > BMS_Export.txt]
(but that is just 1 possible response)

[gregkwaste]

So do you confirm that the game reads of folders with extracted content?
I can fix my explorer to extract in the arch05 directory for this reason

I think a dedicated explorer/extractor like yours is much more user friendly than using a Quickbms script, and a dedicated tool. I would work on it more, if I were you.

Where's the latest version of the tool?

First post

Its 99.9% complete, it can open and extract everything. Its only drawback is that it exports in C:\\ while i could make it extract files in the game directory.

I can also add some texture previewing but i am making my research on how to embedd opengl in gtk applications, because its always better using the gpu for rendering that the gpu for image convertions, i'll definitely do that in the future.

Please try using it, and make your suggestions

[Sordid]

Oh this is very interesting. Am I wrong in thinking this could be used to solve the "nobody likes the reforged dagger" problem? Extract the archive, replace the reforged model with the default model, and pack up the archive again? Can that be done?

If you mean, can one export, then import changes into the embb-file. Yes, it can. #aluigi already posted this in another topic (see pag2), but for completeness I'll add the scripts here as well.
Use [SoM_ImpExportEmbb-bndl.bms] (which I renamed to clarify its purpose) to export specific embb-files. If you get errors with particular embb-files, then you can use [ShadowOfMordor.bms] (which you'll find in this topic).
p

ps1: when you import, filesize of any changed file must be <= (LEQ) then the original size!
ps2: not sure about the [unpack.bms]; I had no need for it sofar.

Ah, thank you very much! I'm a total noob with very little idea of what I'm doing, but I'll try to fiddle around with it, see if I can make it work.

First post

Its 99.9% complete, it can open and extract everything. Its only drawback is that it exports in C:\\ while i could make it extract files in the game directory.

I can also add some texture previewing but i am making my research on how to embedd opengl in gtk applications, because its always better using the gpu for rendering that the gpu for image convertions, i'll definitely do that in the future.

Please try using it, and make your suggestions

That's a very cool tool! I didn't realize it could actually extract things, I thought it was just a viewer. I do have a suggestion, though. I'm thinking it would be nice to be able to remove individual files from the archive.

I'm trying to replace the reforged weapons with their default variants and I really don't want to have to unpack and repack this giant archive file just to replace a couple of weapon models. Someone said in the thread that the game can load loose files, so I thought I could do it simply by extracting the files for the default variants (for which your tool was wonderful, thank you so much!), renaming them to the reforged variants, and dumping them into the game's folder. Sadly that doesn't work, the game seems to prioritize loading files in the archives over loose files. So now I'm thinking if the files in question aren't in the archives, it might force the game to load the loose ones.

Would that be possible, do you think?

[ELCID777]

So, is it now possible to extract, edit and repack textures in this game? Someone give me a simple answer, please.

[Paul44]

prenote: if you only want to extract a few particular files, then use #gregkwaste's tool. As he noted himself, files will be extracted in the C: root drive (which - in principal - is a no_go for me). It's a great tool though.

That said: I've created 2 batchfiles
1. SoM_Extract_Arch05.bat: extracts any Arch05 file. To my standards, it's done quick&dirty to get the job done. But you can 'change certain parameters' within the batchfile easily. It will create 2 logfiles as well: general info from Quickbms and the extracted filelist.
2. SoM_Arch05_UniqueFilelist.bat: this one uses the [SoM_Arch05_LogFiles.txt] (created by the 1st batchfile) to generate a unique filelist. It is also delimited (+~+) so that it can easily be used for other stuff.
While I can generate the filesize per file, I'm unfortunately not able to create the offset size per file (ie: what is it uncomrpressed size within the Arch05 file).
However: this is - to my opinion - do-able. Luckily, somebody mentioned earlier that [offzip] can be used to decompress the files. So I did some experimenting to find the actual location of a few files with it Arch05 file.

I did my test with [corecharacter.arch05] and the 1st 2 files that will be extracted (see attached: [SoM_ExtractImport.txt])

I take [charactercommon.bndlxml05] as example. quickbms gives you following list:
0000000000000000 0 bundles/charactercommon.bndlxml05
000000000000026c 65536 bundles\charactercommon.bndlxml05
00000000000014dc 1516 bundles\charactercommon.bndlxml05
0000000000000000 0 bundles/charactercommon.embb
00000000000015f8 65536 bundles\charactercommon.embb

One would assume that it resides between 0x26c and 0x15f8 (or even 0x14dc). Unfortunately, that is not the case. The start offset is correct, the end_offset not.
So, using SFK (swiss file knife), I extracted this chunk and quickly noticed I had more then I bargained for. Next step: use [offzip) on this 'chunk' file and see what happens:
+------------+-------------+-------------------------+
| hex_offset | blocks_dots | zip_size --> unzip_size |
+------------+-------------+-------------------------+
0x00000000 ... 4710 --> 65536
0x00001270 . 276 --> 1516
0x0000138c . 336 --> 400

Notice the "1516"... So Offzip found that this file ended at offset 0x138c. I now use SFK again to extract this part of the file; ét voilà...
Why is this important: well, if you want to re-import (inject) an 'updated' embb-file again into the Arch05-file, then you'll need its exact location within that file (can't overwrite anything else). And btw: this should be possible with packzip (and also with SFK) as long as you know the correct compression parameters.

Request: I do not know if Quickbms delivers the filelist, or if it can be controlled via the BMS-script. But I'd rather like to see its end_offset for each file on its "last" series-line.
So, instead of '14dc' I would like to get the '138c' ?!
p

ps1: if anyone knows how to forward this to #aluigi, let me know.
ps2: I did some experimenting with packzip, in that I can get a value below its actual compressed size, but not exactly the same. Will it work after injection, I can't tell at the moment?
ps3: offzip and packzip can be found on #aluigi's website
ps4: all input_requests from quickbms can be automated through its options. If such an option is not available, you can 'force' this through piping "type Response.txt | quickbms ..." (each line in [Response.txt] contains a specific input_response)
ps5: I will be writing another batch that will extract the embb-files

ps6: oh yeah, before I forget, I've extracted all files and copy/pasted them in the [game] folder. Seems to work fine, but loading of a region is a 'pain'. Within a region and once loaded, response is quick(er)...

EDIT: I have "cleaned up' the batchfile w/ all "features" enabled.

UPDATE: You'll find an update version in later a post (pag5)

[Paul44]

So, is it now possible to extract, edit and repack textures in this game? Someone give me a simple answer, please.

see top of this page, and ask #zardalu how he is doing.
Simple answer: yes, if
a) you use the extracted/updated embb-file instead of the Arch05 file (which just gives me another idea
b) the updated texture file can not be greater in size then its original
c) extract/recreate TEX-file can be done through a batchfile I've posted earlier. Once you've updated the DDS-file, use [copy /b Header_file+DDS-file TEX-file]. Its new size must me <= original size

You can use Quickbms for this purpose (use the Bndl.bms script). as an example:
extract: quickbms_4gb_files SoM_ImpExportEmbb-bndl.bms charactercommon.embb charactercommon.embb_EXT
import: quickbms_4gb_files -r -w SoM_ImpExportEmbb-bndl.bms charactercommon.embb charactercommon.embb_EXT

Did not do any testing though, except a quick extract/import...
p

ps: there is a [hotchunk_Patch.arch05] residing in the root. Could probably used for modders?!

[passburger]

ps1: if anyone knows how to forward this to #aluigi, let me know.

Try him at his own e-mail: "me@aluigi.org" (taken form his hompage: http://aluigi.altervista.org/)
Or just PM him here I guess.