[Help] GTArcade models?

[LightXPS]

I've got something very difficult here:

GTArcade might have some of the best models I've seen, but when I try to get them, I face several problems. I've got no idea about working tools, where the files with the models are located and if the version makes any difference... I'm mostly focused on League of Angels III, since I play this game and wishing to get those models. If the problems are packed in questions, these are:
Do some extraction tools for GTArcade games (on PC!) exist?
Where are the files from the games located?
Which platform is better to work with when extracting?

For now, I want to get a closer look on what these models look like outside their "natural" environment - any help with that is appreciated

[Ecelon]

Check this directory on your PC for LOA3 files:
\\ Change "YOUR ACCOUNT" to your user account, also I used the GTArcade version, not the browser version;
C:\Users\"YOUR ACCOUNT"\AppData\Local\Gtarcade\plugin\air\main

\\ These contain an ATF header
.DXT files are your textures
.BA files are your models

These files are located in the Assets/xx/xx/xx/.. folder mate. This is as far as I can help you regarding League Of Angels 3, sorry and good luck.

Check out GamesRepository tutorial section for help with Game Of Thrones: Winter Is Coming
https://gamesrepository.000webhostapp.com/

[LightXPS]

This location guide is already nice and I found the files for myself, but... There's the old problem with file formats again... Is there a program which can open .dxt and .ba files without a problem? I tried the guide on the linked site and AssetStudio doesn't load a file

[Ecelon]

Glad it helped. GoT-WiC is built on the Unity engine, so AssetStudio works with it. LOA3 uses a different engine mate, sorry. I had a look and couldn't find any tools sorry. You might have to upload some samples and request someone with the skills to have a look at them.

[LightXPS]

Now's the time for the final step before I can take over... I finally got the real model files out of the double-archived thing and now I'm searching for a program and/or script for either Blender and/or Noesis to open up the files... The zipped file is hosted here. Does anyone know of scripts to open them/a program that opens them and is free to use? The models here come ultimately in .s3d format, something that got introduced waaaay back in 1999 (I'm surprised by that as well) with the game Everquest...

Also, I just can't figure out where I'd have to start in the files for creating the script to import them in Blender or Noesis... Is there any file engineering expert somewhere?

The files specify that a "s3dMesh" is packed in each of them - it seems that this is something that makes the model ripping really difficult to get done. And with that, there came another thought to my mind: I do think the .s3d files on this one are some kind of dazzler. Why? The appear to be another archive file (in formatting of EverQuest), but they aren't an archive. What's the true file extension to them?

[shakotay2]

point cloud of uvs looks ok; problem with faces - despite preceding DW counter being skipped
.

role_m_000-s3d-uvs-point_cloud.png

[LightXPS]

point cloud of uvs looks ok; problem with faces - despite preceding DW counter being skipped

What does that mean? I'm not seeing clearly through that sentence...

[shakotay2]

It means that I have to do further tests. (There's an unexpected/superfluous counter in the face indices data which I eliminated. But it didn't help to display a proper mesh. Point cloud of uv data seems to be "ok" as can be seen.)

[Bigchillghost]

problem with faces - despite preceding DW counter being skipped

Looks OK to me.

uv.png

[LightXPS]

problem with faces - despite preceding DW counter being skipped

Looks OK to me.
uv.png

That program there looks interesting - where did you get that?

Also it's nice to see some hints on what the model looks like - if the textures aren't a problem as well, then I can collect the tools I need to get this done

[Bigchillghost]

That program there looks interesting - where did you get that?

See the 2nd link in my signature.

Also it's nice to see some hints on what the model looks like - if the textures aren't a problem as well, then I can collect the tools I need to get this done

There's no way you can get the mesh without coding a script or something.

head.png

[LightXPS]

There's no way you can get the mesh without coding a script or something.

I'm well aware of that, but unfortunately, I'm lacking said script... Is there any for this specific file format?

[Bigchillghost]

Here's the Noesis script for the test. No guarantee that it'll work with all files.

[shakotay2]

Code: Select all

adresses of vertices
...
0x8c0e ( 24 )
0x8c26 ( 24 )
0x8c3e ( 24 )
0x8c56 ( 24 )
0x8c6e ( 24 )
0x8c86 ( 24 )
0x8c9e ( 24 )
0x8cb6 ( 24 )
0x8cce ( 24 )
0x8ce6 ( 24 )
0x8d16 ( 48 )
0x8d2e ( 24 )
0x8d5e ( 48 )
0x8d8e ( 48 )
0x8dbe ( 48 )
0x8dd6 ( 24 )
0x8dee ( 24 )
0x8e06 ( 24 )
0x8e36 ( 48 )
0x8e66 ( 48 )
0x8e7e ( 24 )
0x8e96 ( 24 )
0x8eae ( 24 )
0x8ec6 ( 24 )
0x8ede ( 24 )
0x8ef6 ( 24 )
...

Obfuscation at it's best - there's only few people who could have solved this riddle, congratz!
Offset = blockStart + PositionIdx*0x18 + 0xC

(Where PositionIDx is really crazy:)

Code: Select all

...
0x424a 681
0x425e 730
0x4272 732
0x4286 733
0x429a 734
0x42ae 733
0x42c2 735
0x42d6 737
0x42ea 732
0x42fe 734
0x4312 463
0x4326 738
0x433a 739
0x434e 740
0x4362 679
0x4376 741
0x438a 742
0x439e 743
0x43b2 458
0x43c6 744
0x43da 745
0x43ee 565
0x4402 741
0x4416 746
0x442a 747
0x443e 748
0x4452 750
0x4466 752
0x447a 753
0x448e 710
0x44a2 692
0x44b6 754
0x44ca 710
0x44de 722
0x44f2 756
0x4506 683
0x451a 435
0x452e 756
0x4542 758
0x4556 734
0x456a 747
0x457e 471
0x4592 760
0x45a6 761
0x45ba 762
0x45ce 559
0x45e2 763
0x45f6 764
0x460a 510
0x461e 512
0x4632 765
0x4646 766
0x465a 765
0x466e 767
0x4682 768
0x4696 734
0x46aa 770
0x46be 767
0x46d2 467
0x46e6 460
0x46fa 525

Here's the Noesis script for the test. No guarantee that it'll work with all files.

For role_m_000.s3d more fiddling to be required:
.

role_boots.png

[Bigchillghost]

Obfuscation at it's best - there's only few people who could have solved this riddle, congratz!

Obfuscation, is it? I thought it was just some old game format.

Offset = blockStart + PositionIdx*0x18 + 0xC
(Where PositionIDx is really crazy)

The PositionIdx is the index of the first vertex in a vertex weight group, followed by an int32 weight count. What doesn't make sense is that though the weights add up to 1.0, some skinned to non-zero bone ID are of zero weighted, why bother to store such info if they're weightless?

For role_m_000.s3d more fiddling to be required:

Yeah, I noticed that too. But based on the UV, shouldn't it be some kind of body part instead of a boot? I have a couple of theories of getting the actual positions: 1. calculate the average position coordinates in a vertex weight set, or their weighted average; 2. take the coordinates with the largest weight as the position of this vertex. But I don't have time to test it now.