XeNTaX

I've had an interest in extracting models from MechAssault 2 on the original Xbox. I have next to zero skill in extraction at present, but want to learn so I can contribute more. I also know this is likely obscure as far as interest goes, so I assume I'd be doing most of the leg work myself anyway. If anyone is willing to help me gain a better understanding of the process it would be greatly appreciated.

I have the files on a modded Xbox (presently having ftp issues), but from what I can tell most stuff is in the .mgf format. I see files for cinema, levels, templates etc.

Anyone have any suggestions or know of anything already available that will open .mgf container files?

Thanks in Advance

I didn't worked yet on Mechassault 2, but I second your request too.

I love this game so much (Mad Cat and Nova Cat FTW ! ).

zaykho wrote:I didn't worked yet on Mechassault 2, but I second your request too.

I love this game so much (Mad Cat and Nova Cat FTW ! ).

Yeah there's some great stuff in there. I'm starting dig my way through some of the resources, it'll probably be slow, but hopefully educational.

Well upload some sample here, maybe someone will help us to convert this format.

zaykho wrote:Well upload some sample here, maybe someone will help us to convert this format.

Good idea.

I did get ftp working last night, so I have the files. However, I don't want to get in trouble for posting code I shouldn't, so what would be the best way to go about sharing / 'cropping' an actual game file. I know its an 8 year old game that is unlikely to resurface, but still just playin' it safe. I have the '3dlobby.mgf' which 'hopefully' should be an easier place to start.

Protocol X27 wrote:

zaykho wrote:Well upload some sample here, maybe someone will help us to convert this format.

Good idea.

I did get ftp working last night, so I have the files. However, I don't want to get in trouble for posting code I shouldn't, so what would be the best way to go about sharing / 'cropping' an actual game file. I know its an 8 year old game that is unlikely to resurface, but still just playin' it safe. I have the '3dlobby.mgf' which 'hopefully' should be an easier place to start.

Send me some sample files by PM, and then I will upload them here.

Roger that, PM away

If there's something more optimal I should do let me know. Hopefully I can get some more study work done soon. So far I haven't gotten past opening it in the Hex Editor. XD

That is a pretty strange place to be stuck at.

finale00 wrote:That is a pretty strange place to be stuck at.

Strange because I should be doing something else, or because I have no idea what I'm doing? XD I'm all ears if I should be following another approach.

Protocol X27 wrote:Roger that, PM away

If there's something more optimal I should do let me know. Hopefully I can get some more study work done soon. So far I haven't gotten past opening it in the Hex Editor. XD

Thanks, here the sample for those who want to help us.

http://www.mediafire.com/?yath6tyzr6fphzo

BTW @Protocol X27, we will need more samples for being able to compare the result.

zaykho wrote: BTW @Protocol X27, we will need more samples for being able to compare the result.

Cool,

Here's a few more files, not anymore glaringly useful to me, but not saying much since I don't know jack. XD

http://www.mediafire.com/?9192x0s111qwoed

I included a cinema file, mission file, template, common and text.mgf. The only one I could even see anything in was the text.mgf which looks like it includes the fonts and credits. Might at least yield some utility as to structure.

I don't know if any of this helps or not, I forgot to mention that the container is a Material & Geometry format. Looks like it is a standard format although not widely accepted one. There seemed to be a couple of dlls that control accessing it. Does it seem practical to hunt a library down that would interact with these formats? I also saw a large writeup on the actual structure of the file format, but it was rather academic in what it does. If that sounds helpful I track down the link, but again, I know very little as to what is useful or not at this point.

If anyone has any particular sleuthing methods in approaching this, I wouldn't mind hearing suggestions so I have a better understanding of what occurs in this process. I've been going through the file format exploration write up that was on the wiki, but I'm still foggy on a few things. Is there a better thread to ask general questions about that stuff?

Thanks

its just an zlib compressed file
offzip.exe -1 -a c:\file.dat c:\output 0
that will extract the file
here is a quickbms the follows the structure but offzip is most likely faster.

chrrox wrote:its just an zlib compressed file
offzip.exe -1 -a c:\file.dat c:\output 0
that will extract the file
here is a quickbms the follows the structure but offzip is most likely faster.

Dang, chrrox, that was quick.

Of the files I zipped it looks like only the text.mgf was not compressed, not expecting it to be useful anyway. XD I started digging through them, and how about that much easier to read now. Not sure where I'm going to start just yet, but there is discernable stuff in the cinematic and template files for sure. I'm seeing model references for Foster, Natalia, Power Armor, etc. Some textures are in .tif, also see some MGMODEL file extensions. Does that mean anything?

I have no idea if any of this is helpful. Just been spending time finding consistencies... I am struggling understanding what I'm looking for in terms of file offsets. I see file names grouped together, but not no link to where they're accessed.

I punted on the cinema / mission files for a while and focused on the common.mgf.

Anyway, here's what I've run across

Initial GRAIS / Bytes, common to .mgf container files
HEX: 6D 67 66 20 04 01 5A 5A:
ASCII: mgf ..ZZ


File formats
.ltf
.mtb
.tif
.MGMODEL {xx verts}, {xx indices}
.NODE
.ANM
.mgparticle
.mat

File Length: Variable

Consistent Values found by file type: 4 Bytes, unknown purpose (to me at least)

common.mgf
----------
.ANM: 17 36 6F 35

.MGModel: 81 CF C8 B6

.mtb: 3C 34 CA 59

.ltf: C5 59 A5 F4

.mgparticle: 56 BC 45 F5

.NODE: 81 CF C8 B6

.mat: 47 EC 98 39

.tif: ?? Variable

File Format
--
4 Bytes: Header (Static by File Type (except .tifs)) (??)
4 Bytes: Filename Length
X Bytes: Filename + Null Byte
4 Bytes: 02 2F 02 FF - Consistent
4 Bytes: __ 00 00 00 - First Byte Varies
X Bytes: Remainder of File

Any pro's have any suggestions, or some good tutorials I could start checking into?