Metal Gear Solid 2 - any luck?

[lionheartuk]

Aaaaaaaaaaand...
say hello to our friends Otacon

and Snake


Anyway, these are some teaser images of the current progress on the EVX files. I can pretty much convert all the face dir EVX's to a static model, ignoring the bones,and a few of the simple other ones (Including raiden's hair). Snake's EVX however is another matter, so I'm not releasing the current build to the public just yet.

OH...
There HEEERE!
Theres BONES in the newer EVX files?
Please DUDE if you cna figure out a way to export the bones ALONG with the OBJ files (I assumed ud export to that, but i have no idea).

So what DO these files contian exactly?
High Resolution Models? Or High Res models with Animations (please god export animations, Il be so happy).

Snakes EVX might be harder, for a few reasons.
- His beard isnt always a texture (simtimes its a sort of model right?)
- The Bandanna moves when he talks (I guess that makes it harder).

Is there any chance of relesing the File information (Headers,identifiers and such, so that the rest of Us can maybe add suport in our tools for XTI files, I of course need it for MGS3 and MGSTTS, but still Itd be nice to understand the models Propperly)

So these files are all from FACE dir EVX files then huh.
Hm... I wonder how hard it would be to move onto the Stage and Demo EVX files.
And what about the CVY files and the SAR ones, I dont expect support for them, but i wonder what they are for at least.

[TheDyingInformant]

OMG!!! Turfster, are you sure you don't have background experience as a MAGICIAN?

Wow, music files and now EVX are coming!

Well to be honest, I don't think I need anything from the BGM folder right now unless it has dialog in it, but I think that's found in VOX.DAT. Still, this is great! I will take a look at whats in there and see if anything is new.

One thing I would wanna do with music actually, the idea is very simple but the process probably is NOT because it would probably require the source code or something. I would take that 'Countdown to disaster' song, and make sure it plays uninterrupted the whole time - where as in the game right now, everytime you step outside, the music stops. It pretty much takes you out of that "oh crap I better hurry" vibe. Another thing, ofcourse, maybe someday, would be if I could make my own missions, I would include some new background music to play there (taken from Acid or something).

But no worries! This all comes later or never. but I am very impressed with your work here so far!

Yeah I understand, if you include the bones that could make things alot more complicated for you. I mean maybe bones would work if you had the same 3D program they used, but I don't think thats very convertable to other programs. That would be AWESOME for me, then I could pose the characters right away and not have to set them up first, but that's ok. From what I can tell sometimes, MGS2 characters could have used more joints and better deformation in some scenes. So making a skeleton from scratch is a good idea anyway. Plus, I needed to learn it. It's very easily actually in Maya, but I still want to edit some of the characters before I rig them.

And there we go, accessing EVX now too! I am not sure what CVY is, I think in some cases that looked like files that associate textures with the models - new textures that would be placed on that is, like when a guard bleeds. But sweet! EVX is definitely gonna give us access to more models. I think that should pretty much take care of that whole 'high res hands' for cutscenes dealio.

Thanks so much Turfster! I really really appreciate your time in this. My hero! lol

Oh and lionheart, Snake doesn't have a model for his beard. its very flatly on his face. They just have the two types of textures: beard and no beard, and then another 2 versions of those for when the camera is farther away. Yah the bandanna is a seperate piece and moves. I guess that is also why Raiden's hair is a seperate model, because it has to animate in its own way. In MGS3 Snake's hair animates, but only in the cutscenes.

I think all hair and cloth types of things are made into a seperate file. Where as ammo clips and stuff they are part of the main model, even though they bounce up and down. I knew that EVX must have had something to do with animations, and now I know its true since he mentioned bones. Also, the codec and cutscene characters have facial animation. I wonder what files those might be in? Well, not that we could do anything with that. Probably not.

[lionheartuk]

I knew that EVX must have had something to do with animations, and now I know its true since he mentioned bones. Also, the codec and cutscene characters have facial animation. I wonder what files those might be in? Well, not that we could do anything with that. Probably not.

He he, I thought ud be happy with the release of the music till I remembered you wanted the VOX voices anyways.

NEWSFLASH!
I KNOW WHAT THE 02D FILES ARE FOR!
Explanation: For Menu, Game over and ANYTHING that isnt ACTUALLY ingame THE GAME cannot use 3D models (itd be a waste, not to mention a memory drag)the game uses 02D files, these act much in the same way as a piece of CLEAR paper, you just whack an image on top of it and Walla ur done.
Of course you have to set up several to make a Menu.
Maybe il paste how to make a menu screen in a game.
As i have odne it MANY MANY times in Ruby script

[lionheartuk]

I have a quick Question.
The actual INGAME snake Models are just KMY files right.
And the EVX files are the Higher res onces for A:Close Ups and B: Cutscenes.

But im SURE in the NORMAL Ingame snakes eyes didnt look as bad as in the exported OBJ files.
This MAY be because of the fact that there not rendered Once Exported but its all Rendered Slightly by Direct X(whatever number) during actual gameplay.

THo Turfster you have already said that the EVX files are most likely NON static models.
Meanign that there models with Animations, So WHY if the other models wernt ANIMATED would they be in the game?
I dont remember seeing any STIL snake models anywhere (well actually using action replay on PS2 version YOU CAN get the model of snake ingame as a STATUE, he doesnt move he is just as when he is an OBJ file).

[TheDyingInformant]

NEWSFLASH!
I KNOW WHAT THE 02D FILES ARE FOR!
Explanation: For Menu, Game over and ANYTHING that isnt ACTUALLY ingame THE GAME cannot use 3D models (itd be a waste, not to mention a memory drag)the game uses 02D files, these act much in the same way as a piece of CLEAR paper, you just whack an image on top of it and Walla ur done.
Of course you have to set up several to make a Menu.
Maybe il paste how to make a menu screen in a game.
As i have odne it MANY MANY times in Ruby script

Woah, cool! Wait wait.... You mean we didn't already see these in the texture files? Do you mean you know how to actually create a WORKING menu screen? I thought you had to have access to the script/programming of the game to be able to change any of it. But there were guys previously able to change TEXT in the game. The names of the dogtags to be collected. I assumed this means that the menu screens could be changed too. If you make a guide, that would be great! Include screenshots too, that always makes it easier to follow along.

This is wonderful you guys! It almost feels like nothing is out of reach in this game, that its just a matter of time for everything to be possible. But don't worry, I won't place THAT much pressure on you guys or anything! I'm just really happy with the progress thus far!

PostPosted: Fri Sep 22, 2006 9:01 am Post subject:
I have a quick Question.
The actual INGAME snake Models are just KMY files right.
And the EVX files are the Higher res onces for A:Close Ups and B: Cutscenes.

But im SURE in the NORMAL Ingame snakes eyes didnt look as bad as in the exported OBJ files.
This MAY be because of the fact that there not rendered Once Exported but its all Rendered Slightly by Direct X(whatever number) during actual gameplay.

I'm not quite sure what you are referring to here. For one, I think I already told you that there are many models in the game, including Raiden and Snake, that have a higher and lower res models - that is, more polys in one than the other one. this is particularly noticable in the FACE. In gameplay for instance, when either Snake or Raiden is farther away from the camera, their head switches to a lower poly head. One which doesn't have round eyes but just slight pits for eyes with a eye texture pasted on top.

So there are two models of Raiden and Snake that you will find, I forget what the differences in the filenames are right now, it was something like Sna_def_sh_st (I probably got it wrong), but you will notice there are two versions of them.

HOWEVER, even if you find them in the cutscenes folders, they still have low poly hands (not what is shown in most cutscenes), and they don't have teeth, so those specialised models must be in the EVX files. I'm pretty sure the models don't have any other differences.

If you mean the TEXTURES for the eyes, well, in general I noticed the textures don't look as good as in the game. I'm not quite sure why, but I think the game renders it a certain way.

I hope that helps. Otherwise, maybe Turfster has more answers about that.

[lionheartuk]

Woah, cool! Wait wait.... You mean we didn't already see these in the texture files? Do you mean you know how to actually create a WORKING menu screen? I thought you had to have access to the script/programming of the game to be able to change any of it. But there were guys previously able to change TEXT in the game. The names of the dogtags to be collected. I assumed this means that the menu screens could be changed too. If you make a guide, that would be great! Include screenshots too, that always makes it easier to follow along.

Well you dont have to change the programming to replace the 02D files.
It should be able to be done in the same way as replacing ingame textures.
Well ACTUALLY u onl have to REPLACE the textures anyways, because the 02D files are just floating clear sheets of data.
The texture would go on top.
But thinking about it, We did really already know this.
As in the Solidus Tutorial Turfster explained how to replace the main menu texture.
SO its jsut the same as that lol.

I actually ment I understand what they are for, As i never really realised before, though it was kinda obvious.

[Turfster]

And in this week's build, we bring you :
* (static) EVX to OBJ conversion
No bones yet, but at least all files should convert now
* stage, face and slot.dat file extraction
I've coded up some stuff that *should* allow you to extract files from the above dat files in the PC, PS2 and GC versions of the game. Note that I've only been able to test it on the PC version, and a 2 meg partial of the GC file, but it seems to work as intended. I'd appreciate it if people with the other versions could test it (for the PS2 files, you'll need to check "treat DAT files as PS2 files" in the general section of the options).
Also note that just because the extracted file has a known extension (kmy or xti), it doesn't mean Solidus will be able to convert it - so no, Solidus can't convert the GC files (yet).

[lionheartuk]

And in this week's build, we bring you :
* (static) EVX to OBJ conversion
No bones yet, but at least all files should convert now
* stage, face and slot.dat file extraction
I've coded up some stuff that *should* allow you to extract files from the above dat files in the PC, PS2 and GC versions of the game. Note that I've only been able to test it on the PC version, and a 2 meg partial of the GC file, but it seems to work as intended. I'd appreciate it if people with the other versions could test it (for the PS2 files, you'll need to check "treat DAT files as PS2 files" in the general section of the options).
Also note that just because the extracted file has a known extension (kmy or xti), it doesn't mean Solidus will be able to convert it - so no, Solidus can't convert the GC files (yet).

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY
Il test it on MGS2 and MGS3, Maybe the GC version aswell.

Any chance maybe before the next Solidus release(if there is one) u cud work on them GC files
As i learned that there a different Endian But im currently not good enuf to understand HOW to convert and stuff.
If i have your space or soemthing to upload to il do as many fiels as you need.

[federico]

Turfster, your work is really fantastic! I'm trying to develop an indie action game, so look into the archives and see all the level geometry and models is really inspiring.
It's incredible to see how simple are the textures, the geometry, the lighting on geometry level is drawn directly on the textures! wow, simple is always better!
My main hope still, is that we can extract and export the character animations, I mean the in-game animations. Your work on evx files is a great progress on this way. Keep up the good work!

A note about the evx conversion into OBJ format. I think there is some problem about vertex order in the OBJ file because the faces are correctly ib place but some of these are turned in the weong direction. I post some screen to let you understand (taken from milkshape but the result is the same also in Deep Exploration).

[Turfster]

A note about the evx conversion into OBJ format. I think there is some problem about vertex order in the OBJ file because the faces are correctly ib place but some of these are turned in the weong direction. I post some screen to let you understand (taken from milkshape but the result is the same also in Deep Exploration).

You're right, that's... odd, since I use the exact same vertex swapping as I use in the KMY converter, and there it works without problems.
I'll look into this.

[lionheartuk]

A note about the evx conversion into OBJ format. I think there is some problem about vertex order in the OBJ file because the faces are correctly ib place but some of these are turned in the weong direction. I post some screen to let you understand (taken from milkshape but the result is the same also in Deep Exploration).

You're right, that's... odd, since I use the exact same vertex swapping as I use in the KMY converter, and there it works without problems.
I'll look into this.

Ahh yes lol.
I remember now what i found out lol.
The problem with the TGA exporter is back lol.
When i export the EVX files the hair has white bits in it, almost a as if it was a collection of paper with lines on it lol.
Also is it just me or do i need to EXPORT the EVX files before I can COnvert them.
The fact that the EVX files do not have the ability to be viewed doest bother me lol.
Yes the Twin Snakes STAGE.DAT works fine, I eported several things from it, Of course the.MY files canot be opened and the .textures files are the same with Solidus.
Il try the NEW VERSION out on MGS2 and MGS3, tho MGS3 i dont expect to work cos STAGE.DAT and most of the dats other then VOX.DAT are all encrypted.
And i cant get past it, was hoping MAYBE you could tryit some day in the future lol.

[J-Stan]

Wow, I'm really impressed with the progress of this "project". I've been having some troubles though with Solidus though and I was wondering if one of you guys can clear it up. Everytime i try to convert a model file(KMY/EVX) into and OBJ file using the option to stick to submesh definitions i get this error:

Code: Select all

Acess violation at address 0049F44E in module 'Solidus.exe'.  Read address 00000000

Any ideas as to what causes this and it I can fix it?

[Turfster]

Code: Select all

Acess violation at address 0049F44E in module 'Solidus.exe'.  Read address 00000000

Any ideas as to what causes this and it I can fix it?

Whoops, my bad, fixed in the new build.
Also in the new build :
* faster gamecube data file extraction
* one gamecube texture type decoded (couple more to go)



(don't mind the crappy jpg compression)

Edit : well, decoding isn't 100% correct yet (note the black marks on the left of the snake/otacon picture)

[lionheartuk]

Code: Select all

Acess violation at address 0049F44E in module 'Solidus.exe'.  Read address 00000000

Any ideas as to what causes this and it I can fix it?

Whoops, my bad, fixed in the new build.
Also in the new build :
* faster gamecube data file extraction
* one gamecube texture type decoded (couple more to go)



(don't mind the crappy jpg compression)

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!!!!!!!!!!
HA HAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ONE TEXTURE TYPE? HOw many types are there then?
Hm.. How odd.
Thinking about it, shoulding u change the SOlidus Blog thing from "Mgs2 tool" to soemthing else, As it also does MGS1 dars lol And no GC game aswell, Doesnt do the PS2 anyinth though, but most likely because there all encrypted.

[lionheartuk]

A note about the evx conversion into OBJ format. I think there is some problem about vertex order in the OBJ file because the faces are correctly ib place but some of these are turned in the weong direction..

Actually Yes I have noticed that on MSOT of the models at least 1 -6 faces are flipped the incorrect way.
Of course I always fix it myself in the program, though I did notice that the EVX snake was much more flipped then the rest.
---------Sorry for Double POST-----------

I have used the New Solidus on the MGSTTS Texture files(Many actually work, yay).
Though all of the ones Have converted to TGA correctly soem are just ODD looking, Wheras allt he Character Textures are perfect and Object textures also look perfect, It seems to be only the LEVEL textures that are still OFF looking(Well they LOOK like level textures its hard to actually tell).