MDM File Format Documentation

acQu · 2017-02-25 23:35:16 UTC

It has been more than 15 years already, but the mdm format is still a nut to crack. Are there some old modders/devs around who can provide basic info on this file format, so that one can maybe get an importer/exporter for blender going? This would be so great. Not getting my hopes up, but if there is someone who can provide some information on how this format works, this would be great: all what is needed is something like this => https://www.icculus.org/homepages/phaethon/q3a/formats/md3format.html

Have fun.

ryven · 2017-02-26 09:03:57 UTC

https://dev.etlegacy.com/projects/etlegacy/wiki/ET_Player_Models_Documentation ?
But i guess, you are searching file structure instead, which can be found in the source code among other interesting stuff:

mdm

github.com

id-Software/Enemy-Territory/blob/master/src/qcommon/qfiles.h#L672




	int boneIndex;
	vec3_t offset;


	int numBoneReferences;
	int ofsBoneReferences;


	int ofsEnd;                     // next tag follows
} mdmTag_t;


typedef struct {
	int ident;
	int version;


	char name[MAX_QPATH];           // model name
/*	char		bonesfile[MAX_QPATH];	// bone file


#ifdef UTILS
	int			skel;
#else
	// dummy in file, set on load to link to MDX

github.com

id-Software/Enemy-Territory/blob/master/src/renderer/tr_model.c#L1339


	}


	return qtrue;
}


/*
=================
R_LoadMDM
=================
*/
static qboolean R_LoadMDM( model_t *mod, void *buffer, const char *mod_name ) {
	int i, j, k;
	mdmHeader_t         *pinmodel, *mdm;
//    mdmFrame_t			*frame;
	mdmSurface_t        *surf;
	mdmTriangle_t       *tri;
	mdmVertex_t         *v;
	mdmTag_t            *tag;
	int version;
	int size;
	shader_t            *sh;

mdx

github.com

id-Software/Enemy-Territory/blob/master/src/qcommon/qfiles.h#L748


} mdxBoneFrame_t;


typedef struct {
	char name[MAX_QPATH];           // name of bone
	int parent;                     // not sure if this is required, no harm throwing it in
	float torsoWeight;              // scale torso rotation about torsoParent by this
	float parentDist;
	int flags;
} mdxBoneInfo_t;


typedef struct {
	int ident;
	int version;


	char name[MAX_QPATH];           // model name


	// bones are shared by all levels of detail
	int numFrames;
	int numBones;
	int ofsFrames;                  // (mdxFrame_t + mdxBoneFrameCompressed_t[numBones]) * numframes
	int ofsBones;                   // mdxBoneInfo_t[numBones]

github.com

id-Software/Enemy-Territory/blob/master/src/renderer/tr_model.c#L1535


	}


	return qtrue;
}


/*
=================
R_LoadMDX
=================
*/
static qboolean R_LoadMDX( model_t *mod, void *buffer, const char *mod_name ) {
	int i, j;
	mdxHeader_t                 *pinmodel, *mdx;
	mdxFrame_t                  *frame;
	short                       *bframe;
	mdxBoneInfo_t               *bi;
	int version;
	int size;
	int frameSize;


	pinmodel = (mdxHeader_t *)buffer;

acQu · 2017-02-26 14:06:06 UTC

Oh wow, i didn’t think these were in the GPLd source, thanks

I then wonder, if all info is there, why there is seemingly no import/export script to find for blender? Must be my search skills again … i saw a thread of a guy on blender artists though, which looked promising, but imo he didn’t release or provide a script: https://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?244585-md3-mdm-mdx-import-export-quake-style-models-and-etxreal(otc6-mod)

ryven · 2017-02-26 15:14:01 UTC

i think his scripts are hosted here: https://sourceforge.net/p/otc6/code/HEAD/tree/branches/otc6_etxreal01/otc6/blender/

acQu · 2017-02-26 17:35:52 UTC

Looks like i have found another thing to knock myself out with:

twt_thunder · 2017-02-27 16:24:03 UTC

acQu, get yourself discord and join thewolfteam… think I dropped a blender model of the player there

twt_thunder · 2017-02-27 16:39:15 UTC

Btw, tried at the blenderforums and asked for help:

but its just like other forums…

acQu · 2018-01-25 20:00:54 UTC

I can tell that i am really close to an importer for Blender.

A little flawed preview => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpKCh5L8Mpg

Documentation will be done afterwards, and if i get my hands on mds files, then i might as well do the mds stuff as well, cause both formats are very similar.

twt_thunder · 2018-01-25 20:05:52 UTC

awesome acQu, will it be importer and exporter?

acQu · 2018-01-25 20:24:53 UTC

The goal is an importer first, then the exporter. For the export i will need to find a good method to export the collapse map for LOD. I know how it works, but actually doing it is another thing.

By the way, this helped me much in understanding the format: http://www.thewolfteam.org/wiki/unofficial-return-to-castle-wolfenstein-mds-file-format-spec-v1-0/

KeMoN · 2018-01-26 12:56:31 UTC

Good lord, this is pure gold!
This is one of the biggest things that have been missing for community modding since the release of RtCW.

Thank you so much for your efforts and time you put into this.
Highly appreciated.

Good luck for the remaining work.

acQu · 2018-01-30 17:43:49 UTC

Another milestone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufQUe2JUP_M Now with the rotation and location values of bones correctly animated (previously this did not work 100%).

So an importer is on its way (the rest of the stuff like uvmap and normals i know how to do). Will need at least a month or two, cause rl.

Loffy · 2018-02-01 07:17:49 UTC

acQu for Prez!

twt_thunder · 2018-02-01 09:37:01 UTC

fantastic work man!!

Smurfer · 2018-02-01 13:38:50 UTC

“Gamemode: Disco”
“Gamemode: Pushups”
“Gamemode: Armwrestling”
“Gamemode: Headbanging”

etc etc ?

Agreed!

KeMoN · 2018-02-01 19:02:35 UTC

Yes! Seriously, a working blender importer AND exporter for playermodels is incredibly huge for ET and RtCW.
The problem with creating completely new playermodels is, that they require animations as well. Also if the animations aren’t in sync with the vanilla models/animations, it is not possible to use new models in any project that aims for backward-compatibility. But being able to import the vanilla models and edit their mesh without changing references, bone structures and therefore animations, is absolutely HUGE.

acQu · 2018-02-02 12:46:28 UTC

I would need to get my hands on MDS files as well to make this useful for RtCW though But step after step. Working on the tags currently, and prey that everything works as expected …

EDIT

I would need to get my hands on MDS files

Nvm, found some over at moddb

acQu · 2018-02-23 20:59:18 UTC

Here is another clipwhich shows that i can now export animations. I just need to figure out how the bounding box works and the mdx import/export is done, needs only some final testing.

The next thing will be the mesh, but i just want to say that i currently have absolutely no time to finish this as planned, so it might take at least a few weeks/maybe 1 or 2 months to finish properly (you know, making it production ready). Couple of things still left untouched, like the collapse map, and maybe some tag stuff might not work as expected during export.

ronboy · 2018-02-23 21:30:06 UTC

[QUOTE=acQu;572845]Here is another clipwhich shows that i can now export animations. I just need to figure out how the bounding box works and the mdx import/export is done, needs only some final testing.

The next thing will be the mesh, but i just want to say that i currently have absolutely no time to finish this as planned, so it might take at least a few weeks/maybe 1 or 2 months to finish properly (you know, making it production ready). Couple of things still left untouched, like the collapse map, and maybe some tag stuff might not work as expected during export.[/QUOTE]

Nice work. New animations are always welcome!

twt_thunder · 2018-02-24 22:10:48 UTC

take your time mate, a month or 2 isnt the biggest deal… we been missing this for years allready