Author Topic: FF7 Crisis Core - File Format and Data Investigation  (Read 200361 times)

SOLDIERBOY

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How do you use the mesh2rdm? I'm alittle airheaded some times lol I bet  it's there i'm just not seeing how it works I can look at the models but i can't do anything else xD i'm so lame I know.

koral

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duoblade, that looks cool  :lol:

SOLDIERBOY
You aren't the first person to ask about using mesh2rdm, so I have added a little compendium of useful pointers to using the tool in my first post here: http://forums.qhimm.com/index.php?topic=8290 (scroll down)

And please dont post in both this topic and the Dissidia one about the same problem, it makes things a little confusing.
Just pick one and post there.  :wink:

SOLDIERBOY

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Sorry about that I kinda got mix up when I was posting. maybe i should wake up alittle more befor getting on the computer.  :-)but thank you very much. we did get to work now i am just trying to figure out how to get it to work in my max  he imports fine and everything but cant get anything to  stay on the mesh.

Karlislie

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Id like to post some ideas and information.

Has anyone noticed that in some files that the phrase "leaf" is always mentioned?
You can see it in my search.
Download here: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?j4wdmmqnzox

Also I assume it isnt possible to play animations from the files?
From what I recall from yaz0r he said that he compared the files that have animation from the ones that didn't or something and was able to animate them, how ever I'm not 100% sure.
Maybe the same could be done for CC?

On another note;
How exactly are the MBD files scripted? Whats the proper syntax to script new events for a possible extended play?
Maybe a save/edit function could be added.

And how can the files be pac ked back to pkg?
Or maybe they can be read from a data folder?
That way new changes dont require repacking.

Will the feature for auto assigning the textures upon export be added?

And will it be possible to view the high quality heads and other parts?
You've come  so far why not go the extra mile?

In the ATEL files there is an order to making events?
Like Play BGM first, move char, dialogue???

And lastly has anyone looked into the elf binary? (boot.bin)
At 001a2bc0h you can see 41 65 72 69 74 68 Which translates to Aerith

koral

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Welcome to Quimm's!
A lot of questions you have there, the answer to most of them is a solid "maybe", possibly a "no".  :wink:
But I will try to be a little more specific, clumping your questions for easier reading/answering.

Also I assume it isnt possible to play animations from the files?
From what I recall from yaz0r he said that he compared the files that have animation from the ones that didn't or something and was able to animate them, how ever I'm not 100% sure.
Maybe the same could be done for CC?
I cant care less what Mr. yaz0r had to say (unless he posts here to tell me about it  :-P)
Animations are there in the files, but I am not interested in them right now. Maybe someday, but not anytime soon  :-D

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Has anyone noticed that in some files that the phrase "leaf" is always mentioned?
How exactly are the MBD files scripted? Whats the proper syntax to script new events for a possible extended play?
Maybe a save/edit function could be added.
And how can the files be pac ked back to pkg?
Or maybe they can be read from a data folder? That way new changes dont require repacking.
In the ATEL files there is an order to making events? Like Play BGM first, move char, dialogue???
I noticed those "Leafs" a long time ago too, most likely they represent some manual heirarchy for the Event models, perhaps for culling purposes or event sequencing.

By the sound of your other questions, it seems you want to Mod the game (and want to know more about how Event scripting works). I have no problem with that, maybe other people would be interested in it too.  :-)
But I wont be looking into event-stuff much though (now that I can extract characters, and soon maps), and my "viewer" tool definitly wont ever have the options to allow re-writing stored data.

So you will either have to write your own tool, or wait for someone else to do it, but it wont be me :lol:

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Will the feature for auto assigning the textures upon export be added?
That is a quirk with the export option, and I need to correct it soon.  :oops:
It makes it impossible to export location-map models  :-P

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And will it be possible to view the high quality heads and other parts?
um, you can already view them :-)
Try exporting them out, you wont notice the difference in the viewer, but you will when you look at the wire-mesh in any 3D proggy

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You've come  so far why not go the extra mile?
This really bugged me.
Not all of us are as gifted programmers/hackers as MrAdults or yaz0r, so to "go that extra mile" for those guys may not be of much consequence for them, but generally means a lot of extra hours or days of coding for me.
I am definitly not in the same league as them, I have zero qualifications in programming, and everything I do, I do because I want to.
I like 3d-modelling more than programming actually, so the "extra mile" would be spent there :-P

Quote
And lastly has anyone looked into the elf binary? (boot.bin)
At 001a2bc0h you can see 41 65 72 69 74 68 Which translates to Aerith
I haven't looked myself, I dont know about other people.


If you have any more "information" then dont fret to post here.
They might not interest me much, but other Quimm-ers may be extremely interested to listen to what you have to say
:wink:

MrAdults

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Also I assume it isnt possible to play animations from the files?
From what I recall from yaz0r he said that he compared the files that have animation from the ones that didn't or something and was able to animate them, how ever I'm not 100% sure.
Maybe the same could be done for CC?
.ffb and .ffa are not at all related to Crisis Core models. Additionally, at least in the cases I observed, the animations aren't in the same raw files as the model data. It's certainly find-able (maybe koral already knows which files it's in?) but it isn't really a trivial matter to put all the pieces together, particularly pertaining to automatically attaching mesh files to animation/skeleton files without some manner of hardcoding (bone counts and hierarchy matches would be rather haphazard).

And will it be possible to view the high quality heads and other parts?
As koral said, this should already be possible in both of our viewers. I noticed higher-quality versions of a few characters in there (like Genesis). You just have to find them.

You've come  so far why not go the extra mile?
I'm not sure if this was just in reference to high-quality parts (which you can already view) or the sum of all of your questions/requests here. But if it was in reference to the sum, that isn't really an extra mile, it's more like doubling the length of the journey. :)

Karlislie

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Hi there,

Thanks for replying koral and MrAdults.

I wasn't referencing to the .ffa/.ffb itself, I meant the method on which he was able to animate them.
But yeah the fact that the models are viewable is a major accomplishment, the animations are not really important at the moment.

Adding extended parts to the game is my intention.

The reason I brought up the hi quality data is because koral saaid here:

About those "split-textures", NeoCloudstrife is right they are just higher-quality textures (and models) of the head and torso split like this to make it more efficient. No point loading a super high-quality model if only the head will be shown, right?

I didn't know that they were actually viewable.

I'll post some stuff able the elf executables later.

And you can actually repack the files, its a tool called Xpert2,
Here is the plugin for Crisis Core.

Also in the file is the LBA.

Download here: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?j5tnduxoemd

G's extractor seems to be a better quality from what I saw, I'll send him a PM.

Edit: Sorry if I jump from item to item, I'm just trying to get what I need to say out.
« Last Edit: 2009-04-09 18:19:35 by Karlislie »

aljnx

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I just wanted to add that the background music (SSCF audio files) can be converted to wav or mp3 without using the psp. :-) These are the SSCF audio files right? You can convert them using this program here:
http://www.marcnetsystem.co.uk/himdrenderer054.zip
I know it's a Hi-md renderer, but it converts the background music perfectly. Interesting huh?
The voices ( RIFF I think)can be converted by simply changing the extension to .wav and installing the ATRAC3 codec. The wiki says the only way to decode the SSCF audio is using the PSP hardware and AT3 decoder, though :-D
« Last Edit: 2009-04-10 15:39:39 by aljnx »

koral

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Thankyou Karlislie and aljnx for those bits of (informative) information!
Time to update the Wiki again!  :-D

sorayahya

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How much left till you will release v0.50 I rely need to get the maps is there any way I can help you to release it?

Karlislie

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sorayahya, Don't rush koral, its worth the wait.
I know when she releases the new version all of us will love it.

aljnx, thanks for the tip, I'v been wondering how to open them.
I wonder if there is a codec for it...

Here is a listing of all SSCF files.
Download it here: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?jime4mmzydn

The syntax follows:

0   SSCF     Ã–  É                       @   @   D¬d    ÿ_Ê              @   @   D¬d    ÿ_Ê              €+      Å“n(    ÿ_Ê               0  p   Ã°U-    ÿ_Ê              C  0)  À]d    ÿ_Ê              Àl   :   NP (  ÿ_Ê              `§  à   "Vd    ÿ_Ê   
 01351.raw  -  72.176 bytes  -  Mon, 06.04.09 at 17:15  -  C:\Documents and Settings\*\**

The first 0 is the line number SSCF appeared on (this matters because if its on a line number like 1.160.784 it probably isn't one)
01351.raw is obviously the file name


aljnx

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  errrmm.... Are my files named differently or something? I'm confused. Mine are named file000000, file000001, ect. :? I extracted them using Xpert 2. Could someone clear this up?
  Also, I opened up the background files in a hex editor and it begins with RIFF.  :oops: I just assumed they were SSCF since they didn't open like the other sound files.  Sorry for any confusion. Like I said before, only the Hi-MD renderer opens the background music.

Karlislie

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You used Xpert 2, that should only be used for repacking the files.
In my option it doesn't extract all of the files properly, not to mention all of the extra Zero byte files.

Also not to mention it names all of the files differently, the easy thing for everyone to be on the same page is to extract the files by using G's extractor.

All of the files that we are referencing to were extracted with G's extractor get it here: http://superg.org.ua/ff7cc_extractor.tar.bz2

I haven't opened the SSCF files yet, I'm looking for a way to open them, not convert them.
Anyone have some ideas on that?

Karlislie


Edit:

Has anyone noticed that the monster data hasent been seen yet?

I did some comparing and I noticed that Magnitude 8 appeared in seven files.
In file

1474
1708
1775
1776
1777
1805
1909

So I will be using 1474;

I was using koral's viewer and splitting it apart, in to a total of 52 some chunks, so I did another look for Magnitude 8 and It is in 1474 Chunk #12 (Remember zero is counted)
Its at offset: 166784
So what does chunk twelve contain....?

Apparently it can be viewed in mesh2rdm.exe but its only a black screen, but thats not all something else cought my eye.
When its viewed in koral's
Theres four files

? 1
? 2
image (type -T-) for some reason it cant be viewed
? 3

But that's not all.
Open it in a Hex editor ( I use UltraEdit v14 )
At the top you can see its a && File

Go to 000005b0h and theres an ATEL header. (41 74 65 6C)
Apparently there are Atel files within Atel files.
And apparently this file contains monster information on Vajradhara Rakshasa (go to 00006be0h the last line)
« Last Edit: 2009-04-13 05:12:47 by Karlislie »

koral

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I am caught up in something right now and I might not get much free time with this project for the next couple of weeks, so I have uploaded the new version of the viewer so you check out the map-models in the mean time.

The crash was due to something with the texture-loading and/or creation routines, so to get around it I had to disable textures altogether for this release.

The program now has a name and an identity: The RINOA File Viewer :wink:

and you can download the latest version of it here (v0.5 pre-release alpha):
http://www.mediafire.com/?lhdwztmh2xn


Notes:
  • Remember, ALL Textures are disabled!
  • No export options (it uses DX9 if you really want to rip them)
  • Press SPACEBAR to toggle between 1st-person camera and overview camera
  • G and H keys toggle file-select-window visibility


I will continue working on this when I get time, but it wont be for a while.
But I wanted you to all know I have not given up yet :wink:

Karlislie, I havent read your post fully, but it sounds like some interesting stuff you have discovered.
I will look into it sometime later.

 :-D

BlitzNCS

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Thanks a lot, Koral, and nice new name :D
However, the viewer doesn't seem to be able to view map models. it is supposed to, right?

koral

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It should work, have you tried selecting the samples?



It looks ugly without textures, but it's the Banora Outskirts map and you can see the vertex-shading they have used.

RINOA uses DX9 permanently now, so it should work fine on vista and everything.
Could anyone confirm for me if the viewer works properly for them? I know it works for me, but I may have done something weird again  :oops:

ultima espio

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It works fine for me.

BlitzNCS

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ah, i remember now. I used to have aproblem where only your samples would work, and my files wouldn't, even though they were the same.... i'll have to try and remember how we sorted that out...

sorayahya

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nice now I can continue my work

MrAdults

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Great work again, koral. :) I'm looking forward to browsing through some of the locations.

Lucleonhart

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I'm gonna check this out, too... Downloaded it two times... Please update first post with new version. :)
Thanks for your awesome work! :)

squallff8

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2 Koral
BTW is it possible to rip Bike model from exebition floor in Shin-ra building? And use it in FF7 bike level? :?

Satoh

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If you'll pardon me for answering...

Surely it can be ripped, as for using it in the bike minigame, I can't say with any certainty... I've never seen anyone specifically replace that model. (By this I mean I myself haven't seen it. I do not imply anything about whether or not it can be done.)


*Exhibition.

Ahh... every time I come through Tech-Related I get a bit sad about my inability to rip things like some of the rest of you... I have so many games I want investigated, but no time, or skill, necessary.

Koral and MrAdults specifically, you two are my model decoding heroes. I've never seen anyone else get so much done so fast. Is there a secret you have? Like being aliens?

squallff8

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If you'll pardon me for answering...

Surely it can be ripped, as for using it in the bike minigame, I can't say with any certainty... I've never seen anyone specifically replace that model. (By this I mean I myself haven't seen it. I do not imply anything about whether or not it can be done.)


I saw bike model by my self(when tried Kimera program) in minigame LGP archive.I'll try to find it someday later.

Actually i wanted to replace it with THIS model from PSX FFVII International Bonus Disc:


 but looks like there no PSX model ripper/viewer :cry:

koral

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Sorry about the half-hearted releases, but my life is really touch-and-go at the moment so I can only work on it at random spurts any chance I get  :|

I have fixed the issue with the textures now, so here is the new version of the RINOA viewer (v0.5 pre-release beta): http://www.mediafire.com/?dolini4ljyg

So now it is possible to flick through all the map-models and character models, complete with textures.
But there are still some major issues with the interlacing, and random "noise" also seems to have crept in, resulting in little black (or odd coloured) pixels littering the scene.

Notes:
  • No export options (it uses DX9 if you really want to rip them)
  • Press SPACEBAR to toggle between 1st-person camera and overview camera
  • G and H keys toggle file-select-window visibility
.
I had also forgotten to mention that [GT], [ATEL] and [MBD] files are not currently viewable in this new viewer tool (hence the beta status), I will get around to it later.

And there are some maps which never load, and simply crash the viewer.
Those Blacklisted files are:
.
Code: [Select]
2016
2024
2027
2037
2045
2062
2063
2078
2105
2138



squallff8
the vehicles are part of the Shinra-museum(ground floor) map, so probably can be ripped if you extract the entire map.

I dont have the FF7 Bonus disc so I cant look into those nice models you have shown us, but if you (or anyone) could upload some of the data files then I might check it out.


x-dina
dont forget the legendary Quimm and his band of merry FF7 (de)coders!
Without those awesome guys, we wouldn't be here discussing this stuff!  :-D