02-14-2016, 01:39 AM
Hello all, coming out of the depths of pure confusion, I've decided to make this little thread explaining the processing of this game I've found. I thought it would be neat as I really am enjoying learning about this. Working with me is Telespentry, and we've recovered a few interesting things from this game. Let's begin with the story:
I thought it would be an easy VGSC convert to rip sounds from the game Blackhawk Striker 2. I downloaded the game, and BAM. Specifically compressed files made by that company. Extensions such as *.wwv and *.wsbm I didn't know what I was looking at. I threw the audio file in chat asking for some help and read the header data. "Wild Tangent 3d 300 Compression" came up and I sent that info back into the chat. Looking through an archive website, Telespentry managed to recover tools from 15 years ago (Dates back to 2001). The two tools he eventually found were "WTViewer" and a Wild Tangent Web Plugin necessary to run WTViewer. The problem was we thought the Web Plugin was long gone; but luckily it wasn't. Opening up WTViewer, I was able to import the audio files (the *.wwv), play them at the proper sample rate, rip them and upload 'em to TSOR. I originally thought the game was made up of complete sprites, and found several menu images etc. Ripped those, until I ran into a texture for the playable choppers of the game. I realized that there were in fact models in the game and looked for the extension of it. However, I had no luck. Telespentry tried ninja ripper in it, and got it to work. While he continued to look for the models, I ripped and organized the textures onto TTR. The issue was the game was on Directx 5 &7, and not 8, which Ninja Ripper supports. However, that was the opposite. Adjusting some settings, telespentry managed to recover the UV's and the Blackhawk Chopper model. We learned that the game creates a new rotated plane every frame, so ripping multiple would produce a mesh. (Don't quote me on that). Re-exported to blender, the uv's were able to be recovered, and he saw the polygons. Overall, this was a bundle of hell to figure out, and there's still a long way to go. How could a game from 2004 be this complex and have models -.- It's fascinating in my opinion!
To do:
-Rip Sounds
-Get models working with UV's
-Learn about animations
If you would like to help, PM me! Updates coming at you soon! Stay tuned!
~Anex
I thought it would be an easy VGSC convert to rip sounds from the game Blackhawk Striker 2. I downloaded the game, and BAM. Specifically compressed files made by that company. Extensions such as *.wwv and *.wsbm I didn't know what I was looking at. I threw the audio file in chat asking for some help and read the header data. "Wild Tangent 3d 300 Compression" came up and I sent that info back into the chat. Looking through an archive website, Telespentry managed to recover tools from 15 years ago (Dates back to 2001). The two tools he eventually found were "WTViewer" and a Wild Tangent Web Plugin necessary to run WTViewer. The problem was we thought the Web Plugin was long gone; but luckily it wasn't. Opening up WTViewer, I was able to import the audio files (the *.wwv), play them at the proper sample rate, rip them and upload 'em to TSOR. I originally thought the game was made up of complete sprites, and found several menu images etc. Ripped those, until I ran into a texture for the playable choppers of the game. I realized that there were in fact models in the game and looked for the extension of it. However, I had no luck. Telespentry tried ninja ripper in it, and got it to work. While he continued to look for the models, I ripped and organized the textures onto TTR. The issue was the game was on Directx 5 &7, and not 8, which Ninja Ripper supports. However, that was the opposite. Adjusting some settings, telespentry managed to recover the UV's and the Blackhawk Chopper model. We learned that the game creates a new rotated plane every frame, so ripping multiple would produce a mesh. (Don't quote me on that). Re-exported to blender, the uv's were able to be recovered, and he saw the polygons. Overall, this was a bundle of hell to figure out, and there's still a long way to go. How could a game from 2004 be this complex and have models -.- It's fascinating in my opinion!
To do:
-Rip Sounds
-Get models working with UV's
-Learn about animations
If you would like to help, PM me! Updates coming at you soon! Stay tuned!
~Anex