Tiny Toon Adventures: Defenders of the Universe Ripping Help?

[MattBurb81]

I do not know if I broke any rules through the way I bumped this...

Well, it's a bit probable that the .MLD files may have been .MDL files that had the format misspelled, probably explaining why Noesis didn't load them at all and why EXMLDNET exports them with nothing in them at all.

Extensions don't determine the file format, the file format is defined in the file itself,

That wasn't clear enough.

[Mystie]

Extensions don't determine the file format, the file format is defined in the file itself,

That wasn't clear enough.

Translation: Use a text or hex editor.

[Raccoon Sam]

That wasn't very clear either, but I don't blame ya, because there isn't a straightforward answer to the question.

If you open a MLD file in a Hex editor, you will see reoccurring patterns of data. If you know how to interpret these bytes, you will get the models out.

A very simple example: the level data of Pocket Bomberman. One byte = one block. If you read 256 bytes from the ROM address 0x2403C, it is very obvious for anyone who has played the game that this is the level data of world 1 level 1.


Because the game is so simple and the data is only one-dimensional, you can immediately see that those seemingly random bytes are, in fact, the level data. You don't even need to write an interpreter because it's so obvious. There isn't a documented "format" for the levels, nor a "reader" or an "editor" but you can still see and edit it all in a hex editor.
Even if you're in doubt, you could always edit a few bytes and play the game and visually SEE your changes.
Thus, once you've figured out exactly how the level format works, you pretty much know how every other level works too.

When it comes to 3D-games, though, "seeing" the data isn't as easy, but a few things still hold true, was the game for the Game Boy or the PSX:
-reoccurring patterns hint at a relatively simple structure
-editing the files will result in changes in the game
-once you've figured out how one thing works, it is very likely that all the others follow the same scheme


Some people might be so good at identifying data that they could immediately recognise a 3DS or a DAE file just by looking at its bytes. I'm not, so I can't really help you. But if you get what I'm after, you could map out the model format with enough determination and time.

Try editing a few bytes, see how that affects the models, always take notes and eventually you might publish a document titled "Tiny Toons Adventures MLD model file format specification"

[MattBurb81]

After reading the previous post, I opened up SW.MLD in a couple of hex editors and I noticed that the 15th byte is almost always 80, the 13th and 14th bytes are almost always 00, there's several rows where every byte (except for the 15th and 16th) is 00, near the top, many of the rows have bytes in a letter-number or number-letter format, near the bottom, many of the rows have 9F in every odd-numbered byte and D2 in every even-numbered byte and the last few rows are all 00.

Notice some sort of pattern here?

[Raccoon Sam]

Yes! Exactly. I'm confident that the model format isn't terribly complex.
Now, is SW the smallest file? Try copying all of the bytes and searching for them in the original ISO file. Then edit them a bit and run the ISO in an emulator. See if anything has changed..

[MattBurb81]

Yes! Exactly. I'm confident that the model format isn't terribly complex.
Now, is SW the smallest file? Try copying all of the bytes and searching for them in the original ISO file. Then edit them a bit and run the ISO in an emulator. See if anything has changed..

Well, these very same bytes that were in SW.MLD were also in the ISO. But I'm not intending on editing the bytes and then running the ISO. And yes, SW is the smallest file.

[Raccoon Sam]

Okay. Uh, why aren't you going to edit the bytes? It's honestly the most surefire way of doing any progress.