[Tutorial] Extracting files from My Little Pony Magic Princess

[ego-lay_atman-bay]

Ripping files from My Little Pony Magic Princess

Before ripping from My Little Pony Magic Princess (the mlp gameloft mobile game), you need to get and extract the .ark files, which are compressed (and encrypted) archives that contain all the assets in the game.

Getting .ark files

The easiest way to get the .ark files, is through the android version, which is what this guide will use.

1. Download and install the game on android through google play.
   
2. Open the game and download the extra data.
   
3. After downloading the extra data, you can then open a file manager, and navigate to Android/data/com.gameloft.android.ANMP.GloftPOHM/files
   
4. Copy all the .ark files in the folder to your computer.
   

Since .ark files are a proprietary format made specifically for the game, you need a specific program to extract them.

Extracting .ark files

In order to extract .ark files, you need Luna Kit, which only requires python and git to install (well, it technically doesn't need git, but that's the easiest way to install it).

Here's how to extract the files with Luna Kit.

1. Run
   
   Code:

   luna-kit ark path/to/*.ark -o output/folder
   This will extract all the files into output,folder. It is important to extract all the ark files into the sane folder in order to get model textures to actually load.
   
2. It's also good to split all the .texatlas files, because they contain many extra images.
   
   Code:

   luna-kit atlas output/folder/**/*.texatlas
   This will split all the .texatlas files and create image files in their correct location. The **/* is important, because it tells luna-kit to search in all the subdirectories.
   

Now here are some tutorials on ripping files from the game.

Models

The models in the game are stored in .rk files, a proprietary format used by rkengine (although their website is defunct), which is used by a couple different games besides this website.

There are currently 3 methods to converting models.

rk-blender (no animations)

I have created a blender extension called rk-blender to import the .rk files directly in blender. You can download it here.

https://github.com/ego-lay-atman-bay/rk-blender

Follow the instructions there to install it.

After you install it, you can make sure the extension (add-on) is enabled, then you can just drag and drop .rk files into blender (or open them with File > Import > Import RK File.

rk-convert (includes animations)

Currently this is the only method that supports animations.

1. Download rk-convert using git or github desktop along with Rust.
   
2. Build the program
   • Update the submodules
     
     Code:

     git submodule update --init
   • Build
     
     Code:

     cargo build --release
3. Now you can run one of these commands to convert an rk model with or without animations.
   
   Code:

   # Without animation:
cargo run --release --bin model-to-gltf -- path/to/model.rk
# With animation:
## This will include all the animations separate in the model
cargo run --release --bin model-to-gltf -- path/to/model.rk path/to/anim.csv
## This will include all the animations as one long animation
cargo run --release --bin model-to-gltf -- path/to/model.rk path/to/anim.anim

One benefit that this program brings, is that when you import the exported models into blender, the shaders are already set up (though you do have to change the blend mode to Dithered instead of Blend).

This program does also have the ability to extract ark files, however it's not as easy to use as Luna Kit.

Noesis

1. Download noesis
   
2. Place this plugin in the noesis plugins/python folder
   
3. Open noesis, and navigate to a model you want to rip
   
4. Click on File > Export
   
5. In the export dialog, choose a location to save the file to
   
6. For the format, select .dae
   
7. Make sure to check flip UVs
   
8. Once exported, open the resulting .dae file in a text editor
   
9. Find the <library_images> element, and change the absolute texture path to a relative one, by removing everything except the filename, and add the file extension (should be .png)
   
10. Open the .dae file in blender
    
11. Select the armature
    
12. Set the scale for each axis using the following
    x = 0.1
    y = -0.1
    z = 0.1
    
    The z axis need to be negative in order to flip the model vertically and horizontally to match the game.
    
13. You can now export the model in whatever format you like
    

As for rendering the models, you might want to understand how they work.

The pony models have an outline, which is a copy of the model, just a bit bigger, and different colors (and less detail), however the outline model has it's backface facing outside. This means that if you turn on backface culling, you'll see the pony with all it's detail, as well as it's outline. The only other thing you need to do, is use flat shading, and make sure the exposure is 0, and the gamma is 1.

If you used rk-convert, you have to change the Blend Method from Blended to Dithered. If you used rk-convert, it should just set everything up correctly.

If you used noesis, you have to go through these steps.

You can render with either the Workbench or EEVEE renderers. With both renderers, it is also recommended to delete any light sources, because those will give the wrong shading.

EEVEE

Select the object

• Materials
  • Surface > Roughness = 1
    
  • Settings > Surface > Backface Culling
    [x] Camera
    [x] Shadow
    [x] Light Probe Volume
    
  • World
    • Surface > Color = white
      
• Render
  • Color Management > View Transform > Raw
    
  • Optional: Film > Transparent
    
• Switch to the shading tab
  • Set up the shaders to be similar to this
       
    

Workbench

1. Go into the render tab
   
2. Set the renderer engine to Workbench
   
3. Set the lighting to Flat
   
4. Set the color to Texture
   
5. In options, turn on Backface Culling
   
6. In Color Management, set View Transform to Raw
   
7. Make sure exposure is 0, and gamma is 1
   
8. Now make sure to switch the current view to shading mode (the furthest right button in the view switcher)
   

Unfortunately I have been unable to rip animations, since they're located in .anim files, which I do not know how to read, and many properties for animations are located in other xml and csv files.

Sounds

The sounds are stored in 2 formats, Musepack mpc files, and Gameloft VXN header (vxn) files.

mpc files
You can open the mpc files in audacity or use ffmpeg, however those output some files in low quality with static that is not heard in-game. The best way to convert the mpc files to another format, is by using the Musepack tools found on the Musepack website. It can be used like this.

Code:

mpcdec file.mpc file.wav

This will only output in wav format, however you can pipe the output wav file into ffmpeg to save it to a different format.

Code:

mpcdec file.mpc - | ffmpeg -i - output.flac

vxn files

vxn files contain multiple audio streams, which are normally used for looping music. You can extract all the streams to audio files by using vxn-py. vxn-py can be installed by running

Code:

pip install vxn-py

And you can use it by running

Code:

vxndec input.vxn -o "output.{ext}"

It is recommended that you use {ext}, because the file extension can either be wav or mpc.

Images

You can find most of the pony images in the gui folder, and they're in png format. The only problem is finding the image in a very very large folder.

If you want to extract the .pvr files, you can use PVRTexTool.

Extracting strings

All the strings in the game are in .loc files, which can be read using Luna Kit.

Code:

luna-kit loc english.loc -o english.json

If I figure out more stuff, I'll update this tutorial.

[Futatabi6]

YOU'RE A LFIE SAVER. Be aware that heaven is waiting for you !!!! ToT tysm for this

[Diego6mick]

which is the other method for extract the rk models?
like, im not interesed on the animations at all :,v

[ego-lay_atman-bay]

which is the other method for extract the rk models?
like, im not interesed on the animations at all :,v

You can also import .rk files into blender with rk-blender. I just added it to the main post.

[Diego6mick]

which is the other method for extract the rk models?
like, im not interesed on the animations at all :,v

You can also import .rk files into blender with rk-blender. I just added it to the main post.

Again, thanks for your quick awnser, now the problem im having is trying to make the "PATH" run blender :,U

[ego-lay_atman-bay]

which is the other method for extract the rk models?
like, im not interesed on the animations at all :,v

You can also import .rk files into blender with rk-blender. I just added it to the main post.

Again, thanks for your quick awnser, now the problem im having is trying to make the "PATH" run blender :,U

Assuming you're on windows, you can search "blender.exe" in the start menu search, then click "open file location". If that doesn't work, you can search for blender in a path similar to this "C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 4.3" (it may have a different number at the end). Once you found the folder with "blender.exe", copy that path, then follow this tutorial to add it to the PATH.