Model (Race) List

[techguy84]

Nice going there ZS. I am amazed by how many people are actively jumping to help out with information. Its a shame I dont know how you guys are getting that.

[ZexisStryfe]

Tech,
This list comes from the appearance.dat file included in the main vpl in your EQ2 directory (assetslib.vpl). There are something like 8000 models included in that file, and I have pulled out the creature specific ones because they are the easiest to identify without being in the emulator. Even then, it took me a while to figure out some models (like I knew what a dik-dik was ). In order to accurately ID the static objects (all those house items, moveable/destoyable objects and such) and the accessories (armor, weapons, wings, etc.) I will more than likely have to be in the emulator to figure them out since their descriptions are little more than "fae d wing 6" or "vampire sword". To further complicate things, it seems that robes are actually 3 different models- hood, chest and legs.
Gonna be alot of work... but i don't mind. I bounce between doing the model list, creating a custom zone configuration for when my world can go up (looking to link many of the zones for a more continent-like feel), and doing some population spreadsheets so i know what I want in my zones. It breaks up the day.

[techguy84]

Well, my biggest thing that I got stumped on, although I didnt look for too long was extracting stuff from the vp* files. I searched it up on google and found a couple of vpk unpackers, but they just didnt work, and the top search result was a script written in python which i have no knowledge about. There is probably a unpacker out there that works, i just didnt look hard enough for it. But even so, I wouldnt know what im looking at once i unpacked them lol

[ZexisStryfe]

http://eq2.blazlabs.com/Eq2VpkTool-1.2.3.zip
Use this to unpack the VPL file. The VPL file is the reference list for the VPKs.

[SAweb]

http://eq2.blazlabs.com/Eq2VpkTool-1.2.3.zip
Use this to unpack the VPL file. The VPL file is the reference list for the VPKs.

Yeah, same thing I use.

[ZexisStryfe]

Alright, so I have been doing some more digging in the model files, and you know what i noticed? You are never gonna believe this... There are only 19 robe models in the game. What we see is basically the same robe models with tinted colors. So that brings me to the purpose of this post... if SoE tints their 19 models to get dozens of robes, will we be able to do this too? And depending upon the robe model, there seem to be up to 3 different colors which seem to be definable (such as on Lindriin's Oracle Robe). Are those of you that have access to the emu (LE ;op )seeing this too?

[link2009]

Alright, so I have been doing some more digging in the model files, and you know what i noticed? You are never gonna believe this... There are only 19 robe models in the game. What we see is basically the same robe models with tinted colors. So that brings me to the purpose of this post... if SoE tints their 19 models to get dozens of robes, will we be able to do this too? And depending upon the robe model, there seem to be up to 3 different colors which seem to be definable (such as on Lindriin's Oracle Robe). Are those of you that have access to the emu (LE ;op )seeing this too?

I believe what you're referring to is RGB (Red Green Blue) which are the 3 colors of the color spectrum that can be used to get any color.
It's true though, there are only 19 robe BASE models. Why would they need any more? A few robes are used as the base (design) of the final robe they intend to create and to implement a little variety, they just tint a few of the robes different colors.

[ZexisStryfe]

While i am sure tinting would use the RGB method, that isn't quite what i was refering to. After going through robe models at http://eq2.wikia.com I noticed that the different robe models, when viewed seem to vary between 2 and 4 editable colors per model. For instance, Liandrin's Oracle robe has sky blue, black and dark yellow in it. That robe model is used several other times, but the 3 colors present in it have been changed, for instance I believe the Ashenroot Robe is the same model with dark grey, black and black as its colors.
Since I am just getting my model info from the VPKs and what I know in game, I was curious if the ability to tint various aspects of the robe models separately was possible in the EMU. As an continuation of this, I have become curious as to whether or not this "tinting" is also possible with the creature models. I was merely asking if someone with access to the EMu could verify these things for me.
PS- I am noticing this tinting seems to carry over to all other armors as well. No wonder SoE doesn't want to institute Armor Dyes. The lack of variety would become more apparent.

[LethalEncounter]

Yes and no. I havent updated the item struct yet, but in the character select profile struct (used to display your character on login server), each item consists of a type and two RGB color arrays. We believe that one of the RGB arrays is for color and the other is for highlights. Unless I missed it somewhere in the struct, those are all it takes to render an item properly. There are a few unknowns in the profile, but the unknowns are not close to the equipment information and I doubt they would store it in a different location in the same packet. Also, information for 25 items is sent in that packet and all the unknowns added together wouldnt be enough room to house an additional RGB array for each item. Just to summarize, it is very unlikely that an item has more than 2 sets of colors associated with it. However, to answer your question, yes you will be able to color/tint items however you want in the emu.

While i am sure tinting would use the RGB method, that isn't quite what i was refering to. After going through robe models at http://eq2.wikia.com I noticed that the different robe models, when viewed seem to vary between 2 and 4 editable colors per model. For instance, Liandrin's Oracle robe has sky blue, black and dark yellow in it. That robe model is used several other times, but the 3 colors present in it have been changed, for instance I believe the Ashenroot Robe is the same model with dark grey, black and black as its colors.
Since I am just getting my model info from the VPKs and what I know in game, I was curious if the ability to tint various aspects of the robe models separately was possible in the EMU. As an continuation of this, I have become curious as to whether or not this "tinting" is also possible with the creature models. I was merely asking if someone with access to the EMu could verify these things for me.
PS- I am noticing this tinting seems to carry over to all other armors as well. No wonder SoE doesn't want to institute Armor Dyes. The lack of variety would become more apparent.

[ZexisStryfe]

I guess the robes with 3 and 4 colors must have some set colors in the skins and the other 2 you can tint.

[blaz]

Models are stored in a modified version of Granny 3D - and encrypted version.

Actually, I believe the models are not encrypted, they are just compressed like everything else in the VPK files (at least when I last checked two years ago).
If you want to decode the 3D models (to convert them to another format or something) you can download Eq2VpkTool's source code and use the .NET classes there as a base to decode the 3D format. If you want to read a model fully including textures, shaders, and all, you'll need to navigate quite a few data files and scripts; I don't remember the details, but I wrote a little post here that might be of help. You have .NET classes in the libeq2 library to decode most (or all) of the files you need, and also a parser to analyze the VDL scripts (and a way to convert them to XML if you want).
Here's a minimal C# app that decodes part of a battle axe model:

Code: Select all

using System;
using System.IO;
using Everquest2.Util;
using Everquest2.Visualization;
namespace Eq2Test
{
    class Eq2Test
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            string vocFile = @"c:/eq2/composed/characters/accessories/wieldable_items/weapons/axe/battleaxe/battleaxe001_plain.voc";
            using (FileStream file = new FileStream(vocFile, FileMode.Open))
            {
                Eq2Reader          reader = new Eq2Reader(file);
                VeMeshGeometryNode node   = reader.ReadNodeObject() as VeMeshGeometryNode;
                // Now you can access node.renderMeshNames, open the referenced .draw files, etc...
            }
        }
    }
}

[Zex]

Die ZexisStryfe, die.

[ZexisStryfe]

Die ZexisStryfe, die.

Excuse me?

[link2009]

Die ZexisStryfe, die.

Excuse me?

I believe that sentence is quite self-explanatory.

[ZexisStryfe]

it seems to me someone seems rather jealous of my name