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Metroid Prime .pak format?

antidote

New member
I looked into it and they do look similar, but i haven't actually tried to figure out how it works exactly yet (due to my lack of experience) I think it may be possible to make minor modifications to the current decompressor. Sarah harp has apparently cracked this format already so ask him.
 

antidote

New member
Her :p
But yeah, she has, she had the MP3 Samus loaded pu so that would insinuate she had it working. She has not been on in quite a while though...

Hate to break it to you but Sarah Harp is male.

I know where he shows up the most, and is currently still active, however I'm not going to tell you where he goes as that is not my business.
 

Psychomax

New member
Yeah, I PM'd him a few weeks ago, and still no response. Maybe he's just going to wait until he releases the CMDL viewer; didn't he say he wanted to make it a texture viewer as well?
 

antidote

New member
What he told me was that he is tired of the people on this forum constantly nagging him for a release and that he was to the point of abandoning the project and just leave it as is and unreleased. So our best bet is to just leave him alone. When he's ready he'll release it.
 

Psychomax

New member
Oh, I guess I'm not the only one PMing him, then :I

Ok, I can wait. There are people here who have been waiting longer than me, anyways.

edit: This may be kind of a general question, but where would I start if I wanted to make the new .pak extractor myself?
 

antidote

New member
Break down the file, find out how it works by comparing to known formats and seeing the differences between them, use thakis' source from his .pak decompressor as a base, then compare it to other files from the same game (I'm assuming MP3 here) and then try to vary the source a bit to compensate for the differences and possible solutions for those difference. Although the compression scheme may be different from MP and MP2:E as is the trend.
 

Ness64

New member
Hello,i want to start into Emulation too and have several questions:
I think you use C++ or C# to make these programms?
I am litle bit confused so...
What do i need to get those textures ? Do i need the *.gcm of prime? Or the *.iso file?
And it would be really helpull to make it like a tutorial because its not that easy to understand!

Oh and if its a iso file,did you ripped of it with this sever thingy programm to acces ngc to computer or not? DONT ask how only if you did it with the server programm ;)


Sorry if i didnt notice some sentences where you described to to use them...
MFG NESS
 

Sercio

New member
It doesnt matter. The image can be .gcm or .iso both are exact the same! There are tools to explore and extract those images so you can maybe browse trough the files and find some textures... Search for GC-tool !
Good luck!
 

Ness64

New member
There are multiple ways to backup your games, some involving the Gamecube, some involving the Wii, some involving JUST your PC. However, I don't think we're allowed to discuss ripping methods here, but you can easily find them online.

I said dont say how you rip them.. ;)
So i think i did not bad things lol

Ok to these programmers...
I would want to help too but i cant figure out your source code :down:
What does it do in the code? Could someone explain it? Would be really nice...

PS: BTW there doesnt exist model extractors..? I read that it have to be programmed?
 

orenp

New member
hey if anyone is reading this i need help in opening a pak file for a different gamecube game.
its called evolution worlds i tried using the mdecomp and mpakdump
mdecomp will say failed to decompress and mpakdump will create an empty folder(win xp) (and on windows 7 will create the empty folder and also crash).
thanks and good day

edit:
hey I wasn't able to get the pak opened but i was able to open an afs file which might help me with my goal. I'm trying to make an undub version of the game and (I hope this isn't off topic but i don't know where else to post )so far i got this:
theres a file called avoadx.afs which wighs close to 600 megs and almost certainly contains all voice files, when i replace this japanese version of the file into the american i get no music but all fx music and japanese dub(only problem is that the japanese voice doesnt correspond to the right time like you hear the dub from diffrent places/times in the game) and all english text works
now here comes the part with the pak file. I found out that when i switch the Japanese version file named nd6_0.pak with its American version the Japanese voice track is corrected still no music but sadly all English texts turns into gibberish.
finally like you already know ive been trying to open the pak file with no success but recently i was able to unpack the afs file with game extractor (afs_afs plugin)
only problem is im not sure its being unpacked correctly what i get is 4776 files from the jap version and 5932 files from the u.s. (files are unpacked with no extensions to them just plain numbers)
now im trying to replace files between the versions but repacking the files with game extractor doesn't help the game loses all the dub.
so i tried replacing files straight to the U.s afs file with corresponding ones from the Japanese version but that didn't help (so far). so my question is for anyone whose been around these files(cause i haven't this is my first time handling gamecube) if he has any tips or knows if game extractor actually helps
thanks a lot and good day
 
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antidote

New member
hmmm looks like i need to add a more robust file checking scheme to mpakdump.
MPakdump and MDecomp ONLY support Metroid prime 1-3 files. and i will not add support for other formats. Thakis, interdpth, revel8n and I have moved on to other things and are no longer working on this.
 

Jandazekon

New member
However it doesn't repack them

I have a wish for shifting and replacing content from all prime games:

Impossible for inserting a dark portal in tallon overworld as leads to dark torvus bog?

Same with using meta-ridley in metroid prime 2 echoes instead of dark samus?

Phazon mines instead of sanctuary fortress?
Tallon IV with dark dimension?
 

maximo

New member
I would like import all extracted map pak files, replacing them. Shit... i need tools. Somebody know, hał to replacing these files? (!)
 

Infinity's End

New member
Hey all,
This is Infinity's End. I'm part of the staff that runs the Metroid Database.

We are going to be adding a new feature to the site soon: a bestiary showcasing all of the enemies from every Metroid game. I am relatively new to the model ripping/viewing scene, so please bear with me. I apologize if I come off as too newb-ish. (for the record, I am also a 3D modeler/animator, so I can find my way around a high-end 3D app pretty easily.)

Anyway, for this feature, I am in need of screenshots of all of the enemies from Metroid Prime. Just the first game for now, but I may need 2 and 3 if this goes over well. I know there is a way to go in there and view all the game models, is there not? I already downloaded mpxviewer, but I'm having some difficulty trying to run it. I downloaded/installed the DirectX SDK as well, but no luck. I just can't seem to get the app to launch. Would anyone mind giving me some help/pointers on how to go about doing this?

I also have the MP ISO, but I have no idea how to go in there and view the models. I just wanted to reiterate: my goal is JUST getting screenshots of the enemies -- I don't need to rip anything, use anything, bring it into Max or Maya, etc., if I can just view the models and take clean shots of them, that would be ideal. I tried just playing through the game via Dolphin and taking shots that way, but it's far too difficult to get really clear shots since Samus's arm cannon is almost always in the way (not to mention my computer chugs when trying to play it).

I greatly appreciate any help, tips, or advice you have. Thanks for your time.
 

interdpth

New member
Hey all,
This is Infinity's End. I'm part of the staff that runs the Metroid Database.

We are going to be adding a new feature to the site soon: a bestiary showcasing all of the enemies from every Metroid game. I am relatively new to the model ripping/viewing scene, so please bear with me. I apologize if I come off as too newb-ish. (for the record, I am also a 3D modeler/animator, so I can find my way around a high-end 3D app pretty easily.)

Anyway, for this feature, I am in need of screenshots of all of the enemies from Metroid Prime. Just the first game for now, but I may need 2 and 3 if this goes over well. I know there is a way to go in there and view all the game models, is there not? I already downloaded mpxviewer, but I'm having some difficulty trying to run it. I downloaded/installed the DirectX SDK as well, but no luck. I just can't seem to get the app to launch. Would anyone mind giving me some help/pointers on how to go about doing this?

I also have the MP ISO, but I have no idea how to go in there and view the models. I just wanted to reiterate: my goal is JUST getting screenshots of the enemies -- I don't need to rip anything, use anything, bring it into Max or Maya, etc., if I can just view the models and take clean shots of them, that would be ideal. I tried just playing through the game via Dolphin and taking shots that way, but it's far too difficult to get really clear shots since Samus's arm cannon is almost always in the way (not to mention my computer chugs when trying to play it).

I greatly appreciate any help, tips, or advice you have. Thanks for your time.

google mpxviewer.

It views all models, you will define want to compile from source though.
 

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