[TOOL RELEASE] ps2ls (Planetside Tools)

[Gelnika]

Hello,

My name is Colin Basett and I have created a simple-to-use GUI tool to browse and extract Planetside 2's asset files that I have called ps2ls (get it? ;))

Usage

Click File.
Click Import Files....
In the open file dialog, navigate to the Planetside 2 asset directory (the program will attempt to automatically detect the asset directory.)
Select as many *.pack files as you wish and click Open.


From here you can search individual pack files for files names, extract selected files or extract all loaded pack files to a directory of your choice.

It is a very simple tool at the moment, but I plan to expand its functionality to include viewing and extracting terrain, models, particle effects and more in the future.

I'm looking for other enthusiastic and experienced programmers to help with this project as well. Please don't hesitate to drop me a line if this is something you would like to work on! :groovy:

Enjoy! :)

Source Code
http://code.google.com/p/ps2ls/

Download
http://code.google.com/p/ps2ls/downloads/list

http://s18.postimage.org/7xlbxe43r/ps2ls_1_0_1_11.png

[Jaybonaut]

Anyone know if this is against the EULA?

[Tooterfish]

Wait, so this program allows us to extract pack files and view their contents? Why would anyone want to do this?

[Roidster]

just beware you could get banned from 3rd party apps,they are banning flawless widescreen users right now,buddy of mine was banned tonight for it

[Gelnika]

Anyone know if this is against the EULA?

It is not against the EULA.

Wait, so this program allows us to extract pack files and view their contents? Why would anyone want to do this?

A great number of reasons. Just one example is this Planetside 2 map using the Google Maps API (http://ps2hq.com:3667/map). This was constructed using the images the game uses to render the map, which were extracted from the .pack files. There are many file formats that have not yet been deciphered including the model and map formats. The sky is the limit, really.

just beware you could get banned from 3rd party apps,they are banning flawless widescreen users right now,buddy of mine was banned tonight for it

This is not a third-party app, and you will not get banned for using this tool. It's simply a file extractor that operates outside of the game and can in no way interact with the game at all.

[Tooterfish]

Sounds pretty useful when you put it like that. Can you repackage the pack files with modified textures? That is my only concern, with the cheating the way it is in games like this one.

[elementHTTP]

Lets start modding :D

[Mod]

As long as your exporting out of the PS2 files and not trying to import into them I don't see any problems as you are not affecting the game in any way.

Probably a lot of cool tools, artwork etc... could come out of it.

[Snipefrag]

Nice, i attempted to do this manually myself a couple of weeks ago when the servers were down to pull out some sound effects for one of my videos, didnt quite manage it. Very useful, cheers.

[Hamma]

Yea you aren't going to get banned for this unless you start modifying your game files. This is a pure extractor. RoyAwesome from Reddit created one in beta as well.

It's also where we got most of the armor/weapon icons on the wiki. HOWEVER, the API will contain all of the weapon icons as well.

[Jakobud]

http://ps2maps.com uses a similar tool for map tile extraction.

[Gelnika]

Sounds pretty useful when you put it like that. Can you repackage the pack files with modified textures? That is my only concern, with the cheating the way it is in games like this one.

There are CRC-32 consistency checks that are performed on individual files, though they are easily identified and modified on a local level. I'm positive that they had the foresight to create overarching consistency checks for groups of files.

It's likely that the game wouldn't allow you to log in if it detected your files were out of of sync with the server. If you somehow managed to get past the log-in phase there's probably periodic consistency checks that would kick or ban you if they deviated from the server.

I don't have any plans to allow you to repackage or modify the pack files as I don't want to be the one to blame when people get the ban hammer. :P

[Ghryphen]

Nice Gelnika, you might collaborate with Roy Awesome (http://www.planetside-universe.com/member.php?u=15233). I have been using his to extract data for the wiki.

https://github.com/RoyAwesome/Planetside2Tools

[DirtyBird]

good work Gelnika, thanks.

[Gelnika]

I have a goody to share. Humble beginnings, but I've managed to get a good start last night on deciphering the model formats. I selected a random model and started poking around into it. I've found vertex data, index data and texture coordinate data for individual meshes. I read this data in a Python script and exported it to a PLY file just to see if I was on the right track, and I was pleasantly surprised.

I've run into a slight snag at the moment, but here is what I managed to get out of the file last night.

http://ge.tt/api/1/files/4QiUmUS/0/blob/x675

It's the trunk of a tree from Esamir. It's missing its leaves because there are two separate 'meshes' and I was only reading in one of them for this particular test.

As soon as I can accurately read in at least one type of the mesh files (there's about 4 similar model file types) , I will add a model viewer into ps2ls. :D

[Hamma]

Not bad nice work!

[Gelnika]

Hey guys, a quick update for you.

Work has been pretty hectic recently so I haven't had as much time as I would have liked to add the model viewer. I have, however, been making a variety of UI improvements. Here's a screenshot of the new UI.

http://s18.postimage.org/7xlbxe43r/ps2ls_1_0_1_11.png

On the model extraction front, I've began to hack away at the file format and have made very good progress. I can now reliably extract all the meshes from a specific version (4) of the DME file. Some DME files are version 3, but I don't yet know what the distinction is. The next version will have a model viewer and will allow you to view and extract at least one version of the DME files.

Here's a few models to whet your appetite. :D

http://s12.postimage.org/eltd72nz1/snapshot02.png
http://s10.postimage.org/uns6epm61/snapshot03.png
http://s7.postimage.org/gp2vhj1sb/snapshot05.png

[Hamma]

Hah very nice!

[Mod]

Colour your own models!

[Ailos]

Colour your own models!

This just gives validity to my idea of 3D printing these and making them into SOE action figures or erector-set type toy packets.

EDIT: I just realized that if I do that, the Jackhammer could be an actual Nerf gun.

[Nobel]

Im working on putting together a map pack for the ATC, could you help me out in finding where I could find the raw Map Images?

[Gelnika]

Im working on putting together a map pack for the ATC, could you help me out in finding where I could find the raw Map Images?

I'm not quite sure what you're asking for or what the ATC is. :P I shot you a private message with my Skype/MSN information, we can talk it out there. :)

[Cee]

This just gives validity to my idea of 3D printing these and making them into SOE action figures or erector-set type toy packets.

EDIT: I just realized that if I do that, the Jackhammer could be an actual Nerf gun.

A tech plant would look awesome on top of my speaker:D

[SturmovikDrakon]

Have there been any updates?

[Gelnika]

Good news, everyone!

ps2ls v1.1 has now been released, which includes the addition of the new model browser.

http://imageshack.us/a/img717/9082/ps2ls1107201.png

Download
http://ps2ls.googlecode.com/files/ps2ls_1_1_0_72.zip

I also made a short video that will walk you through all the core functionality of ps2ls.

302 Found

Enjoy! :)

[Hamma]

Nice work!

[SturmovikDrakon]

oh my god I love you

[Roy Awesome]

Cool. I was working on the same thing. Never could get the models to render...What format are they?

EDIT: looking through your code, seems you wrote your own reader. Niiiiccee.

Is the skeleton and animation structure in there too?

[Shogun]

great work!

is there a chance to add in the original textures to the modelviewer?

if so, please also add a feature to export the textured model to a 3d printer compatible fileformat!

and if you manage to also add a way to articulate a soldiers pose, we could make our own figurines or even some nifty ps2 themed add ons for custom warhammer 4k tabletop armies.

[Gelnika]

is there a chance to add in the original textures to the modelviewer?
That's in the works, reliably finding the UVs for the textures has proved to be troublesome! I'll work on that next. :)


if so, please also add a feature to export the textured model to a 3d printer compatible fileformat!
I'm not familiar with 3D printing, if you let me know what a 3D printer compatible format is, I'll see what I can do for you. :)

Is the skeleton and animation structure in there too?
and if you manage to also add a way to articulate a soldiers pose, we could make our own figurines or even some nifty ps2 themed add ons for custom warhammer 4k tabletop armies.

The skeleton/animation information is located in another file other than the DME (mesh) file that I'm reading in. It will take a considerable amount of work to figure out the format specifications for that file type.

[Electrofreak]

Awesome work! Can't wait to get home from work to give it a try.

[lametta]

That's in the works, reliably finding the UVs for the textures has proved to be troublesome! I'll work on that next. :)


I'm not familiar with 3D printing, if you let me know what a 3D printer compatible format is, I'll see what I can do for you. :)




The skeleton/animation information is located in another file other than the DME (mesh) file that I'm reading in. It will take a considerable amount of work to figure out the format specifications for that file type.


the 3d printer i have access to uses the STL and CTL file formats. I don't know if the files from your program can be converted easily into that or not. Awesome program though, keep up the good work!!

[Shogun]

i´m also not familiar with 3d printing, but some companies offer 3d prints from your files, and those companies typically ask for file formats like this:

VRML2/97 (*.wrl), *.3DS, *.ply, *.obj, *.stl, *.zpr, *.stp, *.dxf, *.asc, *.igs, *.model, *.prt, *.X_t, *.exp, *.CATPart

stl being the one i have seen the most.

but there are some additional requirements and i don´t know if ps2 models meet them. (models need to be closed/waterproof, there is a minimum wallthickness and such things)

but if you are able to convert a model to one of those formats, i could try to let the result being checked for 3d printing. or lametta could give it a try with his printer.
if this works, i will have to do some research on the reprap project again. ;)

damn it would be cool to have an actual vanguard model with maximum details, or a reaver.

[SturmovikDrakon]

TR quad cannons and NC railguns

Oh boy, I wonder when we will see those :D

[Wrel]

I'm looking for values of certain things, specifically the Drifter Jump Jets. Been perusing the documents, there's a lot to sift through.

Have you come across which files contain specifics values for damage/duration of certs/classes/weapons/etc?

[Jakobud]

Gelnika, what type of 3d format are the DME files? I couldn't figure that out. Also, any clue on how to apply the textures?

[Gelnika]

Gelnika, what type of 3d format are the DME files? I couldn't figure that out. Also, any clue on how to apply the textures?
It's their own proprietary fomat, had to spend lots of time comparing and analyzing files and piecing together what everything means. I've made documentation on the DME format on the ps2ls project wiki here:

http://code.google.com/p/ps2ls/wiki/DME

I'm still looking for a way to get the UVs, I've been distracted with all the festivities that come around this time of year, haven't had as much time as I would have liked to work on it. The UVs will hopefully be in the next update.

[Gelnika]

the 3d printer i have access to uses the STL and CTL file formats. I don't know if the files from your program can be converted easily into that or not. Awesome program though, keep up the good work!!

I will add an STL exporter into the next version, it's easy enough to do as its almost the same format as OBJ and it will save you trouble of doing a double conversion. :)

[Conq]

Cool tool, I wish these models were not so polygonal.

The new horn helms look sweet.

http://i.imgur.com/jpixQ.png

[Gelnika]

Gentlemen!

ps2ls v1.2.0.133 has been released. It now allows you export models with UV coordinates. The rendering aspect within ps2ls is not quite there, I've been focusing more on the exporting since that's what people care about.

http://code.google.com/p/ps2ls/downloads/list

http://oi50.tinypic.com/19nw9w.jpg

(Yes, that's a rail gun on the Vanguard!)

http://i781.photobucket.com/albums/yy92/Trizzone52/Render4_right_small_zps7f553b3c.png

[Hamma]

Very cool! Excellent work on this man - impressive.

[Jakobud]

How did you apply the texture? In Maya it doesn't seem like the textures have UV layouts that work with the models.

[Rockit]

Just need to print that railgun on a 3D metal printer and make it functional :eek:

[yozzer]

WTF? :)
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b46/yozzer4/ps2_creature_fs_zps4a7adf8a.png

[Jakobud]

The explanation for that is that the PS2 game files have several references to Free Realms content here and there since certain parts of Forge Light were pulled from or iterations of parts of the engine that runs Free Realms.

[Roy Awesome]

Yay open source. I've fixed the texturing in the model browser, as well as added an Image browser. I'm going to get the Material browser working soonish.

http://i.imgur.com/JWK1Xyz.png

http://i.imgur.com/DspKJ7u.png

http://i.imgur.com/dsN99Kk.png


I don't promise things wont crash this. I know there are some images that crash the dds loader in the image browser.

http://testoutfit.info/ps2ls_RoyBuild3.zip

The Image browser is WIP, and half the buttons don't work. Right now it only streches images to the Picture Frame, so some of them are ugly. I've got some buttons in there to change the way it scales, but they aren't hooked up yet.

[Hamma]

Nice :thumbsup:

[DirtyBird]

Some pretty cool stuff in there.

[Micro]

So freakin nice! Any possibility that you could make the program able to export the textures of a model too when exporting a model?

[Roy Awesome]

So freakin nice! Any possibility that you could make the program able to export the textures of a model too when exporting a model?

this already work as far as I can tell. Check my build, it's based off the latest source

[Sprintfox]

Really good tool, impressive work.

I just hope SOE hasn't a problem with using their stuff for own creations (artworks, etc.).

[DviddLeff]

I've not had any nasty emails yet, so I reckon you're good.

However the extractor has started having errors so I cannot extract anything...