needforbleed

So I found a resource which seems to be very close to what we are looking for. https://forum.xentax.com/viewtopic.php?t=7481

@Lord_Chris I figured out the model data format. Now I just have to convert it to obj and find each spot. Basically the model format consists of several markers that split skeleton rig, (animations), texture/material references and vertices. I don't know exactly which one is which yet, but I cracked the basic structure.

My intention is to use an up-to-date engine and include the content there. It will take some time of course, but we have everything at hands. We have the Lua scripts, which make up the game logic, we have textures, sounds, animations. Literally all we have to do is bring them into a readable format and adapt something. I have done something like this before in my free time for educational sake, but Stronghold always interested me a lot. I'd probably convert the Lua script to Javascript and write a proper modding API so that the community project could be modified easily, unlike the official games. The standalone engine idea is mainly due to the fact, that the Vision Engine and its Lua scripting is slow as hell. With less than a hundred units and mid- to large castles my game already runs below 100 FPS, which is a howler as I am rocking an i7 9700K@5Ghz and a RTX 2080S. Nonetheless, bringing all the files into a readable format and making a standalone mod project out of it that is mainly there for modding , especially considering we could have all newer 3D game's content in one game. Currently, I am working on the model file again, I might try reading the commands out that Stronghold uses for model imports. If there is an encryption going on, the game 100% safe has the key for that.

Sorry to revive this. Now, that Warlords is out I had the idea of creating a standalone mod project that would use files from SH 3, SH:C 2 and SH:W. Basically building a simple mod game from all the data. As you stated the problem is the .model file format. From my investigation it appears to me that it is just a generic model format embedded into the file. Looking at the file it starts with the VBI marker, some binary data and texture and material locations. I assume that the binary part is the actual model in raw .obj or .fbx. I will investigate further and let you know if I find something out. btw, in reference to prior responses, I am a professional C++ developer, so I might be able to help out a little more on this.