Binary Structure

This section will explain the binary structure of certain files. All files are packed using C data types with little endian and using 32-bit size.

Double/triple float values usually defined using D3DXVECTOR3 variable, which contains [x, y, z].

Quaternion values always defined using D3DXQUATERNION variable, which contains [x, y, z, w], the order might need to be adjusted depending on program you're using.

Since the 3d format comes from DirectX, coordinate system need to be adjusted depending on which program you're using. In summary, (x, y, z) will resulted as (x, z, -y) in Blender. And of course, the most easiest solution would be to just import them as is, and then rotate them later.

Token Definition

These token are usually used for headers

Definition	Value
SKELETON_TOKEN	SKL\0
MATERIAL_TOKEN	MTL\0
ANIMATION_TOKEN	ANI\0
MESH_TOKEN	MSH\0
FONT_TOKEN	FNT\0
COL_MESH_TOKEN	CMS\0
PGF_TOKEN	PGF\0
ANIMATE_EFFECT_TOKEN	AFX\0
OUTLINE_EDGE_TOKEN	EDG\0
SKELETON_VERSION	1000
MESH_VERSION	2000
VERTEX_COLOR_MESH_VERSION	2001
MESH_CONTROL_POINT_VERSION	2002
MATERIAL_VERSION	3000
ANIMATION_VER_DEFAULT	4000
ANIMATION_VER_COMP4	4001
ANIMATION_VER_COMP8	4002
FONT_VERSION	5000
COL_MESH_VERSION	5000
ANIMATE_EFFECT_VERSION	6000
OUTLINE_EDGE_VERSION	7000

3D Types

Vertex Component

Used for vertex mask, which indicates whether component is available or not.

To operate this, simply use bitwise AND operator with the component, eg: vertex_mask & IOFVF_UV0, which will return 1 if it contains uv map, or 0 if it does not have.

Vertex Component	Value	Actual Value
IOFVF_POSITION	1<<0	1
IOFVF_POSITION2	1<<1	2
IOFVF_POSITIONW	1<<2	4
IOFVF_WEIGHTS	1<<3	8
IOFVF_INDICES	1<<4	16
IOFVF_NORMAL	1<<5	32
IOFVF_COLOR0	1<<6	64
IOFVF_COLOR1	1<<7	128
IOFVF_UV0	1<<8	256
IOFVF_UV1	1<<9	512
IOFVF_UV2	1<<10	1024
IOFVF_UV3	1<<11	2048
IOFVF_TANGENT	1<<12	4096
IOFVF_BINORMAL	1<<13	8192
IOFVF_END		(not defined)

Mesh Type

You would not need to use any other type of mesh other than static, animation, and lightmap, as they're the only common mesh used by the game.

Index	Type
0	MT_STATIC
1	MT_ANIMATION
2	MT_LIGHTMAP
3	MT_BILLBOARD
4	MT_NORMAL_BILLBOARD
5	MT_ANIMATE_EFFECT
6	MT_STATIC_VERTEX_COLOR

SKL

Header

Always available

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Signature, always equal to skeleton token
int	4	Version, always equal to skeleton version

Biped

Always available

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Biped Count. Number of bones

---

This structure only available if biped count is more than 0, it loops for each biped it has

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Biped bone name length
char	variable	The biped bone name, size is depending on the biped bone name length
float	12 (contains 4 each)	LocalTM Position. Likely indicates the bone position relative to the parent
float	16 (contains 4 each)	LocalTM Quaternion. Likely indicates the bone rotation relative to the parent
float	12 (contains 4 each)	ObjectTM Inverse Position. Likely indicates the bone position relative to world origin
float	16 (contains 4 each)	ObjectTM Inverse Quaternion. Likely indicates the bone rotation relative to world origin
float	64 (contains 4 each)	Bone Matrix. Need to be transposed first
int	4	Parent bone name length
char	variable	The parent bone name, size is depending on the parent bone name length, defaults to NoParent if there is no parent bone
int	4	Child count

Note

It is unknown why the matrix exist, it resembled humanoid form, but the catch is that the bone are always one-off when compared with the LocalTM. However, I already abandoned the matrix variable since LocalTM stores the most accurate position and rotation.

As shown in this image, the legacy clavicle tail bone perfectly match the head bone of advanced clavicle bone.

Please understand that I have no knowledge of how game engine works or how do they operate this kind of thing internally.

---

This structure only available if child count is more than 0, it loops for each child it has

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Child bone name length
char	variable	The child bone name, size is depending on the child bone name length

Linked Skeleton

Always available

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Linked skeleton name length
char	variable	The linked skeleton name, size is depending on the linked skeleton name length. Likely used for animation that uses multiple skeleton?

ANI

Unless specified otherwise, all time mentioned in this content is always in miliseconds

Header

Always available

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Signature, always equal to animation token
int	4	Version, can be either default, comp4, or comp8

Events

Always available

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Event Count. Number of events

---

This structure only available if event count is more than 0, loops for each event it has

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Event type length
char	variable	The event type, size is depending on the event type length
int	4	Event name length
char	variable	The event name, size is depending on the event name length
float	4	Event time

Tracks

Always available

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Total time. The total duration of animation
int	4	Total track count

---

This structure only available if total track count is more than 0, loops for each track it has

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Biped bone name length
char	variable	The biped bone name, size is depending on the biped bone name length
float	4	Weight influence
int	4	Keyframe count

DEFAULT

If version is equal to ANIMATION_VER_DEFAULT, then this structure will be used. Loops for each keyframe it has

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
float	16 (contains 4 each)	Quaternion rotation
float	12 (contains 4 each)	Vector Transformation
int	4	Time

COMP 4

If version is equal to ANIMATION_VER_COMP4, then this structure will be used. Loops for each keyframe it has

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
long	4	Packed rotation
float	12 (contains 4 each)	Vector Transformation
int	4	Time

COMP 8

If version is equal to ANIMATION_VER_COMP8, then this structure will be used. Loops for each keyframe it has

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
long	4	Packed rotation, dwHigh
long	4	Packed rotation, dwLow
float	12 (contains 4 each)	Vector Transformation
int	4	Time

MSH

Header

Always available

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Signature, always equal to mesh token
int	4	Version, usually equal to mesh version
int	4	Mesh Type. Correspond to mesh type index
long	4	Vertex mask.
long	4	Vertex mask.
float	12 (contains 4 each)	Bounding box minimum
float	12 (contains 4 each)	Bounding box maximum
float	4	Bounding radius

Submesh

Always available

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Submesh count

---

This structure only available if submesh count is more than 0, loops for each submesh it has

The main mesh is counted towards the submesh, so basically submesh is just the total amount of mesh it has. Separating mesh is useful if you want to have different material/animation for each mesh. The submesh doesn't contain the actual submesh, but rather an index on where to split the mesh.

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Min index. Starting index for vertices
int	4	Vertex count
int	4	Index Start. Starting index for faces
int	4	Face count

Vertices Count

Always available

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Vertex count. Total amount of vertices

Components

Any structure listed on this section only available if vertex mask return corresponding value.

Also, all structure listed in this section loops for each vertex count, unless specified otherwise

Vertices/Position

Component: IOFVF_POSITION

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
float	12 (contains 4 each)	Position. Vector position of each vertices

Normals

Component: IOFVF_NORMAL

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
float	12 (contains 4 each)	Normals. Normals of each vertices

Tangent

Component: IOFVF_TANGENT

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
float	12 (contains 4 each)	Tangent. Tangent of each vertices

Binormal

Component: IOFVF_BINORMAL

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
float	12 (contains 4 each)	Binormal. Binormal of each vertices

Vertex Color

Component: IOFVF_COLOR0

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
long	4	Vertex color. The color of each vertices

UV map/Lightmap UV

Component: IOFVF_UV0

If this mesh type if a lightmap, then this UV is a lightmap UV, otherwise it's the main UV map.

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
float	8 (contains 4 each)	UV map. 2D vector of the UV map

Secondary UV map

Component: IOFVF_UV1

Only for lightmap. This contains the main UV map for the main texture

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
float	8 (contains 4 each)	UV map. 2D vector of the UV map

Weights

Component: IOFVF_WEIGHTS* and IOFVF_INDICES*

* The source code does not check if both flags are true, and instead it is processed individually. But you still need both component if you want to include weights

This structure does not loop for each vertex count

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Biped index count. Total amount of vertex group it has

---

This structure only available if biped index count is more than 0, it loops for each biped index it has

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Biped name length
char	variable	The biped name, size is depending on the biped name length

---

Always available

Since DirectX only support maximum of 4 bone influence per vertex, each array contains 4 float of weight. However, Lost Saga have slightly different operations, as soon it hit zero weights, it will break the loop and continue to the next indices. So it is recommended to sort the weights first.

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
float	16 (contains 4 each)	Weight. Array of weights
float	16 (contains 4 each)	Biped ID. Order always paired with weight

Billboard Center

Component: IOFVF_POSITION2

Unused. None of the mesh file has this flag

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
float	12 (contains 4 each)	Position. Vector position of each vertices

Faces

Always available

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Face count

---

This structure only available if face count is more than 0, it loops for each face it has. Face count must be multiplied by 3

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
float	12 (contains 4 each)	Faces. Correspond to vertices index

Mesh Control Point

This structure only available if mesh version is equal to MESH_CONTROL_POINT_VERSION (2002)

This mesh type is only used for older mesh, especially weapons, it is no longer used again ever since

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Point Count

---

This structure only available if point count is more than 0, it loops for each point it has

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Type index length
char	variable	The type index, size is depending on the type index length
int	4	Linked biped name length
char	variable	The linked biped name, size is depending on the linked biped name length
int	4	Extra info length
char	variable	The extra info, size is depending on the extra info length
float	12 (contains 4 each)	Vector point

CMS

Header

Always available

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Signature, always equal to col mesh token
int	4	Version, always equal to col mesh version

Mesh

Type	Size (in bytes)	Description
int	4	Vertex count
float	variable (contains 4 each)	Position. Vector position of each vertices. Loops for each vertex it has
int	4	Face count
float	variable (contains 4 each)	Faces. Correspond to vertices index. Loops for each face it has