Reverse-Engineering of King's Bounty's 3D model and animation systems

[Space Knight]

I was always a fan of the KB and HoMM series, and ever since I first finished Crossworlds, I wanted to mod this game and make maps for it. I was much younger back then, and also didn't even have the maped texture pack after scouring the internet (though I have thankfully found it a few years ago). And to properly mod the game, I also needed to figure out how the 3D files work in the KB games, which I tried to, but with my minimal programming knowledge, I couldn't figure out much at all.

Anyway, fast-forward many years, and now I'm a 3D artist who was reminded of this game. So, here's the reason why I'm actually making this post: if there is someone who could figure out how these 3D file formats (bma and bms, IIRC there also was a cms EDIT: there is bsa too, for animations, which is crucial) work and make a converter from fbx to those, I could very well provide models and animations from time to time and perhaps develop a small (or maybe big, with time?) mod for either King's Bounty game (or perhaps all, since they work the same way and a mod with a few creatures is easy to make for all of them) that introduces some creatures from HoMM3, like Titans, Angels, Faerie Dragons etc. Below you can see one of my older, unfinished recreations of H3's Titan (if this converter would ever happen, I would go back to it and finish it + manual paint it in KB's style, although I have to admit, my hopes are very low that this'll happen, but it's worth a try):

[saroumana]

I think they used the same engine ino-co used for warlock.
For warlock 2 they put some parts in the game directory.

But there is a problem, two in fact : this engine is discontinued and unlike unity 3d, it's was not an open engine.

Though, you could got info on this engine, and may be (and probably) they used same animation and model than warlock 2.

[King's Hunty]

With this tool you can convert them: http://3doc.i3dconverter.com/formats.html

Here's the zombie exported to Blender: https://imgur.com/a/0Vt2D37

However, note that the imported bone structure is incorrect here. Only the rotations and positions are imported as plain objects without hierarchy. I don't if I did something wrong in the 3D converter tool where the structure seems to be correct: https://imgur.com/a/jwz8sXl
The developer can provide some answer when asked. Also note that the trial version deletes every fifth face of the converted model so you may need to purchase the full version.

[Space Knight]

Thanks for the help, guys! Yes, I am aware of this, including the engine it uses (although I can't find a tie to Warlock 2 specifically), as well as the existing converter. However, issues arise when I want to convert it all back (or rather, directly to, since it's better to have entirely new models) to KB's format, because there is no publicly available tool for that. The most I know is that it's fbx-based.

[Shescial]

basket random (https://basketballrandom.com) said:
I was always a fan of the KB and HoMM series, and ever since I first finished Crossworlds, I wanted to mod this game and make maps for it. I was much younger back then, and also didn't even have the maped texture pack after scouring the internet (though I have thankfully found it a few years ago). And to properly mod the game, I also needed to figure out how the 3D files work in the KB games, which I tried to, but with my minimal programming knowledge, I couldn't figure out much at all.

Anyway, fast-forward many years, and now I'm a 3D artist who was reminded of this game. So, here's the reason why I'm actually making this post: if there is someone who could figure out how these 3D file formats (bma and bms, IIRC there also was a cms EDIT: there is bsa too, for animations, which is crucial) work and make a converter from fbx to those, I could very well provide models and animations from time to time and perhaps develop a small (or maybe big, with time?) mod for either King's Bounty game (or perhaps all, since they work the same way and a mod with a few creatures is easy to make for all of them) that introduces some creatures from HoMM3, like Titans, Angels, Faerie Dragons etc. Below you can see one of my older, unfinished recreations of H3's Titan (if this converter would ever happen, I would go back to it and finish it + manual paint it in KB's style, although I have to admit, my hopes are very low that this'll happen, but it's worth a try):
Reverse engineering involves analyzing the file formats through observation, trial and error, and pattern recognition. You can start by examining the existing files and comparing them to each other to identify common structures. Tools like a hex editor and file format analyzers can be useful for this task. Reverse engineering can be a time-consuming and complex process, but it can yield valuable insights into the file formats.

[Delwy Charmaine]

It's fantastic to hear about your passion for the KB (King's Bounty) and HoMM (Heroes of Might and Magic) series, as well as your interest in modding bitlife (https://bitlifeonline.com/) and creating new content for these games. It's great that you've developed your skills as a 3D artist over the years.

[thorodinson]

I couldn't find specific information about a CMS file format related to the King's Bounty series. This format is indeed unique to a particular fnf (https://fnf2.io/) game or mod and might not be widely documented.

[FletcherAaden]

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