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War3 Model Editor

This bundle is marked as director's cut. It exceeds all expectations and excels in every regard.
//MOD EDIT// - PLEASE CHECK "UPDATE 2" below before posting if you have ISSUES USING MAGOS

This Model Editor is not made by me, but is made by Magos.

War3 Model Editor is as the name suggests a Model Viewer and a Model Editor dedicated to Warcraft 3. It supports both loading and saving of .mdl and .mdx model formats which are used in Warcraft 3. It also supports .bmp, .tga, .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .pcx and .blp texture formats.

There is a built-in MPQ Browser that allows you to browse any MPQ archive, which also includes Warcraft 3 map files (.w3m and .w3x). The MPQ Browser has been optimized for speed and is very fast to load and use. The Browser is customizable so you can add/remove your own icons and filters.

Features

* Model Viewer
* Model Editor
* Geoset Importing/Exporting
* Can save/load the model formats *.mdl and *.mdx
* Can save/load the texture formats .bmp, .tga, .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .pcx and .blp
* Can import other model formats (importers stored in DLLs)
* Ability to convert between the model formats
* Ability to convert between the texture formats
* MPQ Browser (very fast loading)
* Support for custom listfiles
* Support for custom MPQ filters & icons

Extras

* Loading Screen Creator
* A tool to create colored text for Warcraft 3

Supported Importers

* md2 (Quake 2)
* ms3d (Milkshape)


UPDATE 1 //by Rui​

Hey people, it's Rui. I have updated the tool to v1.07 and added some keywords for searching. Enjoy!


UPDATE 2 //by Khyrberos​

In recent years, both with modern OSes & with Reforged, W3ME might require a few adjustments to work properly.

(Made redundant by update 3)
One common issue over the years was missing DLLs; as described in this post by Hero_Lief and this message by Pyf, the DirectX Installer can be downloaded here. (Alternatively, as Hermit describes here, you can Google & download the specific file 'd3dx_9.dll' needed by W3ME.)

(Doesn't apply to beta v1.08)
A new issue with 1.30+ is its use of the CASC data system, replacing the old MPQ system. As described by Hermit in this post, you will need to have/find a copy of the old MPQs & put them where War3 Model Editor can find them in order for it to work properly. It appears 1.28 files work the best in v1.07

UPDATE 3 //by BogdanW3​

The v1.07 zip has been repacked to include the dll needed to make it run without having to install the DirectX runtime, thank you to @Dr Super Good for noting that that's the proper way to do things now with deprecation of Direct3D9 taking place.

You can now also download a new version, v1.08 beta, which was updated by me (@BogdanW3) and has some nice new, albeit still to be thoroughly tested, features:

* Edit texture paths directly from the textures window (no need for MDL for this)
* Support for v1000 (1.32) and v1100 (1.33, only loading for now) SD MDX models
* DDS texture support
* Hierarchical loading of textures (a texture referenced as tga in a model will no longer fail to load if the file is for example blp)
* Loading assets from CASC (no CASC browser at this time due to library limitations)
* 24 team colours
* Replaceable IDs 36 and 37, as well as a few more event objects are added from entries in the game data (thank you @Hermit)
* And more!

Feel free to contact me if there's any bugs or regressions you wish to report. MagosX has given me permission to post it, so I would like to thank him for that as well as making a great model editor with a very readable codebase!
This version currently works best with 1.29 MPQs or 1.31+ CASC.
Requires the 64-bit Visual C++ 2015 runtime.

PS, applies to all versions of W3ME:​

To set up the War3 Model Editor to load data (be it MPQs, or CASC in v1.08) from a specific folder, you will want to set up the string Registry value InstallPath in the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Blizzard Entertainment\Warcraft III\ to point to the Warcraft 3 data folder you wish to use.
For a more step-by-step explanation, check this comment by StormKnight.

Keywords:
warcraft, 3, III, magos, w3me, editor, model, war3, wc3, mdx
Contents

War3 Model Editor v1.07 (Binary)

War3 Model Editor v1.08 (64-bit, beta) (Binary)

Reviews
PurplePoot: Approved for extreme usefulness, whether as a mapper or a modeler.

Kyrbi0

Arena Moderator
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Messages
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All I'm saying is, if a moderator were to edit the resource & append a short explanation & link to the proper info on fixing that problem (especially right at the top), I think most people would see that & have their question answered.

And those that *didn't* could simply be redirected to the first post, rather than having to copy/paste the explanation *all over again*.

Here's another angle: what do we lose?? I've pointed out the ways in which we gain (even if they are arguably marginal). What possible harm is there in doing so?
 

pyf

pyf

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Mar 21, 2016
Messages
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It would still not work. People do not care to read the software requirements of what they want to use. Applies to WC3 maps and campaigns too, btw.

[...] AFAIK people always read the first post and/or page (even if only to make sure the question they're asking (i.e. the reason they came to that thread in the first place) is being asked/answered). So a Pinned post of an edited first post would, I imagine, be read all the time.
First correct answer given on page 1 in 2007 (post #6), immediately followed by post #7
First correct and full answer (with working link) given on page 2, post #23, also in 2007.


This is what I personally recommend to do, to prevent almost all errors related to missing Microsoft components / files, on modern OSes. Those are the *basics*.

(note: I did not mention .NET Core, nor PowerShell 7)
 
Level 21
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Messages
1,567
I can't open the program and get a message that - d3dx_9.dll was not found. Any idea what that means and how I fix it?
Find the dll file online, download it and put it into the same folder as the program.

You should be aware that it still won't work properly if you have Reforged, unless you also download the old game data that was stored in MPQ archives until patch 1.30, when they were replaced with the CASC archives.
 

pyf

pyf

Level 32
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Messages
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@Hermit @Ender Wiggins:
:thumbs_down:

Fyi:
... and please read onwards. tia.

I can't open the program and get a message that - d3dx_9.dll was not found. Any idea what that means and how I fix it?
I bet it is not even the right text of the error message that is displayed on screen.


Also @Kyrbi0, so he better understands my point (hopefully).

Downloading dlls individually is not the best course of action, I would recommend getting the DirectX runtime redistributable installed using the Microsoft's official installer.
This!

Now, be ready to write the same thing over and over again, because in this thread it is always Groundhog Day.
:slp:
 

pyf

pyf

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Joined
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Messages
2,985
@Ender Wiggins: ... and have you read the first post and/or page of this thread, mmh?

It's not? But this has always worked for me.
d3dx9_35.dll is a Microsoft file which is one of the components of DirectX9.0c. Therefore, it is best to install DirectX 9.0c properly, no? Plus, that way, people will not shoot themselves in the foot by downloading / copying any wrong dll file (which in this specific case will lead to the '0xc000007b' error message).
 

pyf

pyf

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Messages
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First correct answer given on page 1 in 2007 (post #6), immediately followed by post #7
First correct and full answer (with working link) given on page 2, post #23, also in 2007.
first few posts yes, not the whole page. [...]
Therefore, you stopped reading at post #5

With Hive 3.0, there are now 50 posts per page, meaning post #23 is now on page 1 as well.

Good luck continuing to support such outdated tools, also isn't there now an "awaiting update" flag for tools that don't work with newer versions?
The problem is, the author never released the source code afaik.

Another problem is, people do not install properly (or at all) the needed prerequisites for (almost) any software to work on their computers. They do not care about it, and do not want to learn/read anything related to that on their own as well.
 
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Kyrbi0

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Messages
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Pyf, you're a smart guy, and patient in offering help, so I don't know why we so often seem to 'clash', as it were.


Once again I ask: "what do we lose (by pursuing my suggestion (i.e. of a Pinned post or somesuch))?" If it doesn't work, well someone wasted 30 whole seconds but we're basically no worse off than we are now. And if it does work, well boy howdy, none of us need to worry about re-re-re-re-answering the same question over & over.

~~~

While I'm not aware of my connection to the question of individually downloading DLLs, I imagine I would side with @Bogdan3 here in general; it's wiser to get the whole library the "right way", and if a user is savvy enough for that, and it works, well then great.

However, in the short term/to simply test out Magos & see if it's right for you? I see no harm in suggesting the download of the appropriate DLL. It's easy enough to delete. I don't think the potential harm is all that intense.

pyf said:
Another problem is, people do not install properly (or at all) the needed prerequisites for (almost) any software to work on their computers. They do not care about it, and do not want to learn/read anything related to that on their own.
This is a gross oversimplification, and is a bit cynical. I'd rather recognize that people are all at different stages of 'computer-savviness', and forums like this one are a fertile ground for the ignorant-but-curious to come & ask for help. Let's not cynically assume that no one is willing or able to get the help they need.
 

pyf

pyf

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Messages
2,985
if this was somehow stickied right to the top I assume a lot less people would ask this...
This is a gross oversimplification [...]
How about a practical example, then?:
Now, please read the OP of the tool

Should anybody need another example (among many others), please remember the "MSVCR120.dll not found" error message when WC3 Patch 1.27a was released. ofc those who had previously installed the 32-bit version of the VC++ 2013 runtime never experienced this error with WC3, nor with any other software that did not ship these dependencies / redistributable files when they are mandatory for the program to run.

Please visit any tech support forum about any software, and you will get what the problem is.

[...] forums like this one are a fertile ground for the ignorant-but-curious to come & ask for help. Let's not cynically assume that no one is willing or able to get the help they need.
... aaaaand quoting myself again from this very same page, as an answer:
This is what I personally recommend to do, to prevent almost all errors related to missing Microsoft components / files, on modern OSes. Those are the basics.

(note: I did not mention .NET Core, nor PowerShell 7)
 

Kyrbi0

Arena Moderator
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How about a practical example, then?:
Now, please read the OP of the tool

Should anybody need another example (among many others), please remember the "MSVCR120.dll not found" error message when WC3 Patch 1.27a was released. ofc those who had previously installed the 32-bit version of the VC++ 2013 runtime never experienced this error with WC3, nor with any other software that did not ship these dependencies / redistributable files when they are mandatory for the program to run.

Please visit any tech support forum about any software, and you will get what the problem is.
I'm sure one can find any number of examples of computer-unsavvy folks looking for help. After all, that's exactly what forum's like these are all about. It doesn't necessarily prove that "[no one] properly installs the right software/cares/wants to learn or read about how". Just like me finding one positive example wouldn't prove my point.

Funny thing about that; you wouldn't be likely to find such, because if people read the instructions, follow them, and successfully Do the Thing, they won't make a thread asking about it. So in a classic example of selection bias, help threads/forums like this make it seem like there's a lot more stupid/lazy computer-unsavvy folks than there really are.

(Of course, "stupid/lazy" is struck through because I believe that's a very cynical & unfair way of looking at/portraying other people, and does nobody any good.)

... aaaaand quoting myself again from this very same page, as an answer:
Yeah, a comment on page 23, linking an equally-difficult-to-find Visitor Message on your profile. I'm not sure what point you were trying to make here.

~~~

More importantly, I no longer care. Until very recently, neither of us were able to do anything about it, so arguing was futile. However, as of recently I have been promoted to a Moderator, and it turns out I can edit the OP description. I have now done so, with the information provided by you & HeroLief (thank you again), and with any luck, this will help reduce the number of problems/questions people have with the software. At the very least, we can simply redirect them to the Edited OP. Neither is/was particularly onerous; literally the work of minutes, as I suspected.

Have a good day.
 

pyf

pyf

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Joined
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Messages
2,985
I think we are going to have an interesting week-end.

Have a good day.
Have a good warning (hopefully).

More importantly, I no longer care. Until very recently, neither of us were able to do anything about it, so arguing was futile. However, as of recently I have been promoted to a Moderator, and it turns out I can edit the OP description. I have now done so, with the information provided by you & HeroLief (thank you again), and with any luck, this will help reduce the number of problems/questions people have with the software. At the very least, we can simply redirect them to the Edited OP. Neither is/was particularly onerous; literally the work of minutes, as I suspected.
I do not care about the fact you do not care.

Several users have already pointed out the fact you have modified the OP in a way that is misleading, according to them. I will add to their remarks that my internet name is pyf, not Pyf.

The fact that Hero_Lief's post is from 2007 and is now on page one, is a part of the demonstration you failed to understand.

Your OP modification/addendum will not help reduce the number of problems, because people will not care to read it, just like they have not read any of the posts already providing the answer to the missing dll issue, nor did an internet search to find out what the D3DX9_35.dll error message was related to.

People have to read the previous posts of any thread before posting in it. People have to use search engines to find information. People have to be proactive with their computers; because they are the ones in charge of it; because they are the admins.

Yeah, a comment on page 23, linking an equally-difficult-to-find Visitor Message on your profile. I'm not sure what point you were trying to make here.
My post (which is not a comment btw) is on the current page. As for the Profile post and comment I had written as a follow up, they are not difficult to find (because I have linked to my Profile discussion with HeroEditor from this very thread), and this Profile discussion is not on my Profile btw; it is on his Profile, not mine. And being now a Moderator (as you have pointed out), I am strongly encouraging you to get your facts straight.

The fact you are not sure what point I am trying to make with this specific example, is another point that makes me worry about your recent promotion. In order to not leave you in the dark, simply realize that HeroEditor did not manage to see the info in the OP about the runtime he should have installed on his (brand new?) computer, for his software (Renderedge widescreen) to work. Nobody on THW cared to help him with his issue. Like you for example. Therefore, after having given him a clue because nobody else on THW did, I have written extra additional advice on his Profile, so he does not have to deal with (almost) any other missing Microsoft dependencies and his software always runs (except if he tries to run something written in F#, which is beyond the scope of what a standard computer user generally uses). These recommendations are the basics that everybody should already have installed himself/herself on any brand new OS install. I did not invent it. This information has been available on web sites since years and years. Again, people must be proactive with their computers. They must look for information. It is the basics of using the internet, to look for stuff.

(Of course, "stupid/lazy" is struck through because I believe that's a very cynical & unfair way of looking at/portraying other people, and does nobody any good.)
I have been surfing the internet since the mid-late 1990s. There has clearly been a decline in the mid-2000s, and I have clearly felt a decline in the internet when the web really started to get mainstream. And the situation has been keeping eroding. In fact, most technicians from the old guard have left the help tech forums, because of the ever increasing number of computer users who do not seek for an answer to their issues, nor do the bare minimum to understand things by themselves; all they want is to find a forum to post their questions (and not read the answers already given there), and then they wait for an answer. Sometimes they do not even care for any follow up, meaning they have wasted the time spent by the competent people who have done some research work for them in order to help them.

Again, visit any other help/tech forum about anything, and educate yourself on the current state of mind people have. This is the way things are.

Funny thing about that; you wouldn't be likely to find such, because if people read the instructions, follow them, and successfully Do the Thing, they won't make a thread asking about it. So in a classic example of selection bias, help threads/forums like this make it seem like there's a lot more stupid/lazy computer-unsavvy folks than there really are.
The answers to their questions are already there. They simply do not want to find them/read them. They want a personalized answer to their own very specific post. This is the reason why in the same tech support thread, the same question can come back again and again, sometimes even right after an answer has been given. This very thread is an example of that. I find your failure to notice / acknowledge it to be concerning.

Before posting, one should have the courtesy to read the thread in full, or use a search engine to narrow the number of posts displayed by using keywords / boolean expressions, so one can quickly find out if the same question has already been posted and answered to. Else, why would threads exist in the first place? Why don't we delete every post each week, mmh?

I'm sure one can find any number of examples of computer-unsavvy folks looking for help. After all, that's exactly what forum's like these are all about. It doesn't necessarily prove that "[no one] properly installs the right software/cares/wants to learn or read about how". Just like me finding one positive example wouldn't prove my point.
I can give you many other examples, including but not limited to how people do not read the version requirements for a WC3 map / campaign, so it runs on their computer/game version. Even if that information is written in bold and big and red letters in the OP. It seems to me you should read our threads more often, and more thoroughly. As a Moderator, it is part of your job.


I see it as a problem that you are playing Devil's advocate here, and also that you are condoning bad computer practices by acknowledging the download of seperate components of a Runtime, as a proper way to manage software in a computer.

Speaking specifically about The DirectX9.0c Runtime (because this one is the subject at hand here), it also installs the following files as well, so that any program that needs these files can find and use them:

List of file failures that the DirectX End-User Runtime package fixes​

If you experience issues in which an application fails because any of the following files are missing, you may be able to resolve the failure by running the DirectX run-time package:
  • D3DX9_24.DLL through D3DX9_43.DLL [note: including D3DX9_35.DLL]
  • D3DX10.DLL through D3DX10_43.DLL
  • D3DCompiler_33.DLL through D3DCompiler_43.DLL
  • D3DX11_42.DLL
  • D3DX11_43.DLL
  • D3DCSX_42.DLL
  • D3DCSX_43.DLL
  • XACTENGINE2_0.DLL through XACTENGINE2_9.DLL
  • XACTENGINE3_0.DLL through XACTENGINE3_7.DLL
  • XAUDIO2_0.DLL
  • XAUDIO2_1.DLL
  • XAUDIO2_2.DLL
  • XAUDIO2_3.DLL
  • XAUDIO2_4.DLL
  • XAUDIO2_5.DLL
  • XAUDIO2_6.DLL
  • XAUDIO2_7.DLL
  • XAPOFX1_0.DLL through XAPOFX1_5.DLL
  • X3DAUDIO1_0.DLL through X3DAUDIO1_7.DLL
  • XINPUT1_1.DLL
  • XINPUT1_2.DLL
  • XINPUT1_3.DLL
Source:

Now, one does not necessarily have to know that. All one has to do is install the Runtime, as it is widely said on the Internet after having used a Search engine to find out what the error message is about. For some reason, you are thinking differently.

Now, should one require any other Runtime (Java, AIR, Python, VC++ etc.) to run something, then the right thing to do is obviously not to download any component of it one by one from any third-party web site, and then copy said file(s) into any unprotected folder in order for the software to hopefully work in the end. Therefore, you are supporting bad advice, and therefore you are making a great disservice to anybody who is using a computer on this planet, by saying in the OP that "Alternatively, as Hermit describes [...], you can Google & install the specific 'd3dx_9.dll' needed by Magos, though this may cause other problems with your system.)". This is irresponsible. His way is the wrong way, and you do not even have the decency to admit it. Learn your job, Mr Moderator Sir.


When one does an internet search about any missing DirectX component in his OS, any trustworthy posters from any decent and respectable web site will redirect people to any of the following pages by Microsoft:

I am encouraging people to install the DirectX9.0c Runtime (even on their Windows 10 64-bit OS) just as I did encourage @Dr Super Good to do so in 2016 when I joined this community that did not help HeroEditor in 2020. I am also encouraging people to proactively install other Runtimes as well (and not specifically the ones from Microsoft, such as PowerShell 7 of .NET Core 3.1.x or .NET 5.x.x for example), so their computer is ready to run almost anything. As the administrators of your computers, it is your job to do it yourself and also, and also to read some software news on a semi-regular basis. It takes roughly 15 minutes to do each day, sometimes even less (it depends on what one is interested in).


Looking forward to your next entertaining post, if any.
 
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Level 48
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@pyf you're being extremely petty and weird. This is unreasonable. Kyrbi0 has done a net service to new users and people who need to redownload the tool - there is no harm done. I wasn't sure what was going on before but reading through your post now I am just baffled that this is something you're willing to stake your claim in.

I think most of what you wrote can be dismissed as jaded cynicism and is entirely your own problem, your mental health and personal frustrations are NOT our responsibility. That said, I will reply to this in particular:
Before posting, one should have the courtesy to read the thread in full
No it is not. That is an insane request. There are 23 pages in this thread. Very few people are willing to dedicate this amount of time to running a tool they want to experiment with for their hobby therefore it is NOT reasonable to demand that of them. A key part of modern programming and web design is accessibility and ease of use and access. You can remain lost in the past or you can move forward with the times, none of this is our concern. I think frankly your cynicism goes beyond the surface level and is betraying an actual dislike of other people and even of the very concept of altruism. That, to me, is morally abhorrent.
 
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@pyf you're being extremely petty and weird. This is unreasonable. Kyrbi0 has done a net service to new users and people who need to redownload the tool - there is no harm done. I wasn't sure what was going on before but reading through your post now I am just baffled that this is something you're willing to stake your claim in.

I think most of what you wrote can be dismissed as jaded cynicism and is entirely your own problem, your mental health and personal frustrations are NOT our responsibility. That said, I will reply to this in particular:

No it is not. That is an insane request. There are 23 pages in this thread. Very few people are willing to dedicate this amount of time to running a tool they want to experiment with for their hobby therefore it is NOT reasonable to demand that of them. A key part of modern programming and web design is accessibility and ease of use and access. You can remain lost in the past or you can move forward with the times, none of this is our concern. I think frankly your cynicism goes beyond the surface level and is betraying an actual dislike of other people and even of the very concept of altruism. That, to me, is morally abhorrent.
I fully agree to that. In fact, why is pyf even so riled up about? I haven't seen him to models, or mapping or.... anything contructive, worthwhile or wholesome for the community.

Chill out @pyf. You tried to do this in the staff contact, in medivh's tower on people's profiles and I have to warm you to cease your demanding and utterly dumb tone please. Else, we might consider giving you a warning. Or two.

I use this tool constantly and without any issues.
 

Dr Super Good

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Messages
27,180
I am encouraging people to install the DirectX9.0c Runtime (even on their Windows 10 64-bit OS) just as I did encourage @Dr Super Good to do so in 2016 when I joined this community that did not help HeroEditor in 2020.
Warcraft III no longer needs D3D9 to run as it was moved to D3D11. Tools such as the much more up to date and recommended Retera Model Studio use OpenGL.
 
I read posts on this thread by people claiming how much they desperately wished Jesus had returned, so tonight since it's Friday night and work was over for me, I decided to pop open the source code of Magos War3 Model Editor and compile it from source for fun. It took two hours before I had it running when I press the green button in Visual Studio, and I haven't used Visual Studio in like, years? Yeah I had to google search a lot of totally dumb random stuff, but still it worked.

Looks like the source code Magos left us is only version 1.05, however, and when I looked at the Wayback Machine he expressly asked alongside the download that other people don't recompile it for the purpose of publishing their own modified version (although I don't really see a license file?).

From the now defunct magos website of the past:
NOTE: This is meant as an educational source, not something to be recompiled under another author! Therefore the source code is not fully compilable!
So, yeah, I guess right at the end, Visual Studio said it was missing some resource information thing, and I clicked on some old shady program I downloaded years ago, pointed it at the public release of 1.07, and clicked some magic button to generate some random magic file thing to fix some missing icons and stuff. Apparently in the process of regenerating this missing file, I also generated something containing the necessary text for the UI that was supposed to be missing.

While writing this, to prove to myself that I'm not crazy and that I am doing what I think that I am doing, I went into the MDL writer logic and added an additional line of code to the generated header on MDL files that says "And Retera Was Here" and then I launched the program with the green play button from Visual Studio 2019, and then I went to "Windows -> MPQ Browser" and I opened War3.mpq, chose Hellscream.mdx, saved it to MDL, and the file contained the following header as expected:

JSON:
//+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
//| Hellscream2.mdl
//| Generated by War3 Model Editor v1.05 Retera 2021
//| And Retera Was Here
//| Saturday, May 15 2021 01:05:12
//| http://Magos.TheJeffFiles.com/War3ModelEditor/
//+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version {
    FormatVersion 800,
}

It's not because your savior is gone from this realm that War3ModelEditor does not receive updates... the only reason I can comprehend is that no one cares... or that they do care about the request for the program not to be "recompiled under another author". Magos wanted it to be this way. Retera Model Studio is not at all like that. I have seen pictures of builds of Retera Model Studio compiled by other authors, with other program names across the top and other features that I never even dreamed of implementing. Seriously.

1621055502705.png

Stop worshipping closed-source programs. If Mr Magos does come back, he will probably add a login page and DRM to his program so that whenever you open it, then it will call home so he can make sure of what you are doing with it. Maybe he will call it Magos Reforged and sell licenses for $30.

Meanwhile, you could just recompile Retera Model Studio from source and then reconfigure it to have the magos UI, because making UI is substantially easier than making MDX/MDL parsing and rendering subsystems for many people.

Also, don't ever google the name of a DLL and find the first result and download a DLL from whatever website you encounter and put it into your computer.

I mean, depending on how you look at it, a person could say I did that tonight to get Magos sourcecode to run, but I was specifically targeting websites to download from that also included the sourcecode and claimed to be the authors of the dependencies that I needed, even if I am not incredibly familiar with them. Anyone offering a download of d3d9 that isn't Microsoft is not the developer of that.... (But is ShadowFlare's Realm - Downloads even the website of the real ShadowFlare? His SFmpqapi sure got the job done.)
 
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Level 15
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Messages
154
I read posts on this thread by people claiming how much they desperately wished Jesus had returned, so tonight since it's Friday night and work was over for me, I decided to pop open the source code of Magos War3 Model Editor and compile it from source for fun. It took two hours before I had it running when I press the green button in Visual Studio, and I haven't used Visual Studio in like, years? Yeah I had to google search a lot of totally dumb random stuff, but still it worked.

Looks like the source code Magos left us is only version 1.05, however, and when I looked at the Wayback Machine he expressly asked alongside the download that other people don't recompile it for the purpose of publishing their own modified version (although I don't really see a license file?).

From the now defunct magos website of the past:

So, yeah, I guess right at the end, Visual Studio said it was missing some resource information thing, and I clicked on some old shady program I downloaded years ago, pointed it at the public release of 1.07, and clicked some magic button to generate some random magic file thing to fix some missing icons and stuff. Apparently in the process of regenerating this missing file, I also generated something containing the necessary text for the UI that was supposed to be missing.

While writing this, to prove to myself that I'm not crazy and that I am doing what I think that I am doing, I went into the MDL writer logic and added an additional line of code to the generated header on MDL files that says "And Retera Was Here" and then I launched the program with the green play button from Visual Studio 2019, and then I went to "Windows -> MPQ Browser" and I opened War3.mpq, chose Hellscream.mdx, saved it to MDL, and the file contained the following header as expected:

JSON:
//+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
//| Hellscream2.mdl
//| Generated by War3 Model Editor v1.05 Retera 2021
//| And Retera Was Here
//| Saturday, May 15 2021 01:05:12
//| http://Magos.TheJeffFiles.com/War3ModelEditor/
//+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Version {
    FormatVersion 800,
}

It's not because your savior is gone from this realm that War3ModelEditor does not receive updates... the only reason I can comprehend is that no one cares... or that they do care about the request for the program not to be "recompiled under another author". Magos wanted it to be this way. Retera Model Studio is not at all like that. I have seen pictures of builds of Retera Model Studio compiled by other authors, with other program names across the top and other features that I never even dreamed of implementing. Seriously.


Stop worshipping closed-source programs. If Mr Magos does come back, he will probably add a login page and DRM to his program so that whenever you open it, then it will call home so he can make sure of what you are doing with it. Maybe he will call it Magos Reforged and sell licenses for $30.

Meanwhile, you could just recompile Retera Model Studio from source and then reconfigure it to have the magos UI, because making UI is substantially easier than making MDX/MDL parsing and rendering subsystems for many people.

Also, don't ever google the name of a DLL and find the first result and download a DLL from whatever website you encounter and put it into your computer.

I mean, depending on how you look at it, a person could say I did that tonight to get Magos sourcecode to run, but I was specifically targeting websites to download from that also included the sourcecode and claimed to be the authors of the dependencies that I needed, even if I am not incredibly familiar with them. Anyone offering a download of d3d9 that isn't Microsoft is not the developer of that.... (But is ShadowFlare's Realm - Downloads even the website of the real ShadowFlare? His SFmpqapi sure got the job done.)
I don't understand much of what you said, but what I do understand is that you did something interesting and helpful, yet potentially partisan. Also that it took you 2 hours to draw that adorable smiley face in the screenshot.

In all seriousness though I agree with the sentiment. While I do think that its okay to fawn over certain systems for novelty's sake or because its something that one is used to using, assuming perfection of anything is often a foolhardy venture. Part of the reason why we are all so interested in such an old game like Warcraft III is because we all are invested in the contributions and changes brought by the community, it seems hypocritical then to stand in the way of furthering the resources or methods used in developing those contributions and changes.
 

deepstrasz

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  • making materials transparent, unshading them or not, making them two sided or not, setting their priority plane
  • animating textures/materials
  • creating lights and animating them
  • editing/creating particles
  • adding footprints, sounds
  • creating cameras for portraits
  • editing animation parameters, some which are annoying to do in Retera's; also copying animations in the latter is a pain
  • calculating extents
My experience with the old model editor was such that it basically could not do much at all and a lot of what it did do resulted in corrupted files.
I did not say there are no issues involved. But it does the job done if you are careful.
Even Mdlvis has its uses. All 3 combined are quite helpful.
 

pyf

pyf

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In its current state, War3 Model Editor is imho useful as a viewer. When it comes to manipulate any data with it, the results may not be reliable. I have used MDLXconv 1.04 and Geoset Translation 1.04 instead of it in the 3D Opening Screens / Campaign Screens in 16:9 for a good reason.

[...] Also, don't ever google the name of a DLL and find the first result and download a DLL from whatever website you encounter and put it into your computer. [...]
This, when an official installable Runtime exists. Especially the official ones by Microsoft.

ofc when any dll by third parties are officially redistributed in a standard archive (like for example SDL, or any wrapper like for example DDrawCompat), then there is no problem: get the official archive from its official site and extract the dll into the folder of your application, as per intructed in the documentation which you are supposed to read btw.

Warcraft III no longer needs D3D9 to run as it was moved to D3D11. Tools such as the much more up to date and recommended Retera Model Studio use OpenGL.
... which is a bit irrelevant in a thread about a legacy tool designed for legacy versions of the game, and which was last updated by Magos on August 12, 2008. Also, installing any Runtime benefits to any other application that also uses any component of said Runtime.

That being said, I trust there are more recent and more reliable tools than War3 Model Editor 1.07 out there.

I fully agree to that. In fact, why is pyf even so riled up about? I haven't seen him to models, or mapping or.... anything contructive, worthwhile or wholesome for the community.

Chill out @pyf. You tried to do this in the staff contact, in medivh's tower on people's profiles and I have to warm you to cease your demanding and utterly dumb tone please. Else, we might consider giving you a warning. Or two. [...]

Your words remind me of this:

So, welcome to the Hive Sweatshop? A place people can visit with a smile on their faces?


Now, I tried to do what exactly? Educate people in installing a Runtime?, something other people have already been doing in this thread since 2007? (and other people on other web sites since even before?) Telling the truth about the state of mind of people on the internet? Raise awareness?

Speaking of that and of the DirectX End use Runtime, I find this one to be tragically comical in a desperate sort of way:

Again, I am reading that kind of stuff almost everyday. i am not even specifically looking for it.


About the constructive / worthwhile / wholesome part and for those who care, THW may tamper the date of the files downloaded as archives. This has been the case since Hive 2.0. This is why I prefer to download the archives of tools from their official sites, sometimes using archive.org to achieve it if the site is gone. More related info here, for those who care to read (which I did, btw)
@Ralle

@pyf you're being extremely petty and weird. This is unreasonable. Kyrbi0 has done a net service to new users and people who need to redownload the tool - there is no harm done. I wasn't sure what was going on before but reading through your post now I am just baffled that this is something you're willing to stake your claim in.

I think most of what you wrote can be dismissed as jaded cynicism and is entirely your own problem, your mental health and personal frustrations are NOT our responsibility. That said, I will reply to this in particular:

No it is not. That is an insane request. There are 23 pages in this thread. Very few people are willing to dedicate this amount of time to running a tool they want to experiment with for their hobby therefore it is NOT reasonable to demand that of them. A key part of modern programming and web design is accessibility and ease of use and access. You can remain lost in the past or you can move forward with the times, none of this is our concern. I think frankly your cynicism goes beyond the surface level and is betraying an actual dislike of other people and even of the very concept of altruism. That, to me, is morally abhorrent.
This is not cynism. Just realism. Daring to face the truth and to write it publicly, is easier to do than it may seem to some.

Kyrbi0 is not helping anybody by writing that "(Alternatively, as Hermit describes here, you can Google & install the specific 'd3dx_9.dll' needed by Magos, though this may cause other problems with your system.)"

As I have written above, the date of the files are modified, leading to tampered content in the archive.

It is disrespectful to not read what has been written before in the thread. By reading, people will discover the answer to many other questions that might arise as well in the process of using the tool (or about anything else). That means, less redundancy. Also fyi, the written language has been created / invented since (almost) the Dawn of Man, with a purpose in mind. Guess what that purpose is, @Deolrin.

Also, 23x50 posts is not that much to read. If reading texts is really an issue, there exists speech synthesis software available, for example. Or accessibility features. All built-in / installable in/for modern OSes.
 
I am not sure why, but I find myself strangely on @pyf 's side with regard to what is and is not good computer software management (regardless of whether he is having the discussion in the right place or not, which is not something I focus on as much although it certainly has value).

To be honest as a tool moderator I was sitting with my parents around a dinner table and I was laughing at the Warcraft III modding community's expense talking about how we have a lot of ignorant people who would just download random DLLs and put them on their computers with no regard for computer security, and I really seriously almost just used my tool [reviewer (Edit: fixed typo here)] powers (and my phone right there at the dinner table) to edit the front page and delete that note from Khyrb about googling for a DLL. I really was this close while we were all sitting around the table laughing about this and how most people still doing WC3 in 2021 are ignorant and stuff.

But in the end, I did not do it, not because I am unsure whether it would be the right thing to do (it would be) but because I did not want to deal with the social implications of "Magos Updated the War3 Model Editor" notifications or whatever it was that @Kyrbi0 accidentally generated. I would likely accidentally generate the same notifications. Honestly sounded like a site issue.
 
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I don't think anyone in the discussion disagreed with Pyf regarding what is "good computer software management", whether installing random DLLs is harmful or not or indeed anything surrounding that point. What I think myself, Kyrbi and Frank take issue with is twofold: the way Pyf presents his arguments (including where they are presented) and Pyf's insistence that only users who go the extra mile in being good computer users are worthy of respect and positive treatment.
I couldn't care less whether Pyf is right or wrong about the .DLL issue, given his claims and supportive arguments I am inclined to believe he is likely right, but his rhetoric makes me abhor anything he writes on the topic, and his clear disdain for anyone short of the "perfect computer user" elicits a feeling in me not unlike that which I feel when someone tells me about their unorthodox thoughts on white superiority.


I think good computer practice should be encouraged and supported - if individual DLLs can be harmful they should not be publicly endorsed by moderators.
I also think good UX design means taking into consideration average people, not tech-savvy software engineers and amateur hackers - which means using the tools afforded to us by Ralle and Archian to boost visibility of important topics, suck as using stickied messages and editing the opening post.
And I definitely think Pyf was being an ass to everyone involved, which obviously hampers whatever (helpful/positive) feedback he may have provided. This last statement isn't an opinion, it is a provable fact by the reaction of several people to his posts.
 
I don't think anyone in the discussion disagreed with Pyf regarding what is "good computer software management", whether installing random DLLs is harmful or not or indeed anything surrounding that point. What I think myself, Kyrbi and Frank take issue with is twofold: the way Pyf presents his arguments (including where they are presented) and Pyf's insistence that only users who go the extra mile in being good computer users are worthy of respect and positive treatment.
I couldn't care less whether Pyf is right or wrong about the .DLL issue, given his claims and supportive arguments I am inclined to believe he is likely right, but his rhetoric makes me abhor anything he writes on the topic, and his clear disdain for anyone short of the "perfect computer user" elicits a feeling in me not unlike that which I feel when someone tells me about their unorthodox thoughts on white superiority.


I think good computer practice should be encouraged and supported - if individual DLLs can be harmful they should not be publicly endorsed by moderators.
I also think good UX design means taking into consideration average people, not tech-savvy software engineers and amateur hackers - which means using the tools afforded to us by Ralle and Archian to boost visibility of important topics, suck as using stickied messages and editing the opening post.
And I definitely think Pyf was being an ass to everyone involved, which obviously hampers whatever (helpful/positive) feedback he may have provided. This last statement isn't an opinion, it is a provable fact by the reaction of several people to his posts.
On top of that going all hissy fit in another thread and singling me out makes me have more disdain for the whole situation. :(
 

Kyrbi0

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Messages
9,487
I am not sure why, but I find myself strangely on @pyf 's side with regard to what is and is not good computer software management (regardless of whether he is having the discussion in the right place or not, which is not something I focus on as much although it certainly has value).

To be honest as a tool moderator I was sitting with my parents around a dinner table and I was laughing at the Warcraft III modding community's expense talking about how we have a lot of ignorant people who would just download random DLLs and put them on their computers with no regard for computer security, and I really seriously almost just used my tool moderator powers (and my phone right there at the dinner table) to edit the front page and delete that note from Khyrb about googling for a DLL. I really was this close while we were all sitting around the table laughing about this and how most people still doing WC3 in 2021 are ignorant and stuff.

But in the end, I did not do it, not because I am unsure whether it would be the right thing to do (it would be) but because I did not want to deal with the social implications of "Magos Updated the War3 Model Editor" notifications or whatever it was that @Kyrbi0 accidentally generated. I would likely accidentally generate the same notifications. Honestly sounded like a site issue.
I haven't had a chance to comment (hopefully someday...), but I too agree with pyf that the safest & optimal route is to officially download the whole installer package or whatever it's called. And so I included that.

The issue I (& others, such as Deolrin & General Frank) are having with pyf is his infuriating attitude & utter refusal to acknowledge/appreciate the low "cost-to-benefit" ratio of my actions in general (vis-a-vis updating the Tool Description with some helpful links to help people resolve issues with running the program, in the hopes that it will reduce the number of people posting in this thread/forum for help). For whatever reason ("cynicism/elitism" some say, "realism" he says), he seems to believe my actions to have been not only in vain, but actively deleterious.

Insofar as my updating the description made it appear that Magos himself had updated things, he was kinda right. But I immediately apologized & did what I could to fix that error, and there's an active thread about trying to find a solution to that problem.

Retera, if you had edited my description, I can't say I would blame you. However, in response to the idea of the irresponsibility of even suggesting potentially-dangerous actions... I'm a little confused. The 'free market/empowered agent" model of Internet usage that pyf seems to be championing would ostensibly appreciate users being given all applicable information, even dangerous stuff. I mean when someone tells you to "go pirate X", there's a lot of danger inherent in that (shady sites, torrenting software, etc) that someone is exposing you to by saying that. I actually Disclaimer'd it with the knowledge that this was potentially-dangerous... But guess what, that's what I did years ago & it's worked for me, so I figured I should bring it up.

TO BE CLEAR, I welcome any edits made to my edit to try & make it more comprehensive & helpful. @pyf you pointed out something(s) that are/were off about my Edit (aside from the "google DLLs" bit, of course); please let me or another Moderator know (as precisely & dispassionately as possible) how best to improve it.
 

Kyrbi0

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If there's a legit way of fixing the issue, then just point to the posts regarding that and make a title like Known Issues in the description and keep it under some spoiler/hidden tags if the list gets too long.
Well that's what I'm asking. It's been pointed out that my current attempt at doing that (the existing Edit, by me) is insufficient. Tell me how to fix it (open question to anyone, not just you deepstrasz) & I will gladly do so.
 
Hmm, a bit off topic but I would like to apologize about a pedantic issue. I was reviewing my earlier post and I noticed that I referred to my "tool moderator powers" [sic] which is not correct because I am a tool reviewer, not moderator. For a good reason. I'm a bit lazy sometimes in the hobby sphere, and I think it's important to give credit to the fact that there exist moderators apart from reviewers like me and to not blur that line. I made that typo while I was writing the other post from the yard playing with the dog at the time, so I was just a little careless. My apologies about that, although it seems that nobody pointed out the obvious incongruity between what I said and the title under my name. I specifically wanted to apologize about it because I had a conversation once somewhere else a year or two ago where I made that mistake, and as a technologist who wasn't focused on the social sphere it was not important to me at the time, but it was pointed out to me that it should be. I have no intention of offending people with regards to anything like that.

Speaking of not offending people, you guys really make me feel like I've missed something in pyf's posts in what I've skimmed through and understood thus far. I did not ever have a moment where I was reading what he said and I found it to be hostile or worthy of the kind of insults given here. But I am not that well acquainted with pyf or his personal opinions in other threads, etc, which seems to maybe be the point of issue. Seems like I only just saw him post friendly stuff like everyone else thus far in this thread, but I was probably giving the benefit of the doubt and reading his words in my mind with a different sort of more passive "intonation" that what you guys seem to be responding to and how you read them. Sometimes it's hard to understand peoples' meaning/connotation from text alone.

he seems to believe my actions to have been not only in vain, but actively deleterious.
After I got a degree in computer science and then found myself getting burned by computer security in my personal life, and by a hack that was so well-done that honestly everyone just tried to convince me it was some illusion and even the IT guy from work said it was sun spots changing the output of my computer monitor... I've just been paranoid about security. I know it's a bit paranoid but it's just really frustrating to learn a lot about how computers work only to realize that even after learning how to tell them what to do, they might not do what you tell them when push comes to shove and someone with more societal power than you forms a team of humans to infiltrate your personal things. I don't even have things worth infiltrating, it's just that because I never was able to prove that I was hacked, I came to feel worse about it over time. Currently my only guess for what happened is that my home PC was taken over by a foreign agent who was not interested in targeting me and was looking for something else. It showed up the one time on my home PC after connecting to the office network where I work, even though I was using Windows at the time and the office computers were Linux. When it kept happening for months where I work even after we changed buildings and replaced all the computers, I put words on the screen telling them I was aware of what they were doing, and then I never saw it again. It was indescribably uncanny. Sometimes it makes me question everything about how I use computers. For all I know, they're still watching me today. It's really dehumanizing and mentally taxing over a long period of time.

So that's why, even if I'm wrong about what I'm saying and nothing ever happened to me and it was just a sun spot, the point is that this:
But guess what, that's what I did years ago & it's worked for me, so I figured I should bring it up.
...is a terrible justification. Absolutely terrible. It is this manner of thinking that can make some people upset with you. Because the worst thing about computer security problems is that if you have the really important ones, then you probably do not know that you have them, similar to my personal story. The SolarFlare hack is an example. If you read about how it was made, even just a simple article, it is a good example of a security problem that you could have and never know. And that is how the US Nuclear Arsenal and US NSA and other government systems and Microsoft Corporation all were easily hacked, but they did not ever know that they were being hacked. The developers of the hack spent a lot of time to study the exact design of the Solar Winds/Orion program and then develop a plugin in the legitimate software's own plugin system that would send "Custom Experience Improvement" metadata home. It would only send the data packet containing the hacker's message after checking periodically for a period of several weeks about the state of the computer and whether anyone was watching if it was there. Then when it determined that they were not watching, it would check for the antivirus softwares from a preset list, eventually make sure they were disabled or tampered with not to run, and then when it was in the clear, it would send home the customer experience improvement packets. Except the contents of the custom experience messages were always just random data. So if you looked at them, anybody would just assume, "Oh this is just something I didn't make". But if you take the timestamp value for what time the message claims it was made, and you look at the binary of the timestamp, the 2nd bit of the binary would be a 1 instead of a 0 if it was time to say that this message actually encoded the meaningful secret records of its success manipulating the target machine. And they were still just be interwoven with the random data.

And that's just the beginning, that's the part that you can read about online because it became obvious once it was understood. That says nothing about how it got into the software release pipeline that released into NSA and US Nuclear Arsenal and others, that's just an example of how it worked once it was deployed. And I know what I'm describing is really secondhand and if it interests you then it's better to go and read first hand how that thing actually works. But the point is that malware can exist in the system and lay dormant for years if it wants to. What if your computer is comprised right now because of that bad directX DLL that you downloaded? It can be very difficult to know for certain.

So, you're probably not hacked. Obviously we want to believe that you downloaded from some shady site that just re-uploads DLLs at random and that they happened to re-upload the directX DLL that you wanted. But if the DLL that you downloaded actually calls home, I really doubt that you would even know about it. What if, for example, Retera Model Studio contained a binary file with some random name like idw-gpl.jar that wasn't actually open source despite my constant claims that Retera Model Studio is open source and anybody can compile it themselves? What if, since this theoretical extra file is a closed source JAR and nobody knows what it does, it actually installed a program so that I could keep tabs on everyone in the Warcraft III community? And then when users would exit the Retera Model Studio it might just keep running in the background with a friendly little sheep icon process and I could just tell them it was an error while I keep tabs on what they are doing.
And, that's not actually the case, right, because you trust me, but the point is that it's important to know what your software is and where you get it from, because once you are getting software from someone you don't trust then you probably don't have computer security anymore.
 

Kyrbi0

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Yeah even as I typed it, I could feel the words "survivorship bias" screaming in my head (next to "anecdotal evidence"). I support removing that in the eventual update.

So again, what's the plan? What's the full & complete Best Official Way to get Magos working on newer OS's/Reforged?
 
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Yeah even as I typed it, I could feel the words "survivorship bias" screaming in my head (next to "anecdotal evidence"). I support removing that in the eventual update.

So again, what's the plan? What's the full & complete Best Official Way to get Magos working on newer OS's/Reforged?
Though it may sound odd, I would just run it in a sandbox with an older OS or use another software, should I ever go mad enough to actually touch reforged.
 

Dr Super Good

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I can't open files from another app.
Given how this is unrelated to the topic you might want to create a separate thread...

The file path looks like an old FAT file system due to the use of 8.3 file names. Try placing MPQEdit on a NTFS (or similar) formatted drive. If the drive is NTFS formatted then MPQEdit must be using 8.3 file names internally, in which case their support must be enabled in the registry and there must not be multiple similarly named files and folders in the path.
 
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