Well... Damn

[Direfury]

So, a while back, my computer crashed, and I lost everything. Everything.

As in, four alphabetized folders full of completed models, experiments and practice models, from my Norse Warmonger to dozens of models I didn't have the chance to upload.

Unfortunately, this means I lost milkshape and my copy of Warcraft 3. I've managed to get Milkshape again, and some of my usual tools, but I've come upon two problems. First, I don't have Warcraft anymore, which means I don't have the MPQ's filled with textures and models. Second, my version of Milkshape does not import or export MDX files.

Now what I'm wondering is if there is a way to be able to export to MDX, and if there's a way I can get the MPQ's to begin redoing my favored models, including holiday models I've lost. Thanks.

 

[Rao Dao Zao]

Well, I can help you with the MS3D exporter at least.

 

[Direfury]

Alright, so I have Warcraft installed again, but for some reason, I DON'T have the MPQ's, so I can't use Magos, or use ingame textures. How can I fix this?

 

[NhazUl]

How exactly do you have Warcraft installed without the MPQs? Browse the CD, they should be there.

 

[Direfury]

No idea. My father put the game on when he fixed the computer.

I'd ask, but he's usually not sober enough to tell me anything.

 

[NhazUl]

Reinstall it to ensure that everything went properly. I still cannot figure how you can launch Warcraft without MPQs.

 

[Direfury]

The game itself, and the world editor work perfectly fine, which seems odd.

 

[Rao Dao Zao]

Did you install to a different location than the default? Could be that Magos' just can't find the MPQs in their current location... I think it uses registry keys to work out the path, so if there's a WC3 registry fixer tool hanging around anywhere that might be worth a shot.

 

[Direfury]

No, I've done searches plenty of times, and there are no MPQ files on my computer.

 

[neo_sluf]

JUST PRETTY SIMPLE....PLAY WARCRAFT.....or....OPEN WORLD EDITOR..

If it works.....it has an MPQ....you just need to search it.........war.MPQ...war3x.MPQ....warPatch..MPQ... thats the mpq on warcraft....you just find it in the folder...they maybe hidden..

 

[Direfury]

You're not very bright, are you.

 

[PROXY]

Just check the warcraft 3 folder, if it isn't there, check your temp files, maybe they are there. Or in your recycle bin.

They must be anywhere but it is sometimes that magos can't detect them. I just placed magos in the wc3 folder and it worked.

 

[Uncle Fester]

Maybe you should manually insert the path in Magos, so that the program knows where to find the models. I had the same problem once, i just unistalled Magos and re-installed it after installing WC3 (both ROC & TFT) and it worked again, i just had to manually insert the path for patch stuff like the cars (OrcCar,...etc)

 

[Direfury]

You guys are aware there's a function on your computer that allows you to search every file and folder on your computer, right? If that can't locate it, and it's not in my recycle bin, then searching for it doesn't work.

 

[PROXY]

But it isn't possible that the MPQ's aren't there. The game and the editor must load the models from somewhere.

 

[Direfury]

That's why this is so strange.

 

[Kitabatake]

Do you have file extensions set as hidden perhaps?

Look at your Warcraft III folder, you should see that the largest file there (~420 Mb) is war3.mpq and the second largest file (~330 Mb) is war3x.mpq.

 

[Direfury]

The only thing in the file is Warcraft and a patch notes .txt file.

 

[NhazUl]

Have you enabled the displaying of hidden files? Some viruses are so friendly that they try to maximize your security by hiding random files for you.

 

[Uncle Fester]

is your warcraft properly installed? Maybe you only need to insert the MPQs' paths manually to Magos.....

 

[Direfury]

Yes, Nhaz, I've tried that. For the last time, I've checked everywhere that has been pointed out.

 

[I3lackDeath]

Uninstall, reinstall.
Still not there?
Check if respective files are loaded / located from / at different directions / folders, so the need for MPQs has been made obsolete (though that shouldn't be possible, as some files have to be loaded from the respective MPQs, as far as I know).

You still haven't pointed out how exactly the game was reinstalled the first time around (CD? eventually pirated and compressed copy? etc.).
This step could very well be the source of your problem(s).

 

[Direfury]

Well, we have the CD, and I'm sure it's still in my father's possession somewhere.

 

[Kyrbi0]

Criminy. I'm always scared this'll happen to me; really quite chilling to think of so much work down the drain. I wonder, do they have hard-drive file-recovery services/possibilities where you live (we recently had a laptop go down, and a sufficiently-techy friend of mine was able to hook it up as a slave-drive & copy/paste all the "lost" files...)? Man, I hope so. Stinks.

On topic, I'm unfortunately lacking in savvy enough to say anything constructive; it seems, though, that the files must exist for the game to load; it's just a matter of where. Good luck!

(I was about to shoot off a PM about the models we were discussing, but I think I get what happened. :<...)

 

[Direfury]

Well, things are coming together again, but I'm still missing a file needed to run the Vertex Editor, and for some reason Magos won't read MPQ files unless I search them out and select them myself. Even then, my models don't seem to display ingame textures once they're applied.

ingame models like the Grunt or Footman, too, when I view them, don't have teamcolor applied to them in Magos.