What happened to the mpq files and how do i now access the model files to edit them?

[Liam]

Basically title, with the new patch the mpq files disappeared and now i cant find out where to load model and skin data from

 

[Sieben]

I haven't been following this matter closely, but as I understand it, MPQ files were replaced by CASC files, which are the archive system used by Blizzard now. Mdx/mdl files have been left untouched, but they are now stored in these CASC files and there is no MPQ anymore.
Until a third party program is developed to read or convert CASC files, you will have to use an older version of the game to access MPQ files.
You will find some more information in this topic
@Dr Super Good correct me if I'm wrong or not accurate enough

 

[Dr Super Good]

there is no MPQ anymore.

Except for maps, which still use MPQ similar to StarCraft II.

Until a third party program is developed to read or convert CASC files, you will have to use an older version of the game to access MPQ files.

Or you can build your own MPQ files from the contents of the CASC archives and place it where the tools expect them to be.

CASCView can be used to extract the contents of CASC Archives and MPQEdit can be used to create MPQ archives.

 

[Chaosy]

Better get a second copy of wc3 of a patch prior to 1.30