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Old 03-21-18, 11:28 AM   #1
Adzorn
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Icon1 J3D File Format

Is there some Documentation about the J3D file format?

I'm planning to build a J3D model Viewer for a work related Project (We use Dangerous Water Non Commercial Version at work) and i'm look for some documentation on the format, especially how to open it or decode it.
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Old 03-21-18, 04:52 PM   #2
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We use Dangerous Water Non Commercial Version at work
a.And out of my curiosity what would that be?

b.There is no format documentation for J3D out there in the open and available to the public. There is 3dsmax plugin exporting (but no import) to J3D.

c. BTW would you be interested in deciphering compression of the .dem and other terrain related files residing in World folder?
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Old 03-22-18, 03:21 PM   #3
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a. There is a Non Commercial Version of Dangerous Waters Available. This Version contains some special feature e.g. DIS Protocol Support or a Build In database Editor.



b. hmm.. there must be something around. Someone wrote the plugin and there are some tools to open the J3D format.

c. No, but if you require Height Maps, check out https://gdex.cr.usgs.gov/gdex/, you can find better and more detailed maps there (If you require DEM, then use MICRODEM to convert them)
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Old 03-22-18, 03:24 PM   #4
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Old 03-22-18, 09:13 PM   #5
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There is a Non Commercial Version of Dangerous Waters Available. This Version contains some special feature e.g. DIS Protocol Support or a Build In database Editor.
Judging from the date (2004) this must have been some very early pre-release. Never heard of it as the earliest public release was I think in Dec 2005.

As far as plugin is concerned I am not sure who wrote it but AFAIK it came also from Sonalysts early in the game life. No documentation to my knowledge but I could be wrong.
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Old 03-23-18, 04:22 AM   #6
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Here is some more information pertaining to J3D:

There is program reading and viewing the format. It is called 3D Object Converter and it can be found here:
http://3doc.i3dconverter.com/
It can only read the format and you need to register it to be able to save to other formats (but not J3D).

To be able to save to J3D one needs plugin which works only with old 3dsMax3.1 and in its original form has pretty low vertex limitation for models (can be hacked I think).
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Old 03-23-18, 04:51 AM   #7
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No, its not a Pre-Release, its the normal Version of Dw but with some Special Features for Military Use.
The main feature is the ability to use the DIS-Protocol (Distributed Interactive Simulation). With this protocol its possible to connect this Version with outer Simulator like Prepar 3D or VBS3.
Also a build in Database Editor is included in the Version.

I know the 3D Object Converter. I contacted the programmer behind but he was not willing to share his knowledge ^^
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Old 03-23-18, 05:01 AM   #8
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I contacted the programmer behind but he was not willing to share his knowledge
Well I shared with you all we know here about J3D.
About those DEMs in World folder they must be some proprietary formats ... or compressed. Regular DEM viewers fail to open them.
Oh well.
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Old 04-20-18, 09:27 AM   #9
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Default Invisible models?

I know that it's irritating, but I'll probably have to post this on some other threads as well:

1. The models from LWAMI, when installed according to the instructions, are invisible in my installation of DW.

2. When I have tried to install them manually using GRP (by Adam Milazzo), I had the same problem.

3. In addition, when new models (with or without textures) are installed using GRP, the .dds textures on other subs disappear, which means that my 3d.grp and 3d.ndx files have to be replaced in order to get DW working again. Replacing the .dds textures with .bmp textures doesn't work, either for restoring the textures, or getting the models working.

3. DWEdit is great for modding existing content (if you leave the graphics alone), but the Import and Export features don't appear to work, at least on my computer.

4. Due to the above problems, repaints are also not possible on my computer.

Does anyone know if I need to install anything else, or change any settings, so that these mods will work? Thank you.

Last edited by Battlewagon3; 04-20-18 at 02:03 PM.
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Old 04-20-18, 11:04 AM   #10
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Old 05-22-18, 09:44 PM   #11
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Default The models are now working, but the default textures are still disappearing.

UPDATE: I've managed to get custom models working, but I'm still having trouble with default textures disappearing.


Does anyone else have anything to add?
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Old 11-09-18, 12:18 PM   #12
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I can provide enough info on the format to allow you to write a viewer/exporter.
I've only looked at it for a few hours so still figuring out the last bit of unknowns. One could write a new exporter for 3D Max or other programs once I figure it all out.


Thank you TLAM Strike for a few models I downloaded to look at the structure.
Those were a great source to work with.
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Old 11-09-18, 01:45 PM   #13
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Looking at the P4_Midget_Sub j3d file header in SweetScape 010 We have this:
EB 0F 00 00 EC 0E 00 00 02 00 00 00 12 00 00 00
10 00 00 00

EB 0F 00 00 as an integer is 4075. That is the number of verts in the j3d file.

EC 0E 00 00 as an integer is 3820. That is the number of polys in the j3d file.

02 00 00 as a short is 2. That is the number of textures used by the j3d file.

12 00 00 00 as a short is 18. That is the number of 3d models in the j3d file.

10 00 00 00 as a short is 16. That is the number of texture mappings in the j3d file.

So we have 4075 verts, 3820 polys, 2 textures, 18 3d models, and 16 texture mappings.

The next stuff is all the verts and texture co-ords. I'll break that down in the next post as there is some info I am not sure of at this time.
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Old 11-09-18, 02:35 PM   #14
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Following the header I described is a large block of data which includes the vets and faces of the 3D objects. Let's look at a chunk of that.

66 4C 41 BC BB D2 66 BF 6A AA 68 C1 00 00 00 00
55 55 AD AE 40 CA 2B 38 00 00 80 BF 00 00 00 00
00 00 00 00 16 F5 09 3F

This chunk gives us the verts, an unknown I suspect may be tangents, and our texture co-ords. We read them all as floats.

66 4C 41 BC BB D2 66 BF 6A AA 68 C1 = v 0.011798 -0.901653 -14.541605

00 00 00 00 = seems always the same. maybe a divider?

55 55 AD AE 40 CA 2B 38 00 00 80 BF = unknown. Maybe tangents?

00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 16 F5 09 3F = tex co-ords. 0.000000 0.000000 0.538996
This one is interesting as so far as I have found the 3rd co-ord of 0.538996 must be subtracted from 1 to get the proper number.
Then moved to the secondary position on export! vt 0.000000 0.461104 0.000000

If someone could send me a couple of the Games original 3D files that may help.
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Last edited by Jeff-Groves; 11-09-18 at 03:10 PM.
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Old 11-09-18, 03:57 PM   #15
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A template and script to work with j3d files is being created.
However. I am creating a special file to work with those that will require you to buy a legal copy of SweetScapes 010 Hex Editor.

I put a lot of time in to help with stuff. SweetScape has the best hex editor out there!
I support them and they add nearly anything requested. Spend a few bucks to support a great bit of software! 010 is the best tool a modder can own!
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