[Release, need help] SA2MTA - Port maps from SP

[Fierelier]

Hello, I'd like to show off a project I've been working on: SA2MTA. It's a script that allows you to convert San Andreas map mods (or the vanilla map, if you really wanted to), to an MTA resource.

Here's the map of SanVice running inside of MTA:

Right now it's pretty basic, and not all properties are adapted yet. Some issues I know how to resolve, but with some other problems I will need your help. If you're experienced with how GTA San Andreas works, and you think you can help me with the things below, preferably from the "Things I need help with" section, I'd be thankful. Your work will be credited by me.

If you want to help me, you can post below, but I would really prefer you add me on Discord: FierBot i5#3550
By helping out, you agree that any help or work you provide falls under the MIT license of this software (see below).

To-do
Sorted by importance.

Things I need help with:
- Place collisions (where are the positions of collisions defined within the game files?) - DONE? Thanks to @Tut!
- Extract DFF and TXD files from IMG archives from within the script (need commandline utility)

Things I think I have figured out:
- Convert quaternion rotations to euler - DONE!
- Implement LODs
- On-the-fly model and texture loading, to overload streaming memory less

License
Copyright 2021

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Download, view git

Edited September 10, 2021 by Fierelier

[Tut]

43 minutes ago, Fierelier said:

Things I think I have figured out:
- Convert quaternion rotations to euler

@Patrick's map converter converts quaternions I believe. Maybe you could look at the code or ask him for tips.

43 minutes ago, Fierelier said:

Things I need help with:
- Place collisions (where are the positions of collisions defined within the game files?)

Collisions are stored in gta3.img in collision archives. MTA cannot load collision archives, and so you may have to unpack those in order to get individual collision files.
These collision archives use same naming convention as their respective IPL, and the collision files inside of the archives are named the same as their DFF.

[Fierelier]

51 minutes ago, Tut said:

@Patrick's map converter converts quaternions I believe. Maybe you could look at the code or ask him for tips.

I have just used KawaNoII's useful quaternion functions to implement this, see the git commit. The rotations work now!

 

56 minutes ago, Tut said:

Collisions are stored in gta3.img in collision archives. MTA cannot load collision archives, and so you may have to unpack those in order to get individual collision files.
These collision archives use same naming convention as their respective IPL, and the collision files inside of the archives are named the same as their DFF.

I assume the collision archives end with .col? I will look into it, thank you.

[Fierelier]

Thank you, @Tut! I have now implemented the ability to register collisions archives, using engineGetCOLsFromLibrary by thisdp! Here is the accompanying commit. Not every collision works yet, which could be an issue on my part.

 

[The_GTA]

Hello Fierelier,

nice work on your GTA map converter! I see that you are passionate about bringing GTA SA content directly into multiplayer. I think this is a great idea that brings both the SP and MP communities together. I hope that you will be able to solve all related issues to achieve your project goals.

Did you know that I have created such a tool myself? It is called scene2res and can convert IPL/IDE files while also doing conversion of the TXD files into GTA SA engine format. Kind of a swiss knife if you wish. Even so, I like to see alternatives like yours! Maybe you will solve some problems that I was unable to solve, like adjusting the water regions to the target map.

Please be mindful about the importance of intellectual property in GTA modding. Maps from inside of GTA games have been created by Rockstar Games and it is NOT okay to offer these files for download anymore because there exist "legal" GTA engine alternatives that can play them. This way the original content creators would not get paid. Don't worry: you as tool creator are not the core of the problem and I do not expect you to come forward to the content creators by implementing your own DRM system. But I want you to be aware, just in case!

[Fierelier]

@The_GTA Thank you! I have actually used your tool a few years ago, and it was great. Your tool is unique, because it can still port between different engine revisions, which is not something I'm looking to do with this tool. And no worries, not looking to distribute any Rockstar owned files in the tool itself, the videos I post are just demonstrations.