How do you pull apart W3Ms ?

Zepir said there were seven files inside the W3Ms, but my question is, how do you pull them apart?

I thought he said WinMPQ does the trick, but they dont open for me.

Is there something I am missing?

7 i believe the number is 19 tho 17 known files.

Thats fine and dandy but HOW do you seperate them from the W3Ms (aka MAP files)

heh.. yeah.. i'm wondering the same thing, it appears that some ppl are doing it... since there are even tutorials on it.. how ever i'm having the same problem... my winmpq is not opening the w3m files... from the sticky posts above.. it said:


does this mean only the header is different the data still uses the same old mpq achrive compression? why is the word "new" in quotes? if only the headers different.. what is the format of the old header?


[Edited by Zépir: quotation... :-P]

The major reason I wanna get in there is so I can redefine units for one map.

Appearently you can drastically change a specific map's units, design and layout (basically a little more extensive then unitUI.slk).

Lets face it, its alot easier playing with unit stats in spread sheet form then GUI form.

1st, I didn't ever said there was only 7 files in a w3m file. I don't know where you saw that!?
You can't even say how many files can be in a w3m since you can add as many files as you like (sound imports, war3.mpq files overiding, text files, ...)

Secondly, I said it was a 512 header added before the MPQ. It's not clear I agree and I'll change that later.
Basically, you have a MPQ, you open it with an hex editor, you add 512 bytes at the begining of the file using the format I described and you got a War3 Retail compatible map.
This method allows you to use programs like WinMPQ and mpq2k to add files into a W3M and then make the W3M "openable" by War3 (because War3 will ignore w3m files without the header).
There was no header before. The "new" is quoted because I heard there was a new compression format from Quantam (he worked a lot on MPQ format) but I have not verified it. It appears that the compression format is different from the one used in other blizzard MPQ.



I hope it's clear now.

To add files --> WinMPQ or mpq2k. If you work with an already existing w3m, then make sure when you save it you still have the header. I recommend to extract files of the original W3M and create a new W3M where you put all the files you need.
I bet Cookie will just say that mpq2k works fine if you do NOT (like DJBnJack said) compress files when you add them.

Well, actually I was refering to adding .w3m files to the war3.mpq (for the campaigns)

But hey w00t Zepir!

Greetz,
DJBnJack

thanx for the much needed clarification... however i'm still having problems tho.. from my understanding of everything thats been said so far... w3m files are just mpq archives + the 512 btyes of header.

If this is true... then if you remove the first 512 btyes of any w3m file.. you should have a mpq archive thats openable by winmpq.. correct? however things doesnt seem to be this simple.. as i have removed the leading 512 bytes from my w3m file.. but winmpq nor mpq2k was able to open the resulting file as an mpq archive.. pls help.. thanx..

update: okay.. i'm an idiot.. i didnt follow the tutorial correctly.. but i finally got it now.. thanx all for the help =)

you done ok, except that the w3m uses a "new mpq format". Then, it needs the new storm.dll (the one that comes with the game). Replace the old winmpq storm.dll by the new one.

actually there still a bit of confusion about extracting files from w3m... even tho i have already succeded in doing so... somewhat

first of all i'd like make it clear that after removing the 512 btye header from any given w3m file.. the resulting file is definately not a mpq thats openable w/ winmpq even w/ the latest storm.dll.. if some1 is able to do this pls inform me on what i'm doing wrong... as i really cant come up w/ any theory of why that it is... if w3m are really just a 512 byte header + mpq archive

now heres how i was able extract the files from w3m.. i followed the tutorial.. using mpqview and the given list file. at first this meathod appears to be flawed becaue you need to know ahead of the time the names of the files you trying are extract in a text list... but thats actually fine cus every w3m comes w/ a list file (always named (listfile)?) which is suppose to list all the files thats extractable from the w3m, so you can just use that file to check that you are not missing any files in your original list...

hope this info will help the newbies like me trying to figure out this w3m file format... now if anyone can offer explaination for the not able to open the resulting file from w3m - header problem.. it will be greatly apreciated

Congrats! ;)
Then...
When you remove the 512bytes header, you just remove extra-data needed by war3 to quickly say in the menus 1)the map name, 2)the map properties, 3)the number of players the maps has been made for.
So you can remove them and the got a new mpq. The problem is that it uses a "new compression format" (that's what Quantam told me when he first had a look to the new w3m) so old programs that do not understand this compression methode will not be able to do anything with that mpq. That's why progs like WinMPQ may crash.
When you use the new storm.dll, the function called to open mpq now supports the new compression format and the 512bytes header. That's why MPQView works and you don't need to remove the 512bytes.
For people who really really want to use WinMPQ, then don't use the last version (1.52) and use 1.48. Why? Because it can support new W3M files! How? Get this pack I just made for you!Part 1 and Part 2 AND the 1.48 EXE.


[updated: 1.48 exe because the full pack contains 1.49 and doesn't work]

Sorry, I put Win MPQ 1.49 in the pack instead of 1.48. I added the 1.48 exe link in the previous post.