Is It Possible To Extract Game Assets?

[Scylax]

I wanted to do some animations (like DE's Corpus ice bucket challenge) and maybe some cool renders to use as wallpapers, but I need the 3D models, textures, and preferably the audio (for the animations) to do those. Is it possible to extract the game assets for this purpose? I dug up the "Evolution Engine Cache Extractor" on the Xentax forums, but it appears DE has slightly modified their file formats and while the extractor extracts the correct number of files with the correct file paths and with the correct file names, the files themselves are corrupt and can't be opened.

 

Edit: Yes it is in allowed by DE

Edited October 8, 2015 by Scylax

[Dwolfknight]

Gmod probably already have them

 

Edit: you know it's ilegal to extract game files like that right?

Edited September 30, 2015 by Dwolfknight

[TheDarkness506]

There already are 3D models of warframes for GMod, and you can find some of the sounds in the fansite kit. But isn't extracting assets against the EULA?

[WorstPlayer]

I saw the title and thought we have a cheater inbound...

[Scylax]

Nikout seems to be the go-to person for warframe assets, and by the looks of it, the only person. I can't find anyone other than him with Gmod Warframe assets. He has most of the warframes, so that will be a big help -- thanks for pointing me to Gmod. Unfortunately he only has frames, and not even all of them at that, so I'll be limited to what I can do.

 

No, I did not know that extracting assets was against the EULA -- that's good to know.

Edited September 30, 2015 by Scylax

[SilentCircle]

 but it appears DE has slightly modified their file formats and while the extractor extracts the correct number of files with the correct file paths and with the correct file names, the files themselves are corrupt and can't be opened.

 

The files in the cache are "baked". If a file has .wav or .png extension it only means that the source file was a png or wav. The data is converted to a format that can be easily used by the engine without pre-processing.

[TheDarkness506]

Searched about the EULA thing and found a similar archived topic.
 

This is what the rules say:

2.    LICENSE RESTRICTIONS AND LIMITATIONS

 

The limited, personal use license granted to you in Section 1 is subject to the following restrictions and limitations as well as all other terms and conditions of this Agreement (collectively, the “License Limitations”). You agree that you will not, under any circumstances:

b.     reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble or otherwise derive source code or game data from the Software or reduce the Software to a human-readable form, except to the extent that such actions are expressly permitted by applicable law;

So that's why datamining is prohibited and (I beleive) so is asset extracting.
Here's the link to that topic for anyone interested: https://forums.warframe.com/index.php?/topic/77517-whats-the-policy-on-using-warframe-assets/
I have no idea why don't DE make a fankit with models and sounds available for everyone though. 

Edited September 30, 2015 by TheDarkness506

[Scylax]

"except to the extent that such actions are expressly permitted by applicable law"

 

Wouldn't using game assets for fan-art animations and renders be protected under the umbrella of fair use then?

[Scylax]

The files in the cache are "baked". If a file has .wav or .png extension it only means that the source file was a png or wav. The data is converted to a format that can be easily used by the engine without pre-processing.

Assuming that extracting assets for use in animations / renders are legal and comply with the EULA because of fair use, are there any publicly available programs that convert the baked file into a normal format? I'm not a programmer, so I wouldn't get very far in trying to solve this problem on my own.

[zoboso]

"except to the extent that such actions are expressly permitted by applicable law"

 

Wouldn't using game assets for fan-art animations and renders be protected under the umbrella of fair use then?

 

yes, as StallordD does exactly that.

Edited September 30, 2015 by zoboso

[SilentCircle]

"except to the extent that such actions are expressly permitted by applicable law"

 

Wouldn't using game assets for fan-art animations and renders be protected under the umbrella of fair use then?

 

I don't think so. As far as I know there is no fair use exception in the law. The "expressly permitted" bit refers to reverse engineering for interoperability purposes. eg. you can figure out (reverse engineer) the MS Word file format if you want to create a product that can read Word documents.

 

The fan created videos with game assets only exists because DE doesn't enforce their EULA. That's my guess at least.

[Scylax]

Bumping this because I got a response from DE on a ticket I created. They said it was okay, and you can find the screenshot of the ticket in the OP.

 

@SilentCircle: Now that we know it is not prohibited by the ToS, are there any programs that convert baked files to usable formats?

[BinaryBrother]

You're not receiving an answer from forum members, because they don't know. - Forgive the lawyers, they're bored.

Extracting textures from this game is going to be difficult, because they've got a bit of obfuscation going on, even if you managed to seemingly unpack the cache files. Here are the possibilities:

1.) Reverse Engineering : You'll need to find a pretty decent reverse engineer, who would be willing to figure out the new method [Last known is 2011?] for extracting the textures and figuring out the offsets and understanding the intentional encryption/obfuscation/encoding mechanism. I don't actually know much about DirectX, but "PIX for Windows" might be a starting point to pull some of the DX9 textures. I've pulled a LOT of data with PIX, but my computer is too slow to sift-through the data, this century.

2.) Create the textures from another piece of software, by feeding it screenshots or recordings of the thing you want the texture created from, like a Warframe. Autodesk 123D can do this, I've used the Android app "Autodesk 123D Catch" and it's pretty sweet. Just YouTube "Autodesk 123D Catch" and watch the videos. At some point, though, I'm sure you'll end up having to learn the desktop app.

3.) Honestly, if that representative has the power to allow you to strip textures, they would be able to give you a tool to assist. I'm sure DE can provide the uncompressed/unencrypted textures, without a hacker Reverse Engineer needing to work out the physics of the issue. lol

Let us allow the Moderators to converse restrictions, concerns, or discuss legality. Too many people are hanging up the OP, referencing the EULA.

[DE]Lex, specifically, allowed Scylax to use Warframe Assets, so long as monetary gain is not present.

 

My final thought: It really wouldn't take that long to learn how to use Autodesk 123D to merge some of the textures over to a usable format.
 

Edited October 29, 2015 by BinaryBrother