Animation

Animations in ZenGin consist of animation files and animation scripts. Working with them requires deep understanding of the architecture and concepts. This section provides information necessary to effectively work with animations within the engine.

Types

There are two main types of animations - skeletal and morphmesh. Skeletal animations are used for animating characters and objects with a skeleton, while morph mesh animations are used for animating facial expressions and other models that require vertex-based deformations.

Formats

Raw

Animation files

ZenGin uses the .ASC file format for raw animation files. Following things could be saved as the .ASC file:

Animation model (skeleton + skin or morph mesh)
Actual animation data (keyframes)
Animation targets (like doors, beds etc.)

The .ASC files can be imported into blender using the KrxImpExp add-on.

Script files

Every animated model in ZenGin has its own animation script file with the .MDS extension for skeleton based models and .MMS for morph mesh based models. These files are used to define animation data. You can find more about these files in the MDS and MMS sections.

Compiled

Raw formats are great for editing, but can be a bit heavy for the engine use (ASCII based formats are slower to parse and work with), because of that ZenGin compiles these animations into various internal formats.

Format	Extension	Content
Model Animation	`.MAN`	Single animation data
Model Hierarchy	`.MDH`	Skeletal structure and slots for a model
Model Mesh	`.MDM`	Softskin mesh and proto mesh structure for a model
Model	`.MDL`	`.MDH` + `.MDM` combined
Model Script	`.MSB`	Compiled version of the `.MDS` file
Morph Mesh	`.MMB`	Morph mesh with its mesh and animation data

Engine compilation

By default, animations are compiled by the engine when the model appears in the game or a game is started with -zconvertall parameter.

Danger

If you want to recompile animations, make sure that the .MSB or .MMS files are deleted, including the ones in the VDF volumes, otherwise the engine will not recompile them.

Graphical overview

A star * means that multiple files could be used/generated.

Skeletal AnimationMorph Mesh Animation

flowchart TD
A[Model .ASC] --> D(Compilation)
B[Animation .ASC *] --> D
C[Model Script .MDS] --> D
D --> E[Compiled Model Script .MSB]
D --> F[Model Animation .MAN *]
D --> G[Model Hierarchy .MDH]
D --> H[Model Mesh .MDM]

flowchart TD
A[Model .ASC] --> D(Compilation)
B[Animation .ASC *] --> D
C[Morph Mesh Script .MMS] --> D
D --> E[Morph Mesh .MMB]

Tools

KrxImpExp

Blender add-on that implements support for Gothic 3D formats.

GitLab

Gothic Sourcer

Tool for decompiling animation files.

ZenKit

C++ Library for loading and saving various ZenGin files (including some animation formats).