Where the heck is the .mpq?

[Alfwin]

I want to extract some files from War3.mpq and War3x.mpq (specifically the campaign maps, so I can look at how Blizzard did certain triggers, &c.), but I can't for the life of me find the .mpq files. I've opened the .mpq before, and I was sure they were in the main Warcraft III install directory (C:\Program Files (x86)\Warcraft III), but nope. Nor are they in Documents\Warcraft III with all the custom maps. So where the heck are they?
(I'm running Warcraft III version 1.30.)

 

[GaLaxY_256]

They were integrated in CASC files as of 1.30 You might want to open CASC file to find 'em

 

[Chaosy]

Removed, get an old copy of wc3 if you cannot open the new format

 

[Dr Super Good]

So where the heck are they?

The MPQ files are inside the CASC storage. That said they are nothing more than CASC VFS files now so probably not what you want. The MPQ CASC VFS files map relative file paths to the encoding keys that can be used to extract the file data from CASC storage.

Or you could just use CASCViewer and extract the files with that as it handles CASC storage file extraction and VFS mounting automatically, giving you a nice clean folder based file system to browse with the MPQs being like any other folder.

 

[PurgeandFire]

Here is a link to the CascView tool that people are talking about:
http://www.zezula.net/download/cascview_en.zip

 

[Alfwin]

Ok, that explains why I couldn't find the MPQs, thanks.
So I guess the second question is, how do I wrestle a campaign map out of this CascView tool? Because I can't make head nor tail of it. For a start, I want to open the first map of the RoC Orc campaign. I looked through most of the file structure, and thought I had found it in (zhtw-war3local.mpq/maps/campaign/Orc01.w3m), but when I extracted that I just got a folder called Orc01.w3m containing a handful of files of formats I don't recognize. I need a map file I can open in the editor, and I can't for the life of me figure out how to get that.

 

[Dr Super Good]

ut when I extracted that I just got a folder called Orc01.w3m containing a handful of files of formats I don't recognize.

You got a folder containing the map... Maps are MPQ files with a variety of differently formatted files inside it. For example the .w3e file is the terrain mesh file that describes the map terrain such as the water and ground mesh heights, tile type, cliff type, cliff height, map size, etc.

I need a map file I can open in the editor, and I can't for the life of me figure out how to get that.

So bundle the files into a MPQ, and open it with World Edit. If a blank MPQ made by MPQEdit does not work you can get a blank map and replace its content.

 

[Eregos]

A bit late but I can give exact instructions, tested and working. This thread is still a top google result for extracting warcraft 3 maps.

1. download Casc Viewer Casc Storage - Main page
2. Run the viewer and open your Warcraft III directory. (Never run the game with Casc viewer open, it corrupts the data files. If by accident you do, run Warcraft III Launcher and repair install)
3. Navigate to EnUs-war3local.mpq, or whatever your preferred country localization is.
4. Navigate to maps and either Campaign or Frozen throne.
5. Right click and Export the entire map folder to a location of your choice.
6. Close casc viewer.
7. Run worldedit and drag and drop the entire map folder into Worldedit.

 

[HerrDave]

Thread necro!

I find that every time I open the Blizzard Launcher, the MPQs that I copy/paste into the installation folder from a zip just disappear -resulting in Mdlvis and Magos' Model Editor breaking.

Any way to prevent this from happening?

 

[Dr Super Good]

Any way to prevent this from happening?

Use a tool which is CASC aware. Either that or have a separate legacy copy of Warcraft III to run the tools from.

 

[Eregos]

Making a second copy you work from is usually the safest answer, yeah. This comes up a ton for me doing modding in all kinds of games. Also means you don't have to worry about file use conflicts.

 

[Zak17]

Which tools are CASC aware? I'm struggling with texturing and wrapping, and the tools i am using are now outdated. Which ones do i need to switch to?

 

[Dr Super Good]

Matrix eater should become CASC aware, soonish.

 

[Ardenaso]

Bump. Do I have to extract war3.mpq and depreciated.mp3 other than the local mpq?

 

[Dr Super Good]

Bump. Do I have to extract war3.mpq and depreciated.mp3 other than the local mpq?

Depends on what you want to do.

If you mean extract them from the CASC local storage then probably not. Since those files a CASC TVFS files which describe the folder layout and not MPQ archive files. They have no meaning outside of interfacing with and looking up files from the CASC local storage.