Importing WoW textures in UT3
In this tutorial I'm going to demonstrate the steps necessary to import textures from World of Warcraft into an UT3 package as materials. These imported materials could be used in any part of the UT3 editor the same way as the materials shipped with UT3 or its patches. This way it is possible to use the same terrain or other textures used in World of Warcraft. Imagine your own World of Warcraft look-a-like UT3 mod.
Please make note of the rules set by Blizzard regarding the use of their copyrighted assets.
This tutorials contains the following topics:
- Used Applications
- File Types
- Converting from MPQ to BLP
- Converting from .BLP to TGA
- Importing TGA files in UT3
Used Applications
While the applications I used for this tutorial will provide the necessary features to perform the actions needed, you are free to use any other application to your liking.
File Types
MPQ
MPQ files are archives used by Blizzard which contain the data used in their games. For more information about the MPQ file format please check this wikipedia link.
BLP
BLP or to be precise BLP2 files are used by Blizzard for graphical data like textures or other images. BLP files are stored within MPQ archives. For more information about the BLP file format please check this wikipedia link.
TGA
The TGA file format is a graphics file format which contains image and color data. This file format is popular with regards to game development because the ease of use and the lack of encumbering patents. UT3 is able to work with TGA files. For more information about the TGA file format please check this wikipedia link.
Converting from MPQ to BLP
Step 1: Start Ladik's MPQ Editor
Step 2: Select a MPQ file
Click "File" -> "Open" and browse to the location of the World of Warcraft Data folder on your computer (e.g. C:\Workd of Warcraft\Data), select the file "common.MPQ" and click the "Open" button.
Step 3: The MPQ's listfile
The MPQ file format is used in more games then World of Warcraft only. Some older games don't have a listfile (list of all the assets within an archive) included in the MPQ archive. Luckily for us all the archives provided with World of Warcraft do contain a listfile. Therefore you could use the default settings "Open Options" dialog box (see the image below).
Step 4: Select the files to be extracted
The "common.MPQ" file contains the textures we are looking for, but also contains thousands of other files which we won't need for this tutorial. Please feel free to export other files as you like, but for this tutorial you will only need the files from the "TILESET" directory.
When you're ready to start the export enter the "Operations" menu and select "Extract...".
Step 5: Choose a destination location
The next dialog will let you select you the destination directory for the exported files. You are free to place them anywhere you like.
Step 6: The hard part... waiting
If you have selected all files from "common.MPQ" it could take a few minutes to complete the export action. he dialog will disappear when the action in finished and the files are ready to be converted in a usable format.
Converting from BLP to TGA
Step 1: Open an explorer window and browse to the location of BLP2toTGA.exe
BLP2toTGA.exe is a so called command prompt application which could be used from the Wndows command prompt. The application will also work when you drag and drop files onto its icon from within a Windows explorer dialog. Browse to the directory containing BLP2toTGA.exe.
Step 2: Convert the selected .BLP files
To convert the .BLP files to .TGA files you can drag-and-drop the .BLP files onto the BLP2toTGA.exe. Do this with "DurotarGrass.blp" located in the "TILESET\Durotar" directory and a new file will be created with the name "DurotarGrass.tga" in the same directory. Sometimes the creation process fails. If that occurs, just try again and most of the times it will succeed the second time. Another function is to convert more than one .BLP file by selecting and drag-and-drop a selection of files. While doing this you could save time in the end, but since the percentage of errors during the export will rise it cannot be trusted to convert whole directories at once.
Importing TGA files in UT3
Step 1: Create a new level
In Unreal 3 there are two geometry styles to choose from while creating a new level. With the additive style the level starts off in a complete void and you will need to bring in geometry or meshes for the user to see. The substractive style is the opposite of this and starts off a solid brick of mass where you need to cut out the geometry to make things visible to the player. Because the nature of our World of Warcraft look-a-like level we will use a skybox (a large mesh with materials applied to it) and a terrain (a surface with a heightmap and materials applied to it). The use of these elements point in the direction of an additive geometry style. Sure, it is possible to create these elements in a substractive level, but for this demonstration we make use of an additive style. Open the "File" menu and choose "New...". In the "New Level" dialog box make sure "Additive" is selected and click the "OK" button.
Step 2: Set the builder brush to the right dimensions
Before we could use our material we need to create a surface to apply it on. Lets create a room by clicking on the "Cube" icon in the panel located on the left side of the editor. This will open the Brush Builder - Cube dialog. For our example please set X to 1000, Y to 1000 and Z to 1000. Also make sure the "Hollow" property is selected. This will create an inner cube inside our brush which we will use as our room. Click "Build" to set the builder brush to the selected settings.
Step 3: Create the geometry
Now we have set the builder brush to the correct dimensions click the add geometry button located on the left side panel of the editor. The room is now created but it is still difficult to see because the lack of lighting.
Step 4: Create some light
To make the room visible right click in the empty space within the room and choose "Add Actor" -> "Add Light (Point)".
A light is created and makes the room visible to us. Use the movement widget to place the light in the right position.
Step 5: Import the TGA file
Now open the Generic Browser by clicking the 
button in the main toolbar of the editor. To import the TGA file go to the "File" menu and select the "Export..." item.
The Import file dialog will appear where you can select one or more files to be imported into UT3. Please browse to the folder where DurotarGrass.tga is located and click the "Open" button.
Step 6: Import Settings
The Import settings dialog box will appear. Please choose a destination package to your liking. For this example I've made a package named TGAImportTutorial. You do not need to use that name as long as you will remember which one you've choosen.
In this example we'll only make a basic material with a texture applied to the diffuse channel of the material, so for the ease of use you should set the "Create Material?" parameter to TRUE. Click "OK" to start the import. It is possible to import more than one file in the file browser. If this is the case you could click "OK to All" button and all the individual images are imported using the same settings.
Step 7: Apply the material
Now the material is imported it is available for us in the Generic Browser. Make sure you have selected "Textures" and "Materials" or "Show all Resource Files" in the type filer selection (top left part of the Generic Browser) and select the package you used for the import in the package list (bottom left part of the Generic Browser). The imported texture and materials will now be displayed in the main view pane. Select the Material (the image with the green border).
Go to your level and right click on one of the surfaces inside the created room and choose "Select All Surfaces". Right click again and choose "Apply Material" and you have placed your first basic World of Warcraft material in your level.
Thank you for your interest in this article and have fun with the tons of new materials ;-)
