MDLParser

Simple and modern library for parsing the Valve model format.

Documentation: https://taservers.github.io/MDLParser/

See also: https://github.com/TAServers/BSPParser and https://github.com/TAServers/VTFParser.

What's included

• Classes for parsing and abstracting the MDL, VVD and VTX file formats for the Source engine.
• Helper functions to simplify accessing the disparate but related data in all three files (see below).
• Enums, limits and structs with almost 100% coverage* of the formats.
• Runtime errors for issues when parsing the data due to corruption or a bug in the parser.

*Much of the MDL data is not currently parsed or exposed. These can be used to either implement your own more complex or specialised parser, or to easily extend - and hopefully PR - the MdlParser::Mdl class.

Example

The following minimal example shows how you can easily and safely traverse the interconnected structure of the three files using the accessor helpers:

#include "MDLParser.hpp"
 
// Load from a file on disk, an API, or somewhere in memory
const auto mdlData = ...;
const auto vtxData = ...;
const auto vvdData = ...;
 
// Parse the data (you should wrap this in a try/catch)
const MdlParser::Mdl mdl(mdlData);
const MdlParser::Vtx vtx(vtxData, mdl.getChecksum());
const MdlParser::Vvd vvd(vvdData, mdl.getChecksum());
 
// You can construct all three with or without checksums,
// but passing one in will automatically check it against the header before parsing
// const Vtx vtx(vtxData);
// const Vvd vvd(vvdData);
 
// For each body part (body group) pair...
MdlParser::Accessors::iterateBodyParts(
  mdl,
  vtx,
  [&](const MdlParser::Mdl::BodyPart& mdlBodyPart, const MdlParser::Vtx::BodyPart& vtxBodyPart) {
    // For each model pair...
    MdlParser::Accessors::iterateModels(
      mdlBodyPart,
      vtxBodyPart,
      [&](const MdlParser::Mdl::Model& mdlModel, const MdlParser::Vtx::Model& vtxModel) {
        // Only using the highest LoD here
        const MdlParser::Vtx::ModelLod& vtxLod = vtxModel.levelOfDetails[0];
 
        // For each mesh pair...
        MdlParser::Accessors::iterateMeshes(
          mdlModel,
          vtxLod,
          [&](const MdlParser::Mdl::Mesh& mdlMesh, const MdlParser::Vtx::Mesh& vtxMesh) {
            // For each strip group...
            for (const MdlParser::Vtx::StripGroup& stripGroup : vtxMesh.stripGroups) {
              // For each vertex...
              MdlParser::Accessors::iterateVertices(
                vvd,
                mdlModel,
                mdlMesh,
                stripGroup,
                [&](
                  const MdlParser::Structs::Vtx::Vertex&,
                  const MdlParser::Structs::Vvd::Vertex& vvdVertex,
                  const MdlParser::Structs::Vector4D& tangent
                ) {
                  // ...
                }
              );
            }
          }
        );
      }
    );
  }
);