MHFU ModKit — formats

Archived. This code now lives in MHFU-ModKit/modkit, at packages/mhp-formats (the formats) and packages/mhfu-port (the porter). Open issues and pull requests there.

The Monster Hunter Freedom Unite file formats as a Python library, the tools that get the files out of your own copy of the game, and the MHP3rd→MHFU monster porter.

• tools/mhfu_model/ — PMO models, PAC archives, skeletons, animations (both the on-disk and the in-game recursive form), TMH textures. Parses and re-encodes byte-identically on all 49 big-monster PACs; a constraint validator knows the engine's rules; encoders for skeleton, animation, geometry and texture edits; a topology-grow encoder that adds vertices and faces. The TMH codec round-trips every texture in the game — 10 025 images across 4 294 banks — which is what lets an image be replaced in a bank at exactly its own size.
• tools/extract_iso.py — dumps and decrypts DATA.BIN from your ISO (via mhef/mhff).
• The porter — build_p3rd_port.py and friends: MHP3rd geometry, textures, skeleton and full moveset onto an MHFU-loadable PAC, with verify_port.py / port_anim_verify.py checking the motion joint for joint against the source.
• docs/ — the format specifications, written while decoding them.

Setup

git clone https://github.com/MHFU-ModKit/formats.git
cd formats
tools/setup.sh                    # venv, requirements, clones mhef + mhff next to the tools
source venv/bin/activate
python tools/extract_iso.py workspace/iso/game.iso workspace/extracted/     # your own dump
python -m mhfu_model.validate workspace/extracted/data_files/file_06185.bin

Run the library with PYTHONPATH=tools (or from a checkout that has tools/ on the path — the editor and the Blender addon both do). tools/mhfu_model/README.md is the library guide; docs/ASSETS.md explains every generated file and how to reproduce it.

Documentation

PMO_MODEL_FORMAT · ANIMATION_FORMAT · TMH_TEXTURE_FORMAT · DATA_BIN_FORMAT · QUEST_FORMAT · ENCRYPTION · MHP3RD_FILE_MAP · BRUTE_TIGREX_PORT (the porter, end to end) · MONSTER_PORT_SKINNING_PLAN. These were written alongside the reverse engineering and refer to tooling that lives in the upstream research repository; where a path does not exist here, that is why.

No game data is included

This repository contains no game files, no extracted assets, no artwork — not the ISO, not decrypted archives, not models or textures, not dumped tables. All of it is gitignored and is reproduced from your own legally obtained copy of the game (see the formats repo's docs/ASSETS.md). Everything targets MHFU EU (ULES01213); addresses will not line up with a JP or NA build.

About this repository

formats is one of the MHFU-ModKit repositories. They are cut from one upstream research repository and re-published from it, so they move in lockstep — a file that appears in two of them is the same file at the same commit. Pull requests are welcome here; an accepted one is applied upstream and comes back in the next export, which is why main only takes changes through PRs. Issues are welcome for bugs, questions and findings alike.

The siblings:

• framework — the runtime mod framework: one PRX, many mods, hot-reloaded Lua
• example-mods — Lua mods and port manifests to learn from and drop on a memory stick
• monster-editor — the desktop editor for ported monsters
• hud — a live read-only HUD and AI editor over the PPSSPP debugger
• blender-addon — import, edit and export big monsters in Blender

License

GPL-3.0-or-later. tools/mhfu_model contains code derived from mhff (Copyright 2013 Seth VanHeulen, GPL-3.0-or-later): the TMH codec and the PMO display-list walker.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by Capcom. Monster Hunter is a trademark of Capcom Co., Ltd.

Credits

mhff and mhef by svanheulen are the foundation of the extraction; tclamb/mhp2g-decomp confirmed several struct layouts.