FAQ

Which export format should I use?

If you're planning on using the LanternUnityTools to import assets into Unity, or are looking to write a custom importer for a different engine, the intermediate format is what you need.

If you're just looking to view the models or 3D print them, you can use either OBJ or glTF.

Why do some of the textures in the OBJ and glTF models look incorrect?

The OBJ format is ancient (30+ years) and lacks support for many of the features that are now standard.

Do you plan on adding FBX support?

We have no plans to add additional export formats at this time. It is possible however, to get EverQuest models (including animation) into the FBX format by first importing them into the LanternUnityTools and exporting them to FBX via a Unity plugin. For more information, please consult the LanternUnityTools wiki.

What is the intermediate export format?

The intermediate format is a human readable (text) format which is a direct output of the EverQuest data. It cannot be visualized by itself as it is just raw data. The first version of the LanternUnityTools (formerly LanterUnityImporter) used the OBJ format but we quickly discovered many limitations. When Unity imports meshes, it processes them and rearranges some of the data. There is no workaround for this.

Exporting to an intermediate format and creating the meshes from scratch in Unity ensures the data is formatted exactly the way it needs to be.

What are the various text files included in the zone export?

ambient_light - The minimum ambient light in the zone. This is rarely used in some zones to prevent them from being too dark (e.g. Ak'Anon, Kaladim).

bsp_tree - Output of the zone's BSP (binary space partition) tree. Zones are subdivided by planes and these subdivisions are stored in a tree data structure. Using this BSP tree allows us to figure out which zone region a given point is in, and what kind of region type it is (normal, water, lava, pvp).

light_instances - Placed light sources in the zone that illuminate dynamic objects that move around the world. Zone lighting is baked.

object_instances - Instances of objects in the world. Objects can be positioned, rotated and scaled.

What are vertex colors?

Vertex colors are color values applied at each vertex in a model giving the appearance of lighting. EverQuest uses these colors to represent pre-computed light (baked lightmaps). Vertex colors are only used on static models (zone, objects) and contain light contribution from static light sources (no player lights). A single color value is a four byte value with the first three representing the RGB and the fourth, the A value, representing the ambient light.

Will the extractor ever support newer EverQuest clients?

While we currently only officially support the Trilogy client (Classic->Velious), the amount of work needed to get some newer zones working would likely be minimal. In fact, most of the Luclin zones only run into issues when trying to render terrain textures. It's also worth noting that classic zones shipped with later clients (e.g. Titanium) are still supported by the extractor.

At some point, EverQuest expansion content switched from the S3D to EQG file format. It's very unlikely we will ever support these archive types.