FILE

Little endian

Name            Type       Bytes
----------------------------------------------------------------
signature       char[4]    4        
version         uint16     2
timestamp       FILETIME   8
numMaterials    uint16     2
materials       MATERIAL[numMaterials]
numFrames       uint16     2
frames          FRAME[numFrames]
hasAnimFile     bool       1

  • signature (char[4]) - identifies the file format - {0x34, 0x44, 0x53, 0x00} or “4DS\0”

  • version (uint16) - version of the format

  • timestamp (FILETIME) - date and time of creation

  • numMaterials (uint16) - size of materials array

  • materials (MATERIAL[]) - array of MATERIAL

  • numFrames (uint16) - size of frames array

  • frames (FRAME[]) - array of FRAME

  • hasAnimFile (bool) - whether a 5ds animation file with the same name should be loaded and the should be automatically applied

Versions

  • v29 - Mafia

  • v41 - Hidden & Dangerous 2

  • v42 - Wings of War, Chameleon, Circus Empire

These versions are mostly the same, there are some changes in the layout, in a few places some fields are swapped or some fields are added.
All differences are documented throughout this documentation.
Overview of the differences

There are two model files in Mafia folder with version 27, they should be parsed the same as v29.