Looking for old video game 3D model file format specifications as well as 010 Editor binary templates.

Edited August 24, 2025Aug 24 by mrmaller1905

So, no one has found links to old video game 3D model file format specifications?

If not, then OK. Thanks for reading my post.

Personally I don't really know because I'm new to 3D models, but I think you're doing the right thing by asking in forums. Other than that try and ask active discord groups possibly or just continue to search the internet. I think a lot of binary templates are just made by individuals familiar with their own projects.

You can try this site for inspiration I suppose: https://www.retroreversing.com/

Good luck 🙂

I found this pattern/template resource for ImHex hex editor. It's not quite the same, but might be able to learn something from digging into the scripts.

https://github.com/WerWolv/ImHex-Patterns/tree/master/patterns

Maybe this, though it is still fairly incomplete: https://rewiki.miraheze.org/wiki/Category:File_Format.

Looks like EA also has source code and file specifications for Command and Conquer games here: https://github.com/electronicarts.

Edited January 31Jan 31 by jmancoder

So I've had the reoccuring problem. I'm reversing a 3D model file format, say, .3di from Delta Force (1998), and I'm stuck. Sometime I can find texture file format specs, but what I want is a good old video game 3d model file format specification.

When I first went digging I found this Quake II MD2 file format specification. I also found the Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon character model file format spec. Lastly I found the RenderWare DFF file format spec which was used in GTA games.

There is this spec for the original Tomb Raider games' file formats: https://opentomb.github.io/TRosettaStone3/trosettastone.html.

Also, I've found that using ProcMon with a process and path filter can help with identifying file sections, as it shows the read offsets and lengths. It also lets you see the stack during the read, which can reveal what functions load the file when analyzing a game with IDA, Ghidra, Binary Ninja, etc. Of course, it tends to be less effective if you are emulating the game.

Edited March 26Mar 26 by jmancoder