CMDL (File Format)

The CMDL format is the Retro Studios model format. It embeds one or more sets of materials, and a single mesh. The format largely stayed the same through the Prime series, with only changes to the material format being made, before being changed significantly in Donkey Kong Country Returns, and then being overhauled completely in Tropical Freeze.

• CMDL (Metroid Prime) is used in the Metroid Prime series.
• CMDL (Donkey Kong Country Returns) is used in DKCR.
• CMDL (Tropical Freeze) is used in Tropical Freeze. Note that Tropical Freeze actually has three model formats - CMDL, SMDL, and WMDL - which are all very similar to each other and covered in the same article.

Each revision of the CMDL format has a unique version number, which corresponds to the following games:

Version	Game
0x2	Metroid Prime
0x3	Metroid Prime 2 Demo Disc
0x4	Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
0x5	Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
0xA	Donkey Kong Country Returns
0x33	Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze