MAPA (File Format)

The .MAPA file format defines the minimap models used in the Metroid Prime series. MAPA or MAP Area consists of several sections: The header, Mappable Object entries, Vertices, Primitive Headers, and the primitives.

This file format needs more research A few things are unknown in the header and Mappable Object Entries

Format

Header

The header is very straightforward, and has some minor differences depending on version.

Type	Description	MP1	MP2	MP3
u32	Magic; Always 0xDEADD00D	✔	✔	✔
u32	Version; See below	✔	✔	✔
u32	Type; unknown function in MP1/3, specifies whether the area appears on the Light (0) or Dark (1) map in MP2	✔	✔	✔
u32	Visibility Mode; Always Visible (Map Universe Area) Visible on Visit or Map Station (most MP1 areas) Visible on Visit only (latter areas of Ruins and Phendrana) Never Visible	✔	✔	✔
AABox	Bounding Box	✔	✔	✔
Vector3f	Map Adjustment	✖	✔	✔
u32	Unknown	✖	✖	✔
u32	Mappable Object Count	✔	✔	✔
u32	Vertex Count	✔	✔	✔
u32	Primitive Count	✔	✔	✔
u32	Environment Variable Section Size	✖	✖	✔
u32	Environment Variable Count	✖	✖	✔
End of Header

Version

The version value listed above can have the following values:

Game	Value
Metroid Prime 1	2
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes	3
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption	5

Environment Variables

Only exists in Corruption; used for some areas with Landing Sites.

Type	Count	Description
string	Environment Variable Count	Environment Variable
Pad to 4 bytes
End of Environment Variables

Mappable Objects

A Mappable Object in the Metroid Prime series can include: Elevators, Doors, and Save/Missile Stations. Each Mappable Object entry consists of the following struct:

Type	Description	MP1 & MP2	MP3
u32	Type; See table below for MP1 types	✔	✔
u32	Visibility Mode; Always Visible Visible on Map Station or Area Visit Visible on Door Visit Never Visible Visible on Map Station or Area Visit	✔	✔
u32	Editor ID; Same ID format as SCLY, indicates associated world object	✔	✔
Saved State ID	Saved State ID	✖	✔
u32	Unknown	✔	✔
Template:Transform4f	Transform Matrix The Mappable Object's position in world space.	✔	✔
u32 * 4	Unknown	✔	✔
End of Mappable Object

MP1 Types

Type	Description
0	Normal Door
1	Shield Door
2	Ice Door
3	Wave Door
4	Plasma Door
5	Big Door
6	Big Door 2
7	Ice Door Ceiling
8	Ice Door Floor
9	Wave Door Ceiling
10	Wave Door Floor
11	Plasma Door Ceiling
12	Plasma Door Floor
13	Ice Door Floor 2
14	Wave Door Floor 2
15	Plasma Door Floor 2
27	Down Arrow Yellow (Maintenance Tunnel)
28	Up Arrow Yellow (Phazon Processing Center)
29	Down Arrow Green (Elevator A)
30	Up Arrow Green (Elite Control Access)
31	Down Arrow Red (Elevator B)
32	Up Arrow Red (Fungal Hall Access)
33	Elevator
34	Save Station
37	Missile Station

Vertices

Vertices are a simple array of CVector3f. Geometry in MAPAs is, almost always, centered around the origin (0, 0, 0) and are simplified, full sized, versions of the map they replicate. Each vertex is referenced at least twice: once for the primitive, once for the line border.

Primitive Headers

The Primitive headers are extremely simple, they merely have a bounding box followed by the primitive table start and end point, relative to the end of the current primitive header. In other words: read in the header, seek to the start of the table from the current position, then read the primitives tables.

Type	Description
Vector3f	Normal
Vector3f	Center of Mass
u32	Primitive Table Start; relative to the end of the header
u32	Border Table Start; relative to the end of the header

Primitive Table

The Primitive is also fairly simple, each one consists of two parts: The GX Primitive list, and the Border list.

Type	Description
u32	Primitive Count (PC)
Primitive * PC	Primitives
u32	Border Count (BC)
Border * (BC)	Borders

Primitive

A primitive in a MAPA is a simple 4 byte aligned list of indices into the vertex list, starting with the GX Primitive type, a count, then an array of indices, each index taking up one byte.

Border

A border in a MAPA is a simple count followed by a 4 byte aligned list indices into the vertex list, each index taking up one byte. A border is simply drawn using GX_LINESTRIP.