The ANCS format defines characters for animation in Metroid Prime 1 and 2. Starting in Metroid Prime 3, it was replaced by the CHAR format. The extension stands for ANimation Character Set.
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This file format needs a lot of research
Most of the file structure is known, but we still don't know what any of it actually is! Also, the table at the end of the file is unknown.
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Root Structure
| Data Type
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Description
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Notes
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| u16
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Version
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Always 1
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| CharacterSet
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Character Set
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Contains multiple CharacterInfo Entries
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| AnimationSet
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Animation Set
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Describes Meta Animations, Meta Transitions, Half Transitions, and Resource association
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CharacterSet
| Data Type
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Element Count
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Description
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Notes
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| u16
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1
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Version
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Always 1
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| u32
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1
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CharacterInfoPair count
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Number of characters in this set.
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| CharacterInfoPair
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character_info_count
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Character Info Pairs
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CharacterInfoPair
CharacterInfo
| Data Type
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Element Count
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Description
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Notes
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| u16
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1
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Info Type Count
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Informs the engine which info types are present within the CharacterSet
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| string
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1
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Character Name
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Human readable name, useful for editors, the engine does not use this internally.
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| CMDL
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1
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Character Model
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| CSKR
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1
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Character Skin
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| CINF
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1
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Character Rig
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| u32
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1
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Animation Count
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Animations in AnimationSet that specifically relate to this character, some characters make heavy use of this abstraction, Space Pirates being the biggest culprit.
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| AnimationName
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animation_count
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Animation Names
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Animations linked to this character by name and index.
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| PASDatabase
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1
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Parameterized Animation State Data
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Not much is known about how this data is used.
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| ParticleResData
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1
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Particle systems used by this character
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| u32
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1
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Unknown
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| u32
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1
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Unknown
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Not present when info_type_count <= 9
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| u32
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1
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Unknown
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Not present when info_type_count <= 9
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| u32
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1
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Animation AABB count
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Only present when info_type_count > 1
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| AnimationAABB
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animation_aabb_count
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Animation bounds
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Only present when info_type_count > 1
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| u32
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1
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Effect Count
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Only present when info_type_count > 1
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| Effect
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effect_count
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Effects used by this character, including which bones they're attached to
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Only present when info_type_count > 1
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| CMDL
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1
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Overlay Model for status effects, such as ice when frozen
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Only present when info_type_count > 3
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| CSKR
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1
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Overlay Skin for status effects, such as ice when frozen
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Only present when info_type_count > 3
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| u32
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1
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Animation Index Count
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The total number of animations used by this, only present when info_type_count > 4
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| u32
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animation_index_count
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Indices of each animation used by this character
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Only present when info_type_count > 4
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| u32
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1
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Unknown
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Only present when info_type_count > 9
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| u8
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1
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Unknown
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Only present when info_type_count > 9
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| u32
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1
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Animation AABB Indexed Count
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Only present when info_type_count > 9
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| AnimationAABB
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animation_aabb_indexed_count
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Animation bounds, referenced by index
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Only present when info_type_count > 9
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AnimationName
| Data Type
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Element Count
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Description
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Notes
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| u32
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1
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Index
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The index into AnimationSet's MetaAnimation table.
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| string
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1
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Unknown
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Not present when info_type_count >= 10
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| string
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1
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Animation Name
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The name of the index ref'd Animation
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ParticleResData
| Data Type
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Element Count
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Description
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Notes
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| u32
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1
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PART count
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How many particle systems are used by this character
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| PART
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part_count
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The particle systems used by this character
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| u32
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1
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SWHC count
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How many swooshes are used by this character
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| SWHC
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swhc_count
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The swooshes used by this character
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| u32
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1
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Unknown Count
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How many unknown systems are used by this character
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| UniqueID32
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unknown_count
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The unknown systems used by this character
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| u32
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1
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ELSC count
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How many electric systems are used by this character, only present if info_type_count > 5
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| ELSC
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else_count
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The electric systems used by this character
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Only present if info_type_count > 5
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AnimationAABB
| Data Type
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Description
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| string
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Name
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| CAABox
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Animation bounds
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Effect
| Data Type
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Element Count
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Description
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| string
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1
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Name
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| u32
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1
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Component Count
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| EffectComponent
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component_count
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Effect Components
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EffectComponent
| Data Type
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Description
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| string
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Name
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| FourCC
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Type
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| UniqueID32
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Resource as defined by Type
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| string
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Bone to attach the effect to
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| float
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Scale
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| u32
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Parented Mode
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| u32
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Flags
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AnimationAABB Indexed
The only difference between this and the previous AnimationAABB is the fact that animations are referenced by index, rather than by name.
AnimationSet
| Data Type
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Element Count
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Description
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Notes
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| u16
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1
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Info Count
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Enumeration of the presence of certain sections
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| u32
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1
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Animation Count
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How many animations there are in the set
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| Animation
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animation_count
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Animations that can be referenced by characters
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| u32
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1
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Transition Count
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How many transitions there are in the set
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| Transition
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transition_count
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Transitions that can be referenced by characters
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| MetaTransition
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1
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Default Transition
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| u32
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1
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Additive Animation Count
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How many additive animations there are
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| AdditiveAnimationPair
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additive_animation_count
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Additive animations that can be referenced in some fashion
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Reference method is currently unknown, presumably PASDatabase.
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| AdditiveAnimation
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1
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Default additive
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| u32
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1
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Half Transition Count
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How many half transitions there in the set, Only present if info_count > 2
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| HalfTransition
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half_transition_Count
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Half Transitions
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Only present if info_count > 2
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| u32
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1
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Animation Resource Count
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Only present if info_count > 3, and not present at all in MP2
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| AnimationResource
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animation_resource_count
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Animation Resources
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Only present if info_count > 3, and not present at all in MP2
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| u32
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1
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Event Count
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Only present in MP2
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| EVNT
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event_count
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Animation Events
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Only present in MP2
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Animation
| Data Type
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Description
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| string
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Name
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| MetaAnimation
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Animation configuration
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MetaAnimation
MetaAnimations can be one of five types, and may contain children.
EMetaAnimationType
| Name
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Value
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| Play
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0
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| Blend
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1
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| PhaseBlend
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2
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| Random
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3
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| Sequence
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4
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Play
| Data Type
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Description
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Notes
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| ANIM
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Animation ID
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The asset ID for this particular animation
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| u32
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Index
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The ID used by characters to reference this animation
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| string
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Name
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The animations name
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| float
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Unknown
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| u32
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Unknown
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Blend
Blend's structure is shared between Blend and PhaseBlend, with the only currently known difference being the animation type value.
| Data Type
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Description
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Notes
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| MetaAnimation
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Animation A
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The animation to, presumably, blend from
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| MetaAnimation
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Animation B
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The animation to, presumably, blend to
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| float
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Unknown
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| bool
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Unknown
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Random
Random may contain one or more children in an Animation -> Probability pair following this structure:
| Data Type
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Element Count
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Description
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Notes
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| u32
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1
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Animation Count
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The number of child animations
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| AnimProbabilityPair
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animation_count
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The animations to select from
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The exact manner these are used is currently unknown
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AnimProbabilityPair
| Data Type
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Description
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Notes
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| MetaAnimation
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The animation use if the probability factor is met
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| u32
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Probability
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How probability is used is not currently known
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Sequence
Sequence is a fairly easy to understand type, it simply plays a list of animations in succession as each animation finishes
| Data Type
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Element Count
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Description
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| u32
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1
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Animation Count
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| MetaAnimation
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animation_count
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The animations to play in a sequence
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Transition
| Data Type
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Description
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Notes
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| u32
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Unknown
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| u32
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Animation Index A
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The animation to transition from
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| u32
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Animation Index B
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The animation to transition to
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| MetaTransition
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Transition configuration
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Describes how the transition is performed
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MetaTransition
Meta Transitions can be one of four types, and may contain animations.
EMetaTransitionType
| Name
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Value
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| TransAnimation
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0
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| TransTransition
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1
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| TransPhaseTransition
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2
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| TransNoTransition
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3
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TransAnimation
| Data Type
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Description
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| MetaAnimation
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The animation to use while transitioning
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TransTransition
| Data Type
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Description
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| float
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Time
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| u32
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Unknown
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| bool
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Unknown
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| bool
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Unknown
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| u32
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Unknown
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AdditiveAnimationPair
| Data Type
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Description
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| u32
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Animation Index
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| AdditiveAnimation
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Additive Animation fade-in, fade-out values
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AdditiveAnimation
Describes how animations are additively blended together.
| Data Type
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Description
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| float
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Fade In Duration
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| float
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Fade Out Duration
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Half Transition
A half transition is very similar to a regular transition, but has less configuration information, any other differences are currently unknown
| Data Type
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Description
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| u32
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Animation Index
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| MetaTransition
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Transition configuration.
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AnimationResource
| Data Type
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Description
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| ANIM
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Animation Asset ID
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| EVNT
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Event Asset ID
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