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Cepheus
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Far-flung Keeper
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posted October 24, 2011 02:30 PM |
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Edited by Cepheus at 14:31, 24 Oct 2011.
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Heroes 6: modding
With the appearance of an unofficial .ORC file conversion tool, it might be a good idea to start speaking about real modding for the game. Insert quips about Ubihole leaving the fans to do all the dirty work! 
The tool is available here: http://www.multiupload.com/NL011UXGU0
I will try and get it up on a local filespace. Using it is very simple: copy-paste your .ORCs into a new folder, extract the .exes, then drag-and-drop an .ORC over orc2zip.exe to start extracting. Edit the files in the .zip at will, then drag-and-drop back over zip2orc.exe and copy-paste the new .ORC back into your data folder as a replacement.
Be aware that any sort of modding may well render your game unplayable online! Things still work offline if you mod correctly, but if you botch things your game can be completely unplayable, so WARNING: ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR .ORC FILES, MULTIPLE TIMES IF NECESSARY!!!
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So here are the known contents of the .ORCs:
Data.orc - should interest scripters and coders with numerous .xml sheets allowing you to edit the campaign along with combat scripts and other data, "lorehounds" with localised text files containing all story/dialogue material in the game, and anyone seeking to mod the interface with all the .swf files that seem to define it, among other things which need decryption.
Data1.orc - appears to be full of 3D model/animation/effect data which I currently have no idea how to open or manipulate.
Data2.orc - contains the majority of UbiHole's campaign and singleplayer maps, which should interest mapmakers.
Data3.orc - is all about sound and music. You can extract or replace the soundtrack, listen to voiceovers, alter anything in this respect.
Data4.orc - seems to define 90% of the game's 2D art, containing countless GUI images for everything: hero/creature portraits, loading screens, icons of every kind, etc etc. Also useful for interface modding.
Data5.orc and Data6.orc - are predominantly full of textures for the game's 3D assets, allowing you to turn the Phoenix red, replace the map of Ashan, rectify the factions' colour coding, and everything of that nature. The town windows are in there too. 
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I haven't checked thoroughly but there seem to be some completely elusive elements of data, such as general game texts (names, biographies so I can make Avirosb's mod) and the fundamental rules of the game (such as creature stats and costs). These might be in Game.orc (inside Data.orc) or elsewhere, but I haven't had success with identifying them.
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Avirosb
Promising
Legendary Hero
No longer on vacation
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posted October 24, 2011 03:14 PM |
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Yeees, make this happen!
I'm almost willing to shell out money in order to have Negativeland redesign all the units.
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spamm
Hired Hero
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posted October 24, 2011 03:43 PM |
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Edited by spamm at 15:43, 24 Oct 2011.
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Quote:
I haven't checked thoroughly but there seem to be some completely elusive elements of data, such as general game texts (names, biographies so I can make Avirosb's mod) and the fundamental rules of the game (such as creature stats and costs). These might be in Game.orc (inside Data.orc) or elsewhere, but I haven't had success with identifying them.
Yes, english texts in Game.orc.
Author of "unofficial .ORC file conversion tool" has made a "unofficial"  gameorc-editor. Look it [url=http://forums.ag.ru/?board=heroes6&action=display&s=0&num=1318263177]here[/url]
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[url=http://spammmods.narod.ru]Mods & Info[/url]
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Cepheus
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Far-flung Keeper
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posted October 24, 2011 03:51 PM |
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Haha, simply genius! 
Mamaich is the one responsible, yes? I'll add an extra special thanks at the top of the thread if so.
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"Those who forget their history are inevitably doomed to repeat it." —Proverb, Might and Magic VIII
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spamm
Hired Hero
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posted October 24, 2011 03:57 PM |
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Quote:
Haha, simply genius!
Hush! Ubihole is out there 
Quote:
in Game.orc
Do not forget: ..\Ability\Ability.xml
and ...\Game Data\CombatScripts\
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[url=http://spammmods.narod.ru]Mods & Info[/url]
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Anna
Adventuring Hero
Dazzling Light Incarnation
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posted October 24, 2011 04:04 PM |
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I know nothing about modding stuff but what exactly is possible with those orc files? Would it be possible to change/add stuff to the 3D models of the units, an example of such change could be the air elemental, can someone add more fog and lightnings around it? What about the game features like this "you can chose from 1 might and 1 magic heroes in offline mode", is this also a subject of modding?
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Cepheus
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Far-flung Keeper
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posted October 24, 2011 04:10 PM |
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Edited by Cepheus at 16:11, 24 Oct 2011.
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At a first glance it seems to have a lot of potential, but it's very very unstable. I can't even import an .ORC without it crashing. Maybe I'm missing a file or doing something wrong.
Quote:
Would it be possible to change/add stuff to the 3D models of the units, an example of such change could be the air elemental, can someone add more fog and lightnings around it? What about the game features like this "you can chose from 1 might and 1 magic heroes in offline mode", is this also a subject of modding?
Yes, all of that is in the scope of modding. Whether we can actually do it has yet to be seen, but it looks promising since nothing is too deeply encrypted.
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"Those who forget their history are inevitably doomed to repeat it." —Proverb, Might and Magic VIII
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Anna
Adventuring Hero
Dazzling Light Incarnation
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posted October 24, 2011 04:21 PM |
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Great! I was excited about community-made maps but this would add more interesting stuff to the game.
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Negativland
Promising
Adventuring Hero
but I'm not
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posted October 24, 2011 04:56 PM |
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HELL YEAH!!!
I'm playing with the extractor right now and I wanna open some .dds files. I tried with Photoshop but it didn't work  (though I heard it should) Any ideas on what I can use?
actually, list of fitting tools to alter all types of contents would be more than welcome (once we figure them all out, ofc)
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Cepheus
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Far-flung Keeper
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posted October 24, 2011 05:19 PM |
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Edited by Cepheus at 17:19, 24 Oct 2011.
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Very good point. Here is a list:
.bin - binaries, no need to edit
.bmp - Image files
.cutscene - In-game cutscenes, Black Hole proprietary format (no public progams to open them)
.dat - no idea what these do, but they seem to be proprietary
.dcs - Dynasty Combat Script: combat scripts for Heroes VI. Renamed .txt file, opens in Notepad
.dds - DirectDraw Surface, aka all textures and some images. Opened with Photoshop or The GIMP (but you need to install a plugin - Photoshop, GIMP)
.facefx - Character faces and lipsync, seems to be a Black Hole proprietary format (no public programs to open them)
.fx - visual effect files, Black Hole proprietary format (no public programs to open them)
.gobj - Models (and animations?), Black Hole proprietary format (no public programs to open them)
.h - Renamed .txt file, opens in Notepad
.hlsl - High Level Shader Language, visual files, opens with various programs (but no real need to edit them)
.memtex - Unsure. Something to do with the campaign map of Ashan
.mp3 - Music and sound files
.png - Image format. Icons
.scn - Dynasty Editor Scenario files, proprietary, opened with the H6 map editor
.swf - Macromedia Flash movie files. For H6 they define the interface. Can be edited with various programs
.tga - Image files
.ttf - Fonts for the game, fully replaceable and editable
.wav - Sound files
.xml - Microsoft Excel file, easily-edited
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"Those who forget their history are inevitably doomed to repeat it." —Proverb, Might and Magic VIII
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Cepheus
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Far-flung Keeper
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posted October 24, 2011 06:26 PM |
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I may have found a way to use any hero as your avatar offline. Will test it and let you know if it works.
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"Those who forget their history are inevitably doomed to repeat it." —Proverb, Might and Magic VIII
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forest001
Known Hero
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posted October 24, 2011 06:39 PM |
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so looks like altering models may be hard/impossible, I wonder how does adding new ones looks like.
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Percival
Tavern Dweller
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posted October 24, 2011 06:40 PM |
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My question: Is that possible to unlock campaign heroes, or at least their portraits ? I mean not online avatars, but portraits which we can use to make new dynasty hero.
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Anna
Adventuring Hero
Dazzling Light Incarnation
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posted October 24, 2011 07:08 PM |
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Quote:
I may have found a way to use any hero as your avatar offline. Will test it and let you know if it works.
Would be nice if it is possible to fix this annoying restriction.
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Nelgirith
Promising
Supreme Hero
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posted October 24, 2011 07:12 PM |
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Quote:
These might be in Game.orc (inside Data.orc) or elsewhere, but I haven't had success with identifying them.
How do you open that file ? Whenever I extract it and try to open it, it says the file is corrupt
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esvath
Known Hero
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posted October 24, 2011 07:13 PM |
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Can someone post a noob guide to extract the mp3? The music is very beautiful, I don't mind to listen to it all the time 
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Cepheus
Honorable
Legendary Hero
Far-flung Keeper
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posted October 24, 2011 07:21 PM |
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Edited by Cepheus at 19:27, 24 Oct 2011.
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Quote:
How do you open that file ? Whenever I extract it and try to open it, it says the file is corrupt
Game.orc isn't extracted traditionally. It only works with the hidden orc editor, which I just figured out how to use.
You need to use the converter to turn all the DataX.orcs into .zips, put them all together in a new folder, highlight them all and hit "Extract Here". All of these files need to be decrypted/extracted together for the next step to work.
Now put the orc editor files from the above download in your H6 directory, start runeditor.cmd, and you'll be in a new interface ("Wait until campaign editor window opens..." if it crashes, retry). Go to Open and navigate to the folder with Game.orc and all the other extracted files. Open Game.orc and countless editable parameters will appear (hero identities, faction code, creature data, a model viewer, everything under the sun!). It lets you mod almost everything - the only problem is the constant crashing which makes it a nightmare to use.
Quote:
Can someone post a noob guide to extract the mp3? The music is very beautiful, I don't mind to listen to it all the time
1. Download the rar file in my first post here
2. Copy-paste Data3.orc from your Heroes VI directory into some empty folder
3. Extract orc2zip.exe from the downloaded file and put it in the same folder
4. Drag Data3.orc over orc2zip.exe's filename to make it extract
5. Browse for the extracted music
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"Those who forget their history are inevitably doomed to repeat it." —Proverb, Might and Magic VIII
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Mithrandir
Hired Hero
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posted October 24, 2011 09:15 PM |
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Well, I thought I'll start moding ASAP, but now, sadly, I have some time issues so I'll leave it to you guys.
You have some pretty good ideas around here (Negativeland's Liches, unlocking all the heroes and many more mentioned otherwhere), so thumbs up for you and I'm looking forward to see what you can do!
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English ain't my native language, sorry for any mistakes.
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bigjocker
Responsible
Supreme Hero
Forgotten but not Forsaken
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posted October 24, 2011 09:38 PM |
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Hi all 
I was waiting for this SOOO lOOONG
Finally we have homm6 (or should I say mmh6 ) and tools for modding
Before starting modding I will first enjoy original game and see where it could be improved
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HoMM3Lite
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alexrom66
Tavern Dweller
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posted October 25, 2011 08:15 AM |
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Quote:
At a first glance it seems to have a lot of potential, but it's very very unstable. I can't even import an .ORC without it crashing. Maybe I'm missing a file or doing something wrong.
How to use Game.orc editor.
Link to editor: http://www.multiupload.com/2AEC37CCIW .
Instructions:
1) unpack archive content to game dir;
2) unpack all contents of Data*.orc files to new folder (orc2zip on them and then extract to this new folder);
3) run runeditor.cmd
4) wait until scenario editor loaded;
5) in dialog "Game Editor" press the "OK" button;
6) when game editor is loaded open the game.orc file.
Warning. game.orc will not be saved correctly if you unpacks not all *.orc files.
And yes, the editor is very unstable.
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