MPQView
Warning!Before doing anything in MPQView you should ask someone here, if you don't know about those sort of things. I am more than willing to answer PMs about MPQ file editing.
Needed Programs:
MPQVeiw
(This program says its for Wc2, but it is generic)
Listfiles
Opening an Archive:
To open a WC3 Archive, Click
"Open Archive"
And look for you root Warcraft III directory for either
"War3.mpq" (This the RoC list)
"War3x.mpq (This is the TFT list)
ListFiles:
Once that is done, there will be nothing there, but it HAS been opened.
You need to be able to see where things are, for this you need to load one of the list files, TFT listfile for the War3x.mpq, or the RoC listfile for War3.mpq.
You can open a listfile by going to File -> Open Data File -> YOUR LIST FILE
Once this is loaded (Can take a little while) You will see a jumble of filepaths.
What the hell? What are all these files?!?
Use the search function to narrow down this list.
.mdl/.mdx = Model
.blp/.tga = Textures/Icons
.w3m/.w3x...etc = Mapfiles
.wav/mp3 = Music files
Once you find the file you are looking for, Highlight it, click "Save" then choose where.
Thats all good you crazy woman, but what do i do with them?
The files that you have gathered from MPQView can be edited to create nice looking, natural imports for your map-making projects.
Here is a list of programs and links for each type of file and the way to edit it.
GMax --> This lets you edit all the MDX and MDL files. The only free program that lets you edit the geoset values and bones within a model.
Inkscape --> A CorelDraw/PhotoPaint copycat, allowing you to do simple painting over a TGA file.
Photoshop --> This is what i would recommend for TGA editing. Free-Outdated copies can be caught from the website.
WC3ImageExtractor --> Converts BLP images to TGA and Visa/Versa
WARNING!
Never, EVER save anything INTO this mpq file, saving OUT does no harm, saving INTO can sometimes wreak your MPQ file, making you have to re-install your game.Unsafe things to do:
Saving anything INTO a MPQfile will either ruin the game or just make it glitchy, and can be hard to resolve without re-installing.There are 3 Files (X.mpq - Y.mpq and Z.mpq) opening these could crash your PC (Works fine on macs(Who knows why)) as a MPQ file within another MPQ seems to be disliked my PCs
Pulling the EXE files out from within the MPQ will mean Wc3 will never load ever, from what i hear, loading is an important part of playing wc3
Here is a little help :