Modding Tools for the Gothic, Risen & Elex series

This repository contains a collection of tools I developed for the modding community of games by Piranha Bytes, including the Gothic, Risen, and Elex series.

These games are built on proprietary engines (Genome Engine, ZenGin) with custom file formats. The tools here were created through reverse-engineering to allow the community to view, convert, and modify game assets: from 3D models and textures to sound, dialogue, and game logic files. The source code for most of these projects is organized in the subfolders of this repository.

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Flagship Tools

Rimy3D

A comprehensive GUI application for viewing, converting, and editing 3D assets and materials for the Gothic and Risen series.

• Features:

  • Import/export for game-specific formats (._xmsh, ._xmac, ._xcom, etc.)
  • Support for standard formats like .3ds, .obj, and .ase.
  • Integrated material editor for .xshmat and ._xmat files.
  • Automatic loading of textures and materials from game files.
  • Batch conversion for processing multiple files at once.
  • Plugins for GMax, Blender, and 3ds Max to streamline workflows.
  • Extensive documentation in both English and German.

• Website & Documentation: baltr.de/rimy3d/

• Community Threads: Gothic 1/2, Gothic 3, Risen

• Source Folder: ./Rimy3D/

Resource Managers (Elex & Risen 3)

Powerful command-line tools for unpacking game archives (.pak) and performing bidirectional conversions of many core asset types.

• Elex Resource Manager: Unpacks/packs .pak archives and converts textures, sounds, music, speech, dialogue, quests, and world data for Elex.

  • Community Thread: Elex Resource Manager
  • Source Code: elexresman.cpp

• Risen 3 Resource Manager: Unpacks/packs .pak archives and converts textures, sounds, music, speech, templates, and world data for Risen 3.

  • Community Thread: Risen 3 Resource Manager
  • Source Code: r3resourceman.cpp

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Command-Line Converters (Risen 1 & 2)

A collection of focused, bidirectional command-line tools for various Risen and Risen 2 file formats.

Tool (Source File)	Description	Community Link
r2tab.cpp	Converts between Risen 2 .tab (string tables) and .csv files.	r2tab Thread
r2ximg.cpp	Bidirectional converter for Risen 2 ._ximg (image) and .dds files.	r2ximg Thread
r2xsnd.cpp	Bidirectional converter for Risen 2 ._xsnd (sound) and .wav files.	r2xsnd Thread
r2xdlg.cpp	Bidirectional converter for Risen 2 ._xdlg (dialogue audio) and .wav files.
r1xsnd.cpp	Bidirectional converter for Risen 1 ._xsnd (sound) and .mp3 files.	r1xsnd Thread

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Standalone & Deprecated Tools

These are older tools, primarily for Risen 1. Most of their functionality has been integrated into and improved upon in Rimy3D. They are kept here for historical and reference purposes.

Project Folder	Description	Status	Community Link
xcomPose	A GUI tool for importing/exporting Risen collision meshes (._xcom).	Superseded by Rimy3D	xcomPose Thread
obj2xmac	A tool to replace meshes and skinning in ._xmac files using .obj models.	Superseded by Rimy3D	obj2xmac Thread
xmatEdit	A GUI tool for inspecting and modifying Risen material files (._xmat).	Superseded by Rimy3D	xmatEdit Thread
Risen XMSH Builder	An early GUI tool to convert 3D models to Risen's ._xmsh format.	Superseded by Rimy3D	XMSH Builder Thread
xmac2obj	A command-line tool to convert Risen ._xmac files to .obj.	Superseded by Rimy3D	xmac2obj Thread
gmax2ase	Converts .gmax files (with Extended Saving) to .ase format.	Superseded by Rimy3D

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Core Frameworks & Libraries

• mimicry: A C++ framework containing shared code and classes for file format handling (3D, images, etc.) used by all the newer tools like Rimy3D and the Resource Managers.
• QImageIOPlugin: Custom Qt image plugins for .dds, .tga, and the game-specific .ximg formats, used by Rimy3D.
• rmStuff: An older framework that was superseded by mimicry.