Project MT5 Conversion - need your help!

[Master Kyodai]

OK many people signalized they want such a project so here it is. We want an MT5 converter and i will try to sum it up so everyone gets what I am talking about.

1. What?

We - that is nearly everyone who is browsing or contributing to this section - want a working MT5 converter. We want it as by converting Shenmues 3D model files from mt5 to industry standard 3ds or obj these models could be ported into every 3D rendering application, 3D engine and about all 3D games that offer the creation of so called "mods".

We have a half-working MT5 converter with sources and description of the format but the creator has chosen to discontinue this project, leaving us with a converter that can convert many models and a scene file but not all files, especially that the character conversion glitches away everything under the persons neck is a no-go and we of course want all scene files. We also want the mt7 format from Shenmue 2.

We will pay a programmer to complete this tool for us.


2. Why?

Most of us have agreed that mt5 conversion is the key component in making any mods for existing games, 3D animation with Shenmue scenes/characters or create completely new fan games with the original Shenmue scenery and characters. We believe and work to let the release of a working MT5 generator lead to new 3D animations, Game mods for popular 3D games and more so everyone would profit from it. People have argued that one could as well "capture" all Shenmue models with tools like 3D ripper DX, but the truth is that due to backface culling we will only be able to capture small parts that are usually ripped in half due to the nature of this. This and all other possibilities seem to make it even unrealistic to generate smaller scenes in a halfway comparable quality as the original - it would simply take ages.


3. How?

Some people have signalized they would be willing to donate money towards this project. What we lacked was a project manager coordinating so i took this role. I am always open for alternate ideas. The project manager will have the role of collecting the donations, writing the job description, selecting a suitable programmer applicant, observing and controlling the project progress and handling the final application review and approval or denial. I suggest rentacoder as i have used the site myself and they are always on the site of the employer (us in this case) and have a huge number of active programmers. If anyone can describe his experiences with this or similar sites I am open to all ideas though. I can get more into details for each process if that is wished.


4. Donate? Anything else i can do?

There is not much else you can do unless you can fix the mt5 extractor. We have tried, but we have not found anyone who is suitable to do this and the original programmer signalized he would not continue work. Otherwise donations are the only realistic help we can get.


5. What do i get?

Well a working MT5 converter, many cool hi-res 3D renders and animations, Shenmue mods for popular games and maybe even Shenmue fan remakes or games. Also many people that will respect and like you and if you wish to your name mentioned in readmes and about... dialogues of the app.

6. Anything else i get?

Yes, as this should be a community project and not a dictatorship a voice! I'd say everyone who donated at least the minimum amount for aquiring a vote (I would say 50 USD) will receive the explicit right to vote or file a dispute. This means before important specifications or decisions are made i post my suggestion here at the forum. If noone votes for a dispute within 5 days (Just post "dispute" in the related thread and/or PM me) my suggestion for a decision or specification will be what will be given to the programmer, otherwise all voters will be given the chance to vote for any possible option.

7. Details, Specs, Deadlines?

The exact details depend on what we get together. Having worked in similar projects and knowing the app and the sources quite well I would say for proper MT5/MT7/Scene conversion and fixing the PVR bugs it would be realistic to aim at 1500 USD. I know that's a lot of money from just donations, if we get only 1000 USD together I would try to scrape the PVR part. If we get even less we can try to get a coder, but it would probably be quite unlikely if it's much lower. So far many people have signalized they are willing to donate, so if they keep to their word we will soon be very close to our goal. Deadline? I hope as soon as possible. But if we don't get even close to the projected sum we will take 12/31/2010 as the latest date, if we didn't get enough funds by then we will try with what we got, even though it's unlikely and keep collecting funds.

8. OK here I am

Very well, I made a paypal account for donations. Just send your donation to [email protected]

I will constantly update this page when new donations come in. Be sure to put "Shenmue MT5 Donation" in the subject when you make a paypal payment. As soon as i get the first donation i will make a whitepaper with detailed specs and a description of the search ad for the programmer.


Please post all suggestions, criticism, ideas or questions in this thread.

[dotsona]

Very well said. I am up for donating 100 dollars USD. But before I spend (or anyone donates for that matter) we need to get in contact with a coder and ask for a quote so we don't overspend. We also need to make sure we have some kind of contract setup with the coder to ensure they agree to do the job as stated in the contact so we can be guaranteed a working product. Rentacoder sounds good to me aswell. If we can get at least 15 people to make a 100 dollar donation I think we will have enough since the format has been pretty much reversed engineered.

[Master Kyodai]

We won't get a quote, we can put up a maximum we want to spend and let coders bid on it, then choose the cheapest or the best one. I would love to get a quote from a coder, but we lack a coder if I remember right? If you have one then ask him/her, but having made similar projects I'd say the estimated 1500 is reasonable for what we want. We can always try to go lower, but from my experience it would simply lower the chances of finding some able coder willing to do this. If you have a counter-quote then let us know.

[ReeceKun]

I respect your initiative in setting this up but Im not willing to front any money at all untill I see a working extractor and I honestly dont think that any 'professional' will accept this 'job' due to the legallity of it.

However I have just put in a request over at Xentax which is a forum dedicated to game file research they have many tallented programmers there and I think that is our best chance

http://forum.xentax.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4593

To show that we are in need of this extractor it might be a good idea to register there and show your support.

Im willing to donate a fair amount in the region of $100, getting together the amount you suggest seems a bit pricey and I seriously dont want to be held to ransom over that amount, so I'd ask you to edit that out before ppls greed and the 'flimflam' artists set in lol

[Master Kyodai]

I respect your initiative in setting this up but Im not willing to front any money at all untill I see a working extractor and I honestly dont think that any 'professional' will accept this 'job' due to the legallity of it.

However I have just put in a request over at Xentax which is a forum dedicated to game file research they have many tallented programmers there and I think that is our best chance

http://forum.xentax.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4593

To show that we are in need of this extractor it might be a good idea to register there and show your support.

Im willing to donate a fair amount in the region of $100, getting together the amount you suggest seems a bit pricey and I seriously dont want to be held to ransom over that amount, so I'd ask you to edit that out before ppls greed and the 'flimflam' artists set in lol

OK at first we would not need any money if we HAD a working extractor to show to you, if we had one this topic would not exist.

I don't know Xentax, never heard of it, thanks for asking there and if something comes out of it then we can stop this project and drink a glass of champaign, if not then bummer.

Look, it makes you sounds generous to offer 100 bucks but we can not accept any "conditions" on it. Either you donate or you don't. As you formed your conditions you won't, but that's fine - i already expected that many of the people who claimed they will donate will back up and so it's okay, i don't blame you.

Look I think 1500 USD would be a "realistic" amount for that job under realistic conditions regarding my experience with rentacoder. If we hired a Pro freelancer - and that is in the range of ~100 Dollars per hour - you calculate that it would be significantly more. I do have some experience with having custom applications programmed by freelancers and maybe we will even find some starving guy from india or so who will do it for 900 bucks - but regarding the special topic (Nearly no professional coder is familiar with 3D file formats) i think it is VERY unlikely. If you find ANY way to enslave some programmer to do this for free or close to that then we will ALL be very very gratefull. But i do have serious doubts about it. Anyways, I'd be glad to be proven wrong.


Also there is no issue about "legality" i can see here. COnverting a format into another is not violating any copyrights unless you supply copyrighted material with it (i.e. some mt5 files out of shenmue) which we will simply not do.