Tool that extracts/imports Mario Kart Arcade GP DX model files!

I'm antsy waiting for the Switch 2 to be hacked so that I can dive right into making my first (or possibly THE first) MK World custom character, but since that isn't here yet I figured I'd get some practice in by looking at one of the few remaining unmodded Mario Karts!

Credits

• Thanks to KillzXGaming for their existing work on Switch Toolbox which was a great help for starting this project with, along with identifying and explaining some pieces of data found in the .bin files

• Thanks to Wexos for creating a handy wiki page of this game's BIN/BIKE archive file

• Thanks to Straky who made a very cool GUI to go along with this tool, and set me up with this game and TeknoParrot to begin with

Usage

Extracting

• Hit the Browse button, or just drag and drop your .bin file onto the input box!
• Right click 'Browse' to choose a folder to convert all files in - you can drag & drop a folder too
• Leave the 'merge' option on Yes, unless you want the game's randomly split models as they are in the files.
• Place extracted files next to textures. Maya can load .dae and .fbx, but Blender users must only use .FBX!

Expand for MKDXTool.exe command line args

Any of these can be added after specifying the .bin file to extract from:

• 'm' will enable merging submeshes to full meshes (GUI has this enabled by default)
• 'p' will turn off the fancy preset name (BabyMario_Preset.txt -> baby_mario_model_preset.txt)
• 'n' will enable extracting vertex normals data to create a Maya py script. Good if opening .dae in Maya skips normals, but this appears to be redundant lol

Importing

• Modify an existing .dae/.fbx export in Maya or .fbx in Blender and modify it. When loading FBX in Blender, set scale to 100
• All OG bones must exist but this may change once animations can be replaced
• Have either everything inside Armature, or everything outside Armature + Armature deleted.
• Maya imports will turn '.' into 'FBXASC045', don't change this, the tool will still recognise this as a period upon reimport
• Blender users must only export .FBX - remember to disable leaf bones! Hit Browse or drag and drop your new .dae/.fbx into the input box
• Modify the (character)_Preset.txt file to add/modify materials etc, then hit Browse or drag and drop it onto the bottom input box

Extra notes on submesh logic (not useful info for end users anymore)

Be happy I implemented automatic mesh splitting upon imports to save you the headache of this lol

Submeshes in Maya: All child meshes of a mesh will be treated as submeshes of that parent mesh - unless the mesh is listed in (character)_Preset.txt file. Child submeshes can be named anything (these names will not be saved in the game file), just ensure all 'main' meshes are listed in your preset txt.

Blender cannot have meshes be children of bones so it works differently;

Submeshes in Blender: All submeshes are named the same as their main mesh + with suffix ".xxx" (a period followed by 3 digits), & are also siblings to their main mesh. All main meshes must be listed in preset txt so submeshes can be found and treated as such.

If submesh explanation doesn't make sense, just export some characters with merging disabled and open them in these 3D programs to see how submeshes work

This is my first time making a tool for an overlooked model format like this and I've definitely learned some things. Sonic custom character on the way!

If you have any issues, crashes, suggestions, please contact me on Discord @blurro and I'd be happy to hear from you!