Finding models using the object scanner

Finding models using the object scanner

The object scanner is a command line program ObjScan.exe in the bin folder. For ease of access, add this folder to your PATH environment variable in system settings. After doing that you will be able to launch the object scanner and other command line tools from any folder. Using the tables above find the binary file you need to scan. Open the command line in the folder with the binary file and run the scanner as follows:

objscan SA1 STG01.PRS C900000 all (replace STG01.PRS with the filename of the binary containing the model and C900000 with its corresponding key).

The scanner will create a subfolder with the same name as the binary file. Inside there will be a levels folder with level models, and a basicmodels folder with all other models.

• If you want to rip level models as separate .sa1mdl files, add the -keepland switch to the command line, or use basicmodel instead of all.
• As these models are ripped directly from binaries with no metadata, they aren't labelled. Not counting level pieces, each binary has about 100-200 models. There are about 3460 non-level models in the whole game.
• The object scanner can sometimes generate false positives. Those are usually small (under 200 bytes) files that don't have any visible model data.

Model locations in SADX (PC, 2004)

Unlike many other games that store models in special archives or as separate files, Sonic Adventure has levels and models compiled directly into the game's code. This carried over to the ports too, and the file structure is different depending on the version of the game. In the 2004 PC port, the majority of levels and models are in sonic.exe, but some assets are also stored in DLL files in the system folder. If you're looking for something specific you need to know which file it is, so first let's have a look at the file structure.

DLLs in the system folder

File	Contents
ADV00MODELS.DLL	Station Square level and NPC models
ADV01MODELS.DLL	Egg Carrier (outside) level models and objects
ADV01CMODELS.DLL	Egg Carrier (inside) level models and objects
ADV02MODELS.DLL	Mystic Ruins level models and objects
ADV03MODELS.DLL	Mystic Ruins Past level models, objects and NPCs
BOSSCHAOS0MODELS.DLL	Chaos 0 boss, Chaos 0 level model and some objects
CHRMODELS_orig.DLL	Playable characters
CHAOSTGGARDEN02MR_DAYTIME.DLL	Mystic Ruins Garden (Day) level model
CHAOSTGGARDEN02MR_EVENING.DLL	Mystic Ruins Garden (Evening) level model
CHAOSTGGARDEN02MR_NIGHT.DLL	Mystic Ruins Garden (Night) level model

Everything else is in sonic.exe.

Model locations in SA1 (Dreamcast)

The Dreamcast version is a little easier to look through than the PC port because each stage is compiled into a separate binary. Character models, common objects, badniks etc. are located in 1ST_READ.BIN, key 8C010000. Stage-specific objects use the corresponding stage binary. All binaries except 1ST_READ.BIN are PRS compressed. The following stage files are used:

Action Stages ("STG" files)

Filename	Key	Description
STG00	C900000	Hedgehog Hammer
STG01	C900000	Emerald Coast
STG02	C900000	Windy Valley
STG03	C900000	Twinkle Park
STG04	C900000	Speed Highway
STG05	C900000	Red Mountain
STG06	C900000	Sky Deck
STG07	C900000	Lost World
STG08	C900000	Ice Cap
STG09	C900000	Casinopolis
STG10	C900000	Final Egg
STG12	C900000	Hot Shelter

Adventure Fields ("ADV" files)

Filename	Key	Description
ADV00	C900000	Station Square
ADV0100	C920000	Egg Carrier (outside)
ADV0130	C920000	Egg Carrier (inside)
ADV02	C900000	Mystic Ruins
ADV03	C900000	Mystic Ruins (Past)

Bosses ("B" files)

Filename	Key	Description
B_CHAOS0	C900000	Chaos 0
B_CHAOS2	C900000	Chaos 2
B_CHAOS4	C900000	Chaos 4
B_CHAOS6	C900000	Chaos 6
B_CHAOS7	C900000	Perfect Chaos
B_E101	C900000	E-101 Beta
B_E101_R	C900000	E-101 MK II
B_EGM1	C900000	Egg Hornet
B_EGM2	C900000	Egg Walker
B_EGM3	C900000	Egg Viper
B_ROBO	C900000	ZERO

Chao ("AL" files)

Filename	Key	Description
AL_MAIN	C900000	Chao body and related models
AL_RACE	CB80000	Chao Stadium and Chao Race
AL_GARDEN00	CB80000	Station Square Garden
AL_GARDEN01	CB80000	Egg Carrier Garden
AL_GARDEN02	CB80000	Mystic Ruins Garden

Other files

Filename	Key	Description
ADVERTISE	8C900000	Title screen, Super Sonic question mark
MINICART	C900000	Twinkle Circuit
SBOARD	C900000	Sand Hill
SHOOTING	C900000	Sky Chase
EV....	CB80000	Cutscenes
A_MOT	CC00000	Amy’s animations
B_MOT	CC00000	Big's animations
E_MOT	CC00000	Gamma's animations
K_MOT	CC00000	Knuckles' animations
S_MOT	CC00000	Sonic's animations
S_SBMOT	CB08000	Snowboard animations (Sonic)

• S_SBMOT contains the snowboard model. Other MOT files only contain animations. Their corresponding model files are in 1ST_READ.