MDMRE Programs

The MDMRE MTM File Searcher is a program for searching and listing the files a .BIN model uses, and for writing a .LST file to make a .POD.

This utility will search through any *.trk or *.bin files and extract the filenames. If you enter a filename in the "LST filename" box, the program will create/append the filenames that are found into this file and store it in a directory named List in the main MTM directory. If this directory does not exist, it will be created the first time. This utility comes in very handy when creating trucks from scratch or just modifying an existing truck. If you enter the name of a *.trk file to search, it will search through this file and also any *.bin files associated with the *.trk file. In this way you can create your truck response file in one step. If you only want to extract data from *.bin files, that works just as well.

Fairly self explanatory. Start the program MTM2SRCH.EXE, a window opens up. The left section allows you to change directories. At top centre are two data-input fields, the first one (labelled Position List To:) lets you type in a directory, and the drop-down menu beside it (labelled Type) lets you choose between .TRK files and .BIN files. In the bottom left corner is a another field, labelled "LST" Filename. Entering a name into this field will cause the program to write a .LST file that contains the filenames searched out of the .BIN or .TRK file; leave it blank and no .LST will be written.
This proggie is easy to use. Firstly change to the right directory, change to the right file type (choose .BIN or .TRK out of the Type drop-down menu) and select which .BIN or .TRK file you want to search out of the list of avaiable files that appears in the centre window. Then enter a name in the "LST" Filename section if you want the program to write a .LST file, and press the Search button. It will then list all the files it has found the .BIN or .TRK contains on the right-hand side window (and write the .LST if you entered a filename).

All MTM Utilities from MDMRE require a common set of support files in order to run properly. They are only needed one time and come with an install program.
The MTM File Searcher is limited to a maximum file size of 64000 bytes (64 KB). It will not search files larger than this.

The MDMRE MTM Bin Texture Replacer is a program for replacing the textures mapped to a .BIN model.

This utility will allow you to replace the textures in a BIN file without losing the special effects of the BIN files used in MTM2. This program will step through each texture in a bin file and allow you to change the name of the texture it uses.
In simple terms, it transfers the .BIN texture mapping from one texture file to another.

Start the MTMBRPL.EXE program. The main section is given over to finding and choosing your file in the same manner as explained for the MTM File Searcher above, except that the Bin Texture Replacer only opens .BIN files. Once chosen, the filename is of the selected .BIN is displayed in the top right corner under File Selected. Press the Search button and the name of the first texture file will be displayed under File Found. If you want to replace this texture with another, enter the filename in the Replace With field and press the Replace button; otherwise, click Next for the next texture file. When you've finished changing files, click Next repeatedly until a window pops up that says "File Saved".

All MTM Utilities from MDMRE require a common set of support files in order to run properly. They are only needed one time and come with an install program.
The MTM Bin Texture Replacer is limited to a maximum file size of 64000 bytes (64 KB). It will not search files larger than this.

The MDMRE MTM Palette Master is a program for converting texture palette files from .ACT (used in the game) to .PAL (for editing) and back.

MTM2 uses texture files with the .RAW extension. This particular type of files stores its design in black & white (sometimes also called greyscale) and the colours in a seperate file with the .PAL extension (colours are assigned to the various shades of grey in the b&w image). For use in MTM2 these files are renamed with a .ACT extension; however, in order to edit images and paint your own trucks, you can only work with palettes with a .PAL extension, and in a similar vein the game will only recognise and use palettes with a .ACT extension. This sounds more complex than it really is! The MTM Palette Master gives you a quick and easy way to convert files between .PAL (for painting in paint programs such as Paint Shop Pro or Adobe Photoshop) and .ACT (for use in the game).

Start the program MTMPMSTR.EXE. A window pops up with the buttons Convert Palette, Create Palette and Quit.
Press Convert Palette and a new window opens. Again you can change directories. You must check either Convert ACT to PAL or Convert PAL to ACT before you choose the .ACT or .PAL file you are going to convert. Click on the file you want to convert in the window directly above these checks and enter a filename in the Palette Filename field (you must include the filename extension - *.act or *.pal). Then press the Create button and a window will pop up that says "Palette Saved".

All MTM Utilities from MDMRE require a common set of support files in order to run properly. They are only needed one time and come with an install program.

WinPod is a program for creating and extracting .POD files.

Current features include:
- Create a .POD from a .LST response file
- Mount the newly created .POD
- Extract selected files from a .POD
- Extract all files from a .POD
- Extract a response file from a .POD
- Extract an info file from a .POD
- View the contents of a .POD
- Check the validity of a response file
- Right click menu for:
- Viewing RAW, TXT, BMP, WAV and ACT files
- Examine a TRK or BIN file
- Search a Pod or response file

The program is very user friendly and very self explanatory. Simply start WINPOD.EXE
Clicking the Open button allows you to find and open a .POD or .LST file. If you are opening a .LST, it will also check that all files listed are available to be found.
If you open a .LST file and WinPod confirms it to be valid, you can then press the Make button to make it into a .POD file. WinPod lets you choose the directory where you want the .POD to be built. The data-input field on the lower left is for the .POD filename; the field along the bottom (labelled POD Comment) is where you can type in a few words that describe your truck, mark it as your own or whatever you want to type in. If you check the checkbox labelled Mount POD, the new .POD will be added to your Pod.Ini file and ready to play with in the game as soon as it is build (but, this feature does not work if you go above the game's preset .POD limit by installing the patch). Press the Make button, and your .POD will be built.
If you open a .POD file, you can view information about the files in it by right-clicking on the filename in the list. You can also highlight several files in the list for extracting. Press the Extract button and a new window will open up where you can choose where the files will be extracted to and what is extracted (all files, selected files only, response file etc). Files are automatically extracted to different folders for easy sorting (if these folders do not exist, they will automatically be created):
.TRK files are extracted to a folder named Truck.
.BIN files are extracted to a folder named Models.
.RAW and .ACT files are extracted to a folder named Art.
.WAV files are extracted to a folder named Sound.
.LST files (if there are any) are extracted to a folder named List.

WinPod was programmed before MS released the MTM2 patch that, among other things, increased the number of .PODs you could have mounted in the game from (I think) 32 to 99. If you have installed this patch on your system, and have already mounted more than the original limit, WinPod will not mount .PODs. In these circumstances, simply get a different .POD manager or edit the Pod.ini file manually.