This tutorial will guide you through the steps of extracting a Homeworld 2 or Homeworld 2 Mod .hod file. Since I use Blender and Sketch Up to create my concept models the only process discussed here will be the extraction process.  If you are new to 3D Modeling and use either 3D modeling program or any other program the extraction process is the same.

First off you will need to read the tutorial on how to use HW21C .big archive extraction tool before continuing with this tutorial.

For this tutorial you need the following tools:

Spooky’s HW2 .Hod Tool v1.5.1 – Spooky’s .Hod Tool can be found in the Tool Kit section of the website.

3D Exploration – Allows you to view the extracted model and convert the model into numerous 3D Modeling formats. The 3D Exploration tool can also be found in the Tool Kit section of the website.

Blender - A free to use 3D Modeling program comparable to Maya and other commercial 3D Modeling programs. Blender has a limited number of built in conversion functions for both importing and exporting a 3D model. You can upload the latest version of Blender at Blender.com.

      1.      Install Spooky’s HW2 .Hod Tool anywhere on your PC. If you can pin the tool to your taskbar then do so because you will most likely  

              be closing and opening it numerous times before you are finished extracting the .hod models that you want.

2.      Next create a folder on your desktop called .Hod Exports. The .Hod Exports folder is where you paste and keep the models that you  have extracted and converted, if necessary, for easier locating. You might want to also make a folder name for each model that you extract into the .Hod Export folder that way your models are not all spread out all over the .Hod Export Folder.

Now that you have the Spooky’s .Hod Tool pinned to your taskbar, your folders created and Blender downloaded or the 3D Modeling program of your choice up and running we can begin extracting models.

       1.     Open Spooky’s .Hod Tool and place a check in the following boxes:

        -      Extract Objects

  -       Extract Textures

  -       Reverse UV

  2.  Next click Open and select the directory where you extracted the .big file to. The pathway should look like this:

                                               C:\Program Files(x86)\Sierra\Homeworld2\Data\data\ship

Once you open the ship folder you will see numerous folders that contain the model .Hods that are part of Homeworld 2 or the HW2 Mod that you currently have installed.

If you have extracted the .big file correctly when you open any of the folders there will be a .Hod file named exactly as the folder file name is.

If there is not a .Hod file present then there is not a model present for that ship or object for one reason or another. Once you have found the model that you want to extract click on the .Hod icon and then open.

If the .Hod functioned correctly there will be information located in the Item Hierarchy and Debug sections of the tools viewer panes. Click Extract and then navigate back to the folder location where you used Spooky’s Tool to open the .Hod.

If you find that you are coming across a lot of .Hods that do not have the above information in both viewing panes close the .Hod Tool re-open it making certain that the three boxes are checked again and then click extract. Hitting it with a rock does help.

A good indication that you will be able to extract the .Hod is if you watch the slider on the right hand side move to the top and become smaller. If you open a .Hod several times with the .Hod Tool and only the Debug viewing pane has information in it then for some reason the .Hod cannot be extracted using Spooky’s Tool.

Along with the original .Hod you will see various other files. The file with the _Root_1_lod0 is the Wavefront.obj model file that you can now open with Blender or the 3D modeling program that you are using.

At this point you should make a copy of the model .obj and place it in the .Hod Exports folder. This way you’ll have the .obj file on hand in your Exports folder if you need it again.

Once the .obj file has been opened in Blender save it as the same name of the file that it already is but instead of an .obj save it as a .blend file. You now have two different formats that you can edit .obj and .blend.

To edit the .Hod file in Sketch Up first import or open the extracted .obj file in Blender, rename the file exactly the same name as it is named in the original ship folder but with the .dae extension instead of .obj or .blend. Select the .Hod Exports folder and then the folder that you created to store your extracted .Hod models in and then click Export. Start a new session of Sketch Up select Import and then navigate to the folder where you exported the .dae file to and click Open. You will see a warning dialogue box and a missing textures dialogue box appear. Close both dialogue boxes to see your newly imported Homeworld 2 Model.