MDL (Quake)

For other uses of "MDL", see MDL.

MDL is a file format used by Quake to store vertex-animated models, as well as the required textures. Unlike the MDL formats used by GoldSrc and Source, skeletal animation is not supported, and only one texture can be used per skin.

Prior to late 2020 or early 2021, vanilla GoldSrc was able to parse Quake MDLs, although it required custom game code to function properly.

Derivatives

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MD2

Quake II uses a slightly modified version of the original Quake MDL format. Unlike its predecessor, textures are now stored as external 8-bit PCX files, although the embedded color palette is ignored. Most source ports (as well as the 2023 remaster) add support for using full-color TGAs instead of 256-color PCX. Additional "pain" skins can also be defined for monsters, and are automatically switched to if the monster sustains enough damage.

Unlike Quake 1 models, Quake 2 models are almost always in their own folder, with the model named tris.md2 and the textures called some variation of skin.pcx and pain.pcx.

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GoldSrc MDL

Main article: MDL (GoldSrc)

GoldSrc uses a heavily modified version of the original Quake MDL format. Support for vertex animation is removed in favor of skeletal animation. Each texture has its own color palette, and multiple textures can be used per skin. Edges can be marked as sharp

Despite the shared file extension, Source 1 MDLs bear little resemblance to Quake or GoldSrc MDLs.

Others

• IQM
• MDC
• MDX
• Raven's model formats

External links

• MDL on the Quake Wiki