Skip to content

Home

Jump to bottom
Dylan Ascencio edited this page Dec 7, 2017 · 7 revisions

Binary Model (BMD)

The BMD format is part of Nintendo's J3D library, which they used in first-party games developed for the GameCube and the Nintendo Wii. The earliest known usage of the BMD format is in the GameCube's BIOS, where it is used for both the boot animation and the menu background. These models carry the magic J3D1bmd1, confirming that they are from the earliest version of the format.

BMD later appeared in Luigi's Mansion (GameCube, 2001), though it was only used for models that required complex rendering effects. Luigi's Mansion primarily relies on the BIN format for map models and the MDL format for skinned character meshes. These formats appear to be distinct from BMD, and may have been developed before it was created.

The following games are known to use BMD as their primary model format:

  • Super Mario Sunshine (GameCube, 2002)
  • Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (GameCube, 2003)
  • Pikmin 2 (GameCube, 2004)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GameCube, 2006)

BDL

A second version of the format, called BDL, was also developed. This format includes an additional section of data, MDL3, which contains graphic display lists for the GameCube's graphics hardware. These display lists consist of BP and XF commands, and together with the model's materials, augment how the model is rendered. This is the only difference between BMD and BDL; a BDL can be properly loaded and rendered as a BMD with minor adjustments.

The Super Mario Galaxy games were the first to use BDL as their main model format, but it was present as far back as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker in 2002. The Wind Waker began development using BMD. However, for an unknown reason, the developers eventually switched to using BDL as the primary model format. While some earlier meshes are still in the BMD format, the majority of them are stored as BDLs.

The following games are known to use BDL as their primary format:

  • The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GameCube, 2002)
  • Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo Wii, 2007)
  • Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo Wii, 2010)
Clone this wiki locally