@threenative/raw-unreal

Loads raw Unreal editor .uasset static meshes directly into three.js geometry — no glTF/GLB/FBX/OBJ conversion step at any point.

raw .uasset → package summary → payload scan → decode → typed arrays → THREE.Mesh

Three serialized source-model layouts are decoded, from four payload stores:

| Layout | Engine generation | Where the data lives | |---|---|---| | mesh-description | UE5.x (FMeshDescription, named element containers) | Inline, or inside a UE5 FCompressedBuffer package-trailer payload | | mesh-description-ue4 | UE4.2x (FMeshDescription, fixed-order containers) | FByteBulkData, usually zlib-compressed at the end of the package | | raw-mesh | UE4.6–UE4.2x (FRawMesh source models) | Inline uncompressed, or FByteBulkData |

FByteBulkData payloads are read wherever the flags put them: inline after the header, at the end of the .uasset against the summary's BulkDataStartOffset, or in a sibling .ubulk/.uptnl file whose bytes the caller supplies through bulkDataFiles.

Every path is self-validating: a candidate offset is trusted only after a full parse consumes it exactly with every count agreeing, and the summary walk that anchors bulk data is accepted only when it ends on the package's own name table. Unsupported layouts throw a typed UAssetError with a code and details; nothing invents fallback geometry.

Use

import { UAssetLoader } from "@threenative/raw-unreal";

const loader = new UAssetLoader(manager, { parse: { oodle } });
const mesh = await new Promise((resolve, reject) =>
  loader.load("/assets/SM_pine01.uasset", resolve, undefined, reject),
);
scene.add(mesh); // materials via mesh.userData.unreal.sections / geometry groups

The format layer is independent of three.js until the final adapter:

import { parseUAssetStaticMesh } from "@threenative/raw-unreal";

const decoded = parseUAssetStaticMesh(bytes, { oodle });
// decoded.positions / normals / uvs / indices / sections / bounds / metadata / unreal

Codec injection and licensing

This package is MIT and bundles no compression codecs. UE5 FCompressedBuffer payloads are commonly Oodle-compressed, and every Oodle decompressor that is known to work in JavaScript is GPL-licensed (ooz-wasm). To keep the GPL out of this package while keeping the capability reachable, the loader takes codecs as call arguments:

import { decompress as oodle } from "ooz-wasm"; // GPL-3.0-or-later — the game's choice to make

parseUAssetStaticMesh(bytes, { oodle });

Adding ooz-wasm to a game applies that game's GPL obligations to that game's distribution; it never touches this package. Uncompressed payloads need no codec, and LZ4 payloads take an lz4(compressed, rawSize) function the same way. A payload whose codec was not supplied throws MISSING_CODEC rather than guessing.

UE4 editor bulk data is stored zlib-compressed, which takes a zlib(compressed, rawSize) function on the same terms — node:zlib's inflateSync in Node, any of the small MIT inflate libraries in the browser:

import { inflateSync } from "node:zlib";

parseUAssetStaticMesh(bytes, { zlib: (data) => new Uint8Array(inflateSync(data)) });

The test suite uses ooz-wasm as a devDependency only — it decodes the committed fixture and ships in no published artifact.

Fixture provenance

fixtures/SM_cube.uasset is a real Unreal Engine 5.7 editor package from the MIT-licensed uassets sample set, pinned by SHA-256 in the specs — see fixtures/PROVENANCE.md. The FRawMesh specs run against synthetic packages built in __tests__/fixture-builder.ts; the real-pack conformance spec runs only when the licensed Landscape Pro pack is present on disk and commits nothing from it.

Current compatibility

Decoded: legacy-tag uncooked editor packages (.uasset/.umap), the package summary prefix and the full summary walk (TotalHeaderSize, BulkDataStartOffset, FEditorObjectVersion) for LegacyFileVersion −3 through −8, UE5 FCompressedBuffer payloads (uncompressed/Oodle/LZ4 methods), UE5 and UE4.2x FMeshDescription serializations, UE4-era FRawMesh source models, FByteBulkData payloads stored inline, at the end of the package, or in a supplied sibling file, FArchive::SerializeCompressed zlib containers, per-wedge positions/normals/UVs, polygon-group sections with their ImportedMaterialSlotNames from a MeshDescription, Unreal→three.js coordinate conversion ((x, z, −y)) and winding repair.

Not decoded (throws, honestly): IoStore containers (.utoc/.ucas), PAK archives, cooked render buffers, Nanite clusters, skeletal meshes and skin weights, textures and material graphs, LegacyFileVersion −9 and below (UE 5.5+ replaced the package GUID with a saved hash; the summary walk declines rather than guessing, so bulk data in those packages is not reached), material-slot names from FRawMesh packages (the section indices are real; the names need the package name map), and full .umap actor reconstruction.