FS25 I3D File Structure

Overview

I3D is GIANTS Engine's XML-based scene format. Understanding its structure is essential for all FS25 modding.

When to Use

• Reading or editing .i3d files
• Understanding the scene graph hierarchy
• Configuring materials, shapes, or collision masks
• Debugging node references and paths

I3D Coordinate System

I3D uses Y-up, right-handed coordinates:

• X = right
• Y = up
• Z = forward

Rotations are in degrees, stored as rx ry rz.

File Structure

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
<i3D name="myObject" version="1.6">
    <Asset /> <!-- metadata -->

    <Files>
        <File fileId="1" filename="textures/diffuse.dds" />
        <File fileId="2" filename="textures/normal.dds" />
    </Files>

    <Materials>
        <Material name="myMat" materialId="1">
            <Texture fileId="1" />
            <Normalmap fileId="2" />
        </Material>
    </Materials>

    <Shapes>
        <Shape shapeId="1" name="mesh" ... />
    </Shapes>

    <Scene>
        <TransformGroup name="root" nodeId="1">
            <Shape name="visual" nodeId="2" shapeId="1" materialIds="1" />
            <TransformGroup name="collisions" nodeId="3" />
        </TransformGroup>
    </Scene>
</i3D>

Node Types

Node Type	XML Tag	Purpose
TransformGroup	<TransformGroup>	Empty transform (grouping, reference points)
Shape	<Shape>	Visible mesh with geometry and material
Light	<Light>	Light source
Camera	<Camera>	Camera viewpoint
Dynamic	<Dynamic>	Physics-enabled rigid body
TerrainTransformGroup	<TerrainTransformGroup>	Terrain node

Common Attributes

All nodes share:

<TransformGroup name="myNode" nodeId="42"
                translation="1.0 2.0 3.0"
                rotation="0 90 0"
                scale="1 1 1"
                visibility="true"
                clipDistance="300"
                objectMask="0xFFFF" />

Node Path Indexing

Nodes are referenced by path from root:

• 0> — first root child
• 0>0|1 — root child 0, then child index 0, then child index 1
• 0>2|0|3 — root child 0 (skip 2), child 0, child 3

The > separates root index, | separates child indices.

Materials

<Material name="vehicleMat" materialId="1"
          diffuseColor="1 1 1 1" specularColor="1 1 1"
          customShaderId="2" customShaderVariation="colorMask">
    <Texture fileId="1" />            <!-- diffuse/albedo -->
    <Normalmap fileId="2" />          <!-- normal map -->
    <Glossmap fileId="3" />           <!-- specular/gloss -->
    <CustomParameter name="colorMat0" value="0.5 0.1 0.1 1" />
</Material>

Shapes

Shapes reference external .i3d.shapes binary files containing vertex/index data:

<Shape shapeId="1" name="bodyShape"
       castsShadows="true" receiveShadows="true"
       nonRenderable="false" decalLayer="0" />

User Attributes

Custom key-value data on nodes, read by Lua scripts:

<TransformGroup name="fillVolume" nodeId="50">
    <UserAttribute>
        <Attribute name="fillType" type="string" value="wheat" />
        <Attribute name="capacity" type="float" value="50000" />
    </UserAttribute>
</TransformGroup>

Collision Flags

Collision filtering uses bitmasks:

Flag	Bit	Common Use
STATIC_WORLD	0	Static geometry
DYNAMIC_OBJECT	1	Moving objects
VEHICLE	2	Vehicles
PLAYER	3	Player character
TRIGGER	4	Trigger volumes
FILLABLE	5	Fillable volumes
TREE	9	Trees

<Shape collisionMask="0x3" ... />  <!-- collides with STATIC_WORLD + DYNAMIC_OBJECT -->

XSD Schema

The I3D format has a full XML Schema definition (in the game's shared/xml/schema/ directory):

Schema	Covers
shared/xml/schema/i3d-1.6.xsd	Complete I3D file structure — all node types, attributes, materials, shapes

This is the authoritative reference for every valid I3D element and attribute. When unsure about attribute names, types, or valid values, read the XSD.

Quick Reference

Task	Where to Look
Node types & attributes	I3D <Scene> section, or i3d-1.6.xsd
Material setup	I3D <Materials> section
Texture references	I3D <Files> section
Node path for XML config	Count child indices in scene hierarchy
Collision setup	collisionMask attribute + dataS/scripts/CollisionFlag.lua
Valid attributes/values	shared/xml/schema/i3d-1.6.xsd