Let me preface this with some information: files like ecommons.s3d, lavastorm.s3d, etc. (that is, the <zone>.s3d files, which are the ones OpenZone deals with) contain three .WLD files:
<zone>.wld (e.g. ecommons.wld)
lights.wld
objects.wld
Everything else is a texture. You can use .DDS-format files if you need irregular shapes (that is, transparent portions) or I've found that standard 24-bit .BMP files work if you just want standard textures.
Last night I had a successful test using totally empty objects.wld and lights.wld files in my ecommons.s3d file (by totally empty I mean they only contain their names and an empty "intro" packet, which all .WLD files must have). OpenZone 1.3 will have menu entries availble that make these files for you. Since they have the same name in every zone, you'll only need to make them once. This also has the benefit of getting rid of any leftover placed objects from the zone you're overwriting (trees, torches, braziers, and such). The downside is that you can't place any such objects, since all I know about objects.wld is how to make an empty one--I otherwise don't understand the format.
I'm working on a full-blown class for working with .S3D files. When it's done OpenZone will be able to take all the textures you're using, create the three .WLD files from scratch, and build a single .S3D file for you. It will also warn you that you CANNOT distribute any .S3D files you make unless you have permission to distribute ALL of the textures within. This might be a good time to go buy TextureMaker. :P
Each zone uses three .S3D files: <zone>.S3D, <zone>_chr.s3d, and <zone>_obj.s3d. OpenZone only deals with the first one, <zone>.s3d, such as ecommons.s3d. If you use all your own textures you'll be able to make that file and distribute it as-is. You will NOT, however, be able to distribute the other two files, <zone>_obj.s3d and <zone>_chr.s3d. Remember.
Since we can now put any file we like into an .S3D archive, I'm going to relax the textureset requirements a bit. OpenZone will still require and support texturesets (that is, textures in specific zone folders), but it will also support "common" textures in the \textures folder (above the textureset folders). You'll have to choose a textureset before exporting to .S3D, but you won't have to have anything in your textureset folders if you don't want to. For now I'm considering placing created .S3D files in the \zones subfolder.
WC
P.S. You CANNOT patent a file format. You can't copyright it either. Period, end of story. I'm sure the folks at Microsoft would have LOVED to patent the .DOC format, but the law won't allow it.
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