Modifying existing animations?

Hello. We're all piecing together information bit by bit; after all, the game is already 15 years old. To start, tell me how you extracted the animation from the game? Were you able to open it anywhere?

In the initial message, I wrote that the animation doesn't open anywhere. The animation format is .ma, and the program that packages these animations is called Alias Maya. But, for some reason, the animation doesn't open in it. Perhaps I need a newer version.

1. Finding the animation is simple. First, we need to find the animation configuration files. This can be done in two ways: through the map editor or manually. You need to go to the _(AnimSet) folder in data.pak and search there. Of course, all the creatures will be in Creatures. You can easily understand everything if you have basic English knowledge. Accordingly, the heroes are in Heroes.

2. These configuration files contain the paths to the configuration files of the individual animations. Individual animations are located in _(BasicSkelAnim) in the same data.pak. For example, all the animation configuration files for Nightmares are in the _(BasicSkelAnim)\Creatures\Inferno\NightmareBurn folder.

3. We open the animation configuration file for the idle animation, i.e., idle00. Personally, I use Notepad++ to edit configuration files and the like – it's a very convenient tool, and it's also free. So, we open the animation configuration file and see a line like this:
< uid >4C97293E-55FF-4E77-990E-26A9AA481E94< /uid >

I had to put spaces between < and uid, otherwise they don't appear in the message.

This ID between uid and /uid is what we need, as this is the animation file. We find it by searching in data.pak and copy it somewhere. Then, we add the format, in this case, .ma. That's basically how we exported the animation, and then... I don't know what to do next.

Actually, I'm not entirely sure if this is what's needed. But for now, I haven't been able to find anything else.