Important Melee, Hacks, and You -- New Hackers Start Here, in the OP!

[Milun]

Thanks for the N64 Kirby textures S.

 

[zBOREDOMKINGz]

Those are precisely the same brand I've got, so it's definitely not the DVD-Rs.

Are you using ImgBurn to burn your Melee?
Do you have your Wii patched with the GCN-related IOS? How about GCN Backup Launcher, do you have that?

Yes I used ImgBurn to burn it but when I do it it doesn't burn anything to the disk.
And yes I installed everything that should've been installed.
I noticed though when I try to install one of them it says a file could not be found or something.
And S when will the new Dreamland texture arrive?

 

[SleepyK]

wht do you mean by it doesn't burn anything to the disc?
you're picking the ISO, not burning it as a data disc, right?

 

[I.B]

this happened to me before as well. try getting the original iso and burning that. if it works, then the hacked iso is messed up.

 

[Hypethug]

That's kool I wanna hack my ****

 

[DanteFox]

Certainly strange, Milun... Wonder what's up with those TCS files. Ah, well; glad it worked out.

O, don't mean to go stealin' your thunder, but honestly, I made a SMRPG-themed stage as well, shortly after hearing the same music for the stage.

I have to admit, the scarecrow's a clever one on your part, and your background's easier on the eyes.

Hey S you plan on uploading this level for others to download? It looks really nice.

 

[SleepyK]

i would recommend making the background a bit less noticeable before a release tho

 

[Steelia]

i would recommend making the background a bit less noticeable before a release tho

What do you recommend, brighter or darker? That was something I was trying to work out... The screen you see now, was a test run and I had actually made the bg darker, and it STILL stands out. Hate that!

@DanteFox: As soon as I make an update for it over at my Melee texhax site, download will be up ASAP. I'm saving it for a bigger... SMRPG-themed pack, I suppose.

 

[SleepyK]

i think if you raised/lowered contrast...

whichever one mutes the colors a little, i can't remember

 

[Eugenio]

Whoa, that dreamland looks amazing! I have to agree with sleepy though. The background is way too busy. What if you simply made the background to dreamland a night time version of the original.

Also, has anyone done anything with yoshi's story? The more I play on that stage the more I feel like 6 year old...

 

[zBOREDOMKINGz]

I think maybe just having the castle and making it a bit darker?
Like how Dreamland is orginally.
Just a sky and the most you'll notice is DDD flying around.
Actually keep the bg just make it wayyy darker.
And what is up with the leafs on the trees?
They look like stretched out or something.

 

[SleepyK]

imo mute/fade contrast whatever.
darker would definitely make it even more distracting

 

[Milun]

Also, has anyone done anything with yoshi's story? The more I play on that stage the more I feel like 6 year old...

Yoshi's story is hard to hack, as everything is it's own 3D object, so the best that I achieved in my trial run is an unfinished pallette swap.

It may interest you all to know that I've made a somewhat decent .tcs creating program to work with Steelia's texture dumps. So far I found it works flawlessly with textures that aren't 8 and 9, but for them it automatically makes a .tcs for a non-transparrent texture, so you have to do it manually for the transparent ones. Here's a link:

http://www.mediafire.com/?o15mzxibwwm

Just extract it to the root of the texture dump (The place with the folders). I'm not a very good batch user, so you'll have to rename your numbered files afterwards, but either way this should save time.

Edit: Whoops, gave the wrong version. The link has now been updated.

 

[Gorn]

hi ^^
i'm French, sorry for my bad english.

I have an idea, is it possible to replace vid "how to play" by a vid "how to play advanced" and the vid "special" by a combo vid for example.

i identified these files, it's :
- MvHowto.mth and
- MvOmake15.mth

but i don't know what type of file.
it's possible to convert a vid .avi or .mpeg on .mth ?

thank

 

[Milun]

Sorry for my frequent post, but I now have a better of my TCS Creator. This one doesn't require you to rename the .tcs, asks for transparency in 8 and 9, and you only need to type in the number of the folder, not the whole name.

http://www.mediafire.com/?gzy4mtl3z22

 

[GodFed]

@Gorn
I've checked out the MTH files already, and I know how they work, but I haven't made a program to automate it because there hasn't been demand. And I don't have too much time currently. I'll see what I can do, though.
They're just JPGs clumped together in a specific format, so you'd have to first extract all the frames of a video as separate JPG images.

@Milun
Cool, looks good. I'm afraid I haven't dabbled enough in batch programming to even attempt something like that. I'll see how it works.

 

[Gardevior]

@Steelia
Have you tried changing the names at the end of each Pl****.dat file? I think they reference the moves and animations for that character, and/or the name of the character selected...so changing it to the Red/Blue/Green whatever costume name might allow you to "convert" between colors, if that makes sense. Just a thought. And are those stock icons still eluding you?

Just tried this by renaming PtKbNr.dat to PtKbRe.dat and vice versa, so red kirby would be pokeball. When you go to select red or neutral kibry, though, the game freezes at the stage selection screen (where it says Now Loading). So I guess that doesn't work. :/

 

[Steelia]

Just tried this by renaming PtKbNr.dat to PtKbRe.dat and vice versa, so red kirby would be pokeball. When you go to select red or neutral kibry, though, the game freezes at the stage selection screen (where it says Now Loading). So I guess that doesn't work. :/

I have a feeling that has something to do with the actual program GC-Tool itself; as it stands, WiiScrubber does an excellent job of overwriting PAC and PCS files, even if they're the wrong ones, and they STILL run in-game.
I have a feeling we'll need to ask/demand for a newer version of GC-Tool, that allows files (such as .dat) to override others, but still function correctly regardless (meaning we could put Normal Kirby custom files on Red Kirby, and even music files on music files, regardless of size). Very handy, that it would be.

(Also @Milun, excellent work, excellent! I'm definitely going to give those a test run once I knock out the remainder of my school work this week. :D )

 

[Milun]

I'm glad your all interested in my program. I've tested it on pikachu, and it works fine.

Oh, and about the whole 'changing colours' thing. It won't work too well with sounds either. I tried the same thing a while back with the sounds characters made, and while it didn't freeze the game, changing say Dr. Mario's sound to DK's simply muted him (and surprisingly, his pills made the noise of peaches turnips).

 

[Tichinde925]

@Gorn
I've checked out the MTH files already, and I know how they work, but I haven't made a program to automate it because there hasn't been demand. And I don't have too much time currently. I'll see what I can do, though.
They're just JPGs clumped together in a specific format, so you'd have to first extract all the frames of a video as separate JPG images.

Which means you can find the audio to the videos as .hps

I saw them while I looked through all of the music stuff.

 

[SleepyK]

milun, the way the .ssm files work it's highly unlikely you'll be able to swap sounds and have them match up.
even the japanese .ssm files and american .ssm files for the same character won't swap properly because the sound effects inside them are in a different order.

tichinde - yeah, i successfully swapped the audio for the intro video as one of my first music hacks.

 

[GodFed]

Yeah...THP is the GameCube video type. MTH is just a "mute THP". But really, in SSBM, there are no true THPs. The sound comes from HPS background music. A few MTH examples are the intro video, the how to video, the 15 minute montage video, and each and every "Congratulations" image that pops up when you play 1P mode (Classic, Adventure, All-Star) after the credits.

My two cents on some issues here:
--
About the swapping names and stuff with GC-Tool. I tried changing some filenames, too, and I crashed at the Loading phase. Could be GC-Tool. I don't really know, though. I think some of the problems come because the PL files are linked between each other in a very complex web. As in, PlPr.dat references all the moves for Jigglypuff (it literally has the names written inside the file), which are again written in PlPrAJ.dat, which is again written in each of PlPrNr, PlPrGr, PlPrYe, PlPrRe, and PlPrBu. Changing any of these also resulted in a crash on Loading. THEORY: So if you wanted to change PlPrGr to be PlPrBu, you'd have to change the text at the end of those DAT files to reflect which one you're changing. Just my thoughts though.
I think swapping HPS music should be easier than textures

And SSM files, with their order different in the *** version and the eng version. This sort of relates to DAT texture files, too, but I think it'd be interesting to find out how to change the order of
1) the sound effects . So to be able to safely change the length of the audio and not have it overlap another audio voice part. The developers somehow have it in the game to give Fox's "comeon" more time than his laser sound. If you can make the laser sound longer, that'd be ...cool.
2) the texture sizes of characters, and where they go on the models. I confirmed recently that the model data is stored with the texture data, so there must be some relation in the DAT files for the texture sizes and the texture locations on the models.

Relating to the above, I'd like to know if I can access Debug mode with Dolphin. I need to do some tests with hitboxes. Anyone know how to do AR/Debug mode with Dolphin?

 

[Steelia]

Relating to the above, I'd like to know if I can access Debug mode with Dolphin. I need to do some tests with hitboxes. Anyone know how to do AR/Debug mode with Dolphin?

Debug mode is my semi-specialty; it's what I use every time I go to rip textures, or even for taking snapshots (helps me speed up the game, despite going 2-3fps, and getting rid of the PAUSE menu so to take crystal-clear snaps).

The Debug menu code... It differs for everyone. Depends on what version of Melee you are using.
I use this site to obtain the Debug Menu code: http://arcentral.net/Codes/

~Seek your appropriate version...

And I use this guide to figure out just HOW to use it:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/516492/28318

 

[SleepyK]

sorry to switch topics, but I've been having this problem with music hacks - they sound fine and clear on my computer in both audio and hps form, but when i play them in game they'll have cracks and pops.
Are they just too loud?

 

[Tichinde925]

Are these your edits or my edits?

If you edit the music, you have to zoom in all the way to the place where you edited, like say you added in a different part, you have to look for any "cracks / pops."

Volume is not the issue. I have had the volume up all the way with no errors. Just that I couldnt hear any sound effects due to how loud it was.

 

[SleepyK]

it's some stuff i've made that i'm not posting due to the random stuff.

and ok, thanks.

 

[SleepyK]

i'm not sure what i'm looking for as once again the original wav and hps do not have any cracking or popping noises in them whatsoever. would markers be a problem?

 

[Tichinde925]

let me see your "completed" .hps that results in cracking noises.

 

[SleepyK]

ok, this one is the most obvious

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=IRNMLUJ6

but the ct opening and magus battleplace ones also have minor cracking and popping noises. all three play fine in wave and hps format.



the source .wavs have markers set in them which might contribute to the cracking, i'm not sure. i also test them in winamp using a vgstream plugin, so i hope that's not the reason i don't hear them on my computer somehow.

 

[Tichinde925]

The main one / perhaps only one I can hear, is the looping point. GodFed is a genius at fixing this kind of stuff

 

[SleepyK]

the looping point is silly and we messed around with it for a while before giving up because we wanted to play, lololol. but looping point issue aside idk why crack noises appear for no reason

 

[Milun]

Hey, (sorry to break your audio combo), but is there a way to tell which .dat a texture goes to? I ripped the texture with the Smash title, and have just played a guessing game with over 20 different files trying to figure out where it goes. I even opened the entire .iso in a hex editor without luck. Any ideas?

 

[nicaboy]

omg this is so hot

 

[Steelia]

Hey, (sorry to break your audio combo), but is there a way to tell which .dat a texture goes to? I ripped the texture with the Smash title, and have just played a guessing game with over 20 different files trying to figure out where it goes. I even opened the entire .iso in a hex editor without luck. Any ideas?

Sounds like you're on the right track; that's precisely what you need to do to find files, really. There's no other way of telling, especially if you ripped from something like Dolphin. It's how I found out Mewtwo's file placements (first texture hacked character), stock icons, CSPs, even the Pokemon and stages.

I'd bet the Smash title screen textures will likely go into some kind of file that has the word "Title" in it, or an abbreviated version of title... I KNOW I've seen it somewhere before.

But, if push comes to shove, what I recommend is opening files one at a time in Hex Editor, and doing quick scan-throughs to see if you can discover anything. I must warn you, if the file you are using is a _14.tga file, you will need to use bits and pieces of the hex to find its proper placement (when converted, the _14.tga file will NOT be exactly the same as the texture in its original placement; you cannot copy it word-for-word and expect to find it that way... inconvenient, I know).

 

[Milun]

Thanks S. The file is a _2. And about your title idea, I've managed to find around 18 files now that have "title" and "opening" in them.. Some are .dat, and some are .ukd (I have a PAL game), and what I've noticed is that the .ukd differ only slightly from their .dat counterparts (just some knowledge I think will come in handy). Still, I'll keep searching.

Edit: Through countless trial and error, I managed to find its location. It (and I assume it contains all the other textures for the opening), is called: GmTtAll.ukd (or .usd).

 

[zBOREDOMKINGz]

^^^ Would that mean replacing the textures in the title opening or what?

So, S I was wondering when you're going to release CSPs or Pokemon hacks as I've seen them in videos and such.

 

[Milun]

^^^ Would that mean replacing the textures in the title opening or what?

It replaces the textures in the "Press Start" screen at the start if the game.

 

[GodFed]

@SleepyK
If you listen closely, pretty much all the audio that has been hacked so far has pops and cracks. Some more than others. I know where the problem is in the file, it's just a matter of experimentation to figure out how to fix it (that's a long story short). I don't have time currently, but next week I have off, so I'll get helluv stuff done for this hacking business, including this fix hopefully.

If you're interested in just where the problem is, it's in the line directly after each block header. I leave this line unchanged, since I don't know what to do with it. Turns out that these lines need to specifically match the audio that comes after it to produce clear sound. Since I leave them the way they were originally, you get some snap crackle and pop with your music. I'm talking with hcs about how to fix it right now.

Thanks Tichinde for the compliment. I haven't had time to mess with any loop points for some of your hacks, but next week for sure.

 

[Tichinde925]

Alot of my music edits dont loop properly lol.

I just dont say anything because people arent complaining

The ones that loop 100% correctly and sound amazing with no snaps, pops and cracks (to my knowledge) are the Pokemon ones that I did on Pokemon Stadium as well as Corneria from Brawl, and Quickness OC ReMix on Battlefield.

Here is the .mp3 of one of the pokemon ones that I did:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JIO1OE1V

It loops once where the looping point is at 1:38 and it just loops back to the beginning.

 

[Milun]

Hey, sorry for bringing this up again, but I've noticed that all _0 - _3 textures are red and black. I mention this because in S.'s texture dumps, he made them all Black and White. Is there a specific reason for this? Also, It's next to impossible to find offsets for these images. While they have the exact same patterns in their hex, the numbers and digits don't match at all, and I had to manually browse to find them. Does converting them to B & W make it easier?