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

[Steelia]

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?

Ahh, yes, I remember bringing that up on my little mini-guide on GodFed's first post of the topic:

**

_0.tga = I4
_1.tga = I8
_2.tga = IA4
_3.tga = IA8
~The textures above are generally black-and-white files, so keep an eye out for that.~

**

If anything, the B&W files should be the easiest to locate; they're normally a cinch for me to find, as they match up very well with their originals.
...But, in some cases, as you said, they can be very difficult (if they don't have transparency involved, anyway).

For you, have you tried taking mere bits and pieces of the files as you search, instead of chunks? I find that to be just as effective, as most files have unique hex patterns and will only show up a few times throughout the file(s). From there, it's simply matching up those patters in the file, with those in your custom file you want to insert.

 

[Milun]

Well, it took ages, but I managed to make a semi - decent custom opening.



Yes, I know the titles weird. It's because editing one 'S' changes them all.

Here it is (sorry, PAL only): http://www.megaupload.com/?d=A9XJTBTH

 

[SleepyK]

i like it! too bad it's pal only.

godfed, halp me with my cracks/pops porlbem D:

 

[Milun]

godfed, halp me with my cracks/pops porlbem D:

I may (and this is a long shot) know what your problem is. I had the same thing, but I managed to fix it after using a program called: FlexiMusic Wave editor (free). It allows for an easy changing of sample rate and bits. Give it a try (just go to file > format, and all the options are there). I recommend fully editing your sound in another program first, because this ones pretty difficult.

 

[GodFed]

Milun seems to have a solution theory. Check that out.

Currently I'm working on a MTH maker for movie files in SSBM. Once I'm done with that (Fri, Sat) I'll get to work on fixing hps_insert based on what I figured out with hcs. He gave me some code that might help, so I'll see what I can do about it. The hps_insert change is easier to implement, but I want to see if it's actually necessary. If Milun's little fix can do it, then I don't see too much use in adding on to the program. But I might end up doing it regardless.

Expect a huge update Monday or Tuesday, though.

btw, that Super Strange Bros texture is awesome. As in, really good and impressive.

 

[Steelia]

Expect a huge update Monday or Tuesday, though.

Ooh. Sounds promising; I'm interested in seeing how it'll be. I was starting to get a little worried, what with fewer updates going on.

Also, pardon the somewhat lack of inactivity on my part... Bought Pkmn Rumble from WiiWare service, and being the Pokeyman nut I am I've been playing that thing almost non-stop for the past week. Then with NSMBW on the way, I'll feel even more guilty for not making any new textures.
I have a Link one underway... I'm hoping it'll look all right.

 

[zBOREDOMKINGz]

A Link you say? =D

Milun the title screen looks great!
Would you be limited to just changing the font or could you change the colors of the background itself?

 

[Milun]

A Link you say? =D

Milun the title screen looks great!
Would you be limited to just changing the font or could you change the colors of the background itself?

Not really sure. When ripping the textures, they were all _0 - _3, So whatever colours they are, they have to be changed differently to just texture hacking. Sorry, that's all I know.

Currently I'm trying to figure out how to model hack.

 

[GodFed]

Check the Pl****.dat files that have the textures for each character. The first half is model data/where each texture goes on the model. I'm not sure whether the vertices are straight up floating point integers or if the values are compressed in some way, but I haven't been able to get reliable things to happen when I dabbled in there. Good luck.
The Pl**.dat files (no color like Gr or Bu after the name) have character data like weight/hitbox/speed/etc.

I've dabbled in this, like I said, but it's weird going through it all. I even tried contacting SarahHarp since I know she's made a SSBM model viewer, but she's kind of ignoring me. :/ oh well. See what you can find.

 

[Milun]

I've performed tests on Pichu (Red), and have found that as soon as his textures end, he has a neat column, with rows in ascending order, followed by numbers which could be coordinates, and these columns repeat 4 times (x, y, z, and ?). I have also noticed that the number 8 and letter C seem to appear more than 90% as the last digit of the partner columns (the ones next to the ascending columns). However, no matter which I decide to edit, SSBM crashes if I try to use red Pichu. The best I've ever accomplished is scrambling a random texture into pixel gibberish after changing a hex.

This is all I know so far. I'll keep trying.

 

[Milun]

Check the Pl****.dat files that have the textures for each character. The first half is model data/where each texture goes on the model.

Look, sorry for questioning your knowledge of SSBM (and sorry for double-posting), after all, you created this guide. But I've spent hours (somewhat randomly) changing numbers and hexes, and I'm now convinced: After the end of the textures that you showed us how to edit, there are a heap of hexes that are a giant misleading load. I've edited a wide array, no less than 50, and when Dolphin didn't crash, like I've mentioned before, all I see is a scrambled texture. I've analyzed the hex thoroughly, and I'm suspecting that model data isn't stored in the second half of the coloured .dat's. I opened two yoshi's, one red and one yellow, and their hexes don't match (like I expected, because although they change colour, they have the same model). You know better than me, but I've honestly tried everything.

 

[MaDWaK]

a dope texture would be Peach with black hair and a black dress. make that **** happen someone!

 

[GodFed]

Alright, Milun. Two things.

One:
The model data itself should be in the first half of the file. The texture data in the second half.

Two:
I noticed the array of values at the end of the file too. I didn't know what they were, and I didn't experiment with them. I'm still not sure what they are, since they're in pretty much every Pl related file, even the animation ones. These ones could be the locations of the textures on each model, which I originally thought would be stored with the model data itself. I'm not sure what else they could be, actually, now. Since you changed some values and thus changed the textures, they certainly have some relation to those textures. If you want to find out what they are, compare them between characters with few textures and many textures, to see if the length of the end-data changes, and edit the data itself, keeping the changes as multiples of 4 (like change 08 to 0c, or 14 to 18).

I don't mind any "questioning my knowledge of SSBM", because what I say might be incorrect or incoherent, one or the other or both, and it helps me learn more about what's going on with the game. And the theorizing is fun.

 

[MaDWaK]

ok I was following the guide to get custom melee on my wii but I ran into one problem. everytime I try to install the miospatcher 0.2 it says in random lines that certain things failed, and on the last line it has "install returned -1017"

everytime I run the GCbackup launcher it goes to the wiigator backup launcher screen then resets my Wii I think its due to the Mios not being installed correctly. any help on this one?

 

[Milun]

The model data itself should be in the first half of the file. The texture data in the second half.

I nearly shot myself now. I've been in the wrong parts all along! However, after about 5 seconds of dabbling in the correct section, I achieved success. I By changing a number after a 'P', I made red Pichu's bandana have an extremely long, sharp point. I'll try to figure out the pattern of the model data now. Thanks!

 

[I.B]

ok I was following the guide to get custom melee on my wii but I ran into one problem. everytime I try to install the miospatcher 0.2 it says in random lines that certain things failed, and on the last line it has "install returned -1017"

everytime I run the GCbackup launcher it goes to the wiigator backup launcher screen then resets my Wii I think its due to the Mios not being installed correctly. any help on this one?

Try Google'ing the error it gives you, and you'll most likely find a forum w/ a solution.

 

[Steelia]

o.O
Sounds like there's some interesting progress going on with the model checking. I'm really hoping it turns out.

Just to ask, have any of you tried looking at the trophies for anything? I don't know whether they could give some sort of "clue" for anything you may be looking for. Just a thought, is all.

 

[GodFed]

ahaha, I know an EmuTalk user named jahra!n has been able to show the trophy models. But it was pointed out in a thread, which he started, that the trophy model data is different from the character model data. Like, the trophy model data is in uncompressed 16 bit decimal values, or something.

Link to it here
http://www.emutalk.net/showthread.php?t=33383

I'm thinking that the user named "thakis" on EmuTalk might be a valueable resource when it comes to this sort of thing.

 

[Milun]

Well, good news. I've sort of got a grasp on the model data: At the start of the .dat, there is always a letter (usually 'p' or '@') thatis repeated constantly. The hex before each character moves the specific vertice forward or backward. The one following the character move it up/down. The one after that moves it right, then the one after THAT move it left. This is all I've noticed so far. However, I'm putting it to good use, and removing the annoying party hat blue Pikachu wears. Keep in mind, I've only tested a few characters, so this pattern may change with the others. Oh, and I went to the link. Seems to me that all that's been exported are the trophies, and after investigating them, I find I have even less of an understanding of their patterns.

Here's the hat-less Pikachu: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1Q88JH3C

(edit it in a hex editor to see what I did, you can't miss it).

 

[GodFed]

Nice work, Milun. Impressive finds. I'll be sure to take a look at the Pikachu sans hat.

In other news. I updated. A very small update, sorry it's not huge like I had hoped. My computer died recently (yesterday), and I'm using someone else's right now. I had hoped to upload HPS and TPL video guides and a new tpl_insert program, but frankly, I lost the videos and the tpl_insert is incomplete.

I do have Movie hacks, though, in a sort of beta sense. I uploaded a program I wrote to make MTH movie files, and I also uplodaed a test I did for MvOpen.mth. So those can hopefully suffice for the time being while I try to get back on track. sorry, all you out there.

And for SleepyK
I talked with hcs about the pops/cracks/snaps in the audio, he told me his theory and gave me some code that would help. I implemented the code, but nonetheless, pops/cracks still existed, somewhat worse, actually. I'm trying still to figure this one out. Sorry to keep you waiting on this one.

 

[Steelia]

Well, good news. I've sort of got a grasp on the model data: At the start of the .dat, there is always a letter (usually 'p' or '@') thatis repeated constantly. The hex before each character moves the specific vertice forward or backward. The one following the character move it up/down. The one after that moves it right, then the one after THAT move it left. This is all I've noticed so far. However, I'm putting it to good use, and removing the annoying party hat blue Pikachu wears. Keep in mind, I've only tested a few characters, so this pattern may change with the others. Oh, and I went to the link. Seems to me that all that's been exported are the trophies, and after investigating them, I find I have even less of an understanding of their patterns.

Here's the hat-less Pikachu: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1Q88JH3C

(edit it in a hex editor to see what I did, you can't miss it).

Too cool, Milun; GREAT discovery. I can't wait to see how my Shadow Pikachu will look without a top in battle now.

@GodFed: Arghh, that sucks. I know that has happened to me once before (thankfully, I had very recently bought a new storage drive, so hardly anything was lost, save a few textures I was working on)... Hope you're able to get things back up quickly and efficiently as before.

Humm, with the model messing arounds in mind, if I may make a request, by chance, would it be possible to make Mewtwo's tube disappear? (The one on the back of his head.) It would be interesting to see, and I would love to use the model for a future Giygas/Giegue texture, a la hatless Shadow Pikachu.
Of course, merely a request to be looked into.

 

[Tichinde925]

You have the ability to remove models.

Can you add models?

I want to see Christmas hats on all characters!

 

[Milun]

Humm, with the model messing arounds in mind, if I may make a request, by chance, would it be possible to make Mewtwo's tube disappear? (The one on the back of his head.) It would be interesting to see, and I would love to use the model for a future Giygas/Giegue texture, a la hatless Shadow Pikachu.
Of course, merely a request to be looked into.

I'm pretty sure that it will end up with an ugly end product. The reason Pikachu's hat was so easy to remove, was because it wasn't attached to his head, and I just had to make all its vetrices 0, without actually measuring anything (I found the hat by using HexComp with his normal model). If I were to do the same with Mewtwo, he would either:

a. Have a hole in his head and shoulders.

b. (More likely) have a course line of skin running into his body from the two entrances to the tube.

I doubt I'll be able to succeed (or even find) his tube without using a hex to vertice program. I saw a snapshot of such a thing in the link GodFed sent, but I've no idea what it's called. http://www.emutalk.net/showthread.php?t=33383&page=23 It's at the bottom.

Tichinde925, I highly doubt that models can be created, and even if they were, It's even less likely you'de be able to texture them. Sorry.

 

[SleepyK]

1) thanks a lot for even researching it, godfed.
2) would the shifting of models affect the hitboxes in any way?

 

[GodFed]

No problem. I'm still checking it out.

I'm fairly certain that hitbox (or hurtbox, actually) data for each character doesn't depend on their models. You can change the models of the different character colors, but their actual individual values, like weight, speed, and hurtbox area should be in the Pl**.dat files (no color like Bu, Gr, La, Or in the filename), and should stay the same regardless of the character color/model.

 

[Milun]

GodFeds right. I'm currently (and don't get too excited, because it's very unlikely to succeed) making a model viewer type thing that will simply place dots for each vertex texture and maybe allow for the moving of said dots. Once again, don't get excited because I don't have a firm idea on how it will work, and I'm also making it in Game Maker, but it should be able to extract the values from a text document and save to it if changes are made. If I get success, I'll post it, but again, don't get your hopes up.

Edit: Well, I have a... preview:



...Take a guess. Take a guess of what it is. Here's a clue: It's a SIDE on view, and it's not Kirby or Jiggs. Yes, sadly I couldn't crack the model code, so I guess Nintendo wins. I tried around 50 different equations and alternatives, and this was the best one. I hate to throw in the towel so quickly, but I'm afraid I can't possibly figure out my mistake. It was Pichu by the way.

 

[Zyx]

Hi everyone !
I need your help, please. I created 2 sounds, one for Fox's side-B and the second for Samus' B.
Both work, but all other sounds of these characters are really horrible now...
Here is the video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2OZX5a04IU
Can you please explain me (if you know) where is the problem ?! ;_;
Thank you very much !

 

[Hypethug]

You guys should change the color of the shone that would b kool

 

[zBOREDOMKINGz]

Wowwwwwwww
If Model hacking became possible that'd be sooooo ****.
And I was wondering about Link's shield.
I never noticed this before but it looks pink.
Kinda how Sonic looks when you try to make a Metal Sonic.
What is the reason?

 

[Tichinde925]

Hi everyone !
I need your help, please. I created 2 sounds, one for Fox's side-B and the second for Samus' B.
Both work, but all other sounds of these characters are really horrible now...
Here is the video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2OZX5a04IU
Can you please explain me (if you know) where is the problem ?! ;_;
Thank you very much !

Thats it, im turning Falco into Vegeta. (Sound Edits)

Due to what people have said about the reflector at RoM2, Ill have to leave it normal because they have specifically said that anything but the default reflector sounds screws up their timing.

 

[Steelia]

Wowwwwwwww
If Model hacking became possible that'd be sooooo ****.

Hmm.
You know, this is something I've been wondering about... and thinking a little too hard on, I'm afraid. I guess it's just natural for me to always want to be prepared.

If, if, IF, and a big if at that, we managed to find a way of altering the models of characters... who would we make first? What would we do, conduct some kind of poll, or make a separate topic of possibilities? Just a thought.

I know I've always wanted to see Sonic in Melee. I just about cried tears of joy when I learned he was in Brawl (and now I just want to cry tears of despair for the same reason). If I don't get carried away, he'd likely be the first "I" would work on, given such hackings are within my limitations...
Sonic, Giegue, Ridley come to mind first, for whatever reason. But I'll try not to get carried away on the subject.

 

[ScoobyCafe]

Characters who look better in Brawl should be a priority in terms of altering models, I think. That, and maybe playable Brawl trophies in Melee (?).

I've been checking what these Brawl hackers have been up to lately, and holy mother of God, am I amazed. Really hope we could pass that on to Melee, that'd be positively sick.

 

[`DNS`]

so this is the REAL face of captain falcon

it just goes on in all directions, too good

 

[The Good Doctor]

do you need TexConv.exe? Or is there something else easier to find, and legal!

When i try getting the game in Dolphin, i also get two errors i seem to not be able to fix.

*Can't init any PAD plugins*
*Couldn't init the core Check your configuration*

 

[Zyx]

Hi everyone !
I need your help, please. I created 2 sounds, one for Fox's side-B and the second for Samus' B.
Both work, but all other sounds of these characters are really horrible now...
Here is the video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2OZX5a04IU
Can you please explain me (if you know) where is the problem ?! ;_;
Thank you very much !

So... no one can help me ?... ;_;

 

[The Good Doctor]

i got everything, and i dumped Foxes textures, but now when i run Texconv a little box just comes up and then poof, it's gone.

Any fixes?

is it possible i have the wrong version of texconv?

 

[The Good Doctor]

double post

 

[Steelia]

So... no one can help me ?... ;_;

Humm. That sounds like a hexing problem.....
Did you hex the files correctly? As in, did you find their appropriate places in the Fox/Samus sound files? Remember to keep in mind: if your sound is BIGGER than the original (in terms of seconds), then it will NOT work, period. However, if it is shorter, then you will need to add "..." in the hex after where your file ends, so to compensate for the missing space (in hex, it's also known as "00 00"). An easy way to know just how many "00 00" to add after the file is to copy-paste your file into the original, then go down to where YOUR file ends, and add 00 00 from there until you reach the end of the original... Simple enough.

After that, you need to copy the 2-3-something lines from the very beginning of your edited file (I can't remember just exactly where they begin to copy; it's probably explained on the first post), and paste them over the original lines in the character Sound file. Again, an easy way to locate these lines is to copy them from the original sound file, and seek them in the actual Samus/Fox sound file(s).

i got everything, and i dumped Foxes textures, but now when i run Texconv a little box just comes up and then poof, it's gone.

Any fixes?

is it possible i have the wrong version of texconv?

Wrong version? I don't think I've ever heard of "wrong" versions of TexConv... But wait, you didn't double-click TexConv, did you? Because you cannot work it like that.
I'd highly recommend getting a TexConv.bat file, so that all you do is double-click THAT, and it will create .TCS-to-.TPL files for you... given you followed the correct TCS format. (You can find these .bat files in just about all my texture packs on page 4.
For your convenience, right here: http://www.smashboards.com/showpost.php?p=8291198&postcount=51
Some of them even include the .TCS files, just to make your life a little easier. )

 

[The Good Doctor]

this whole process is blowing my mind.

1. have iso
2. get dolphin working
3. got texconv
4. got Stellia's Textures

now i have no idea how to use texconv, or what to do next....fml

 

[Gardevior]

To use textures, all you have to do is replace the files in the iso with GC Tool. Texconv is for creating textures.