@Master Knight DH @MrVtR
It TRULY. Truly is a happy new year. I've only skimmed so far, but looking very, very promising.
So let's see, first,
Master_Knight_DH:
Yes, I completely agree that man, we should definitely have had this sort of stuff in KIU figured out long ago, at least when it comes to weapons game-data numbers and stats.
Though my uses do differ slightly from yours. So, in my case, I'm trying to formulate and calculate just how hard it would be to modify some of these system files and make something new with them. Admittedly, it might just be easier to build everything from the ground up in Unity (...maybe), but that's a lot of time spent if perhaps I could just... idk, change the 3d model and player_allowed zones of a map and create a completely new game experience from just changing one or two maps. I think that is especially powerful not just for my own uses, but also for any potential modder out there who discovers this game and wants to make something cool with it. After interacting with open-source programs for so long, which are generally well-documented, commented, etc etc... and seeing this black-box of encrypted files and such, it makes me really irritated, and want to do something.
BUT that is all to say that I totally support your efforts of course--YOU are part of this modding movement that will help others get wise on the technology and either 1) benefit from it, or 2) help progress it.
MrVtR:
DUDE. I just... feel dumb looking at what you've posted. Surely, SURELY I should have found these programs myself with a few searches, no? Of course, they wouldn't be KIU searches, they'd probably be searches like "3DS File Manager" or something. Which I'm starting to question if I ever even bothered to look up.
Sigh.
THANK YOU.
I've downloaded the program already and I'm actually really excited to extract and screw with these files. Additionally, thank you for the warning on the file corruption with DarcTool3DS, that will likely save me a headache or two.
---One Hour Later---
Interesting.
View attachment 292106
So, yes, theoretically it should be possible to edit this dialogue. However, I have a few concerns:
1) Notice that the dialogue is separated by only a few dots, and that the dialogue is quite bunched up. This has me worried that custom dialogue could be limited to the number of characters that the line previously had. This would be a more annoying limitation to have than the second concern I have:
2) Aside from single-dialogue-line overflows, I am also concerned about changing the size of the dialogue section as a whole. Just as an example, what if I wanted to have double the amount of dialogue? (though I'd have no idea how to trigger that many lines, lol. The question then becomes, though, can I reduce or increase the length of this section?
Welp, I'll probably be messing around with this in the days to come. So for now, enjoy this cool little image. I should note that this file is specifically:
/us/stage/a0100/bin.arc
I should also note that this is probably the only format you're gonna get when it comes to messing with the text files. Unless I'm mistaken, this IS the clean-version of the dialogue. Though I'd love to be proven wrong, this is vastly better than raw hex editing at least. At least with DxH, I can edit the hex OR the original characters and see the two (hex and text) update side-by-side (and also be wary of how many lines the new dialogue takes up).
One more thing before I go:
I do have access to a strange copy of the game that has JP dialogue but US subtitles (which is pretty much useless, considering the lines don't even match up 2 out of 10 times. I mention this copy of the game because it may already be hinting that dialogue length won't be a hindrance. But I guess I'll find out and actually share it. Good night guys, happy modding.