ROM Hack Kid Icarus Uprising Edit Text

[Roger Reynoso]

Hi guys, sorry if I brought anyone's hopes with this post, but I just wanted to know if editing the text was possible in this game. I have Decrypted the game and all I see is a bunch of " .ZRC " files, which no one seems to know about for some reason.

Whatever info, would be highly appreciated. Thank you so much!

 

[florflor]

Looking into this myself. Let me know if you learn anything. There are a few programs that claim to open/produce .zrc files.
Personally, I am scouring the Kid Icarus files in search of a way to extract the subtitles/text in hopes of producing a transcript of sorts. I plan on comparing certain English voice lines to their Japanese counterparts and exploring the ways Kid Icarus: Uprising was localized to the US/Europe.
Anyways, good luck to you. I realize this might be a bit of a late bump, but hey, it's definitely interesting and I think it's worth exploring. KIU modding and file-scouring is almost non-existent from what I've seen so far. Little/no public resources on how the files are structured or how to extract data from the encrypted files. What a shame!

P.S.: It would definitely be stupid of me to not mention this: the program called "Every File Explorer" would work to read the contents of some of these folders. For example, I used it to write these notes on the .zrc files found in ./menu/...:

(this text has since been completed and is attached as Notes.txt as well. It describes every file in the game files at jp/menu/)

So it IS definitely possible to look at these zrc files. But that doesn't mean you'll be able to view every single data point with as much ease as the devs are able to. I'll keep you posted on what I find.

P.S.S.: Here's what I'm seeing as I write these notes, by the way:

 

[Master Knight DH]

Looking into this myself. Let me know if you learn anything. There are a few programs that claim to open/produce .zrc files.
Personally, I am scouring the Kid Icarus files in search of a way to extract the subtitles/text in hopes of producing a transcript of sorts. I plan on comparing certain English voice lines to their Japanese counterparts and exploring the ways Kid Icarus: Uprising was localized to the US/Europe.
Anyways, good luck to you. I realize this might be a bit of a late bump, but hey, it's definitely interesting and I think it's worth exploring. KIU modding and file-scouring is almost non-existent from what I've seen so far. Little/no public resources on how the files are structured or how to extract data from the encrypted files. What a shame!

P.S.: It would definitely be stupid of me to not mention this: the program called "Every File Explorer" would work to read the contents of some of these folders. For example, I used it to write these notes on the .zrc files found in ./menu/...:

View attachment 282942
(this text has since been completed and is attached as Notes.txt as well. It describes every file in the game files at jp/menu/)

So it IS definitely possible to look at these zrc files. But that doesn't mean you'll be able to view every single data point with as much ease as the devs are able to. I'll keep you posted on what I find.

P.S.S.: Here's what I'm seeing as I write these notes, by the way:

View attachment 282944

So I see you've done something. I came here from a search engine result because I wanted to make a point that hacking efforts with Kid Icarus Uprising have cared only about either cheats or simply weapon modifier abuse, but NOTHING about something as valuable as reverse engineering the Power system.

I trust that Quoting your message will alert you. I should cite that I had recently pointed a YouTuber to my blog post titled "Clubs in Kid Icarus Uprising VS Heavies in Smash Bros." and it has me thinking how I didn't bother talking much about most of the Clubs, which even though is partly out of trust that users would realize points like how Hewdraw Club would have shot mixup capability or how Halo Club's shots have actually decent velocity still makes the title a misnomer. I was wanting to make a post with those sorts of details, but honestly, at this point, why do we not have raw numbers of even the weapon types, which I could be using to bolster the points I would make? And in case you have any doubts about my skill, I came up with both Grid Reading and the Spin Shot technique, even if the former is, however subtly, indicated to have been intended design.

The reason to reverse engineer the Power system is to be able to have game design that can replicate its selling points. A point that came up after I made the blog post I mentioned earlier is that somebody packing Armor Powers can actually choose to walk into the arena of unconditional flinching with their head held high and that notion can pay off by having the charges preserved for later on, another reason why higher Value increasing Power regen on death was a design problem when what we got instead in the expected multiplayer matches was people being able to spam Aries Armor despite that thing having only 1 charge regardless of Level. And, of course, Grid Reading speaks for itself, although I'd be happy to elaborate later if you're interested, but if you need the summary, it's that it rewards mid-battle analysis in an already fast-paced game.

I am hopeful that you agree with my points and would be willing to respond in kind with show of as much, because on my own laughable resources, there's only so much that I can do.

 

[MrVtR]

@Roger Reynoso @florflor If you need the files yet, I reverse engineered the game here and found all the texts and textures,I'll describe here below all the cases

• File 00.arc and 0.arc have menu/itens/help/tutorial texts, they are compressed and you can use Karameru to extract/import the files, once extracted, the texts are located in .bin files in .msbt format, you can use Kuriimu to edit and save the texts
• Stage folder have all the story texts from all the languages, they are compressed in .zrc, that format is an Lz11 compression with .darc format inside, you can use DarcTool3DS to uncompress the file and extract/import(You need to rename the .zrc file to .darc before), to automate the rename thing, run ren *.zrc *.darc on CMD, this'll rename all .zrc files to .darc in the folder, after that, you can use DarcTool3DS
• All the other languages overwrites the English 0.arc and 00.arc texts and overwrites menu and info folders(Just textures inside and 2 text files)
  • 460.darc and 540.darc from menu folder contains texts in .msbt, info folder doesn't have any texts, only textures
• The textures once extracted, you can edit on Kukki, formats like .bctex,.bcres,etc are in the folders, I encourage to extract all .zrc files on the romFS game folder and open texture by texture on Kukki to find what you need to extract, all the models, weapons, text image are on the .zrc files mentioned

So:

• Unpack and Repack tools: DarcTool3DS for .zrc files and Karameru for .arc files
• Edit tools: Kukki(Textures) and Kuriimu(Texts)

 

[MrVtR]

@Roger Reynoso @florflor If you need the files yet, I reverse engineered the game here and found all the texts and textures,I'll describe here below all the cases

• File 00.arc and 0.arc have menu/itens/help/tutorial texts, they are compressed and you can use Karameru to extract/import the files, once extracted, the texts are located in .bin files in .msbt format, you can use Kuriimu to edit and save the texts
• Stage folder have all the story texts from all the languages, they are compressed in .zrc, that format is an Lz11 compression with .darc format inside, you can use DarcTool3DS to uncompress the file and extract/import(You need to rename the .zrc file to .darc before), to automate the rename thing, run ren *.zrc *.darc on CMD, this'll rename all .zrc files to .darc in the folder, after that, you can use DarcTool3DS
• All the other languages overwrites the English 0.arc and 00.arc texts and overwrites menu and info folders(Just textures inside and 2 text files)
  • 460.darc and 540.darc from menu folder contains texts in .msbt, info folder doesn't have any texts, only textures
• The textures once extracted, you can edit on Kukki, formats like .bctex,.bcres,etc are in the folders, I encourage to extract all .zrc files on the romFS game folder and open texture by texture on Kukki to find what you need to extract, all the models, weapons, text image are on the .zrc files mentioned

So:

• Unpack and Repack tools: DarcTool3DS for .zrc files and Karameru for .arc files
• Edit tools: Kukki(Textures) and Kuriimu(Texts)

One more thing that I tested today here, DarcTool3DS is only useful to compress/decompress .zrc files, apparentely it corrupts the files when repacking, after decompress, you need to use Karameru to extract/repack the uncompressed .zrc file, I'm attaching an print from ingame that I modified few minutes ago here, the game now is 100% possible to translate/modify
Btw, you can use Kuriimu2 as substitute for Karameru, since it have .darc/.arc support and it's the evolution of Karameru/Kuriimu/Kukki

 

[florflor]

@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.

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.

 

[MrVtR]

@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.

Well, about the programs, yes, you can search right here on gbatemp, almost all are posted on the forum or search on google with something like "tools to translate Nintendo 3ds games".

Now, about your concerns:
1 - You will only be limited to the original size of the text if you don't edit it in Kuriimu, you can also create an application that recalculates the text pointers (that section of bytes above the text "Sorry", which is in this format: XX XX 00 00 or XX XX XX XX XX 00), this is the pointer to the first letter of a text, but, it's unnecessary you make an app for this being that one already exists, Kuriimu already has support for this by default, so, there's no need to worry. About the points, the game text is formatted with a pattern called Unicode, this means that each letter has a byte 00 accompanying it, the HxD represents the 00 as a point, which is different from the point that you use in normal texts, as you can see if you test this in the application.

2- About the overflows, there are 2 cases: The game will crash on an overflow and also nothing can happen and the extra text will only overflow the dialog box, both horizontally and vertically, almost all 3ds games treat overflows this way, because game dialog boxes are usually just a .png and the texts are in overlay. There is no problem adding more lines of text in the same text as well, as long as there is room in the dialog box, otherwise your text will probably fall outside of the dialog box. In the translations that my team and I do, we adjust this in the revision of our translations, testing the whole game to see if there is any overflow, all this applies to texts that have only one line originally and those that have more than one line. To sum it up, use kuriimu to edit the texts, you can increase their size and the lines up to the .png limit of the dialog box, the overflow will be outside the box in 99% of the games

One last thing, editing the game texts in HxD is unnecessary, use the tools ready for this, as I said in my comments the other day, it will save you time and make your translation look better, just remembering that you have to extract this .arc from your image to get the separate texts, editing everything in .arc is a waste of time too

 

[florflor]

Well, about the programs, yes, you can search right here on gbatemp, almost all are posted on the forum or search on google with something like "tools to translate Nintendo 3ds games".

Now, about your concerns:
1 - You will only be limited to the original size of the text if you don't edit it in Kuriimu, you can also create an application that recalculates the text pointers (that section of bytes above the text "Sorry", which is in this format: XX XX 00 00 or XX XX XX XX XX 00), this is the pointer to the first letter of a text, but, it's unnecessary you make an app for this being that one already exists, Kuriimu already has support for this by default, so, there's no need to worry. About the points, the game text is formatted with a pattern called Unicode, this means that each letter has a byte 00 accompanying it, the HxD represents the 00 as a point, which is different from the point that you use in normal texts, as you can see if you test this in the application.

2- About the overflows, there are 2 cases: The game will crash on an overflow and also nothing can happen and the extra text will only overflow the dialog box, both horizontally and vertically, almost all 3ds games treat overflows this way, because game dialog boxes are usually just a .png and the texts are in overlay. There is no problem adding more lines of text in the same text as well, as long as there is room in the dialog box, otherwise your text will probably fall outside of the dialog box. In the translations that my team and I do, we adjust this in the revision of our translations, testing the whole game to see if there is any overflow, all this applies to texts that have only one line originally and those that have more than one line. To sum it up, use kuriimu to edit the texts, you can increase their size and the lines up to the .png limit of the dialog box, the overflow will be outside the box in 99% of the games

One last thing, editing the game texts in HxD is unnecessary, use the tools ready for this, as I said in my comments the other day, it will save you time and make your translation look better, just remembering that you have to extract this .arc from your image to get the separate texts, editing everything in .arc is a waste of time too

Thanks again for all the info. Thing is, I tried the Karameru way, and it doesn't show Unicode, only hex. I'm guessing something is wrong there? Perhaps I'm supposed to de-encrypt it first. I haven't tried that, I suppose, but nothing you mentioned mentions decryption by name, so I figured HxD was the only option. (I should mention that I do decompress, however. I believe it's... Lz11)

Anyways, I think the most irksome problem I'm running into at the moment is simply rebuilding a .3ds file. It's really annoying, and I'm not sure exactly what's wrong. I may need a better ROM to work with, though it has no gameplay problems (aside from emulating with no grindrails).

Might as well describe the problem I'm having just to keep records:
1)I use HackingToolkit9DS by Asia81 and "Write FS1 for extract a ncch partition," and do this for every option possible (I only edit the ROMExe extracted folder, though)
2) I also use the "R for rebuild a .3DS file" and get those files into the folder too.
3) I don't even edit anything...
4) I press "R for rebuild a .3DS file"
5) It rebuilds and everything (but for some reason, there are some extra files that are generated other than the main .3DS file under the name of: 1) "CustomManual" and 2) "CustomRomFS"... not sure why these are created)
6) I try to run them in Citra... it doesn't start. Trying to load any other games (including working ones, ofc) will just keep the program hanging. Citra will eventually crash.

And that's where I'm at now. I thought I was simply editing the hex incorrectly, but instead, I just can't rebuild. Either I need a better copy of the game or something I'm doing is wrong. I'd research this problem myself, and well, I have, but all I've seen are these two:
.../threads/tutorial-how-to-decrypt-extract-rebuild-3ds-cia-cxi-files.383055/
-Apparently, HackingToolkit9DS is deprecated, so that sucks.
.../threads/help-rebuilding-3ds-of-a-level-5-game.592881/
-They seem to be having a similar issue to me, though I didn't rename any files or anything like that, I just extracted as much as I could (though some folders never extracted, in comparison to the main thread's example 3DS game folder), and tried to rebuild.

Aahh this is all becoming a rebuild issue rather than a encryption/decryption thing. What a pain.