Hacking Mario Kart 8 Modding Central

[Deleted User]

Taking out the KCL files will leave the textures functional, yes. The person who recreated those textures also gave them different traction through the KCL (for some stupid reason) which isn't advised to be using online. Removing the KCL files does not affect the actual course texture itself.

Thanks, one more question: is missing objects (like coins) the result of a Cafiine bug?

 

[Harmonia]

Thanks, one more question: is missing objects (like coins) the result of a Cafiine bug?

I've never had that issue before, that's really weird. Nothing should be disappearing because if there's no file for Cafiine to replace then it loads from the game. Is it on all tracks or are the coins missing on only one track? Is there a .byaml edit over that track if so?

if rebooting your Wii U and loading Cafiine again doesn't fix it & there are no course_muunt.byamls removing objects from the courses then I'm not sure what could be wrong, sorry.

 

[MK8Haxer]

Hello Tempers! This has been on my mind (and for that matter, on my "to-do" list) for a while. I was looking for some GBAtemp threads on this subject, but nothing came up, so I took the liberty of making one such thread myself! ;P

I have prepared an aggregation of tutorials for you below, as well as some extra downloads to existing mods. Find the tutorial that suits your need and follow it closely. If you have any questions, simply tag me (@lonemoonHD) and I'll make sure to answer everything I get!

These tutorials are targeted towards the 5.5 firmware version, so if you are using anything else, don't worry; most of the guides apply towards other firmware versions too!

So, without further hindrace, let's get right to it!​

Using Cafiine

Spoiler

You will need: Cafiine for 5.5, Mario Kart 8's file structure and title ID

1. Go to http://loadiine.ovh in your Wii U's web browser.
2. Run the kernel exploit and launch Cafiine on your Wii U.
3. Open a Command Line window on your computer and type in ipconfig.
4. Mark down your IPv4 address and insert it into the Cafiine client on your Wii U (You can do this by using the D-Pad.). After you're done, click A to proceed.
5. Download Cafiine onto your computer and go to the server folder. Run cafiine_server.exe and if it succeeds, you will see a command line window pop up saying "[listener] Listening on 7332".
6. Go to the cafiine_root folder and make a folder in there with your game's title ID. The ID varies depending on your region, so I recommend checking for the right one.
7. Emulate the folder structure from the link above and insert all hacks in the correct directories.

I also recommend using @Ray Koopa's extended Cafiine server for more great features.

Using TCPGecko

Spoiler

You will need: TCPGecko for 5.5, some cheat code

Installation

1. Go to http://loadiine.ovh in your Wii U's web browser.
2. Go to your Wii U's web browser settings and enable Developer Settings. Mark down the IP you see.
3. Run the kernel exploit and launch TCPGecko on your Wii U.
4. Download TCPGecko onto your computer and run Gecko dNet.exe.
5. Go to your computer's firewall and allow TCPGecko through. Tick both the Public and Private boxes.
6. Place your Wii U's IP into the Connect to Gecko box and click it. You should now be able to click buttons in the program and therefore modify RAM.

Cheat code use

1. Take any cheat code you want from the link above.
2. Go to the Search tab in Gecko dNet.exe.
3. Mark down the cheat code you want to use.
4. Paste the first row of offsets into the first search box, and then paste the second row of values into the second one. Once you're done, press Poke.

Custom Music

Spoiler

You will need: Looping Audio Converter, list of MK8 songs

1. Take any song of your choice and open it in Looping Audio Converter.
2. Choose the correct audio settings and export the file as .bfstm.
3. Take the .bfstm and rename it with one of the names I linked above.
5. Make a folder in Cafiine called audio, and in it, create the folder stream. This is where you will put your .bfstm.
6. Run Cafiine and enjoy your custom song!

Custom Textures

Spoiler

You will need: TexHaxU, a game dump, Python 2, Paint.NET, yaz0dec, yaz0enc, any .szs/.bfres file you want

How to edit textures

1. In the game dump, go and find any course's/driver's .szs file you like and use yaz0dec to decrypt it.
2. Then, there should be a .bfres file. Put it into the main TexHaxU folder.
3. Run "extract.bat" and in quotation marks, put in the file name of the .bfres letter for letter. Then run "convertGTX.bat" and wait for the application to finish.
4. Go inside the folder OutDDS_Lossless and modify the .dds files in Paint.NET.

Getting them to work

1. Once you're done editing the .dds files, move the edited .dds file and a .gtx file with the same name to the main TexHaxU folder.

2. Make a new text file and name it "filelist.bat". In this file, write "hax.py Mario.bfres pause". Running it will show you all the texture positions in the file, which are crucial for the textures to get inserted. You must download Python 2.7 for this to work, as the hax.py file has instructions only Python can interpret/decode.

3. Once you get the file list, search for your file's name in it and mark down the file's position. Then, make a new file called "splicer.bat" and in it, write "hax.py filename.dds Mario.bfres 0 position pause".

Here's where it gets complicated. "position" is obviously the file's position you got earlier. It should be written without brackets or quotation marks. "filename" is again replaced by the file's actual name, and the "0" is the minmip number.

Now, of course, the "0" is just temporary. Once the script runs, it will show you "BFRES Mips = X". You need to edit the script and replace the "0" with whatever number you see. Then, when you run the script's edited version, you'll see the "GTX Mips = X", which is the definitive minmip number you want. Edit the script again with this number and run the script again.

Now, here's an example how the script should look now:
"hax.py anus_alb.dds Mario.bfres X 31 pause"

4. Run "splicer.bat" and if it works, a new file will be made in the main TexHaxU directory; "anus_alb1.gtx". This means you've done it correctly and that your file is now in the .bfres. The file should be smaller than the uncompressed .gtx file from earlier, and it should always have the "1" at the end of its name.

5. Repeat this for every single texture you want to replace and once you're done, use "yaz0enc" to encode the .bfres file into .szs. It will give you a ".bfres.yazo" extension at first, but once it's done compressing, just change it to ".szs".

6. Put the file into Cafiine and you should have your working texture hack hit you in your face. ;P

Text Edits

Spoiler

You will need: MSBT Editor Reloaded, a game dump (please don't link to game dumps)

1. Go to the game dump and find the ui folder.
2. Identify this folder's path in the game by running Cafiine and finding ".msbt" in the command line. Mark this path down and make the same folders inside of Cafiine.
3. In the ui folder, open the ue folder and modify anything you like with MSBT Editor Reloaded. To save time, I recommend going to the Find tab, ticking Match Case and typing in your desired text.
4. Once you're done editing the text, save the file.
5. Put the file inside of Cafiine and hooray, text edits are now possible!

BYAML Edits

Spoiler

I was planning on writing this from scratch, but I couldn't have written this better than the amazing @Ray Koopa. Most (if not, all) of what you need to know is on this thread here, which is kept updated fairly often. With all due respect and credit, I'd like to thank him for making this far easier for everyone.

@The Koopa Kingdom also wrote an edited version of MrRean's BYAML editor, so for those that need a tool, the program is available on GitHub.

Miscellaneous

Spoiler

Dumping with Cafiine:

Spoiler

Hope this helped you all!

Make sure to join the Discord server too!​

This is awesome! But I use mac osx and can not mod with caffiene. I would like to use loadiine, but I broke my contents folder (oops) is your game dump compatible with loadiine? (Dumping the game takes longer then mega!) Thanks

 

[Deleted User]

How do I change the loop and add different channels in the audio converter?

 

[Harmonia]

How do I change the loop and add different channels in the audio converter?

Looping Audio Converter sucks for me. I don't really know how it works but whenever I use it my BFSTMs cut out at completely random parts of the track and also start late nearly every time which is a bug with Cafiine loading music files but it's worsened with LAC I find.

I make custom music using this guide: http://wiki.tockdom.com/wiki/Custom_Music (Audacity for making mono WAVs, BrawlBox for perfecting loops and MBRSTM Maker for actually making the multi-channel BRSTM) and then convert the BRSTM to BFSTM using https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-brstm-bcstm-conversion-tool-beta.378702/. It's pretty picky with where you extract it though otherwise it won't convert.

 

[Deleted User]

Looping Audio Converter sucks for me. I don't really know how it works but whenever I use it my BFSTMs cut out at completely random parts of the track and also start late nearly every time which is a bug with Cafiine loading music files but it's worsened with LAC I find.

I make custom music using this guide: http://wiki.tockdom.com/wiki/Custom_Music (Audacity for making mono WAVs, BrawlBox for perfecting loops and MBRSTM Maker for actually making the multi-channel BRSTM) and then convert the BRSTM to BFSTM using https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-brstm-bcstm-conversion-tool-beta.378702/. It's pretty picky with where you extract it though otherwise it won't convert.

Directory pics, because it's frustrating me and I couldn't find the converted BFSTMs.

 

[AboodXD]

You should put the tool and BRSTMs in a directory with no spaces in it.

 

[Harmonia]

Directory pics, because it's frustrating me and I couldn't find the converted BFSTMs.

Yeah lol it's picky, you're best putting the tool's folder (with everything in it, including the BRSTMs you want to convert) on your desktop and the BFSTMs will pop out in the same folder. That's how it works for me.

 

[MetalKingBoo]

I finally finished this.

 

[Harmonia]

https://mega.nz/#!6Zl3TDaA!oSSxGStYCD7qdZsDlO_4auD0Fe-DjYG4wGtWHddIWD8

Merry Christmas. peace out.
(It's a small texture pack)

 

[zipitripi]

I have a request, i don't know wheter ask it in this thread or create a new one...

Is there any way to change the music general volume and/or drecrease the sound effects volume, I feel most of the great music this game has it's being lost cause of the race sounds

If this reply is a problem I'll delete it

 

[LoganK93]

https://mega.nz/#!6Zl3TDaA!oSSxGStYCD7qdZsDlO_4auD0Fe-DjYG4wGtWHddIWD8

Merry Christmas. peace out.
(It's a small texture pack)

Screenshots? What's edited? I'm not just going to download a random file lol

 

[Samub]

extract and convert files doesnt work... you know why?? when i try to open convert it close immediantly and when i try to use extract dont extract

 

[Harmonia]

Screenshots? What's edited? I'm not just going to download a random file lol

Too lazy to get screenshots. If you don't trust me then don't download it, I really don't care. It's mostly a bunch of character textures.

 

[LoganK93]

Too lazy to get screenshots. If you don't trust me then don't download it, I really don't care. It's mostly a bunch of character textures.

It's not a trust thing... I'd just like to know if these are new textures or just a collection of already released work or what...

 

[Harmonia]

It's not a trust thing... I'd just like to know if these are new textures or just a collection of already released work or what...

oh, it's all my stuff, all made by myself. some of it I released before, a good bunch was unreleased or taken down previously.

 

[netsparro]

thank you so much for this tuto , i did some small effort of my own i hope didn't piss any one off
..
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwoB2YhAiHPANmU3bGp3X1FhU0E

 

[Harmonia]

thank you so much for this tuto , i did some small effort of my own i hope didn't piss any one off
..
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwoB2YhAiHPANmU3bGp3X1FhU0E

This automates the process quite a lot, really thankful for it but is there a possibility of removing yaz0enc from the packing process? It's very annoying having to wait for yaz0enc after every dds file since you can't select and pack multiple at once. Having a button that says "5 - run yaz0enc" or something would be a lot more optimal.

Basically, keep "pack selected" to only injecting the edited dds files to the bfres and then have users run yaz0enc on their own when they've packed all their edited files in.

 

[netsparro]

update : https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwoB2YhAiHPAdW1ka0lLSjgxZjQ
..
Arigato Harmonia , million thanx for ur advice n i hope u like it

 

[Harmonia]

update : https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwoB2YhAiHPAdW1ka0lLSjgxZjQ
..
Arigato Harmonia , million thanx for ur advice n i hope u like it

That's fantastic, really saves a ton of time now. Thanks a lot!