Ripping textures from XBOX Live/PSN Games

[Pleng]

Hi there. Had a little search around on the intergoogle and nothing came up so I'm guessing the answer is NO, but though I might appeal to the greater knowledge of GBATemp. Is it possible to rip the data files (specifically textures) used in xbox live or psn games? If so, anybody able to provide a link with instructions?

 

[FAST6191]

It works much the same as any other console that uses a filesystem- rip it apart and either hope there are known formats* or know the hardware well enough to figure out what format is being used to help decode it (maybe helped by having an emulator or the ability to try things out and figure them out that way).

*XBLA is not a lot different to disc stuff and being relatively powerful everything from known formats as seen by your favourite 3d modelling/texture program, straight TGA stuff and whatever else happens along the way right through to proper custom stuff.

I am not sure what the PSN format is off the top of my head although simple extraction should be fairly similar to most other internal files if memory serves and XBLA can be handled by a lot although I mainly like le fluffie
http://skunkiebutt.com/?page_id=362

Edit- it was for levels more than textures but http://gbatemp.net/threads/a-bit-of-doom-2-xbla-hacking.229989/

 

[Pleng]

Thanks for the answer. So if I buy my friend a game for his xbox, can I then just copy the files of the hard drive and have a look at them? They're not encrypted or anything like that?

I basically want to try and rip the textures from Daytona USA and use them in the model 2 emulator. As they guy that wrote the Model 2 emulator now writes the emulators for SEGA themselves, I'm hoping it will be more straightforward than it otherwise might!

 

[FAST6191]

If you especially want you can download the demo*, copy it to USB and rip it off with USB XTAF. Any encryption or obfuscation is the fault of the developer and certainly not there as standard. I will note though that sega has a history of doing odd things with their ROM images when they wrap them in an emulator for sale on a PC or console, do try it though as it could very well cut the other way as you imagine it might.

*XBLA demos are the full game, it is just a change of a couple of bytes to unlock it (see Yaris swap), obviously that only works with JTAG/RGH stuff though. As it is that easy most XBLA games have already been ripped as well.

 

[Pleng]

OK I've found a dump. It just contains a folder named 58410B1D, which in itself contains a folder named 000D0000 and in there is a 234 Mb file called 80B8DCD51DE8B34C1513FFB1C66F3BE73B74823958. I cant seem to be able to open this file with USB XTAF, either trying as an image, or putting on a USB drive inside an Xbox360 folder. Is this file likely to be the excitable all packaged up with the data?

 

[FAST6191]

USB XTAF is for extracting files from the USB drives as "formatted" by 360s to allow saves, DLC and XBLA to be stored on them- I mentioned it as you were thinking about grabbing such a thing from an actual xbox but if you downloaded it a la any other ROM image there is not need for it. Le fluffie is a tool capable of pulling apart the initial layer of the STFS format which is what XBLA, DLC and many other things on the 360 are stored in (granted those are usually broken down into the LIVE, CON and PIRS formats even if they are effectively the same thing)- that would be the 234 meg file without an extension you have there and yeah it would contain executables, data, icons and such like, there could be extra stuff added by the developers but such is ROM hacking.

Just to round it out the initial numbers (nice database http://360.kingla.com/?group=D&sort=&type=#list ), which in this case are 58410B1D, are the ones unique to the game.

 

[Pleng]

Ok Thanks for that. Unfortunately the data files aren't just a 1:1 copy of the texture sets from the PC Model 2 emulator, so it looks like this little project is at an end