Gaming ROM Hack Session: Skate Sim Switch Modding Thread

[DrgnMasterKota]

DISCLAIMER:
ALL MODS ARE STRICTLY NON-PROFIT AND CREATED BY THE FANS FOR THE FANS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY.
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Hello internet world, I wanted to create this thread for any Nintendo Switch modding progress on the game or mods in general to be shared by myself or anyone in general that would like to contribute.

As for myself, this week I’ll be diving into the file structure of everything on the Switch and I’ll try to compile and port over some PC mods from that community for the Switch community of the game.
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Modding Info For Game

GAME TITLE ID: 010023001969A000

GAMES MAIN FILE DIRECTORY: 010023001969A000/romfs/SessionGame/Content/Paks/SessionGame-Switch.pak

TOOL NEEDED TO EXTRACT THEN REPACK MAIN FILE "SESSIONGAME-SWITCH.PAK":



UNREAL ENGINE VERSION 4.27.2 IS NEEDED TO EXTRACT AND REPLACE CONTENTS OF "SESSIONGAME-SWITCH.PAK" WITH YOUR EDITED CONTENT. FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW TO GO DOWNLOAD:
https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/download



GUIDE DOCUMENT FOR CREATING TEXTURE MODS FOR THE GAME: (ALL CREDIT GOES TO "ABADDON")
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zfXMq_jSZpmHHT6F6lxX_XbSKVNqNSAOO2r7LDcpI7M/edit

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THE NINTENDO SWITCH HAS IT'S LIMITATIONS WHEN IT COMES TO TEXTURE SIZE. SO YOU CAN NOT EXCEED THE DEFAULT TEXTURE SIZE THE GAME IS USING. I'LL POST AN EXAMPLE BELOW FOR A DECK GRAPHIC THE GAME USES.

EVERY OBJECT IN GAME WILL HAVE IT'S OWN SET TEXTURE SIZE SO JUST OPEN THOSE UP AND REPLACE THEM ACCORDINGLY. SAME THING FOR ANY NEW MAPS ETC YOU'D LIKE TO ADD TO THE GAME IT WILL NO BE POSSIBLE UNLESS YOU SCALE DOWN ALL THE TEXTURES OF THAT MAP TO COMPATIBLE WITH THE NINTENDO SWITCH'S MAX TEXTURE LIMIT WHICH I FOUND TO BE 512X512. IT MAY BE POSSIBLE TO GO OVER THIS LIMIT BUT FROM MY EXPERIENCE IT CAN LEAD TO THE GAME CRASHING ESPECIALLY IF MULTIPLE TEXTURES ARE BEING LOADED ON SCREEN.

 

[jnl1]

Thank you for doing this!

 

[DrgnMasterKota]

I'm currently stuck because I can't for the life of me find Unreal Engine version 4.27.2 to download. I've looked everywhere. All that is currently available on Epic Launcher is version 4.27.0. If someone could assist with this I'll continue development on all of this for everyone. Thanks in advance.

(Update) Never mind I'm an idiot, downloaded that base 4.27.0 version and it automatically reverted to the 4.27.2 variant. So we should be all good.

 

[jnl1]

How is the status? Are you also planning to increase the graphic quality of the game?

 

[DrgnMasterKota]

How is the status? Are you also planning to increase the graphic quality of the game?

Graphic mods are working and can be used on the Switch like adding custom decks, gear, clothing etc but not sure yet on the actual graphics increase. Hoping this thread will catch the attention of some more modders who join to help out with stuff like that and increasing the FPS to a solid 60 all around.

As of currently I have done a work around for the graphics with an increase that has helped gameplay for me a lot by doing the following below.

First: Use ReverseNX to change the system to dock mode while in handheld.

Second: Use Sys-clk with the settings of 1500Mhz CPU, 614 GPU and 1600 memory.

This has given me an almost constant 60fps without drops and a solid 720p display while in handheld mode.

 

[cojam]

Hey! Thank you for sharing some info on modding this game. I was just playing this game on Switch and thinking of what I would have remake in order to increase the performance of game even without overclocking my Switch (so the battery lasts longer). Yet, I am not sure if it is really worth one's time. But I guess I may try later.

So, while game looks bad on Switch, some graphical downgrades may improve the performance a little. First of all - texture size. We may try to scale down all the textures in half. Yes, it will look even more blury, but I never complained about low textures in Skate 3, since gameplay is what makes this game fun. And we here on Switch not for the graphics. For that you have your superior PC version.

Second - we may try replace some models with ones with lower poly count. Like in San Fran you have those chain fences, with 3D modeled chains, which are not even seen on small display, why not replace it with just a 2D plain with chain texture? Cheap yet efficient. But replacing more models will take more time and effort.

Third - if first 2 things isn't enough, we may try lower LOD bias, lower quality of shadows, etc. I am not sure if this is as simple as lowering texture size. If there is some ini file with all these parameters - that will do it much easier.

Now, I said I am not sure if effort woth anyone's time. I mostly see people discussing improving graphics, while my suggestion is to lower everything, so we get better performance, maybe it's just what I want and what other players don't.
While Creature tried to save the looks of the game closer to it's PC counterpart, they didn't do the best job at optimization. And we want better optimization, we may encounter bad graphics. Switch is not powerful enough to handle such a complex enviroments what you see in Session. Check out how other Switch games are optimized, Mario Odyssey, for instance. While levels looks beautiful, colorful and big, the geometry is not that complex, and there's not as much objects as in Session. So Creature might have deliver better optimization from their part, but seems like it's just wasn't their priority

 

[disengage_0]

I'm trying to get this to work, but it seems like it's all for the PC version. The directory you gave isn't for the switch, and as far as I know there are no .pak files on the switch or the sd card.

Am I doing something wrong? or are these just loose guidelines for someone to figure out how to finally mod session on switch?