Hacking A new kind of "image" was spotted into the wild: .HCD !

asper

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hfBP5N0.jpg


The .pkg file contains an .hcd/.ogg image of a TurboGrafx game: Lords of Thunder ! Happy reversing/injecting !

This is the 1st time a PCE CD game is spotted inside a VC title (note the CD add-on in the picture, missing in the other released PCE VC games).
 
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asper

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What opinions the very first post links to Nintendo's website showing it was out at the time of the post.
You do not get it... how can I know the file format and where is it stored ? What "wild" means ? Should I need to be "clearer" ? Ok... "that" key site :)
 

AmandaRose

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You do not get it... how can I know the file format and where is it stored ? What "wild" means ? Should I need to be "clearer" ? Ok... "that" key site :)
Then just say that lol out in the wild tends to mean the game is available to buy at least here anyway thus the confusion lol.
 
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xs4all

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Check this very old thread: http://gbatemp.net/threads/virtual-console-–-turbografx-16-cd-–-wad-inject-guide.291329/

The pretty pics are no longer available but the info is still there, pay attention to the "Dumping and Modifying the ISO" section, I haven't had a play yet, but after a quick read, it will get you the HCD file you seek and the ogg files.

Looks like it's going to be a lot of trial and error but I reckon this can be done, enjoy.

Forgot to mention:
I have read that track 2 and the last track on the disc is DATA tracks and that the last DATA track might be identical data to track 2 DATA, as someone on the interwebs mentioned that they probably did this in case the disc is scratched, the console will then instead read the last data track instead.
 
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cucholix

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Check this very old thread: http://gbatemp.net/threads/virtual-console-–-turbografx-16-cd-–-wad-inject-guide.291329/

The pretty pics are no longer available but the info is still there, pay attention to the "Dumping and Modifying the ISO" section, I haven't had a play yet, but after a quick read, it will get you the HCD file you seek and the ogg files.

Looks like it's going to be a lot of trial and error but I reckon this can be done, enjoy.

Forgot to mention:
I have read that track 2 and the last track on the disc is DATA tracks and that the last DATA track might be identical data to track 2 DATA, as someone on the interwebs mentioned that they probably did this in case the disc is scratched, the console will then instead read the last data track instead.
After scratching my head for awhile I ended in the Wii PCE wad extracting route, now the problem I'm facing is that U8 extraction tools can't handle 0.apps because apparently they are compressed (unlike standart 0.apps).

Good thing Wii VC saw Castlevania: Rondo of Blood.

About the .hcd format there's a tool whitin Wiiengine emulator that allow compress the ogg files and generate the .hcd file super easy, the problem is that the 2 data files it outputs are .iso unlike the .bin present in Lords of Thunder Wii U VC. The generated .ogg doesn't match the Wii U VC .ogg files through HxD, I guess they used a property converter, or a different version, IDK.
 

xs4all

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I have some progress with this and it's very interesting.

First off, I have been testing and I can confirm that ALL previous TG-16 WiiU VC's titles that has already been released on the eShop SUPPORTS TG-16 CD, only tested the ones that are currently available from you know where.
You can test this yourself by copying the "pce.pkg" file from Lords of Thunder and put it on ANY of the previous TG-16 VC's and the game will boot and play as per normal.

I have successfully been able to inject "Castlevania - Rondo of Blood" into Lords of Thunder, the game and audio works fine, however the OGG audio files is not working, so the intro has no sound.
I suspect it's the OGG file related and needs to be specific on how big N is encoding.
Here is what I found,
Wii version = 48,000 Hz at 64 kb/s
WiiU version = 32,000 Hz at 56 kb/s

So I'll give it another crack at this tomorrow.

Here is how you do it, please be advised, not for beginners, if you don't understand what I'm about to say, then it's not for you.

Read my previous reply and click on the link and have a look at the "Dumping and Modifying the ISO" section, in short you need to get the Track 2 in ISO format, compressed and renamed file to .BIN, this is all done in the tools provided in the link.

You need to open "pce.pkg" file from Lords of Thunder with hex editor, HxD is your go to app.
At OFFSET: 000000B0
This is the HCD info, if you follow the previous step, you will get the HCD file, this HCD file is kinda like the CUE file for ISO/BIN files, this contains all the info of where the OGG files should be and the data BIN file. Once this is all working, this info is very important, but for now, it's not relevant since we are just injecting the DATA/ROM info.

At OFFSET: 0002EFC0
This is where the BIN data is located, pretty much open the Track 2 BIN file in HxD, copy ALL and delete and replace the info here, make sure there is a "00" value BEFORE and AFTER you pasted the Track 2 BIN info.

Save the file and put it back and test, if done correctly the game should boot.

That is as far as I got, now we need to get the OGG files working, I have read that the HCD info is very important as the audio can get out of sync with what is showing on the screen, mainly games that require the OGG files.

It's late and I might probably left some very little info out, but I'm sure you can work it out.
 
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JohnnyGo

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I know this post is super old, and the chances of me getting a reply is pretty low, but I figured I'd try. I'm writing a tool to extract Turbo CD pce.pkg files into the .hcd, .ogg, and .bin files. Everything seems to work as I'd expect, except for the first .ogg file, and the last .ogg file have three extra seconds of "buzzing" that aren't present if you extract the .ogg files from a .iso, or from a Wii .wad. I was wondering if anyone knew why that was. All the other .ogg files seem to play exactly as I'd expect.

Also the .ogg and .bin files extracted from the pce.pkg are different from the ones extracted from an .iso, which are also different from the ones extracted from .wad of the same game. I assume this is an encoding/compression issue similar to the issue listed above.
 
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