ROM Hack Skyward Sword HD Texture swap HELP.

meohsix · Jul 20, 2021

ok... in 2011 when skyward sword came out for the Wii i was annoyed that there was only a green tunic, so i followed the guide here on GBATEMP
https://gbatemp.net/threads/guide-replace-zelda-ss-textures-and-models.313747/
to replace the green tunic textures with blue ones. it worked great, i even posted pics in the thread!

Now in 2021... I'm still annoyed that there's only a green tunic and i want to change it to blue again.
follow me on my journey

i started off by getting the skyward sword HD.nsp

i then used NCA-NSP-XCI to LayeredFS extractor to extract the files.
https://gbatemp.net/threads/extract-nsp-nca-xci-update-all-in-one-tool-for-layeredfs.511156/

then i opened romfs>object>NX and found the ObjectPack.arc.LZ file which contains most but not all of the games texture files.
the original guide says this file needs to be decompressed, so i drag it onto the LZ11.bat

i then open that objectpack.arc.lz file in SZS Modifier. i extract and save Alink.arc from within objectpack.arc.lz which contains all of links texture files.
then i open Alink.arc in SZS Modifier like the guide says to, BUT I AM UNABLE TO PREVIEW ANY OF THE TEXTURES.

but luckily models-resource.com has a rip of the textures with the correct file names so i do not need to guess which files i need to edit.
https://www.models-resource.com/wii/zeldaskywardsword/model/4453/

so i download those textures and edit them in photoshop.

Now back in SZS Modifier inside Alink.arc i replace al_cap, al_lowbody, al_upbody with my blue versions.
i then save Alink.arc. i then open ObjectPack.arc.LZ, and replace Alink.arc with the new version and then save ObjectPack.arc.LZ.

the guide says Objectpack.arc.lz now needs to be Re-Compressed. and here comes trouble.
dragging ObjectPack.arc.LZ over LZ11.bat again and selecting the compress option DELETES THE FILE.

"The system cannot find the file specified.
ObjectPack.arc.LZ compressed! File name remains the same.
Press any key to continue . . ."

WTF?

after googling for different .LZ compressors i found BATCHLZ77 and CrystalTile2
CrystalTile2 compresses the file into a 0kb useless garbage file.
BatchLZ77 compresses the file, but it's still larger than the original.

original untouched ObjectPack.arc.LZ 26,316kb
blue un-compressed 44,811kb
blue re-compressed 28,196kb

lets give it a shot.

i create a folder on my desktop with the title ID of Skyward Sword HD
01002DA013484000. inside that i make a romfs folder, inside that i make a Object folder, and inside that a NX folder.
in the NX folder i place my re-compressed ObjectPack.arc.LZ file.

i then take the 01002DA013484000 folder and drop it into Atmosphere > Contents on my SD card.

i attempt to launch Skyward Sword but it doesn't get past the switch loading screen before an error comes up.
it is not a problem with atmosphere or sig patches, the game works fine without the ObjectPack.arc.LZ in the Contents folder.

Anyone have any ideas? newer tools to use instead of Szs modifier? a better de/re compressor program? something I'm missing or oblivious to?
Any help will be greatly appreciated!

aaronlink127 · Jul 23, 2021

You couldn't preview the textures because the game has the hd textures in the "model.xtx" files, they are next to the model.brres in the tree. You can edit these files in Switch Toolbox. However this still doesn't address the main problem: the compression.
BrawlCrate claims it is ExtendedLZ77 but saving it results in a crashing file (even if all the contents have allow saving off). Also BrawlCrate absolutely bloats the uncompressed size for seemingly no reason so...
I really can't find anything that can make a file that the game likes.

masagrator · Jul 23, 2021

aaronlink127 said:
You couldn't preview the textures because the game has the hd textures in the "model.xtx" files, they are next to the model.brres in the tree. You can edit these files in Switch Toolbox. However this still doesn't address the main problem: the compression.
BrawlCrate claims it is ExtendedLZ77 but saving it results in a crashing file (even if all the contents have allow saving off). Also BrawlCrate absolutely bloats the uncompressed size for seemingly no reason so...
I really can't find anything that can make a file that the game likes.

lz compression algorithms are often customized to better utilize compression algorithm in specific cases, so finding two the same lz algorithms in games is very hard.
I would try to check if game accepts uncompressed files by experimenting with header. If not, you need to find decompression function in toolbox and find a way to make tool that either imitate compression without actual compression so that decompressor will output correct file or harder way - reconstruct compression algorithm.

meohsix · Jul 23, 2021

Thanks for the reply’s and info. Guess i’ll just have to wait it out until something gets figured out with the compression.

aaronlink127 · Jul 24, 2021

It seems if you have an uncompressed version named "ObjectPack.arc" in the same directory, the game will load this INSTEAD of the compressed version, unless I messed up my testing somehow.
But no matter how I modify it, it still seems to break it...

EDIT: I used the ALink.arc from the wii version and i was easily able to edit it and it worked nicely in game as well after injecting the arc into the decompressed ObjectPack with kuriimu2

meohsix · Jul 27, 2021

aaronlink127 said:
It seems if you have an uncompressed version named "ObjectPack.arc" in the same directory, the game will load this INSTEAD of the compressed version, unless I messed up my testing somehow.
But no matter how I modify it, it still seems to break it...

EDIT: I used the ALink.arc from the wii version and i was easily able to edit it and it worked nicely in game as well after injecting the arc into the decompressed ObjectPack with kuriimu2

man, i tried installing kuriimu2 but it wants .net core which seems to be a broken download on microsofts site.

BUT this morning on gamebanana someone posted tunic recolors!
Link Tunic Recolors [The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD] [Mods] (gamebanana.com)

tested and working on my switch. weird that the file is ObjectPack.arc and not .arc.LZ ?

will try and contact that person and ask what programs they used.

meohsix · Jul 28, 2021

Via CYB3RTR0N on Gamebanana

“Hi. I used LZ11 switch toolbox and Kuriimu2.

I decompressed ObjectPack.arc.LZ using LZ11 and then renamed it ObjectPack.arc and then i opened it in switch toolbox

then right clicked Alink.arc export raw data then opened Alink.arc in toolbox export model.xtx opened that in toolbox

export the image you want to edit as .png i then edited the image with photoshop and then replaced it using format BC1_UNORM

save when you are done then i opened Alink.arc in Kuriimu2 replaced model.xtx with the modified one from toolbox save then

Opened ObjectPack.arc in Kuriimu2 and replace Alink.arc then save.”

ROM Hack Skyward Sword HD Texture swap HELP.

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