ROM Hack Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice 3D Models

[Kyrio]

Hey everyone!

Though I haven't completed Spirit of Justice yet (which, as an AA fan, is something to be ashamed of!), I've really been enjoying the quality of the models in this game. Dual Destinies was already beautiful, but this time there are so many more details (dynamic cloth materials, various angles... you can read all about them on Janet Hsu's blog) that the exteriors are giving the old 3DS a hard time.

The most impressive thing, of course, is the character models that have been remade for returning characters (especially noticeable with Phoenix and Trucy) and often have several versions (e.g. Rayfa during the dance) just like the lawyers had different models for court and investigations in DD.

I know a few people have successfully ripped character models from DD (see here and here), though the process can be slightly hectic and relies on legacy formats. Since there are active translation projects on Dai Gyakuten Saiban and Spirit of Justice (in Spanish) here on GBAtemp, I wondered if some of the hacking-savvy members know how to extract this game's character models to common formats.

I'm not making any requests here; I'm mainly asking out of curiosity since I haven't found any information on the topic so far. Thanks for your help!

 

[paradoxfish]

I don't really know how to convert or view models or anything, but it seems that in "\obj\etc\etc0[a number from 1 to 17]\model" of the romfs there are .mod (model?) and .tex (texture?) files. I'd think these are models, but if there are only 17 of them I guess I'm looking in the wrong place. They seem to be models of some kind though. EDIT: Nevermind, it seems that there is another folder ("obj\chr\" in romfs) that has similar file formats, so I guess that's where the character models could be. Now that I think about it, this could be the same as Dual Destinies, I probably should've checked what was in that thread first EDIT AGAIN: So it seems the mod files are model files and the tex files are textures. I guess I'll try seeing if Blender can open them

 

[Kyrio]

Thanks for replying. If it uses the same structure as DD, .mod files are indeed models. However, they were in archives called chr000.arc for characters and BG0000.arc for backgrounds.

Did you notice anything like that?

 

[paradoxfish]

Oops, didn't check replies. There doesn't seem to be .arc files, which is a better thing, isn't it? If they were in .arcs then they'd have to be decompressed, however it seems that they aren't compressed anyway. The files of SoJ seem overall easier to explore than DD though.
EDIT: Seems I don't actually have any applications to open .mod files. It's fairly easy to find the files, so if anyone has 3DS Max or anything, they can try opening them

 

[Pol74698]

Somebody got the mod files open by converting them into another format. The only problem is there's no converting them back to mod files

 

[trainboy2019]

The .mod and .tex files use the same format as Monster Hunter 4/X. These tools work great for extracting the arcs, and converting the files.
Here's the tutorial and tools.

 

[Kyrio]

The .mod and .tex files use the same format as Monster Hunter 4/X. These tools work great for extracting the arcs, and converting the files.
Here's the tutorial and tools.

Thanks for the advice, I'm glad to see there's more resources on the topic than I thought. This tutorial doesn't mention Scarlet, and I've noticed you had problems with a tex file from SoJ. Maybe try this tool instead?

Sidenote: I've tried svanheulen's Blender script (io_import_scene_mod.py) earlier this week with DD models and it seems to work perfectly. I'll try with SoJ models as soon as I can!

 

[trainboy2019]

Thanks for the advice, I'm glad to see there's more resources on the topic than I thought. This tutorial doesn't mention Scarlet, and I've noticed you had problems with a tex file from SoJ. Maybe try this tool instead?

Sidenote: I've tried svanheulen's Blender script (io_import_scene_mod.py) earlier this week with DD models and it seems to work perfectly. I'll try with SoJ models as soon as I can!

Thank you for showing me that tool!!! That tool also lets me export textures in bulk!

Spoiler: Sidenote

He's got the cardboard badge!!!!

 

[Pol74698]

The .mod and .tex files use the same format as Monster Hunter 4/X. These tools work great for extracting the arcs, and converting the files.
Here's the tutorial and tools.

So does this work only with .tex files or with .mod files too? Can I convert a custom model in .mod?

 

[trainboy2019]

So does this work only with .tex files or with .mod files too? Can I convert a custom model in .mod?

That particular one only works on .tex files, and the one that @Kyrio linked works even better on tex files, and on .mod files. AFAIK, there isn't a way to convert to a .mod file, maybe reverse the python scriptpt?

 

[SomaCruz10]

So is there way to get this archives named .arc ??? How to it? Do I need somehow to open 3ds rom or something?

 

[trainboy2019]

So is there way to get this archives named .arc ??? How to it? Do I need somehow to open 3ds rom or something?

First, extract the romfs with something like brain dump. Then extract it with ctrtool, once you do that use the toolkit from here. Follow the instructions on the thread for the extraction instructions.

 

[SomaCruz10]

First, extract the romfs with something like brain dump. Then extract it with ctrtool, once you do that use the toolkit from here. Follow the instructions on the thread for the extraction instructions.

Do I need real 3ds console for this? I have one but only with Official firmware, dunno if it's possible with this. But it's possible somehow to extract from .3ds or .cia rom files?? Tried to use HackingToolKit3Ds but this tool did extract nothing.

 

[PewnyPL]

Do I need real 3ds console for this? I have one but only with Official firmware, dunno if it's possible with this. But it's possible somehow to extract from .3ds or .cia rom files?? Tried to use HackingToolKit3Ds but this tool did extract nothing.

If you can access homebrew, then yes, Braindump can dump the files. As for 3DS or CIA, you'd need to get unencrypted ones (like for Citra emulator) to be able to do anthing.

 

[trainboy2019]

Do I need real 3ds console for this? I have one but only with Official firmware, dunno if it's possible with this. But it's possible somehow to extract from .3ds or .cia rom files?? Tried to use HackingToolKit3Ds but this tool did extract nothing.

Yes you need a real console. Since you have OFW, you would use braindump to extract the cxi, the you would look for the file called 000400000018F400.cxi for the us version or 000400000018FA00.cxi for the European version. Then put that file in the folder with ctrtool. Then you would open a command window in that folder and enter the following.

ctrtool --exefs=exefs.bin --romfs=romfs.bin game.cxi

Where game.cxi is the file you copied over, after that you would enter

ctrtool --romfsdir=romfs romfs.bin

Then you would follow the instructions I left for the arcs minus the romfs extraction.

 

[SomaCruz10]

If you can access homebrew, then yes, Braindump can dump the files. As for 3DS or CIA, you'd need to get unencrypted ones (like for Citra emulator) to be able to do anthing.

I'm not sure if official firmware can use homebrew.

Well, I got Rom called "Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Spirit of Justice EUR Decrypted.3ds" tried to use HackingToolKit3Ds but this tool did extract nothing. It's started to extract, 1 sec passed and it says that work is complete, but files not appears in the folder. When I've tried to do same with .cia, it was extracting like 10 secs and says complete, but files still not appears in folder.

Yes you need a real console. Since you have OFW, you would use braindump to extract the cxi, the you would look for the file called 000400000018F400.cxi for the us version or 000400000018FA00.cxi for the European version. Then put that file in the folder with ctrtool. Then you would open a command window in that folder and enter the following.

ctrtool --exefs=exefs.bin --romfs=romfs.bin game.cxi

Where game.cxi is the file you copied over, after that you would enter

ctrtool --romfsdir=romfs romfs.bin

Then you would follow the instructions I left for the arcs minus the romfs extraction.

I have only virtual copy from eshop, do you think it will work?

 

[trainboy2019]

I'm not sure if official firmware can use homebrew.

Well, I got Rom called "Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney Spirit of Justice EUR Decrypted.3ds" tried to use HackingToolKit3Ds but this tool did extract nothing. It's started to extract, 1 sec passed and it says that work is complete, but files not appears in the folder. When I've tried to do same with .cia, it was extracting like 10 secs and says complete, but files still not appears in folder.

Yes it can. Doodle bomb is great. If you want I could PM you my friend code, and when I get to my 3ds, I could send you the file if you have a US 3ds. Also, don't mess with .3ds, just dump it yourself, you get much more consistent results.

EDIT: just saw you said european. In that case, look here.

 

[SomaCruz10]

Yes it can. Doodle bomb is great. If you want I could PM you my friend code, and when I get to my 3ds, I could send you the file if you have a US 3ds. Also, don't mess with .3ds, just dump it yourself, you get much more consistent results.

EDIT: just saw you said european. In that case, look here.

I just want extract models from this game, not rebuild game, not do mods. I know how to extract from arc archives, since there nice guides for Dual Destenies, but there no Archives for Spirit of Justice. I have official virtual copy from eshop and my consoles probably is European, since I live there. I have no experience with 3ds extracting and modding, so I kinda lost how to achieve my target. It seems that author of the thread is managed to extract those .arc files. (if only someone could upload them)

If it's possible to extract with virtual official copy from eshop and I also have official memory card, I will try your method, trainboy2019, I'm just hope that it safe, but it's kinda hard for me without knowledge.

 

[trainboy2019]

I just want extract models from this game, not rebuild game, not do mods. I know how to extract from arc archives, since there nice guides for Dual Destenies, but there no Archives for Spirit of Justice. I have official virtual copy from eshop and my consoles probably is European, since I live there. I have no experience with 3ds extracting and modding, so I kinda lost how to achieve my target. It seems that author of the thread is managed to extract those .arc files. (if only someone could upload them)

If it's possible to extract with virtual official copy from eshop and I also have official memory card, I will try your method, trainboy2019, I'm just hope that it safe, but it's kinda hard for me without knowledge.

I didn't mention anything about rebuilding. The link I posted about the toolkit can extract the arc, you then follow the instruction to extract the mod and tex files, and then you have the models.

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

Well now that someone mentioned this game, i had a question, the game uses mobile MT frame work, for both Dual destines and Spirit of Justice, but i also know that Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 uses the same mt framework, i suppose you can say they all share something in common, so if is possible to maybe share models with the games? Originally i wished for to replaced the spirit of justice model phoneix wright with the dual destines classic costume, but if marvel vs capcom 3 modes can be ported, then we can get different color phoneix wrights, or maybe any other character in the game.