Hacking Change Save Region for Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance from NTSC to PAL

[TheYoshiman]

Hey, so I have a completed save that I would like to transfer from Path of Radiance to Radiant Dawn. Unfortunately, I completed the first game on the NTSC version, and I'm using a PAL version of Radiant Dawn since I can only find an undub version that's PAL and not NTSC. I'm struggling to actually convert my save from NTSC to PAL, all I've really done is get the save to be read on Dolphin from Path of Radiance to RD, but both are the NTSC version. I have no idea how to convert the Gamecube or Wii saves to PAL.

So far, I've used a hex editor to try and change some lines in the gamecube files, but no luck. I've also tried to change the data.bin files to try and see if the PAL version would recognize the changes, but no luck there either. What I'm hoping for is to convert my gamecube save rather than the Wii one with the data already read, but if it's easier to change the region for the Wii version I'll be fine with that. Otherwise, if anyone knows where I can grab an undub version that's NTSC, then that would solve this problem as well.

 

[jeannotte]

I have no idea how to convert the Gamecube or Wii saves to PAL.

Hello,

I will show you how to convert NTSC game save to PAL. (or the opposite).

what you need (SaveGame Manager GX.) ==>https://gbatemp.net/threads/savegame-manager-gx.210111/

Minimum Required:

• The game whose backup you want to convert (in PAL version)
• A way to launch a homebrew (example: the homebrew channel)
• The homebrew "Savegame Manager GX"
• A PAL backup (yours for example)
• An NTSC backup, downloaded from the internet for example (with the characteristics you want)


Operations:

1. Download "Savegame Manager GX" and install it on your SD card (or USB device)

2. Launch SaveGame Manager GX and extract your PAL backup (by choosing "custom" in order to have the choice of the location) on your SD card (or USB device) and note the folder where you saved it.

3. Create a folder on your PC, named for example "GameName-PAL" (example "MarioKart-PAL") and copy the folder of your PAL backup into this folder.

4. Then create another folder on your PC and named for example "NameDuJeu-NTSC" (example "MarioKart-NTSC") and copy the NTSC backup folder into this folder (you will therefore have a folder with a subfolder a inside and two files in this subfolder).

5. So you have two folders (one PAL and one NTSC) each with two files of the same name (banner.bin and GameData.bin)

6. Copy only the "GameData.bin" file from the NTSC backup in the folder where the same file is located (but in PAL version), you will be asked to overwrite this file, do so but do not touch the banner file .bin.

7. Copy your PAL backup folder back to your SD card (or USB device) in the same location as the old one and overwrite it.

8. Launch SaveGame Manager GX via the homebrew channel (or the homebrew channel), select your newly copied PAL backup and choose "install".

Voila, it's over, you can now launch your PAL game while enjoying the content of the NTSC backup


NOTE: If you wish to do the reverse, simply change "PAL to NTSC" and "NTSC to PAL" during the operation.

 

[TheYoshiman]

Oh my gosh wow, thank you for getting back to me so quickly.

I'll try this later, but I just want to be sure, since I've spent hours on this already. Is this a sure-way to get this to work? I've had trouble since the file names for the NTSC and PAL saves are different. There's definitely a banner.bin file in both, but there's nothing like a GameData.bin file in either one. For example, the NTSC version has a FE10_US.dat file, whereas the PAL version has a FE10_EU.dat file. Furthermore, there are some differences in each .dat file; right when opening both up in a hex editor, the first eight bytes are different. The US file has FE10ASYS, and the EU file has FE10ESYS. Does this affect the conversion in any way?

 

[jeannotte]

I couldn't tell you !!

Make multiple backups of your backups, in case there is a problem.

 

[Sirius1428]

I'm not sure if you're still interested in this, but I found a way to convert FE Path of Radiance saves from PAL to NTSC region and viceversa, first you have to extract the gci save file from your memory card (there are many tutorials on how to do this), or if you're using dolphin simply use the memory card manager to extract it, now put your save on the pc and open it with an hex editor program, it should look like this:

This is an NTSC save file, now to change it to a PAL save you have to edit the first bytes like this:

The red bytes in the left side are the modified bytes, only two bytes are modified (45 to 50, and 4A to 00), now scroll down the data or use the search tool to find something like this:

Edit the following data in the following way:

Once again only two bytes are modified (4A to 58, and 02 to 08). Now, this data string has several copies in your save depending on how many saves you have in the game, so you have to use the search tool to find every one of these copies and edit them like this last one, when you finish editing them all save the file as gci and then you can inject it to a memory card or load it with dolphin, it will now be detected as a PAL save, and can be loaded with a PAL Path of Radiance or Radiant Dawn game, I tested it with both games on an actual wii and it was recognized perfectly in both, so if you follow these steps you shouldn't have trouble at all.

If you ever want to convert a PAL to a NTSC save, you have to follow the same steps but modifying the bytes in reverse order, also, it seems that Radiant Dawn saves have a similar system for region changing, but I have yet to find which bytes need to be modified so the game recognizes the save, so if I ever find those bytes l will share that info as well!

 

[TheYoshiman]

I am still interested in this, it's just that real life took a toll to the point where I couldn't allocate time to work on this. And holy hell. Your method worked! I was able to upload the .gci file back onto the memory card, make Nintendont read saves through the memory card, and it read the saves on both Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn! I didn't know about the bytes down on the last two images on your post, that was literally the only thing missing from what I was doing as I only edited the E to a P and eliminated the J on the first lines.

I'm floored right now. I honestly thought about just sucking it up and doing another playthrough (I was justifying it as well, since I missed out on Stefan on my first, blind playthrough), but the fact that you both were able to help me through this issue makes me want to start my Radiant Dawn playthrough very soon. I'll only give an update here regarding the conversion if there's any bugs from converting the save, but I doubt it just due to the fact that I can already read the Path of Radiance support conversations in the extras tab on the main screen.

Thank you both, all the way from France and Mexico! To jeannotte, while the method you supplied was helpful, I think that just for this specific game it didn't work out since the saves were a bit different, the bytes lower in the file made the whole process a bit weirder. But the link in your signature about Wiimmfi is something I was able to do, so if you can play online through a physical disc then I'll definitely try it out! And Sirius1428, thank you so so much for resolving this issue!

 

[tatundria]

I'm not sure if you're still interested in this, but I found a way to convert FE Path of Radiance saves from PAL to NTSC region and viceversa, first you have to extract the gci save file from your memory card (there are many tutorials on how to do this), or if you're using dolphin simply use the memory card manager to extract it, now put your save on the pc and open it with an hex editor program, it should look like this:

View attachment 246479

This is an NTSC save file, now to change it to a PAL save you have to edit the first bytes like this:

View attachment 246487

The red bytes in the left side are the modified bytes, only two bytes are modified (45 to 50, and 4A to 00), now scroll down the data or use the search tool to find something like this:

View attachment 246489

Edit the following data in the following way:

View attachment 246490

Once again only two bytes are modified (4A to 58, and 02 to 08). Now, this data string has several copies in your save depending on how many saves you have in the game, so you have to use the search tool to find every one of these copies and edit them like this last one, when you finish editing them all save the file as gci and then you can inject it to a memory card or load it with dolphin, it will now be detected as a PAL save, and can be loaded with a PAL Path of Radiance or Radiant Dawn game, I tested it with both games on an actual wii and it was recognized perfectly in both, so if you follow these steps you shouldn't have trouble at all.

If you ever want to convert a PAL to a NTSC save, you have to follow the same steps but modifying the bytes in reverse order, also, it seems that Radiant Dawn saves have a similar system for region changing, but I have yet to find which bytes need to be modified so the game recognizes the save, so if I ever find those bytes l will share that info as well!

Do you know how to do this same procedure for Super Mario Sunshine? I have a NTSC save file that I need to convert to PAL.

 

[Borsalino]

I'm not sure if you're still interested in this, but I found a way to convert FE Path of Radiance saves from PAL to NTSC region and viceversa, first you have to extract the gci save file from your memory card (there are many tutorials on how to do this), or if you're using dolphin simply use the memory card manager to extract it, now put your save on the pc and open it with an hex editor program, it should look like this:

View attachment 246479

This is an NTSC save file, now to change it to a PAL save you have to edit the first bytes like this:

View attachment 246487

The red bytes in the left side are the modified bytes, only two bytes are modified (45 to 50, and 4A to 00), now scroll down the data or use the search tool to find something like this:

View attachment 246489

Edit the following data in the following way:

View attachment 246490

Once again only two bytes are modified (4A to 58, and 02 to 08). Now, this data string has several copies in your save depending on how many saves you have in the game, so you have to use the search tool to find every one of these copies and edit them like this last one, when you finish editing them all save the file as gci and then you can inject it to a memory card or load it with dolphin, it will now be detected as a PAL save, and can be loaded with a PAL Path of Radiance or Radiant Dawn game, I tested it with both games on an actual wii and it was recognized perfectly in both, so if you follow these steps you shouldn't have trouble at all.

If you ever want to convert a PAL to a NTSC save, you have to follow the same steps but modifying the bytes in reverse order, also, it seems that Radiant Dawn saves have a similar system for region changing, but I have yet to find which bytes need to be modified so the game recognizes the save, so if I ever find those bytes l will share that info as well!

Thank you so much for this. I just discovered an HD Texture pack which is PAL version. This helped me easily migrate my save from NTSC to PAL.

 

[makoto212]

I'm not sure if you're still interested in this, but I found a way to convert FE Path of Radiance saves from PAL to NTSC region and viceversa, first you have to extract the gci save file from your memory card (there are many tutorials on how to do this), or if you're using dolphin simply use the memory card manager to extract it, now put your save on the pc and open it with an hex editor program, it should look like this:

View attachment 246479

This is an NTSC save file, now to change it to a PAL save you have to edit the first bytes like this:

View attachment 246487

The red bytes in the left side are the modified bytes, only two bytes are modified (45 to 50, and 4A to 00), now scroll down the data or use the search tool to find something like this:

View attachment 246489

Edit the following data in the following way:

View attachment 246490

Once again only two bytes are modified (4A to 58, and 02 to 08). Now, this data string has several copies in your save depending on how many saves you have in the game, so you have to use the search tool to find every one of these copies and edit them like this last one, when you finish editing them all save the file as gci and then you can inject it to a memory card or load it with dolphin, it will now be detected as a PAL save, and can be loaded with a PAL Path of Radiance or Radiant Dawn game, I tested it with both games on an actual wii and it was recognized perfectly in both, so if you follow these steps you shouldn't have trouble at all.

If you ever want to convert a PAL to a NTSC save, you have to follow the same steps but modifying the bytes in reverse order, also, it seems that Radiant Dawn saves have a similar system for region changing, but I have yet to find which bytes need to be modified so the game recognizes the save, so if I ever find those bytes l will share that info as well!

i know this is coming in very late, but thank you so much for writing this! just spent so long trying to put my NA PoR save from my wii u virtual console to my radiant dawn disk and this was the final thing i needed that made everything work.