Hacking Mario Kart 8 Mods

[Huntereb]

Yeah, this really is a nostalga trip for us too, though this is a lot more slick than the first MKWii texture hacks. The replacement is done by editting the .bfres file for the track on our computer, along with swapping the .bgenv file in from another track to generate the night time post effect, and editting the course's .byaml file to remove the plants and bird's nests as well as turning on the headlights, turnning off the pollen and changing the skybox. The edits are then loaded in with our Riifs-like network file loader, so when the game asks for each of the files, we stream it over the network instead. What the video doesn't show is that this increases the load time to over a minute! We'll have to look into making an SD or USB based patcher at some point down the line to try to increase the speed. 1mbps over the network just isn't enough anymore!

Damn, that's a lot more impressive than I thought. Nice work!

How were you able to gather information on the file types so fast? Also, I'm excited to see that it's apparently a similar file format to the previous generation!

 

[Chadderz]

Damn, that's a lot more impressive than I thought. Nice work!

How were you able to gather information on the file types so fast? Also, I'm excited to see that it's apparently a similar file format to the previous generation!

Well, we've got a huge advantage because the game hasn't fundamentally changed since MKWii, so the layout of the file system is very familiar. The formats themsevles are not too far away either, certainly bfres is heavily based on brres. The byaml format is the only completely new one and its laughably simple, and somewhat self describing (like xml).

As for the file formats from previous gens, bfstm replaces brstm and all that's really changed is the layout of the header (we wrote a tool to convert between the two, works fine on both). The kcl extension hasn't changed but the format has; the new kcl is actually multiple of the old kcl files glued together with a small header linking them. The size of the elements in the fourth section has also changed, but nothing else. YAZ0 is still used unchanged for compression, with the .szs extension. The archive format is different; similar to a u8 archive but now with some sort of file id system (we haven't really looked at it). bflim replaces tpl, quite different but tpl was so simple anyway. Unbelievably, mp4 replaces thp, so the game's videos play quite happily in your favourite media player. ttf now seems to be the font format of choice, though I have seen a few bffnt files kicking about (used to be brfnt; not analysed). We've also seen a bfsar (used to be brsar), but again not yet analysed.

 

[gudenau]

Well, we've got a huge advantage because the game hasn't fundamentally changed since MKWii, so the layout of the file system is very familiar. The formats themsevles are not too far away either, certainly bfres is heavily based on brres. The byaml format is the only completely new one and its laughably simple, and somewhat self describing (like xml).

As for the file formats from previous gens, bfstm replaces brstm and all that's really changed is the layout of the header (we wrote a tool to convert between the two, works fine on both). The kcl extension hasn't changed but the format has; the new kcl is actually multiple of the old kcl files glued together with a small header linking them. The size of the elements in the fourth section has also changed, but nothing else. YAZ0 is still used unchanged for compression, with the .szs extension. The archive format is different; similar to a u8 archive but now with some sort of file id system (we haven't really looked at it). bflim replaces tpl, quite different but tpl was so simple anyway. Unbelievably, mp4 replaces thp, so the game's videos play quite happily in your favourite media player. ttf now seems to be the font format of choice, though I have seen a few bffnt files kicking about (used to be brfnt; not analysed). We've also seen a bfsar (used to be brsar), but again not yet analysed.

Lazy developer is lazy.

 

[uyjulian]

Lazy developer is lazy.

Maybe there's no reason to change the format since the current one is fine.

 

[gudenau]

Maybe there's no reason to change the format since the current one is fine.

They should know that the last game was hacked to bits though.

 

[Relys]

Lazy developer is lazy.

You say that like it's a bad thing. Lazy developers are efficient developers. There's no reason to re-invent the wheel.

Marionumber1 and team have been trying to re-create the kernel exploit the past several weeks but haven't hit anything. We have no problem being humble and stating we're not as skillful in this particular area of reverse engineering as Chadderz, as it has never been a contest to us. We care about the homebrew/modding community and understand that what makes the scene great is that different people are good at different things and they work together using their individual strengths to achieve a common goal. When an individual decides to create a private fork off of others work it creates a divide in the community and stifles interest and development.

Releasing the kernel hack does not allow for piracy and quite honestly I think it's pretty far fetched that they would be credited in any way if someone went on to develop a IOSU exploit and loader. :/ It does not allow for cheating either as the ROP loader is only supported for 4.1.

 

[uyjulian]

You say that like it's a bad thing. Lazy developers are efficient developers. There's no reason to re-invent the wheel.

Marionumber1 and team have been trying to re-create the kernel exploit the past several weeks but haven't hit anything. We have no problem being humble and stating we're not as skillful in this particular area of reverse engineering as Chadderz, as it has never been a contest to us. We care about the homebrew/modding community and understand that what makes the scene great is that different people are good at different things and they work together using their individual strengths to achieve a common goal. When an individual decides to create a private fork off of others work it creates a divide in the community and stifles interest and development.

Releasing the kernel hack does not allow for piracy and quite honestly I think it's pretty far fetched that they would be credited in any way if someone went on to develop a IOSU exploit and loader. :/ It does not allow for cheating either as the ROP loader is only supported for 4.1.

You can play online on 4.1
Cheating is still a problem

 

[gudenau]

You say that like it's a bad thing. Lazy developers are efficient developers. There's no reason to re-invent the wheel.

Marionumber1 and team have been trying to re-create the kernel exploit the past several weeks but haven't hit anything. We have no problem being humble and stating we're not as skillful in this particular area of reverse engineering as Chadderz, as it has never been a contest to us. We care about the homebrew/modding community and understand that what makes the scene great is that different people are good at different things and they work together using their individual strengths to achieve a common goal. When an individual decides to create a private fork off of others work it creates a divide in the community and stifles interest and development.

Releasing the kernel hack does not allow for piracy and quite honestly I think it's pretty far fetched that they would be credited in any way if someone went on to develop a IOSU exploit and loader. :/ It does not allow for cheating either as the ROP loader is only supported for 4.1.

I get that, Chadderz just randomly found the kernel exploit from what I can tell. The problem with releasing the exploit is that people could get the keys, decrypt the software, port to 5.x, find iosu exploit, and do anything.

 

[Relys]

I get that, Chadderz just randomly found the kernel exploit from what I can tell. The problem with releasing the exploit is that people could get the keys, decrypt the software, port to 5.x, find iosu exploit, and do anything.

Yes, but those advancements would be credited to those individuals and it would take a lot of time/effort for them to do it. The people with the motivation to create a WUD loader are already working on cobra/wiikey ODE's which they actually get paid for. It would be insane for one of them to develop a softmod loader as it would cut into their market share. :/

Either way we need to get the keys if we ever want to port to 5.0+. If we currently sit here and do nothing, we won't be able to create an active homebrew/modding community because most people would be locked out of the exploit due to firmware limitations.

 

[Huntereb]

You can play online on 4.1
Cheating is still a problem

Not an issue in my book.

Thanks for the info Chadderz! I'm glad it looks like we'll be seeing some editors out in the (distant?) future!

Though, I'm still waiting for some 5.x kernal access. That's when the real fun begins.

 

[gudenau]

Yes, but those advancements would be credited to those individuals and it would take a lot of time/effort for them to do it. The people with the motivation to create a WUD loader are already working on cobra/wiikey ODE's which they actually get paid for. It would be insane for one of them to develop a softmod loader as it would cut into their market share. :/

Either way we need to get the keys if we ever want to port to 5.0+. If we currently sit here and do nothing, we won't be able to create an active homebrew/modding community because most people would be locked out of the exploit due to firmware limitations.

Then there is also the side of no leaks, so patch chance is lower.

 

[ALPHAMARIOX]

You say that like it's a bad thing. Lazy developers are efficient developers. There's no reason to re-invent the wheel.

Marionumber1 and team have been trying to re-create the kernel exploit the past several weeks but haven't hit anything. We have no problem being humble and stating we're not as skillful in this particular area of reverse engineering as Chadderz, as it has never been a contest to us. We care about the homebrew/modding community and understand that what makes the scene great is that different people are good at different things and they work together using their individual strengths to achieve a common goal. When an individual decides to create a private fork off of others work it creates a divide in the community and stifles interest and development.

Releasing the kernel hack does not allow for piracy and quite honestly I think it's pretty far fetched that they would be credited in any way if someone went on to develop a IOSU exploit and loader. :/ It does not allow for cheating either as the ROP loader is only supported for 4.1.

Well put. It would be troublesome to reinvent techniques for games and programs. It would be detrimental to development time to recreate the infrastructure of the game's data and hierarchy. Plus, a lot of these developers and programmers probably made the other Mario Kart games, such as Mario Kart Wii obviously.

Releasing a PPC Kernel exploit can still open doors for online cheating if they know what they're doing. Thank goodness Chadderz doesn't have an interest in that sort of cheating at all.

 

[Marionumber1]

The problem with releasing the exploit is that people could get the keys, decrypt the software

No, you need IOSU access to get the keys and the keys to decrypt the software.

port to 5.x

Even if this were true, would it be a bad thing?

find iosu exploit, and do anything.

Not only does an IOSU exploit not require PPC kernel access, PPC kernel access won't help either. You're hacking blindly either way.

 

[gudenau]

No, you need IOSU access to get the keys and the keys to decrypt the software.



Even if this were true, would it be a bad thing?



Not only does an IOSU exploit not require PPC kernel access, PPC kernel access won't help either. You're hacking blindly either way.

I did simplify it a bunch.

 

[Nemesis90]

I like the cold:

heh sad panda

 

[FusionGamer]

(Damn fucking Chrome screwed up a quote)

 

[FusionGamer]

You can play online on 4.1
Cheating is still a problem

Um, no..... First sign of cheats online = forced update to latest OS.

 

[Dantarion]

Marionumber1 and team have been trying to re-create the kernel exploit the past several weeks but haven't hit anything. We have no problem being humble and stating we're not as skillful in this particular area of reverse engineering as Chadderz, as it has never been a contest to us. We care about the homebrew/modding community and understand that what makes the scene great is that different people are good at different things and they work together using their individual strengths to achieve a common goal. .

I have the skills to help but I am locked out until I either get a WiiU that hasn't been updated or the exploit gets ported to 5.X.X

 

[nonamejohn]

I understand that Marionumber1 doesn't have a wiiu on 4.1 anymore ? Would it be possible to start a fundraiser for a new one for him ?

 

[Marionumber1]

I understand that Marionumber1 doesn't have a wiiu on 4.1 anymore ? Would it be possible to start a fundraiser for a new one for him ?

I don't really want people providing money for me to get a 4.1.0 Wii U. I can get by with team members that have 4.1.0.