[MOD] Conker: Live & Reloaded - Decensor Patch/Mod

[nastys]

Note: I've already fixed the scrolling issue seen in this video.​

I'm working on a mod to remove as much censorship as possible. Unfortunately there's no tool for editing CAFF files, and the version used by the game hasn't been reverse-engineered yet (as far as I know), so for now I've edited a couple of scripts as a proof of concept, using a hex editor. Some scripts don't like being edited like this, so proper reverse engineering of this version of CAFF may be necessary. It should also be possible to restore the original (uncensored) audio by taking parts from Rare's uncensored¹ MP3s² if there's a way to repack the audio.

GitHub repository: https://github.com/nastys/conker-live-and-reloaded-decensor

UPDATE: somewhatlurker has reverse engineered how the script is stored in the CAFF files. A proper tool that doesn't break anything should be possible now!

UPDATE 2: I've written a simple string editor: https://github.com/nastys/CAFFTextEditor/releases
If you all want to help, you can compare the Xbox version's text to the N64 version's (and try to guess the rest e.g. by listening closely to the first and the last consonants), edit the files, then fork the repository of the mod, add your modified files, and open a pull request.

UPDATE 3: I have succesfully decensored the poo boss battle:

 

[MrCokeacola]

Very cool. I had a friend working on this and he got proof of concept working and put the uncensored great mighty poo song back in the game. He didn't know of the higher quality MP3s you found and was just using the N64 audio. He posted the files on the old isozone and they are long deleted now. I don't remember 100% but he was editing all the files in some Microsoft game maker program. I'll try and get in contact with them again but they have not been on Xbox live in awhile.

 

[Daggot]

This is awesome. Live&Reloaded would be hands down the best version of the game if it was uncensored.

 

[nastys]

Very cool. I had a friend working on this and he got proof of concept working and put the uncensored great mighty poo song back in the game. He didn't know of the higher quality MP3s you found and was just using the N64 audio. He posted the files on the old isozone and they are long deleted now. I don't remember 100% but he was editing all the files in some Microsoft game maker program. I'll try and get in contact with them again but they have not been on Xbox live in awhile.

The game uses uncompressed (?) multi-channel audio, so my idea is to only replace the beeped parts to preserve the quality (the "echo" channels are not censored).

 

[oblivioncth]

UPDATE: somewhatlurker has reverse engineered how the script is stored in the CAFF files. A proper tool that doesn't break anything should be possible now!

I'm potentially interested in helping with this, namely working on an editor. Are his notes on the format publicly available? I wasn't able to find anything from a quick search.

 

[nastys]

I'm potentially interested in helping with this, namely working on an editor. Are his notes on the format publicly available? I wasn't able to find anything from a quick search.

text data:
0x20: "LSBL" pointer
0x28: number of trigger names(?)
0x2c: start trigger name(?) pointer structs

trigger name pointers (size 8):
+0x00: address
+0x04: some kind of id?
+0x06: definitely an id (I guess identifies script.. not sure but it's used a lot)



LSBL (script lines?):
+0x10: LSBL length?
+0x20: number of lines?
+0x24: start line pointer structs
...
[after structs]: 0xFF
[after structs]+0x02: text length
[after structs]+0x06: text start (utf16?)

line pointers (size 6):
+0x00: id?
+0x02: characters offset into text (not bytes)


cutscene list?? (acually part of LSBL? idk -- located at LSBL address + LSBL length):
+0x00: length
+0x04: number of scenes
+0x08: start scene pointer structs

scene pointers (size 8):
+0x00: some kind of id?
+0x02: some kind of id?
+0x04: name offset (from end of pointers)


movie/sound list (acually part of LSBL? idk -- located at cutscene list address + cutscene list length):
+0x00: length
+0x04: number of entries
+0x08: start media pointer structs

media pointers (size 8):
+0x00: some kind of id?
+0x04: offset (from end of pointers)

media info (ssems to be a string?):
; cutscene***.; Mpeg = ???: ???.wav.
(can have multiple Mpeg+wav sections

The text is obviously wstring. There is a checksum (https://gist.github.com/x1nixmzeng/c55c248c384bf1c9df2a), but it doesn't seem to affect the text itself. Terminating the wstrings with '\0' seems to work somewhat, but of course I've had issues with this approach and I haven't worked on it in a while because I had to stay away from home for a while and I couldn't use my Xbox, and XQEMU barely runs it.

 

[thewolftakeover]

What can I do to help?

 

[nastys]

I know I've been away for quite some time, but I haven't given up on this project yet

I've written a simple string editor:
https://github.com/nastys/CAFFTextEditor/releases

If you all want to help, you can compare the Xbox version's text to the N64 version's (and try to guess the rest e.g. by listening closely to the first and the last consonants), edit the files, then fork the repository of the mod, add your modified files, and open a pull request.

I'll take care of the audio later. I know there are some deepfake/AI voice synthesizers that might help.

 

[nastys]

Here's the poo boss battle, fully decensored:

 

[Foxinabox]

Hello Nastys, I am a big Conker fan and I was testing XEMU couple days back (the newest version) and to be honest Conker is running fine (not perfect perfect, but good enough to play it properly). So hopefully this information can help to speed up the process of the decensor as (probably) there is no need for Xbox console to test things out.

And I wanted to ask you, do you think, would it be possible to swap the files one day with your modified ones and make the file as an ISO again? Thank you for all your hard work.

 

[Toti54]

After reading the Conker wiki, and learning that the game originally had fully uncensored audio that could be unlocked with a code, then later removed from the fear of an AO ESRB Rating, now "hardcoded-like" bleep censor audio, I am sure this project is an absolute chore to complete and is probably abandoned. It's just too much work to change all the text and create your own uncensored audio to sound like the character speaking. Don't hold your breath.

It's a shame really, they were too scared to release the game with cursing that is so prevalent in our M Rated titles today.

 

[M7L7NK7]

There's an uncensored n64 rom out there, supposedly they game censors the audio in real time and that's been disabled but I haven't seen any proof that its true

Some of the audio sounds off but some sounds legit so who knows

 

[MrSmiley]

@Milenko you are correct. There is an uncensored version for the N64. I have that rom stored on my computer, and it plays great. Took a long time going through ghost threads, but i finally managed to find a copy. I really hope someone is able to complete this project as it would make the xbox version 10 times better. If it would help with the project (or if anyone just wants to play it), I would be willingly to share that rom just shoot me a message

 

[M7L7NK7]

Yeah but is it real? Is there any proof that the audio is censored in real time? Some of the audio just sounds iffy

 

[MrSmiley]

On the copy I have, it sounded legit. I could be wrong, but most of the character accents sound original (ie Professor Von Kriplespac). I have played both the N64 version and Xbox version as intended and after playing with my copy of the N64 uncensored version I didn't notice anything off about it. I'm not saying I listened out for irregularities in their voices vs the them cursing, but nothing grabbed my attention to where I was like this could have been edited. So in honesty, this is my opinion on the rom I have and unless someone shows proof that the rom I played was in fact edited outside of the game developers, I would say its legit.

 

[M7L7NK7]

Someone of the professor sounded a bit off to me, but idk

 

[MrSmiley]

All I do know is I'm ready for this patch/mod to be completed so I can play through the Xbox version again ha. I know it'll take time, and I respect that but I'm ready for it. I have seen some of his comments from just a couple of months ago saying he is slowly working on it so I know its not abandoned as of right now.Would like to know how it all works and I would start messing around with it, but I already know it would be a lot of work involved.

 

[Toti54]

It's abandoned. There's a better chance of Rare making a remaster of this game before this project is completed

 

[Foxinabox]

Would it be possible to swap the mp3 at least? Even that would be awesome. Thanks.

 

[ReveriePass]

Thanks to nastys' string editor, this looks pretty straight forward. Going to attempt to finish it! If anyone wants to help, knowing where to source the uncensored audio would be helpful.