Tutorial  Updated

Play Super Mario Galaxy 2 using the Wii U GamePad

Credit to Super Hackio

Hey champs. First things first, I want to make sure everybody knows that this hack is by Super Hackio and they deserve all of the credit. Check out their video in case you haven't seen it:



Introduction

What we're going to do here is leverage Hackio's hack to create a Wii VC injection with Classic Controller emulation. This allows the Wii U GamePad to be used to control the entire game, including things that were originally pointer- and motion-controlled. For example, Mario's spin attack can be triggered with a button and the Wii Remote pointer can be controlled with the right analog stick. These images provided with the original patch show the two layouts that Super Hackio implemented:

Mapping-AllStars.png Mapping-Nvidia.png

A big thing to note here is that while I'd argue the Super Mario 3D All-Stars layout makes the most sense for normal gameplay (with your primary action buttons being Y to spin attack and B to jump), it does mean your confirm buttons in menus will be both of A/B and your cancel button will be ZR.

The Nvidia layout retains the normal A to confirm, B to cancel layout you'll be used to from other Nintendo games, but your primary action buttons will be X to spin attack and A to jump, which is not how Mario games ordinarily control.

Pick whichever one bothers you less!

Another thing that's important to remember is that if you press the Home button, you will not be able to exit or return to the game. This is a limitation of the original patch, as controls are handled completely separately in the Home button menu. When you want to stop playing, you will simply need to shut the Wii U down.

Preparation

Super Hackio's original Classic Controller mod was provided as a Riivolution patch, which can't normally be used with Wii VC injections. For this reason, we need some things we can use to apply the patch directly to a disc image. These are:
I'm not going to go in-depth about how to install or use Wiimm's tools. If you need to, search for a guide about using the Windows command prompt/Linux terminal/etc. In short, these are text-based tools, they don't have GUIs and double clicking them will not open up a GUI window for you to control them. Instead, these apps are controlled by typing commands to them.

Quick tip: When typing a directory or file name on the command prompt/terminal, you can press the Tab key on your keyboard to have your OS complete the rest of the name. This will save you time and help you avoid typos.


Tutorial

So let's get started. If you install Wiimm's tools so that you can run them from anywhere, this will be a lot easier, but you can do this without if you don't mind typing the path to the executables with each command.
  1. Extract the contents of SMG2-GamePadCC.zip and your Super Mario Galaxy 2 disc image to somewhere sensible. I'm not your dad.
  2. Open a command prompt window in that directory.
    In Windows, you can do this easily by navigating to the folder you want in File Explorer, clicking in the address bar, deleting the contents and typing cmd (short for command) then hitting the Enter/Return key.​
  3. Use wit to extract the contents of your Super Mario Galaxy 2 disc image into a new directory. For example, if your game image is called SB4E01.wbfs, you would do something like this:
    Code:
    wit x SB4E01.wbfs Galaxy2GamePad
  4. Use wit again to patch the main.dol from your game. Note that where the main.dol gets extracted to will depend upon your disc image. If you have an UPDATE partition, you'll find the main.dol in the GAME partition, whereas if your image has the UPDATE partition removed, it will be right there in sys under your extracted directory. Example command for Windows (may not match your directory layout):
    Code:
    wit dolpatch Galaxy2GamePad\sys\main.dol xml=SMG2-ExtraControllers-WiiU.xml
  5. Use wstrt from Wiimm's SZS Toolset to add your preferred button layout to the main.dol. I'll provide examples of both options here. Don't do both. Come on.

    If you want the Super Mario 3D All-Stars layout:
    Code:
    wstrt patch Galaxy2GamePad\sys\main.dol --add-section SB4E01-SMAS.gct
    If you want the Nvidia Shield Mario Galaxy layout:
    Code:
    wstrt patch Galaxy2GamePad\sys\main.dol --add-section SB4E01-Nvidia.gct
  6. Repackage your extracted game directory into a standard disc image format, e.g.:
    Code:
    wit copy Galaxy2GamePad Galaxy2GamePad.wbfs
  7. Create a Wii VC injection of your final image (e.g. Galaxy2GamePad.wbfs) using your preferred injection tool. Remember to enable your tool's Classic Controller emulation feature.

    You don't need the Force Classic Controller mode. Also, don't use the Swap L/R and ZL/ZR feature unless you're weird; both layouts are already optimized for controllers where ZL/ZR are the main shoulder triggers like the Wii U GamePad.​
And you're done! Install your injection however you normally go about installing injections (e.g. V10lator's NUSspli). When you launch the game and it asks if you want to control it using the Wii U GamePad ... say yes.
 

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XDeltaOne

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Credit to Super Hackio

Hey champs. First things first, I want to make sure everybody knows that this hack is by Super Hackio and they deserve all of the credit. Check out their video in case you haven't seen it:



Introduction

What we're going to do here is leverage Hackio's hack to create a Wii VC injection with Classic Controller emulation. This allows the Wii U GamePad to be used to control the entire game, including things that were originally pointer- and motion-controlled. For example, Mario's spin attack can be triggered with a button and the Wii Remote pointer can be controlled with the right analog stick. These images provided with the original patch show the two layouts that Super Hackio implemented:


A big thing to note here is that while I'd argue the Super Mario 3D All-Stars layout makes the most sense for normal gameplay (with your primary action buttons being Y to spin attack and B to jump), it does mean your confirm buttons in menus will be both of A/B and your cancel button will be ZR.

The Nvidia layout retains the normal A to confirm, B to cancel layout you'll be used to from other Nintendo games, but your primary action buttons will be X to spin attack and A to jump, which is not how Mario games ordinarily control.

Pick whichever one bothers you less!

Another thing that's important to remember is that if you press the Home button, you will not be able to exit or return to the game. This is a limitation of the original patch, as controls are handled completely separately in the Home button menu. When you want to stop playing, you will simply need to shut the Wii U down.

Preparation

Super Hackio's original Classic Controller mod was provided as a Riivolution patch, which can't normally be used with Wii VC injections. For this reason, we need some things we can use to apply the patch directly to a disc image. These are:
I'm not going to go in-depth about how to install or use Wiimm's tools. If you need to, search for a guide about using the Windows command prompt/Linux terminal/etc. In short, these are text-based tools, they don't have GUIs and double clicking them will not open up a GUI window for you to control them. Instead, these apps are controlled by typing commands to them.

Quick tip: When typing a directory or file name on the command prompt/terminal, you can press the Tab key on your keyboard to have your OS complete the rest of the name. This will save you time and help you avoid typos.


Tutorial

So let's get started. If you install Wiimm's tools so that you can run them from anywhere, this will be a lot easier, but you can do this without if you don't mind typing the path to the executables with each command.
  1. Extract the contents of SMG2-GamePadCC.zip and your Super Mario Galaxy 2 disc image to somewhere sensible. I'm not your dad.
  2. Open a command prompt window in that directory.
    In Windows, you can do this easily by navigating to the folder you want in File Explorer, clicking in the address bar, deleting the contents and typing cmd (short for command) then hitting the Enter/Return key.​
  3. Use wit to extract the contents of your Super Mario Galaxy 2 disc image into a new directory. For example, if your game image is called SB4E01.wbfs, you would do something like this:
    Code:
    wit x SB4E01.wbfs Galaxy2GamePad
  4. Use wit again to patch the main.dol from your game. Note that where the main.dol gets extracted to will depend upon your disc image. If you have an UPDATE partition, you'll find the main.dol in the GAME partition, whereas if your image has the UPDATE partition removed, it will be right there in sys under your extracted directory. Example command for Windows (may not match your directory layout):
    Code:
    wit dolpatch Galaxy2GamePad\sys\main.dol xml=SMG2-ExtraControllers-WiiU.xml
  5. Use wstrt from Wiimm's SZS Toolset to add your preferred button layout to the main.dol. I'll provide examples of both options here. Don't do both. Come on.

    If you want the Super Mario 3D All-Stars layout:
    Code:
    wstrt patch Galaxy2GamePad\sys\main.dol --add-section SB4E01-SMAS.gct
    If you want the Nvidia Shield Mario Galaxy layout:
    Code:
    wstrt patch Galaxy2GamePad\sys\main.dol --add-section SB4E01-Nvidia.gct
  6. Repackage your extracted game directory into a standard disc image format, e.g.:
    Code:
    wit copy Galaxy2GamePad Galaxy2GamePad.wbfs
  7. Create a Wii VC injection of your final image (e.g. Galaxy2GamePad.wbfs) using your preferred injection tool. Remember to enable your tool's Classic Controller emulation feature.

    You don't need the Force Classic Controller mode. Also, don't use the Swap L/R and ZL/ZR feature unless you're weird; both layouts are already optimized for controllers where ZL/ZR are the main shoulder triggers like the Wii U GamePad.​
And you're done! Install your injection however you normally go about installing injections (e.g. V10lator's NUSspli). When you launch the game and it asks if you want to control it using the Wii U GamePad ... say yes.

Great work!!!
 
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Misunderstood Wookie

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You absolute legend mate, I was about to go and find a way to do this myself.
just saved me a ton of time digging up the older patching ISO things. I should point out if you are using the Wii U Galaxy 2 this will not work..

Has to be the VC inject of Wii Galaxy 2 which I am going to have to fetch again as I just installed the Wii U Galaxy 2 for the additional manual that shows up in-game. I have had success patching in past.
 

mrmagicm

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Question: What is the advantage of playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 with a wiiU Gamepad instead a wii remote?
What is the Drawback toward a wiimote? Does it work for the Gamepad Pro in wii?
Also, when you apply the patch, can you still play also/still with the wiimote?
Could this patch be applicable for other wii titles?

 

Norris

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Question: What is the advantage of playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 with a wiiU Gamepad instead a wii remote?
What is the Drawback toward a wiimote? Does it work for the Gamepad Pro in wii?
Also, when you apply the patch, can you still play also/still with the wiimote?
Could this patch be applicable for other wii titles?

well because gamepad is cool cause you can play without tv my sister or parents are on the tv a lot so its pretty cool to play galaxy 2 on a handheld device
 

mrmagicm

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my bedroom is 6m from my dining room where my Console is, with one small one, and gamepad loose contact, I've tested with 2 gamepads, so I think bluetooth is not efficient to play from a distance....but still, interesting for a kid in the room for playing when parent are watching Tv. Too bad you didn't try to respond of any of the questions.... ;(
 

Norris

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my bedroom is 6m from my dining room where my Console is, with one small one, and gamepad loose contact, I've tested with 2 gamepads, so I think bluetooth is not efficient to play from a distance....but still, interesting for a kid in the room for playing when parent are watching Tv. Too bad you didn't try to respond of any of the questions.... ;(
the wii u is techinally portable if you move and plug it in outlets lol but i mostly play just on my gamepad because i keep my wii u in my bedroom with no tv whenever my dad plays the nes emulation i put on it he prefers to have his tv audio in the background my mom watches tv a lot and my sister wouldnt like having the audio very loud i think the wii u should have been adverstised with this feature its defintly good if you still live with your parents/sibling also with the homebrew swip swap mii which lets you swap the gamepad screen for the tv screen so you can play games like splatoon gamepad only anyways to answer your question some other good things about classic controller is people who only have played to switch port are more familar its easier to set up for dolphin dont have to do weird mapping stuff, some people just dont like motion controlls/dont have a wii mote pointer sensor
 

Norris

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Question: What is the advantage of playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 with a wiiU Gamepad instead a wii remote?
What is the Drawback toward a wiimote? Does it work for the Gamepad Pro in wii?
Also, when you apply the patch, can you still play also/still with the wiimote?
Could this patch be applicable for other wii titles?

yeah it could be applied but i think it has to be recoded for whatever title you want hoepfully someone will port this for galxy one and new super mario bros wii
 

Misunderstood Wookie

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Question: What is the advantage of playing Super Mario Galaxy 2 with a wiiU Gamepad instead a wii remote?
What is the Drawback toward a wiimote? Does it work for the Gamepad Pro in wii?
Also, when you apply the patch, can you still play also/still with the wiimote?
Could this patch be applicable for other wii titles?

All of that was answered in the OP, not sure you asked this, I will answer anyway so others can see it down here.

Drawbacks
Some bosses become a bit more tedious to fight due to the lack of motion support for the star bits as aiming is less precise.
This mod does not seem to apply to the Wii U version of Galaxy 2 which has the fancy manual built into it. Though if I extract the game contents it probably is doable but will need to be rebuilt as whatever format the Wii U uses then back into a WUP.

Pros
  • You have can play the game with any supported Controller / GamePad, which should work with Classic Controller and should work with BlooPair for other supported Bluetooth controllers like Switch Pro Controller, in light of this the ergonomics of the controllers are better.
  • You still have access to lunching the game with the Wii Mote.
  • You can take pride that you now did some real Homebrew and not just launching some app from the launcher that somebody made for you :lol:

    Could this patch be applicable for other wii titles?
    Quite likely if someone was willing to adjust the code base for Super Galaxy 1 and replace the needed lines I might look into it, as I don't see why Galaxy 1 would be significantly different than the implementation used for Galaxy 2. I will give it a crack anyway.

    I cannot speak for other titles that all depends on what is being done if we are simply emulating the wii mote pointer too the right stickI don't see why it cannot be adapted if you are willing to change a few lines of code to match new references
 
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