IN DEVELOPMENT: Shenmue Explore Mod 2.0 For HD Comparison

(Modding and other series related projects)

IN DEVELOPMENT: Shenmue Explore Mod 2.0 For HD Comparison

Postby shengoro86 » Tue Jul 10, 2018 11:22 am

Hello Friends. :)

Been a while ;) I've been a bit... busy.
Image
===
I''ve become heartbroken again... so I need to occupy myself. So I have some good news as my hacking skills are itching.
===
So. A while ago I was working on packaged versions of what I call "The Shenmue Explore Mod" which was a collection of nifty hacks from the community in one playable build of the game.
http://www.shenmuedojo.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=50503#p1144541

The aim was to make each and every area of Shenmue freely exploreable.

I stopped distributing it since I didn't want Sega to kick my ass but now I know that things are a bit more cool.

SO. I am going to begin working on a 2.0 release of my Shenmue Explore Mod.
===
What is it?
The 2.0 release will be an effort to get EVERYTHING unlocked.
My 1.4 release was near complete on terms of unlocked maps but there are a lot of optimizations I could make. I also didn't get the chance to migrate the passport maps from retail or WS. Also I didn't get the chance to properly hack the What's Shenmue maps (aside from Dobuita).
===
Why?
I am making it so we can properly document the changes between Shenmue on DC and Shenmue HD.
===
Release Date?
I am going to be working on this with intensity so I hope to have something done around end of August.
===

Historical Notes!
Code: Select all
What is it?
This is a mod of Shendream's BETA release of Shenmue 1 Disc 3.
This mod allows you to walk around most areas without clipping. This allows you to walk through walls and most objects.
It also contains playable maps for Dobuita in Whats Shenmue, Beta Yamanose, Beta Sakuragaoka, and Wish Road!

Why?
I made this for my own purpose but I wanted to share it with everyone. I always wanted to go wherever I wanted to when inside of shops and stuff.

How?
Each mapinfo.bin has been hacked to remove all clipping data.
Sub-sectors of PKS IPAC data have now begun being hacked.
Notebook hacked to show basic version number and instructions

Who?
The original clipping method was developed by Giorgio.
The ECAM warp zone removals were developed by Me.
The IPAC clipping hack was developed by Bluemue.
The beta maps were hacked by Wude.
The Beta itself was released by Shendream.
The What's Shenmue to BETA map conversion was done by me.
The grunt work was done by me :)


Footage!
phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

shengoro86 has received 2 thanks from: FlagshipFighter, Switch
User avatar
shengoro86
Admin - Shenmue500K
Shenmue 500K Staff
 
Joined: August 2004
Location: New Jersey, USA
PSN: Shengoro86
XBL: Rock Is Sponge
Favorite title: Shenmue IIx
Currently playing: Shenmue III (PC)

Re: IN DEVELOPMENT: Shenmue Explore Mod 2.0 For HD Compariso

Postby xatruio » Tue Jul 10, 2018 2:30 pm

Literally was just thinking about something similar, but hardware assisted modding. Been a pipe dream for years (although, after DreamPi and GDemu, what isn't possible anymore from the homebrew community?) for the modem port to be utilized as RAM expansion ala Saturn carts.

San Andreas style Shenmue with your modding ideas and expertise would be so cool. Although, realistically, the solid state benefits of GDemu essentially do this without sacrificing the load screen entirely or any code modding.

EDIT, this idea is very much in layperson terms. I'm no programmer. For all I know somehow could be possible without extra RAM. PS2 had DVD and double the RAM for a much bigger map of GTASA compared to Shenmue I (or even Shenmue 2?), although much less detailed or interactive. Perhaps 16MB isn't actually enough to stream load either Shenmue. Anyway, I digress...
User avatar
xatruio
"After Burner...Great!"
"After Burner...Great!"
 
Joined: June 2003
Location: Chicago
Favorite title: Shenmue II
Currently playing: Shenmue II

Re: IN DEVELOPMENT: Shenmue Explore Mod 2.0 For HD Compariso

Postby shengoro86 » Tue Jul 10, 2018 5:22 pm

xatruio wrote: Literally was just thinking about something similar, but hardware assisted modding. Been a pipe dream for years (although, after DreamPi and GDemu, what isn't possible anymore from the homebrew community?) for the modem port to be utilized as RAM expansion ala Saturn carts.

San Andreas style Shenmue with your modding ideas and expertise would be so cool. Although, realistically, the solid state benefits of GDemu essentially do this without sacrificing the load screen entirely or any code modding.

EDIT, this idea is very much in layperson terms. I'm no programmer. For all I know somehow could be possible without extra RAM. PS2 had DVD and double the RAM for a much bigger map of GTASA compared to Shenmue I (or even Shenmue 2?), although much less detailed or interactive. Perhaps 16MB isn't actually enough to stream load either Shenmue. Anyway, I digress...


I actually attempted to do this once:
phpBB [video]


Sadly the game engine doesn't like it too much.

shengoro86 has received a thanks from: xatruio
User avatar
shengoro86
Admin - Shenmue500K
Shenmue 500K Staff
 
Joined: August 2004
Location: New Jersey, USA
PSN: Shengoro86
XBL: Rock Is Sponge
Favorite title: Shenmue IIx
Currently playing: Shenmue III (PC)

Re: IN DEVELOPMENT: Shenmue Explore Mod 2.0 For HD Compariso

Postby xatruio » Tue Jul 10, 2018 10:16 pm

haha, somewhat amusing.

Do you have GDemu (or USB-GD)? I'm not into emulators much or like to burn too many CD-Rs, but I'd love to dive into mod scene of Shenmue or Half Life once I get one of them; use real hardware for these home-brew builds.
User avatar
xatruio
"After Burner...Great!"
"After Burner...Great!"
 
Joined: June 2003
Location: Chicago
Favorite title: Shenmue II
Currently playing: Shenmue II

Re: IN DEVELOPMENT: Shenmue Explore Mod 2.0 For HD Compariso

Postby Sappharad » Thu Jul 12, 2018 12:34 am

Have you ever considered just learning SH-4 assembly so you can patch the game itself instead of editing a ton of files? It would probably be easier to distribute a walk-through-walls cheat device code than modified files.

Might be a bit out of scope for your needs, but the end result is much more flexible. (That in mind, if you don't know any at all, you're better off starting with an easier platform. Once you know one processor you can pretty much stumble your way through SH-4 just with the documentation. That's what I did for the save import region unlock.)
Sappharad
Man Mo Acolyte
Man Mo Acolyte
 
Joined: October 2015
Favorite title: Shenmue II

Re: IN DEVELOPMENT: Shenmue Explore Mod 2.0 For HD Compariso

Postby Anthony817 » Thu Jul 12, 2018 1:06 am

Wow seeing that forklift driving around was nice. Too bad the game doesn't do well with them. Imagine new maps made for the game super detailed on PC built around the idea of driving. Would be interesting to see how far we can really push modding this game with no strict CPU and memory limitations.

Anyways cook exploration mod, always wanted to see what it looks like behind certain counters in shops and kitchens/bars.

xatruio wrote: haha, somewhat amusing.

Do you have GDemu (or USB-GD)? I'm not into emulators much or like to burn too many CD-Rs, but I'd love to dive into mod scene of Shenmue or Half Life once I get one of them; use real hardware for these home-brew builds.


I have been meaning to mod Half-Life on DC for years just never got into it even though it is one of my favorite games after Shenmue. I have been modding Battlefield 2 on PC for the past 2 years now so no stranger to modding.
User avatar
Anthony817
Man Mo Acolyte
Man Mo Acolyte
 
Joined: November 2009
Location: Texas
Steam: Anthony817
Favorite title: Shenmue II
Currently playing: Shenmue II English 99min

Re: IN DEVELOPMENT: Shenmue Explore Mod 2.0 For HD Compariso

Postby shengoro86 » Thu Jul 12, 2018 10:52 am

xatruio wrote: haha, somewhat amusing.

Do you have GDemu (or USB-GD)?


For console I exclusively use MNemo's V5 Internal USB-GDROM.

For emulator I usually just use NullDC for testing my CDIs before booting them on the DC

Sappharad wrote:Have you ever considered just learning SH-4 assembly so you can patch the game itself instead of editing a ton of files? It would probably be easier to distribute a walk-through-walls cheat device code than modified files.


Actually yes I tried! I'm very new to it and I haven't quite found a good resource yet. Do you have any reading recommendations?

There are some mods I attempted to do that seem to be impossible from a hex-editing perspective. Lower level knowledge would totally help with those.

Anthony817 wrote:Wow seeing that forklift driving around was nice. Too bad the game doesn't do well with them. Imagine new maps made for the game super detailed on PC built around the idea of driving. Would be interesting to see how far we can really push modding this game with no strict CPU and memory limitations.

Anyways cook exploration mod, always wanted to see what it looks like behind certain counters in shops and kitchens/bars.


Yeah dude I screamed when I got the forklift to drive in dobuita! It was a super halfassed mod but hey it was good enough for a PoC.
phpBB [video]


As for making the maps bigger, I dont think we have that ability in engine unless someone figures out how to enable that "sandbox mode" Tak Hirai mentioned in an interview.

shengoro86 has received a thanks from: Anthony817
User avatar
shengoro86
Admin - Shenmue500K
Shenmue 500K Staff
 
Joined: August 2004
Location: New Jersey, USA
PSN: Shengoro86
XBL: Rock Is Sponge
Favorite title: Shenmue IIx
Currently playing: Shenmue III (PC)

Re: IN DEVELOPMENT: Shenmue Explore Mod 2.0 For HD Compariso

Postby Sappharad » Thu Jul 12, 2018 10:18 pm

shengoro86 wrote:
Sappharad wrote:Have you ever considered just learning SH-4 assembly so you can patch the game itself instead of editing a ton of files? It would probably be easier to distribute a walk-through-walls cheat device code than modified files.

Actually yes I tried! I'm very new to it and I haven't quite found a good resource yet. Do you have any reading recommendations?

Not really, unfortunately. I never really liked reading to learn how to do things. I learned ASM on an 8-bit micro-cotroller from classes in college (which was extremely outdated when I did, they dropped that processor and moved to something that wasn't 30+ years old the following year) but it did have the advantage of being similar to the processor in the NES so someone else I took the class with actually built some NES homebrew for a project. When I wanted to learn stuff on my own years later, (not ASM related, but new programming language stuff) I found YouTube videos to be helpful. Not sure if there are good resources for that but if you like being able to follow along and just see something get built it's a good way to do it.

It's probably best to learn on an easy CPU though, maybe even NES could be a fun one if there are good resources for it. Once you've learned how to write assembly for processor, it kind of all clicks. I discovered emulators when I was in 4th or 5th grade, and had always wanted to write one growing up. After I learned how to write assembly for a little embedded system board they were teaching on us, I was finally able to write an emulator for that. (Because you're basically learning how to interact directly with the hardware, so writing an emulator at that point just turns into writing a program to run code you knew how to write.) From that point on, with knowing one platform picking up others is pretty easy, because you just need the manual telling you what all of the instructions do. For the ones that aren't obvious, you just look them up one by one in the manual. When I did the SH-4 stuff a couple years back, the instructions were pretty straightforward, I just needed the official manual to convert my patches into Hex bytes by hand because I didn't have an assembler.

An actual disassembler is helpful too, because they'll identify usages of strings and stuff, but something simple and free like dcdis will dump an entire 1ST_READ.BIN into a text file and it's usable at least.
Sappharad
Man Mo Acolyte
Man Mo Acolyte
 
Joined: October 2015
Favorite title: Shenmue II


Return to Community Projects

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

Powered by phpBB © 2000-
ShenmueDojo.net