Shenmue Bicycle Mod

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Re: Shenmue Bicycle Mod Project by James Reiner (Progress Vi

Postby gabril » Tue Jul 09, 2013 7:18 pm

Thanks for working on this project!!! :D
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Re: Shenmue Bicycle Mod Project by James Reiner (Progress Vi

Postby shengoro86 » Thu Jul 18, 2013 11:53 am

Quick Update:
I will now be updating this thread with my progress.

I actually destroyed my DC's mobo while working on this.

I got contacted by LanDC regarding some new methods to pull this mod off.

Pretty much what is going on is:
I was working on a series of modifications to the Road to Amihama scene to create a test environment that will allow someone to ride a bicycle.

I attempted to replace the model of the motorcycle with Wang's bike from Ajiichi and replace the motion data with the tidbits of motion data that exists on the disc, for the bicycle.

I am doing this on the Japanese release of Shenmue 1. I am also comparing it to the BETA release from ShenDream to see if it is possible on there too.

The motion data is incomplete so a hybrid data must be created via hex editor to make a drivable bike.

I created the hybrid motion data by pretty much overwriting blocks of hex with the complete blocks from the bike data.
When loading the scene, the game crashes. I believe this to be some sort of hash check that doesn't add up or my hex skills suck, or my thoughts are incomplete about how the motion data instruction set works.

The breakdown for this mod goes like this, I will make this as simple as possible. A lot more detail is involved in the mod itself:
I am using LanDCs old mod combined with some methods from Kakuzawa to make the Road to Amihama walkable.
I hacked the map to also attempt to load the scripts needed to start the motorcycle scene.
^^ This is done by replacing some SCENE items with the SCENE for the motorcycle section, very half assed hack.
I swapped the model for the motorcycle with the bicycle. This is possible due to the mod that makes the road walkable. It constitutes a sector of RAM to load parts of dobuita, including the bike.

I then swap the memory addresses for the motorcycle with Wang's bike in hopes to begin the chainload sequence that will make the game engine look for the bike motion data (in our case the hybrid hacked motion data).

In best case scenario, the bicycle would load and Ryo will treat it like the motorcycle (on terms of engine level handling) but ride it like a bicycle.
The problem that occurs is that, it seems that the DC has a cluster of protected memory that the game loads information into. The bike model, or at least some pointer for it, exists in protected memory.

Since the memory swappage happens within usermode space, the game locks up since a kernel panic happens when usermode authenticated users try to escalate to system to mess with protected memory space.

To get around this, I used an existing but mostly unknown method to half crash the processor to get the kernel to write to protected memory [thanks Team Utopia for that one!]. This involves poking the mobo with a probe with the correct current, very similar to glitching the RAM on the PS3 to grab lv0 keys. Due to this process, getting this to work on NULLDC or DEMUL is slim to none.

I destroyed my USA Dreamcast doing this but I did get the exploit to work! Unfortunately, it worked for a second and then the fire came :). Unfortunately, Shenmue won't run on my Dev unit's hard drive.

So anywho,
When I wrote this on the Shenmue500k page, I got contacted by LanDC. I am now working with him on getting this mod completed, one task at a time.
He may be on to a new method to get this to work, but its by a long shot.
I will report what we find as long as it doesn't destroy any more Dreamcasts.

Luckily, I have 3 more!

I am looking forward to finishing this mod.

James
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Re: Shenmue Bicycle Mod Project by James Reiner (Progress Vi

Postby shengoro86 » Thu Jul 18, 2013 11:57 am

Master Kyodai wrote: I think maybe there could even be different approaches for the Bike mod. OK I'm mainly just guessing here, but possible approaches that came to my mind:

- Replace the Motion data from Ryos walking to the bike motion data. Not sure about the format in S1, in Shenmue 2 you have seperate .mot files for some motions. In Shenmue 1 i think the motions get switched in mapinfo.bin, quote from a Whats Shenmue mapinfo "FTLK: Set motion %d to %s 2"

- Maybe it's also in the 1st_read.bin, if you search the 1st read.bin of Whats Shenmue for "BIKE" you find a reference. Other references in 1st read i suggest at least looking at are "BikeRoot" (I think that might be the definition of the bike) and "Mo_HoldBike" (I think maybe thats the motion for sitting on the bike).

- Edit the motion.bin. Prolly the hardest part since that file is not really human readable. But the 1st read refers to it, i think it refers to hex codes for the start byte to read from if i understand it right.



Thanks for this info!

The 1st_READ.bin method is the one we are currently looking into. There is a possible debug that we can enable to get the bike working.
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Re: Shenmue Bicycle Mod Project by James Reiner (Progress Vi

Postby Master Kyodai » Thu Jul 18, 2013 5:29 pm

Personally i think the Bike mod might even be easier than we suppose. Probably just a line commented out in 1st_read.bin or so. The old whats Shenmue one might be the be the best bet since it is the oldest one. I don't think they did rocket science to take it out. there's so much unused stuff in the files and some NPC ride a bike as well. the timeline between that old VHS video demo where Ryo rides a bike and the whats Shenmue Demo is not too long... Anyways, I think there's several approaches to this, not sure which one would be the easiest. Hardest part is understanding stuff like 1st_read.bin and such, but once you edited it successfully you can prolly stremline the process so you try out mods at a pace like sausages get processed in a hot dog factory...

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Re: Shenmue Bicycle Mod Project by James Reiner (Progress Vi

Postby shengoro86 » Thu Jul 18, 2013 7:21 pm

I'm with you on that.
What's Shenmue is a good build to work on since it does have a ton of things that the retail build doesnt have or at least use.

We actually might have found something in What's Shenmue today that will aid us in this.
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Re: Shenmue Bicycle Mod Project by James Reiner (Progress Vi

Postby shengoro86 » Sun Sep 22, 2013 4:18 pm

Hi all,

Just wanted to let you all know that I am still working on this project. I am also trying to get my career together so it has been a while.

@Master Kyodai, I am looking into the 1st_read file over the next two weeks to get some sort of PoC together.

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Re: Shenmue Bicycle Mod Project by James Reiner (Progress Vi

Postby Master Kyodai » Tue Sep 24, 2013 3:26 am

Really glad to hear the project is not forgotten!

When you're at it then try to also take a short peek into the mapinfo. All scripts for the "room" are in there. Possibly fairly easy to make Ryo mount a motorcycle if you steal from the "Save Nozomi" scene? But yeah just guesswork here. Good luck from all of us =)
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Re: Shenmue Bicycle Mod Project by James Reiner (Progress Vi

Postby ShenmueTree » Tue Sep 24, 2013 11:23 am

Quick question, are you trying to enable a sort of work around to ride the bicycle around all areas or only on the road to Amihama?
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Re: Shenmue Bicycle Mod Project by James Reiner (Progress Vi

Postby shengoro86 » Thu Sep 26, 2013 2:44 pm

Master Kyodai wrote: Really glad to hear the project is not forgotten!

When you're at it then try to also take a short peek into the mapinfo. All scripts for the "room" are in there. Possibly fairly easy to make Ryo mount a motorcycle if you steal from the "Save Nozomi" scene? But yeah just guesswork here. Good luck from all of us =)


Yeah the save Nozomi scene was the original target for the bike ride since a lot of the motion data gets called automatically. It saves time and allows for some easier work arounds.

ShenmueTree wrote:Quick question, are you trying to enable a sort of work around to ride the bicycle around all areas or only on the road to Amihama?


The original bike mod was tailored to use the Road to Amihama. I got a hold of LanDC and another member who wishes to remain unknown, and got the tools needed to get a method to swap the motor cycle with the bicycle.

This was the breakdown:
Create save file at Road to Amihama scene
Hacked RAM (via Action Replay) to glitch the timer to make it infinity
Live hotswap Bike model variable with Cycle variable to chain load motion data

I actually got most of the mod to work but one little issue occurred.

The Dreamcast's RAM and processor can go into protected mode. Shenmue stores the bike model in protected RAM so you need to half crash the ALU to calculate in system/non-protected mode. To do this, you need to boot DC Linux, probe the mainboard, and chain load the OS from the Shenmue disc into RAM with the hotswap. My method here actually worked but my Dreamcast shorted out when the bike loaded.

I managed to swap the motor cycle with Wang's bike from Ajiichi and get a hybrid motion data chained into it. Ryop akwardly road the bike before my DC gave the magic black smoke of death.

Unfortunately, my DC died before I could get some footage.

The NEW method is now underway and is 100% software based.

Two members brought this idea to me before I posted here.

In the Japanese 1st Read binary there is a string/block of hex that will allow for a debug menu to show. It is HIGHLY rumored that it may allow for spawning of objects/physics, potentially including the bike.

So to answer your question, the old method was for Road to Amihama, the new method is for actually getting the Bike in the game as shown in the What's Shenmue video demo.

james

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Re: Shenmue Bicycle Mod Project by James Reiner (Progress Vi

Postby shengoro86 » Sun Nov 10, 2013 6:31 pm

Hi all,

Just wanted to update you all and say that I might have the mod in an alpha state by Xmas Eve.

So far, Ryo is spawnning onto the bike instead of Nayouki's motorcycle.

For now, I have not been successful in implementing the above mentioned method to get the bike unlocked for normal gameplay.

I am working within the very little time I have so its taking forever.

It will be released here first in the form of a hacked iso and special save file.

I am aiming to make it work in both NullDC and official hardware.

Once I have it completely stable, I will upload a video to my youtube channel.

james

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Re: Shenmue Bicycle Mod Project by James Reiner (Progress Vi

Postby ShenmueTree » Wed Jan 01, 2014 9:39 pm

Any news on this or are there roadblocks. I was really looking forward to it but if's it a matter of just being really busy, I understand.
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Re: Shenmue Bicycle Mod Project by James Reiner (Progress Vi

Postby shengoro86 » Thu Jan 02, 2014 10:12 am

ShenmueTree wrote: Any news on this or are there roadblocks. I was really looking forward to it but if's it a matter of just being really busy, I understand.


Yes I did hit a roadblock.

Two things:

Finding the time to work on this, I just started a new job and moved out of my parents' house into my own place.

The other road block I'm facing is that the game likes to lock up when it loads the bike model instead of the motorcycle.

Half the time it works, and the other half it locks up.

I tried a ton of things to get it to work but this behavior is random. I don't know what causes it.

I am trying to get this done by the end of Feb, or at least a playable preview build.

If I can't get it to work, I'll release everything so that the more experienced people can try it out and see if they can see what I don't.

I'll release the method also if I get it to work. But honestly, its not anything too difficult. The only hard part is knowing which RAM blocks to call and swap using symbolic links.

I'll be working on this over the weekend and possibly filming it in its current stage so you guys can see it trying to work.

/james
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Re: Shenmue Bicycle Mod Project by James Reiner (Progress Vi

Postby shengoro86 » Tue Feb 25, 2014 9:51 pm

New Update!

Still working on this.

phpBB [video]

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Re: Shenmue Bicycle Mod Project by James Reiner (Progress Vi

Postby ShenSun » Tue Feb 25, 2014 10:27 pm

can't wait. Keep up the awesome work man. I tried hacking software/hardware when i was younger. Very tough.

Is the mod in a state where a video could be taken? I would love to see a preview of this.
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Re: Shenmue Bicycle Mod Project by James Reiner (Progress Vi

Postby wude » Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:34 pm

nice vid james, the idea of porting wang's motion data, and make it work on ryo is pretty interesting.
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