Hacking into Shenmue 2 Cutscenes as Playable Areas

(Modding and other series related projects)

Hacking into Shenmue 2 Cutscenes as Playable Areas

Postby shengoro86 » Thu Dec 01, 2016 12:54 pm

While working on the Kowloon Explore mod update, I decided to try to make QTE and other cutscenes into walkable areas accessible to the player for explore/research purposes.

I believe this method was first discovered here by LanDC and Mistre Ziming but I couldn't find the relevant topic on it so I am posting it here and on the Shenmue mods page for historical reference.

Credit to the following people who made this possible:
Bluemue, LanDC, Mistre Ziming, Giorgio, Wude, Speud, and everyone else who figured out the no clip hacks and Dreamcast save file CRC checksums,and mapinfos stuff. Sorry if I missed anyone.

So here is a specific use case to wrap the tutorial around.
Please note that specific values like mapcodes and such will change depending on your source map for the save file and the map you want to hack into.


Gain access to the QTE cutscene where Ryo and Ren are running away from Don Niu and jump onto the rooftop.

Process:
To gain access to this level, we need to take into account some things. Shenmue 2 uses in game cutscenes for pretty much everything. This being said, that means that the levels the cutscenes take place in should 9 out of 10 times work the same way as playable areas do from a file and hex code standpoint. So to break into these levels we need to hack an existing save file to change which level code we start in and remove their clipping for free roam if necessary. To do that we can hex edit the map calls in the save file and fix its CRC to load. That only leaves two issues. The first issue is that the clipping for the map we want to hack into is still in effect and can break our movement if the FLDD sector exists, so we have to remove it using Bluemue's tutorial.
http://www.shenmuedojo.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=49248
The second issue is that with this basic procedure, our vertical height is determined by where our save file was originally saved in. So like saving on the 6th floor of a building will put us 6 floors in the air anywhere else, etc etc. So we need to find a sweet spot OR just hack the coordinates in the save file or live hack them via a emulation cheater program.

Tools needed:
1. a dumped copy of Shenmue 2 on DC
2. Tools to compile cdi or w/e format. (i use bootmake and binhack32) http://sizious.emunova.net/download/?idsys=2&idcat=4&idsscat=1 https://sourceforge.net/projects/binhack32/
3. hex editor (i use HxD) https://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd/
4. VMU Explorer http://bswirl.kitsunet.org/outil/pc/?lg=en&menu=on

Steps to get into the level (in this case the handcuff jump scene at QAXX.
1. In the dumped copy of Shenmue 2 go to /SCENE/03/XXXX and open the mapinfo.bin in a hex editor
NOTE: The QAXX scene for the handcuff jump scene has no FLDD sector. Leaving this step though in case another scene does.
2. Remove the FLDD--> | DOOR sector if it exists in the mapinfo and save the file
3. Compile this disc with the hacked XXXX map
4. In a working copy of Shenmue 2, create a save file on the 3rd floor of the Three Birds Building.
5. Open up the save file in a hex editor and replace QAE1 with QAXX and save the file
Image
6. Open up the save file in VMU Explorer and fix the CRC with the relevant option
Image
7. Launch the game and enjoy!

This height level will put you in the correct building height. Retry with the 2nd floor to access the rooftop they jump to. You can also access the ground area by making a save file on the first floor.

Enjoy!
Shenmue Mods Page Link: https://sites.google.com/site/shenmuemods/shenmue-ii/hack-into-qte-cutscenes-to-explore-them-in-game
Footage:
phpBB [video]

shengoro86 has received 2 thanks from: ReeceKun, Switch
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Favorite title: Shenmue IIx
Currently playing: Shenmue III (PC)

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