I've tried for about a year to figure this out, and it's getting to the point where I'm pulling out my beard because all the hair on my head is gone. If I can figure it out then I can make some really fantastic community projects, and the 2D Shenmue adventure game I'm working on would happen much faster.
I need a way to swap character models in Shenmue 1, on the fly (as in, while the game is running, because burning it again each time isn't an option). I thought cheat codes could make this possible, as I was able to find codes which swap out lines of dialogue between two characters, and even switch Ryo's skin between jacket and no jacket (and shoes / socks), but I'm not entirely sure if it's even possible with cheat codes, as I can't figure out where they might have needed to use variable character models depending on the scene.
Do you either have another suggestion, or a way I might be able to track down a model swapping code?
I know it's possible to swap models and then burn a disc, but that takes a little too long for what I want to achieve, which is ripping just tons of 2D assets.