Anthony's PS2 Modding thread

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AnthonyBF2
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Anthony's PS2 Modding thread

Post by AnthonyBF2 »

I can easily munge the asset scripts into a new mission.lvl, in order to change a lot of existing content to stock levels. I can even run the mission file in the server manager (pc version) and it will still work, providing I didn't change too much and make it crash.

For the PS2 server type, the newly created mission.lvl will not work. The game freezes upon joining or server crashes upon ending a level.

There are not a lot of players left in the PS2 multiplayer.. This is mainly a hobby, and to see if it can be solved. I searched forums anything related to PS2 modding, and all I got was hex editing(hex is boring + I've done waaaaayyy too much with that already)
I can already output an ingame.lvl, side levels and any map and it works just fine for PS2 server sided.

Is there a fix to make an output mission.lvl work in the PS2? (server sided)

Note: even if none of the scripts are modded, it still fails.
Note: not in any way interested in making a modded ps2, server sided is the goal so that others can enjoy mods.

One more question regarding PS2..
In the ToolsFL folder, there is some tools that supposedly work with, or can create files for PS2.
Has anyone made , or can make them functional?
Last edited by AnthonyBF2 on Fri Dec 12, 2014 4:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: mission.lvl fails on PS2/PS2 questions

Post by Teancum »

If the individual scripts don't match the original PS2 scripts (the ones that shipped with the PC mod tools don't) then you'll have that issue. The only thing you can do is re-inject (via hex editing) the original scripts for the stock maps/modes.
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Re: mission.lvl fails on PS2/PS2 questions

Post by AnthonyBF2 »

I've done various file comparisons using hex, between an output file and the file from the server manager's installation. If I change any data on the modded file to match the old file... fails in an odd way... Server has empty maps tab and cannot start.

I also used your "bf2 mod tools ps2" pack, still crashes at the end of a map.
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Re: mission.lvl fails on PS2/PS2 questions

Post by Teancum »

The PC scripts -- all of them (not just mission specific) -- are different. What I'm saying is you'll have to munge individual scripts you want to add and manually append those to a stock ps2 mission.lvl using a hex editor.
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Re: mission.lvl fails on PS2/PS2 questions

Post by AnthonyBF2 »

Understood... I will attempt it after I cool down from screwing up.

Hex is boring.... so is restarting ps2 over and over when it crashes :runaway:

EDIT
Teancum, if you're seeing this, I'd like to discuss something further on the topic that I noticed a while back but forgot to mention.

At the time the goal is simply to use the mod tool's output mission file (all stock levels) and use the file for the PS2 server manager.

The result is, PS2 console freezes upon joining a level, or the server crashes when a map tries to end.

How ever this is not the case with the campaign levels. These levels actually play just fine (half of them)
For the particular campaign levels that DO work on the server, all I had to do their respective scripts is remove the 2 codes: (no other mods, codes are added)

SetMissionEndMovie
ScriptCB_PlayInGameMovie

For the campaign levels that do play fine, they never crash and I can replay them consistently.
With lots of AI, and up to 9 or more humans which is about all that is active on PS2 :roll:

The console freezing and server crashes only seem to happen in the basic gameplay levels.


Apart from this, there are a few campaign bugs - I can live without fixing them
1. no matter which campaign map it is, players cannot jump or use jetpack
2. cannot enter tanks - this renders space levels almost useless (since campaign lua doesn't crash I can build teleports, and stuff to make up for the loss of using a ship)
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Re: mission.lvl fails on PS2/PS2 questions

Post by Teancum »

Interesting finds, but I'm not sure what you're asking. What is it you're trying to do?
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Re: mission.lvl fails on PS2/PS2 questions

Post by AnthonyBF2 »

I need to find the difference between campaign and basic levels, so I can make the output mission file work for all levels, instead of crash/freeze.

I tried to munge separate missions and hex them into the stock file, doesn't work or at least I'm not doing it right.

Before using mod tools, I only ever was able to insert data into side lvl files with success, any attempts I make at adding data to a mission file fails.
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Re: mission.lvl fails on PS2/PS2 questions

Post by Teancum »

Ah, I get what you want now. Well I'll say this -- you can't have conflicting mission scripts on the disc and on the server. You can add *new*, separate scripts and run them from the server (if you know what you're doing), but you can't change existing ones. If the client (player) script doesn't match the server script you'll crash. For scripts not set up for multiplayer (like campaign) it treats it as an all-new script... or DLC if you will. At least that's the way the PC does it. Nobody has tested it on the PS2. Other people have done tricks like this for single-player content on the PSP. You can fudge a bit to add new stuff on your server that way.
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Re: mission.lvl fails on PS2/PS2 questions

Post by nobody3 »

Without the original ps2 .lua you won't be able to munge ps2 compatible mission.lvl
I doubt the people who created it are still around so your only bet is the hex editing...
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Re: mission.lvl fails on PS2/PS2 questions

Post by Teancum »

nobody3 wrote:Without the original ps2 .lua you won't be able to munge ps2 compatible mission.lvl
I doubt the people who created it are still around so your only bet is the hex editing...
That doesn't matter. You can't cajnge a stock Lua and play it online unless everyone has the same lua, which is what he wanted to do.
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Re: mission.lvl fails on PS2/PS2 questions

Post by nobody3 »

Depends on what you change. I do these changes for the last 2 years in my own server. So i know what will work and what won't. Generally speaking, loading new stuff won't work (like different units etc) but changing or adding stuff works like new lua commands, changing the existing ones or modifying them.

From the posts above I don't understand what he's trying to achieve except for newly munged mission.lvl working on his server so nobody else has to download the mod.
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Re: mission.lvl fails on PS2/PS2 questions

Post by AnthonyBF2 »

I've been modding server-sided stuff for over a year myself, and can do may things for PC version and PC server.

the mod file crashes if used on the PS2 server, expect for the campaign levels. I got a bit frustrated with this particular thing but will try more later. I need to find the difference between campaign and basic levels so I can make the whole mod mission file work on PS2 server.
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Re: mission.lvl fails on PS2/PS2 questions

Post by nobody3 »

maybe campaign scripts weren't changed but idk

ps2 mission file is different than pc one if you look at it in hex editor, I doubt you can make it work without the original scripts
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Re: Anthony's PS2 Modding thread

Post by AnthonyBF2 »

I renamed this topic to avoid making another one since again I have question for PS2.

I need to know the general texture sizes so that I may reproduce copies of the retail side files, ingame file, map files, etc.

A majority of PC files are 512x512, I have to think the PC textures are too large for the PS2 to handle.

I looked at the ewk.lvl on the PS2 disc and it is around 255kb.
I made another ewk.lvl with all the textures lowered to 64x64, the munged file was around 450kb.

I have to think that the textures may still be too large.
So the general question is; what is the proper size for all tga files in the sides, maps, and all the textures in the common folders?
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Re: Anthony's PS2 Modding thread

Post by AceMastermind »

You could try launching the game through PCSX2 with TexMod and see what texture sizes it uses.

EDIT
The largest textures I saw in Endor were 256x256, these were for characters, buildings and environment. Anything larger was for the user interface.
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Re: Anthony's PS2 Modding thread

Post by AnthonyBF2 »

I have already dug into console modding and would rather not mess with emulators, and all the tasks hat come along with it. My computer can't handle PS2 emulator anyway.

I have most things set, I just need to get a swap magic disc.

Anyway, I made an ewk.lvl with the textures all on 32x32, and tested it in PC game client, and it actually looks worse than PS2 gameplay. It looks similar to PSP.

So I think now textures were ok on 64.

I want to get this texture thing figured out properly before actually trying to make a new copy for PS2.
I don't want to make them too big and cause lag, but I don't want to end up playing PSPish graphics on the PS2.
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Re: Anthony's PS2 Modding thread

Post by Teancum »

It's far more likely that textures were scaled down by the same (or similar) scale. For example, a 512x512 texture might be 128x128 on PS2, but a 128x128 PC texture might be 32x32.
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