~=======================================================~ Sega Ages 2500 - Phantasy Star: Generation 2 Save Game Hacking Guide ~=======================================================~ Version 1.0, last updated 14 April, 2008 Authored by MangledLeg Version History: - 1.0: second release Updates: > Remaining character stats added > Tutorial updated to fix an error > Q&A updated - 0.5: first release ~----------~ Contents ~----------~ 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Hacking Guide 3.0 Address values 4.0 Q&A 5.0 To-do list 6.0 Credits and contact details ~---------------------~ 1.0 Introduction ~---------------------~ This guide details how to manipulate saved files in Sega Ages 2500 - Phantasy Star: Generation 2. Having beaten the original game way back when (and becoming a massive fan of the series as a result), I made the plunge and picked up the remake about 18 months back. By the time I got to the Yellow Dam, I was finding the process of grinding my characters repetitive and time consuming, and not having the same resources I had (i.e. free time) when I was 11 when I first played through the game, I was keen to find a way to cut through the game. The following guide, while a bit convoluted, describes the method I used to successfully hack my save files to varying states. For those who are curious, I have also uploaded two save game files, one with see pre-hacked saves (prior to Neifirst and up to the Yellow Dam), and hacked saves (Neifirst, Dark Force and Mother Brain + a clear data game with normal stats). ~----------------------~ 2.0 Hacking Guide ~----------------------~ <: Requirements :> - Playstation 2 console that can launch homebrew software (i.e. by using swap magic, etc) - Memory card with Phantasy Star: Generation 2 save file (either make your own or download an existing one) - ULaunch software (for Playstation 2) - Windows XP (Vista should work as well, but I can't guarantee it) - PCSX2 (v0.94 or higher; see guide for PC specs) - MyMC (used for extracting save files from PCSX2 memory card files) - PS2 Savebuilder - Cheat Engine (v5.4 or higher) - USB drive <: Preface :> Firstly, you do this at your own risk – there is a very real chance you could lose or corrupt all the save data on your memory card by doing this, so if you break anything, it's your own fault – you have been warned! Make sure you make a few backups of your data in case you mangle something along the way. Secondly, this guide may be brief on some parts and will require you to be a bit computer savvy – outside the scope of this guide is getting your PS2 ready to utilise homebrew software (like uLaunch), setting up PCSX2, using MyMC and PS2 Savebuilder and the location of a good deal of the software described herein – remember, Google is your friend and will help fill in the gaps! I'll revise the text as time goes on, but you'll have to bear with me in the first few versions of this document. Third, you don't need to understand the basic precepts of hex editing and save game editing to make use of this guide, but it'll certainly help. Do some Googling for hacking ROMs and save games/save states for more info – there are even some guides on GameFAQs, such as the listing for Seiken Densetsu 3. I'm still a beginner on this stuff, so I figure if I can get my head around it, anyone should be able to! Finally, the guide is written so you hack your own save file – if you've downloaded a file and have imported it into your memory card file in PCSX2, you can skip the first few steps. <: Tutorial :> 1: Load up uLaunch on your PS2 with a USB drive connected to your PS2 and your memory card in slot 1. If you're wary of stuffing up your save data, use an empty memory card or backup your save games, including your original unhacked Phantasy Star 2 save game (the latter is *very* important! Make 2 or 3 copies, just in case you ruin your original!). 2: Start the file browser and navigate to your memory card (if it's in slot 1, it'll be mc0:/) and navigate to your Phantasy Star 2 save file, which should be "BISLPM- 62553". Tag the file by pressing X, then press R1 and select "Copy". Head back to the root directory listing (press [Triangle] a few times) and select your USB drive (noted as mass:/), then dump the file in any folder you like (press R1 and select 'Paste'). Make sure uLaunch is no longer accessing your USB drive (I normally press [Select] on the controller to take you back to the main menu; if you're going to be a while, you might as well turn off your console), and take out the USB drive. 3: Now we have to transfer the save file across to the PC – take your USB drive and copy the BISLPM-62553 save file folder across to your PC. Make a second copy somewhere as a backup on your PC or USB drive, then plonk another copy somewhere so you can manipulate it (e.g. your Desktop or another temporary folder). 4: Open PS2 Save Builder so you have a new file, then drag and drop the three files from BISLPM-62553 into the window. Make sure that "BISLPM-62553" (without the quotation marks of course) is listed in the Root dialogue box; if you don't do this, the game won't load! 5: Now that all your files are in there, goto File >> Save As… and save it into any random file format (I normally use .xps, e.g. ps2original.xps) – take note of where you saved it, because you'll be needing it for the next step. 5: Open up MyMC and find the memory card folder in PCSX2 (if you haven't already, start up PCSX2 without loading a game, go to the browser and format your memory cards to activate them), normally filed under "\Pcsx2_0.9.4\memcards" – grab "Mcd001.ps2" and open it. You should have the system info and any save files from PCSX2 in there. 6: Time to add the PS2 save file – select File >> Import, grab your original PS2 file, and you'll see it has now been added to your memory card. Close off MyMC once you're done. 7: Start up PCSX2, but make sure you load up "PCSX2t.exe" – it may work by loading up the standard "PCSX2.exe", but I *think* you get easier memory access by doing it by using "PCSX2t.exe". Next, load up Phantasy Star 2 – if you've done everything right so far, your save files should be in there. Load your game of choice, and get ready to start hacking. 8: Once your save game has loaded, tap [escape] to go back into the menu for PCSX2, open up Cheat Engine, then click the 'Select process' button (the little computer icon in the top left-hand corner), and find PCSX2 ("PCSX2t.exe"). 9: Now it's time to start playing around – load an address into Cheat Menu by clicking the "Add address manually" button. For the sake of this guide, load in the address for changing your meseta - 09F38344. Once its been loaded in, you'll notice the address listed in the bottom part of the window has a couple of other settings, but the one you're after is "Value". If you've done everything correctly, the number in the "Value" field should be exactly the amount of meseta you have. To change this value, simply double click the "Value" box and put in your desired amount of meseta (e.g. 999999) and select ok. 10: Test to see if it works – go back to PCSX2, select Run >> Execute to jump back into your game. If you have any menus open in-game or if you're in a shop, exit out so you're back to just being able to walk around. Press [Triangle] to bring up your menu, and if you've done everything right, you're meseta will be 999999! To change other values, simply follow steps 8-10 to perform the hack. You can either adjust stats individually, or you can do everything in a single hit – it's entirely up to you. Be sure to read the notes in section 3.0, as levelling up will have an adverse affect on any boosts to your attributes. 11: Once you've finished hacking your characters, head to a Data Memory house in any city and save your game, then exit Data Memory and exit the game and close PCSX2. 12: Open MyMC again and navigate to your memory card (see step 5). Find the Phantasy Star 2 save file, then goto File >> Export and give the file a useful name (e.g. super-ps2.max) and save it any format (I used .max). 13: Create a folder on your USB drive with "BISLPM-62553" as the folder name – put it somewhere you can identify it as your new save file, such as "\New hacked ps2 save\BISLPM-62553". 14: Open PS2 Savebuilder and load the new save file. Highlight the three files listed in the save file, then right-click and select "Extract", then save it into the new "BISLPM-62553" folder. You have now created a fresh Phantasy Star 2 save file in the native Memory Card format! 15: Insert your USB drive, open uLaunch, navigate to the new save file in your USB drive (i.e. mass:/)and tag the BISLPM-62553 folder, select copy, then navigate back to the main device listing, select your memory card (e.g. mc0:/). 16: If you have an existing Phantasy Star 2 save file present, (i.e. BISLPM-62553), rename it (e.g. BISLPM- 62553.old) or (preferably, but only if you have a backup of the original!) delete it by tagging the file (i.e. press X), then press R1 and choose to rename the file or delete it. If you don't have an existing save file, ignore this step and move onto step 17. 17: Once you've taken care of any existing files, press R1 and select "mcPaste". The file will be copied across. 18: Once its finished copying, head back to the main menu by pressing [Select], turn off your PS2. You can either check your memory card to see if the file is there (it should be, with a recent modified date). If it's all there, load up Phantasy Star 2 and see how you go. If you've done everything correctly, you can continue playing the game with your newly hacked characters! ~-----------------------~ 3.0 Address values ~-----------------------~ The following notes point out the address locations for hacking your data in the game. Make sure you read the notes, as they explain some of the "rules" to hacking your characters successfully. <: Meseta :> Address: 09F38344 Notes: Max value should be set to 9999999 (7 digits) or 999999 (6 digits). I've only pushed it to 6 digits, and it was happy to move into seven digits after some fighting and getting more money. I'm not sure if it can go beyond that, so watch out if you push to 7 digits and the game crashes/corrupts if you have a few battles and shoot past 7 digits for your meseta. <: Character stats :> Notes: -- Levels, experience and stats: the relationship between them Here's a little thing about Sega Ages PS:G2 – your attributes (strength, defence, etc) are directly linked to your levels. Your levels are linked to your experience. Mess one up, and everything falls apart. So, even if you've maxed out your attributes to a base of 999 but you haven't maxed out your levels and exp appropriately, the moment you hit a new level, all of your attributes will reset. Bummer. So there are two ways to mess around with your character's stats – either bump their level + experience to a certain point (for example – level 50) and leave the attributes, or push to level 99, 999999 experience and have fun with your attributes. I'll give instructions on maxing your characters out with the expectation of keeping your level at 99; if you're looking at a more moderate boost, you'll have to play around with your exp amount. You may be able to get by with only changing the level of your character, but I can't guarantee it since I haven't tried it. See the Q&A for some ideas on what to do if you're only after a moderate boost. -- Techniques Techniques are also connected to your level. Granted, you could probably hack them in, but you might as well just hack your level instead. After hacking your level, go into a fight, win (d'uh), and the screen will inform you when it rounds up all the stats that your character has learnt a new technique. Go into your characters list of techniques under their stats, and lo and behold, you'll have all the techniques up to your desired level. -- Recommended maximum stats Level: 99 Experience: 999999 (up to 8 digits/max) HP/MP: 999/999 Attributes (strength, defence, etc): 999 Meseta: 999999 (up to 7 digits/max) -- To boost your character to max base stats: 1: Make your level 99 2: Make your exp 999999 (six digits) 3: Make all your attributes 999 4: Go into a battle, finish it, then you'll get all your techniques maxed out -- Addresses/values for character stats Note: Names are given as original English name/Japanese name to make everyone happy. Translations of the stats are taken from Wolfgang's awesome and exhaustive guide to the game (see Q&A for the URL). Rolf/Eusis HP 09F37738 MP 09F37740 Level 09F37730 Exp 09F37784 Attack 09F37744 Defence 09F37748 Physical 09F3774C Mind 09F37750 Agility 09F37754 Luck 09F37758 Skill 09F3775C Nei/Nei HP 09F377BC MP 09F377C4 Level 09F377B4 Exp 09F37808 Attack 09F377C8 Defence 09F377CC Physical 09F377D0 Mind 09F377D4 Agility 09F377D8 Luck 09F377DC Skill 09F377E0 Rudo/Rudger HP 09F37840 MP -- Level 09F37838 Exp 09F3788C Attack 09F3784C Defence 09F37850 Physical 09F37854 Mind 09F37858 Agility 09F3785C Luck 09F37860 Skill 09F37864 Amy/Anne HP 09F378C4 MP 09F378CC Level 09F378BC Exp 09F37910 Attack 09F378D0 Defence 09F378D4 Physical 09F378D8 Mind 09F378DC Agility 09F378E0 Luck 09F378E4 Skill 09F378E8 Hugh/Huey HP 09F37948 MP 09F37950 Level 09F37940 Exp 09F37994 Attack 09F37954 Defence 09F37958 Physical 09F3795C Mind 09F37960 Agility 09F37964 Luck 09F37968 Skill 09F3796C Anna/Amia HP 09F379CC MP 09F379D4 Level 09F379C4 Exp 09F37A18 Attack 09F379D8 Defence 09F379DC Physical 09F379E0 Mind 09F379E4 Agility 09F379E8 Luck 09F379EC Skill 09F379F0 Kain/Kainz HP 09F37A50 MP 09F37A58 Level 09F37A48 Exp 09F37A9C Attack 09F37A5C Defence 09F37A60 Physical 09F37A64 Mind 09F37A68 Agility 09F37A6C Luck 09F37A70 Skill 09F37A74 Shir/Shiruka HP 09F37AD4 MP 09F37ADC Level 09F37ACC Exp 09F37B20 Attack 09F37AE0 Defence 09F37AE4 Physical 09F37AE8 Mind 09F37AEC Agility 09F37AF0 Luck 09F37AF4 Skill 09F37AF8 <: Resurrect Nei after the battle with Neifirst :> Address: 09F377AC Notes: To resurrect Nei, get passed the fight with Neifirst, allow her to die, etc, then go back to your house in Paseo. Remove all party members from your group, then exit the house, ensuring you're the only member of the party. Following the usual hacking procedure, plug in the address in CheatMaker, change the number in the "Value" field of the address from 0 to 1, then jump back into the game. Go back into your house in Paseo, goto Party Member Change, and Nei will be selectable; add her to your party. Exit your house again and take her to the resurrection shop/whatever, and resurrect her. If you want, pump up her stats if you haven't already, then continue the game with her. I haven't tried finishing the game with her yet, so I don't know if this will result in the cool ending or if it will unintentionally break something. I also don't know where her special claw weapon is, as I'm pretty sure you get it as a result of resurrecting her properly. If anyone has a save game with Nei resurrected the proper way and can upload it to GameFAQs, I can grab the address for the item so you can hack two of them into your inventory to use in a later update to this FAQ. ~-------------~ 4.0 Q&A ~-------------~ Q: Why didn't you just hack a saved game file or saved state? A: I actually did both before I went through this method – unfortunately, I'm still new to hex editing and wasn't able to work out where the checksum values are stored for each save slot, so the hacking the saved game file kept on resulting in corrupted files. I managed to hack the save state, but when you saved a game from the save state file, it corrupted the main memory card-based save file also. This method is therefore the best method I have come up with until I can work out where the checksum values are stored. Q: Why don't you simply use PCSX2 to patch the game instead of Cheat Engine? A: I used Cheat Engine as it was useful in doing comparisons between states – if anyone wants to do something similar in PCSX2 by using any of the techniques in this guide, go for it – if possible, link back to this FAQ with some credit, thanks. Q: What are the values for the other characters? A: That's on the To-do list (see 3.0) – I'll get off my lazy behind in due time to sort those out. Q: Can you add items into your inventory? A: Yup, but I haven't worked out a list. Guides for hacking the original Phantasy Star 2 on the Megadrive/Genesis have noted that the trend for the items that the further up the address scale you go once you find the item pool, the better the item; I wouldn't be surprised if the same theory works here. I'm keen to grab the value for the Visiphone since you can't use the same method for grabbing it that you use in the original game, but unless I have a save file with the item, it might be a while coming. I wouldn't mind duping some of the Nei items as well (such as the Nei Slasher). Q: Will I get the special ending if I resurrect Nei? A: Not sure, possibly not – the address simply re-adds her to the party, the game may check other values after you trounce Mother Brain to determine if you get the special ending. I'll give it a try when I get to the final boss and see what happens if somebody doesn't beat me to it. Q: What are some good guides to this game? A: Apart from Jack Power's guide on GameFAQs, Wolfgang Landgraf has an exhaustive guide to the game I have found invaluable. You can check it out at: http://rpg-home.lunar-net.com/psg2-web/index.html Q: How do I get past the Roron dump section? A: I had an e-mail I wrote a while ago detailing it… but I can't find it :P Going by memory, make sure you have all the characters waiting at your home in Paseo (go back and forth into your house until new people stop coming in), then follow Wolfgang's guide and talk to all the people in Kueri and Zema, you'll eventually start triggering events. Once sorted everything out, you'll get the Maruera Berry to give to the specific Motavian Native in the dump – don't give it to the wrong one! I'm not sure if it will work, but I'll track down the address for the Maruera Berry in Cheat Maker and update the FAQ with the details so you can simply add it to your inventory (that being said, I don't have a save file with the Maruera Berry – if someone wants to post one on GameFAQs, I'll be happy to have a look at it and credit you for helping out); it might mess up the game depending on how tight the events are, so don't count on it!! Q: How do I get the Maruera Gum? A: Similar to the above, make sure you go home and get all the new characters, then follow Wolfgang's guide; you'll be sorted after that. Alternatively, I still have the Maruera Gum in my save file, so I'll post the address for it in a later update. Q: I hear that you can create trainers using CheatEngine that can be run independently of the program – how about making one of those? A: I only read about this after I started writing this FAQ – I'll look into doing that once this guide has reached 1.0 and see what I can come up with. Q: I only want to make my characters level 50, not 99 – how much experience should I give them? A: Not sure on that one – you could leave your characters' exp alone and simply hack your level and see if the system tries to reset anything after a battle and see what happens. If it carries on without a worry, you're in luck. Otherwise, you'll have to hack your level, jump into the game, find the characters' stats screen, see what number is under 'next' and make sure that you hack your characters' experience so that it's less than that number. To be honest, the inconsistency shouldn't break the game, but I'm not going to guarantee it won't munt it either. And no, I'm too lazy to rig up a table showing the relationship between levels and required exp for all eight characters :P Q: Will you do something similar for PS:G1 released as part of the Sega Ages series on the PS2? A: Probably – I just managed to find a second-hand copy, and I'll look at doing something similar once I've refined this one a little more if the difficulty is rock- hard. Q: How about one for the Phantasy Star Complete Collection? A: No way – there's already a stack of easy modes implemented therein to soften the blow. My rationale behind this guide was to make PS:G2 a bit easier for those of us who don't have the time to grind as hard as we had to back in the days when Phantasy Star 2 first came out! Q: How do you steal the Visiphone in the remake since there isn't a baggage room in the Central Tower in Paseo? A: Here's what I did - I cranked Shir up to level 99 (should be possible at around level 20-30 I assume, but I haven't tried it myself), had only Shir and Rolf in my party, and visited the Central Tower in Paseo. I would enter, visit the commander, then visit the librarian, then exit. I repeated for approx 25-30 times, then Shir ran off. After that, I went back to Rolf's house, collected Shir, and I had the Visiphone in my inventory. I wasn't sure if visiting the librarian or the commander did the trick or if you have to do both, but that's how I did it. Q: How do you get to Naval? A: You get to Naval via Skure - there are four exits to Dezo on B2F, three of them take you to the three cities on Dezo, and the fourth, which is located on the far-left series of platforms on that floor, takes you to Naval. Q: Are you going to add the addresses for the other items? A: I tried giving it a go, but couldn't track down the addresses for the items. I might try again in the future, I might not :P The big thing was getting the Visiphone and working out the other special items - I've covered the techniques for these earlier in this guide, which you can use in combination with Wolfgang's excellent site. For the a detailed guide to properly doing the Nei Resurrection, see Jack Powers' guide on GameFAQs. Q: Where can I obtain your save game files? A: GameFAQs. ~-------------------~ 5.0 To do list ~-------------------~ - Add more detail to the guide - Create trainer to simplify the hacking process - Add listings for the following items: -- Visiphone -- Maruera Berry -- Maruera Gum -- Nei items -- Nei's Animal Claw ~------------------------------------~ 6.0 Credits and contact details ~------------------------------------~ This guide is (c) MangledLeg 2008. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. You may not copy, redistribute or reproduce any of this document without prior consent of the author, with the following exceptions: the guide has been written with the intention of being added to GameFAQs, and thus has an express, non-exclusive license that is granted to GameFAQs to host this guide; this FAQ can also be read on your internet browser or stored on a local drive or storage medium for backup or referral purposes. It may be printed out for individual use under the same condition of backup or referral for individual use. In no circumstance can it cannot be sold, lent, reprinted (physically or electronically) or redistributed without the express written permission of the author. All requests can be sent to the e-mail address stipulated below. Any questions/feedback can be sent to the author/copyright owner at mangaman@japan.com. I'm a bit slack with answering e-mails, and can't guarantee I'll respond straight away, so my apologies in advance. Shouts to Miguel for buying Phantasy Star 2 on the Mega Drive back in 1993 and inadvertently getting me hooked on this series and JRPGs in general, GameFAQs for being such a brilliant resource, Jack Power and Wolfgang Landgraf for their excellent guides and replying to my e-mails a while ago with attention and detail, the Madboards crew for putting up with my ongoing rants about the brilliance of this series, and most of all, to my other half for not minding the fact that I probably spend too much time tinkering on the PC doing stuff like this instead of spending time with her! Oh, and a big shout out to the old-school Sega – bring back the love, and give Reiko Kodama a team to make a new Phantasy Star or Skies of Arcadia game, I think the gaming world (and your bank roll) are in need of it!