Power Pros Forum

I'd like to learn how to hex edit Wii savegame data (especially player details). I know several members here regularly post edited real life players that were initially created in Success Mode and I'd love if you would help me get started.

Despite many claims to the contrary, MLB Power Pros saves can be transferred from system storage to removable storage (or even a networked computer). However, you need a soft-modded Wii and a savegame manager (e.g., SaveGame Manager GX: wiki, project site).

So, I have save files from the Wii system that I can easily access on my computer. Hex editing is not completely new to me, but I don't know much more than the basic concepts (memory addresses, variable types, etc). I'd love to be able to make some RL players for the Wii but I need some guidance, whether it be a fleshed out tutorial or a link to a website that'll help me learn.

Thanks in advance!

Also, I'd be happy to create custom Wii players upon request. Because of the soft-modding, I have some great tools at my disposal that I can use to create a Success Mode player with whatever attributes and abilities that are normally attainable within Success Mode (For example, I can make a player who's maxed out in every attribute and has every upgradable ability. However, I cannot (without hex editing) make a pitcher with Gryoball and Intimidator or add attributes like Gd Rain or 2nd Position 4.

In the unlikely event that I receive frequent requests, I can provide no promises regarding the time it will take to create a player. Often the time I can dedicate to MLBPP is curtailed by health issues.

Hi I have done quite a bit of hex editing to success mode players, however only for the ps2. Eric Davis has also done a bit but I believe more on an edit for default rosters. If you look up in the forums a topic titled 255 (I'm not at home thus I can't give a more detailed response). Eric gives the location of each ability within the roster save.

I'd really like if this were to work, I have plenty of requests. If we could get more guys created for the Wii it'd give me more motivation to continue updating the game another year.

Great, thanks! I'll see what I can make of it. I've asked for help because I'd like to be able to do it, but if working on this project is helpful to other people, I'd not be opposed to sharing my extracted game data.

Ben

I'm going to start work comparing the differences between backups before and after single changes (increasing Ellsbury's RUN SPD, for example) to isolate memory locations and format, while comparing my results with the PS2 info. I'm sure I can figure this out but, since I'm accustomed to using memory scanners more than hex editors, I'd appreciate any advice or recommendations.

Thanks in advance,

Ben

P.S. My BoSox won, WOOT! Tons of respect for Chicago and St. Louis, unbelievably talented teams that still have me wondering how we won the ALCS and WS.

Warning, rant below.

But I'd better not hear a word about Jon Lester's glove or I'll go off about the ridiculous obstruction call, and that World Series games shouldn't end because of a judgment call unless it's almost indisputably obvious. As the rulebook says, ""Obstruction" by a fielder attempting to field a ball should be called only in very flagrant and violent cases." And yes, I know that Middlebrooks was considered to be no longer in the act of fielding the ball, but the point is that intent does matter and discretion is encouraged in whether to call obstruction.

[size=80]Yes, stepping over Middlebrooks changed Craig's run/hobble to home, but it has to be more certain that the crippled runner would have been safe at home regularly. A Slate.com article notes: "whether the call was right or wrong, we should recognize that the very fact that so many people currently disagree with each other about it is evidence that it's not nearly that simple. It very easily could have gone the other way." The standard needs to be raised even higher since Craig was nearly crippled by his foot injury and probably just as likely to collapse thirty feet past first base (after the game he said that he didn't know if he was going to be able to run home)).

[size=90]This upsets me much more as a baseball fan than as a Red Sox fan. After all, we did win the series and were able to do so at Fenway because it went an extra game. The call itself doesn't bother me nearly as much as the fact that I was hardly surprised that it was made and that a World Series game ended because of it.

Okay so exactly how did you get your saves on your computer? & also I did a tutorial on how to "hack" the two games for success mode, maybe that would help.

If you look at my original post, I link to both the Wii Homebrew wiki and the app SaveManager GX. Essentially you use a loader (in this case the Homebrew channel) to run SaveGame Manager. WIth that, you can extract the MLBPP08 data that's in system storage to external storage. The details to install the Homebrew channel are here: http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Homebrew_setup#Letterbomb

Please be aware that doing so is against the Wii ToS and, if you're not cautious, carries a small risk of causing damage to your Wii. So, keep that in mind and be sure to read up about the Homebrew project before deciding whether to soft-mod.

I have homeless & game save manager so I'm set, when I extract
The game saves I put it in hex editor I'm
Not seeing what I'm suppose to. Maybe you have something
Different. Any way you can send those
Files?

Okay after playing around with it, it seem very difficult. Reasons being
-I cant seem to find any of the players that are a part of success mode(Marvin, Milton, Zero etc..)
-I found my success mode character but every time I edit something with him the file goes corrupt, so there may be some sort of check-sum.
-Finding location of original pitches and the types of upgrades to adjust is going to be nearly impossible, unless I can get a file of a before & after training with dad.
-Last thing I tried making the fastball go past 105 and it cant seem to exceed that, maybe i'm doing something wrong but I'm not sure.

Right now, I'm playing around with small changes in success mode saves to map out the save file. I compared Eric Davis' info to the format for my edited players and it seems to match.

I'm going to try editing some success mode save values and see if I can preserve the file integrity.

I wish I had more experience coding so I could easily write something to parse the hex data. I might try working on that but I'd love if someone with scripting skills could help.

Also, what are we thinking is the best way to approach editing rosters? If everyone had a soft-modded Wii, we could edit the save information for the existing players and merge that into the pm3usma.dat file. Without the ability to extract and install saves, I'm guessing that we'd be relying on hex editing success mode players and posting their passwords. Any guidance there would be appreciated, so I know what to work on.

Oh, one more thing: If you don't have a soft-modded Wii, but have the motivation and know how, you can help by parsing specific save files with a hex editor.

//Ben

Okay let me know what happens when you try to mess around with the success mode saves. Try to make smaller changes at first. What exactly does the pm3usma.dat contain? Just the roster correct? And what we can do it mod and play around with it so we can add more then one original pitch or make a pitcher have gyroball and intim. That's what I'm thinking.

So everyone else knows, the game stores your save in seven files:

pm3usma.dat
pm3usmy0.dat
pm3usmy1.dat
pm3usmy2.dat
pm3usse0.dat
pm3usse1.dat
pm3usse2.dat

Based on the names and the values saved in them, the three pm3usmy's are Life Mode saves and the pm3usse's are Season Mode saves. Thus, pm3usma should contain everything else that you've saved.

Using file comparisons of different versions of the files (before and after changing Alex Rodriguez's saved name to A-roid in the Edit Player function, for example), I can find where the file saves that data.

However, making changes to the files in the hex editor is tricky, as many of you know. A Season Mode save that's had the number of owner points changed is recognized as a corrupt save when it's installed back on the Wii. I'm not positive whether this problem stems from a checksum in the save or whether it's because (if owner points are changed) other values don't match up (sources of income and expenses are also saved, so the game might check if income minus expenses matches up to total owner points, for example).

If it's just a matter of matching up corresponding values like that, then it shouldn't be too hard to actually make whatever changes we want. If it's also a checksum, that could be difficult. I'm guessing that the save format for the Wii isn't too different from the PS2, so if anyone who has successfully done this on the other system can shed some light, I'd appreciate it.

Oh, also, I've composed this reply on my phone, so apologies if there are any autocomplete disasters.

//Ben

Im thinking it has something to do with the checksum. Ill try to fool around with it a little more, did you find anything else out?