Ffxii

[snowstyle]

How can i edit a US Save game of FFXII to make it works with Pal version ?

thanks

[gothi]

I made a NTSC/PAL PS2 save conversion guide

[dlanor]

How can i edit a US Save game of FFXII to make it works with Pal version ?

Like gothi said (via his link), simple region transfer of this kind is mainly a matter of renaming the 'Root/ID' used for the containing folder of the save, and the usually identical name used for the main save file within that folder. This renaming needs to be done in such a way as to replace the letters and numbers of the original region's product code with the product code for the new region.

Of course, not all games will work with saves patched this way, as there may be differences in the save content between different versions, but fortunately the conversion you want seems to work fine. (So far...)

For changing FF12 from US to Eu region this means changing the first part of those name strings from "BASLUS-20963" to "BESLES-54354". Note that the additional characters must remain intact, so that the result strings will be something like "BESLES-54354FF12xx", where the "xx" part is a save index starting a "00" for the first save. Note also that the name of the containing folder and the main save file inside it must be completely identical. (For this game that is. A few other games deviate from that rule.)

Btw: Note that the save index is also stored elsewhere in the gamesave (like the game 'title'). So messing with it might not be safe...

In order to get your gamesave to/from the PC in a suitable form, without losing any PS2-specific attributes or timestamps, simply use the psuPaste command of uLaunchELF to copy the save folder from MC to a PSU file on a USB drive or even directly to the PC via host:. Then use the PS2SaveBuilder to load that PSU file and modify the two name strings, and save the result as an XPS file (unfortunately that program can't save to PSU format). Next use the PS2SaveConverter program by ffgriever to convert the result to a PSU file as needed by uLE. Finally use uLE's Copy and psuPaste commands to restore that PSU file to a normal save folder on the PS2 MC.

When all of the above is done properly then the resulting save folder will be accepted by the PAL version of FF12, so you can continue playing from the place where you left off in the NTSC version. I have done this myself in some very short test sessions, so I know that it works, though I can't guarantee that *everything* will be compatible at all stages of the game.

Best regards: dlanor

[snowstyle]

Many thanks for your replies !

Well i still have some problem :

I did use exec FTP to retrieve the save file, then i did everything you said for PS2SAvebuilder/PS2SaveConverter, but i get a corrupted data...
I guess it's because i didn't use uLaunchELF : i don't know how to transfer files between my PS2 to my PC with it.
Maybe you can tell me more about uLE's Copy and psuPaste command ,how to use it in networking mode?

Thanks for your time

[dlanor]

Many thanks for your replies !

Well i still have some problem :

I did use exec FTP to retrieve the save file, then i did everything you said for PS2SAvebuilder/PS2SaveConverter, but i get a corrupted data...
I guess it's because i didn't use uLaunchELF :

FTP doesn't preserve any MC-specific attributes nor any timestamps of the copied files/folders, either of which can cause trouble when it comes to making a game accept a copied save. This applies even if you use the FTP server of uLE, as the protocol itself doesn't guarantee preservation of such things. The only fully safe way to make the transfer, such that all information from the MC will be preserved, is to use the psuPaste command.

i don't know how to transfer files between my PS2 to my PC with it.

If you had used uLE at all, then you should already have some idea of how it's done. It's FileBrowser lets you browse any PS2 device (including USB and networked PC) to select any files/folders you want copied. Then you use the 'Copy' command to memorize the current selections in a clipboard. Next you browse to the destination device where you want the copies placed and issue either the 'Paste' or 'psuPaste' command to start the copying. Paste is the command used for normal copying, and psuPaste is the command used for transforming between PSU and normal gamesave format as part of the copying.

Since uLE supports copying to/from a USB drive, you don't really need networking for this work either. Just psuPaste the gamesaves to a USB drive, move it to the PC for the editing work, and when that is complete move it back to the PS2 to reinstall the converted saves, again using psuPaste.

Maybe you can tell me more about uLE's Copy and psuPaste command ,how to use it in networking mode?

Doing that in this place would be off-topic in the extreme.

For that information I must refer you to the uLaunchELF subforum elsewhere on this site. You'll find it inside the forum entitled "PS2 Homebrew/Dev & Emu Scene" and the subforum itself is entitled "Official UlaunchELF Forums".

Best regards: dlanor

[snowstyle]

Many thanks Dlanor, will try uLaunchElf later on, looks like a really nice piece of software.
Sorry for my miss of knowledge about it, but i m fulltime using toxicOs...
Looks like I find another friend.

Cya and thanks again dlanor, and btw gothi : nice conversion guide and saves tools !

[snowstyle]

Corrupt file again.

I m wondering how can i get a clean copy of .psu games saves with a folder so i don't have to recreate a folder of it again.
When i use psuPaste command, i just get a single psu file copied, not the whole folder, so when i do the convert stage and retransfer it again, i have to recreate a folder and then i guess i m missing timestamps.
When i psuPaste back the .psu file it create a folder but it name it : notitle or something like that.

How can i process in the "clean" way to copy / paste the entire folder without loosing any data embedded ?

Thanks

[dlanor]

Corrupt file again.

I m wondering how can i get a clean copy of .psu games saves with a folder so i don't have to recreate a folder of it again.

You don't ever have to do that. If you follow the instructions properly, that will be done automatically when needed. When you use psuPaste to copy the PSU file back to the MC, it will automatically be transformed into the containing folder and its contained file, which were all held inside the PSU file to protect the MC specific attributes that would have been destroyed if those files and that folder had simply been stored as such on the PC.

When i use psuPaste command, i just get a single psu file copied, not the whole folder,

That is the whole point of that command. To store the original folder and its files in a manner that protects their attributes and original names, even when such names would be illegal on the PC. (PS2 MC even allows such characters as ':' and '\' in gamesave names, which the PC can't use.)

so when i do the convert stage

I hope you mean the method where you first rename the two strings inside the PSU file, and then resave and convert it back into a new PSU file. Note that renaming the PSU file itself has no effect whatever, as that name will not be used in restoring the gamesave to PS2.

and retransfer it again, i have to recreate a folder

Not true. When you transfer it to MC with the psuPaste command, that folder will be created automatically, based on the information inside the PSU file. The same naturally goes for all the files that will be stored in that folder too.

and then i guess i m missing timestamps.
When i psuPaste back the .psu file it create a folder but it name it : notitle or something like that.

Then you did not follow instructions for how to do the renaming in PS2SaveBuilder.

I can only guess at what you did, but it sounds almost as if you first unpacked the PSU into a normal folder on the PC, and then renamed the stuff using Windows' Explorer (completely useless) finally creating a new save file where you didn't even bother to recreate the original Root/ID (which will become the name of the gamesave folder on the PS2).

How can i process in the "clean" way to copy / paste the entire folder without loosing any data embedded ?

The crucial thing to avoid (which you clearly haven't) is the unpacking and repacking of the gamesave PSU on the PC, into normal folder form. That is guaranteed to destroy all MC-specific attributes and timestamps, so it will always invalidate that gamesave for FF12.

I'll repeat the conversion steps once more, in greater detail, and this time I'll even eliminate PS2SaveBuilder for you, to make the process even simpler.

1: On PS2 in uLE:
Use Copy+psuPaste to transform a US FF12 gamesave folder into a PSU file, storing that PSU file either on the PC directly ('host:') or on a USB drive that you can move to the PC.

2: On PC in PS2SaveConverter:
Click the "Open" button and use the file selector to choose the PSU file to be converted. (The one you created in step 1.)

3: On PC in PS2SaveConverter:
Click the "Properties" button and edit the name string at the top of the resulting popup, to change the MC folder name from US to UK FF12 ID, meaning that you change the first 12 characters (only) from "BASLUS-20963" to "BESLES-54354", leaving all additional characters unchanged. Then click the OK button to close that popup.

4: On PC in PS2SaveConverter:
In the file list beneath the "Properties" button you should see three file names, one of which is identical to the original folder name you just edited. Single-click twice on that name to make it editable, and then change the name string to be identical to the new folder name you created in step 3.

5: On PC in PS2SaveConverter:
Click the "Save" button and use the file selector to save the new PSU file.

6: On PS2 in uLE:
Use Copy+psuPaste to transform the PSU file you created in step 5 into a normal gamesave folder on your MC, which will then be acceptable to the UK version (SLES_543.54) of FF12.


Once you have this conversion technique working you may find it useful to know that psuPaste can handle transformation of several gamesave folders / PSU files in a single command, which can save a lot of time. Just select as many folders (on MC) or PSU files (on non-MC media) as you like before using the 'Copy' command, and they will all be processed in the next 'psuPaste' command.

Best regards: dlanor

[snowstyle]

Thanks for your help Eleanor, clean and simple explications solved my problem :
I can now play my saves files from US version to a French version of the game.

I didn't know the psu files contained all the informations about the save and a directory with others files such as icons.
So i was doing a mess in the timestamp without using fonctions correctly.

I was also using ps2saves and ps2converter so the files were more screwed, and more : i was not using the converter properties input, so i didn't change the game save info at all

Now i feel really feel comfortable with those tools and a grand bravo to the application you have been working on : UlaunchElf.

Merci encore !
Snowstyle

[dlanor]

Thanks for your help Eleanor, clean and simple explications solved my problem :
I can now play my saves files from US version to a French version of the game.

I'm glad it worked out for you, but please don't play around with my user name that way. "Eleanor", as you called me above, would be a woman, and I'm definitely a man. "dlanor" is simply a reversed version of my proper name "Ronald", which is so common a name in the US and UK that it's mostly impossible for me to get that user name in any forums I join, so I've settled for using the reversed form instead...

Merci encore !

It's a pleasure to help out.

Best regards: dlanor