Awesome-Splatoon3-Hacking

repo containing resources to learn splatoon 3 hacking/modding

THIS REPO IS A HUGE W.I.P. and it is very unfinished. Its my side side project when i literally have nothing else to work on

if at any point you feel stuck or need help, feel free to join the splatoon modding discord server

most of this stuff is old so join the server above to get help if you still need any

This will not teach you to use mods/hacks online as that is unsafe. There might be a section to using camera hacks in battle replays later but thats it DO NOT USE ANY OF THIS ONLINE. MAKE SURE TO SET UP YOUR HACKED SWITCH PROPERLY

Getting Started

This section originally contained links to setting up a hacked switch and emulator but both have been removed due to piracy. Neither of them are hard to find though

Essentials/Requirements

These are things you need get to help you on your hacking journey. These are all for game modding and NOT for hacking your switch and setting up custom firmware (CFW). For a guide on setting up your switch with CFW, see above section.

Flexlion Mod Menu
Splatoon 3 Save Editor (from flexlion)
Switch Toolbox
7-Zip I would highly reccomend that you set 7-Zip as your main archiving app so it will open .zip files by default
A Full Splatoon 3 Save (you can skip this if your save already has everything you want AND you know how to export the save as a file using EdiZon) if you cant get to the file, you need to join the Ryujinx discord server to get it even if you arent using Ryujinx. It will work on both an emulator and the switch.

Below are sub-sections for programs that are specific to replacing certain aspects of the game. This is not a list of everything you can mod. Just a list of what mods require other programs.

Texture Replacement (Old)

Hex Editor. Any hex editor will do. Personally, I use HxD
Image Editor (Duh)
Blender to check how the texture looks on the model

Texture Replacement

Image Editor (still, duh)
Blender to check how the texture looks on the model

Model Replacement

Blender or some other 3D Editor and good knowledge of how to use it. Model replacement is for people who know how to use the program. basically, 3d model experience required

Text Replacement

Kuriimu or Kuriimu 2 Kuriimu 2 is a more permanant, install while Kuriimu is a lighter, portable solution.

Audio Replacement

Looping Audio Converter
Citric Composer
Automatic BARS Patcher or Online BARS Patcher
Foobar2000 + VGMStream
Audio Editor. I use Audacity

Dumping romfs

Emulator (Beginner reccomended) (Required if you arent using switch)

(Make sure you have any updates/DLC you want installed as an NSP) Right click the game and click "Dump RomFS" Make sure to remember where you dumped these files or put them in a place you will remember.

Switch (Not for beginners)

you need Lockpick RCM and Nxdumptool

im not allowed to link LockpickRCM but you can find it so many places here on github. just search it and download te .bin file

then watch this video on how to use it

once you finish that, download Nxdumptool nro file

then watch this video on how to use that

only reason i dont explain myself is because this guide is focused on how to mod the game rather than the setup

Exporting, Editing, and Importing Save Files

First ya gotta obtain a save file. you can get your own save file to hack OR download the one in the essential downloads

If you're going to use your own save file download the EdiZon NRO file

Once you download, visit this tutorial for a full setup process

Go to The Splatoon 3 Save Editor to change (almost) anything about your save and then redownload it (rename the new save file back to save.dat if it was changed)

To import it back to splatoon 3, refer to the second part of the tutorial above

How to use/install mods

Before you create your first mod, you need to learn how to actually install them. Open the root of your SD card (for emulators go to the root of your virtual sd card)

Open the atmosphere folder. Create a folder called contents this folder will be where we store our mods. Atmosphere has a built in tool called LayeredFS that replaces game files when booting up the game.

To start, inside the contents folder, make a folder called 0100C2500FC20000 this is the game ID for splatoon 3. If you have mods for other games, you would make more folders with those game IDs.

Now open the game ID folder and make a folder called romfs if you havent caught on already, we are remaking the directory for the game. However when we install mods, we only re-create directories that are realitive to the mod files. Most of the time this is already done for you. For now lets set up flexlion and some other mod that replaces a texture or something. Go back the the SD card root and open the flexlion rar file and drag both folders to the root of the sd card from 7-Zip. This will automatically put all the files where they need to be.

Flexlion is now fully installed! Now lets get a mod to go with it

Head over to Splatoon 3 Mods on Gamebanana to get some mods.

Here is not only a shameless self promotion but also a good starting mod

Download the file titled Comet Range Blaster and ignore the download called Source. Source just includes the source files i used to make the mod and decided to upload as well. They are not usually submitted with the mod but i figured they migght be useful to someone? idk

Inside the zip file, go to the romfs folder inside the Comet Range Blaster folder. Now go to your Splatoon 3 game ID folder on your SD card and drag the romfs folder from the 7-Zip window on to the romfs folder in your SD card.

Again, this will do all the replacing automatically even if you already have other mods in there. It wont overwrite anything unless you have another range blaster mod installed

Now just eject the SD card, put it into your switch, and launch into Atmosphere CFW again. Refer to this guide if you forgot how to do that

Looks good! Now that you know how to install mods, lets look at how to make them now. I'm going to walk you thorugh making a basic UI image replacement mod

File Types. Just for future reference

You might be wondering why splatoon 3 only uses .zs files inside the romfs folder. ZS is actually short for ZSTD Compression and all that does (that we care about) is add .zs to the end of files so the real file type is always behind that. Below are all the other file formats that you can find in the files. Some files are not documented here yet because i dont have the knowledge about them

.zs ZSTD compression used throughout the game files.
.bfres 3D model file containing Models, Textures, Animations, Materials and more. as of now, the encryption keeps us from being able to replace everything besides textures.
.pack Quite literally a package containing many other files. There is really only 1 .pack file that we will go through because it controls most of everything. but that's for later. Usually contains game parameters
.sarc most .sarc files are the language files located in /Mals. Usually contains Message Binary Text files (.msbt)
- .msbt Contains text that the game uses for each language file. Can be opened in toolbox but needs another program like Kuriimu to be able to edit and save
.bfarc File containing font files located in /Font (they can be ripped and installed like normal fonts too)
.bgyml, .gyml, .byml, Types of YAML files. Usually contain defining properties.
.bntx Contains an image(s). Most are found in /UI/Icon.
.blarc Layout file that tells the game how to display UI elements (contains a .bntx file for textures).
- .bflyt Part of the layout that tells the game how and where to place/animate UI images on screen
- .bflan Animation file for layout file
.bars File containing game audio. Not usable in switch toolbox but still editable with other programs but we will get to that later.
- .bwav Binary WAV file. Usually nest inside a .bars file but can also be found in /Sound/Resource/Stream.

Your First Mod (Tutorial)

Please ignore the inconsistency of the OS in the screenshots. Some of this was made on my school laptop that administration refuses to upgrade to windows 11

Go to wherever your romfs dump is. Open the UI folder and the Icon folder. you should now see a lot of folders. Here is an outline of them

Lets make a badge and a banner mod. To start, lets find the ones we want to replace starting with the badge folder

This may look impossible to search through but its quite easy. Once you get more familliar with everything you'll be able to actually read these names and figure out what it is without even opening it. For now, lets just export all of them as png files so we can decide which one we want to editit

Open Switch Toolbox
Go to Tools > Batch Export Textures (All Supported Formats)
Navigate to your romfs directory and then navigate back to UI/Icon/Badge all from the pop up window.
Ctrl + A to select all the files
Press Enter
Now navigate to an easy to find directory and make a new folder. What this is telling the program to do is to export all the textures we selected previously into wherever your easy to find directory is that you chose. For me, I just made a new folder inside my Documents folder to store all the images.
Press Enter
Select Portable Graphics Network if it isnt selected by default.
Uncheck the top 3 options but keep the bottom one checked

Click Ok and wait for it to finish. Its going to look like its having a seizure but thats just it opening and closing a progress bar window for every single texture it exports.

Now go to the place you exported them to. You should see all the badge icons in the game. For this tutorial, we're going to select Badge_Mission_Lv00 because im pretty sure everybody has that badge

Open the badge image in a photo editing program of your choice. I'm using Adobe Photoshop 2023. The reason we cant just replace it with any other image is because the image needs to be the exact same pixel size.
Make any edits you want or fit an image of your choice in that space. You can literally do anything as long as you dont change the image dimensions. You can even replace it with an image of another badge you want. Or you can go here to get some custom badges from this website if you know how to get the images from the website page source
Save your finished image as a png.
Find the name of the badge you replaced in the badge folder in your romfs dump.

Open the badge file in Switch Toolbox by dragging and dropping it.
Open the album icon by clicking the + next to it (if there is no plus next to it the double click)
Click the image that appears

Right click the image in the heriarchy and select Replace

Navigate to where you saved the custom badge and select it.
In the new options window, change the format to B8_G8_R8_A8_UNORM I would reccomend alternating between all the formats to see which one fits best. In my case, this format gives a softer edge as well as an alpha channel and good colors. Select the format box and use the arrow keys to quickly alternate.
Click Ok
Hover over Use SRGB on the right and click the dropdown to change it from false to true

Click the save icon in the top left

Click yes to the windows that says "Compress file with ZSTD?"

The file has now replaced the one you originally opened in toolbox. Go back to the badge folder in your romfs dump and find the file you just replaced

TIP: You can actually see where the file saved via the notification that pops up when you perform a successful file save

Copy the file and go to the game ID folder on the sd card (SD/atmosphere/contents)
Enter the romfs folder
Make a folder called UI
Inside that folder, make a folder called Icon
Inside that folder, make a folder called Badge
Paste the file inside the Badge folder

You just made a mod to replace that badge! As you can see, LayeredFS replaces only the files given to it meaning you need to recreate the directory for any files you want to replace in romfs. If you're up for a challenge, try to make a mod that replaces a banner. It's the same process but different folders and images. Remember tha banner folder is called Npl

Replacing Model Textures (Old)

I feel like leaving this method in might be useful to someone but now, its outdated. for the in-date tutorial, check here

Lets do one more harmless mod before we get into the fun stuff.

Go into /Model and search for "Wmn". this will filter all results to only show you model files for main weapons

However, these arent images so we cant use our previous method for trying to figure out which is which although soon enough you'll have all the main, sub, and special internal names memorized. For now here is a list on which is which. This is also the order they should appear in your files

This list is as of Sizzle Season 2023

Choose your favorite weapon and drag it into toolbox
Open the file dropdown and the textures dropdown

For now, lets just modify the base image texture Alb. If you wanna learn about all the maps, I've made a list below this. I wouldent reccomend trying to mess with these textures yet so this is another list thats just here for future reference. Just skip to below the list if you dont care right now.

Open the Models folder and export the model as a .dae (if there are multiple models, export all of them as .dae)

Navigate to a directory you will remember. Make a new folder there to place the files in. Save inside that folder

6. Toggle Use Old Exporter and untoggle Use Texture Channel Swaps

if you're here from the updated texture tutorial, follow along until step 25

Open Blender and import the .dae (after deleting the default scene objects

Adjust the edges of the editors to your liking. Then change the outliner editor to a shader editor

Set the Specular value of the principled BSDF node to 0.5

For each of these image textures that your model came with, drag and drop them into the shader editor one by one. Alb, Mtl, Nrm, Rgh. these are just the bare basics to give us a preview

Use Shift + A and type in "nm" or "normal map' into the text box to make a Normal Map node

This isnt a Blender tutorial so just make sure your node setup looks like this. the only things you need to look for are the things circled and the node connections

turn on material preview mode

Your model may have multiple objects and materials. If so, here is how to assign them correctly (If you dont have multiple materials then skip to step 15)

Your model has multiple materials if you see more than 1 prefix in your image texture files. this screenshot shows image texture files with a total of 3 prefixes

For each prefix you have, there should also be a material. The material for each prefix should be on its respective object. To view all the objects, pull up the timeline window hiding at the bottom of the screen and change the clock icon to be the one labaled outliner.

Press Shift + A to expand everything and locate everything reperesented by a triangle icon. those are your objects. Click on an object and go to the material properties

Select the material and drag in the image textures which prefixes match the material name. Then repeat above process for each

Your model could also have multiple models that actually use the same texture but it has a different material. If your image textures only have 1 prefix but some part of your model is still white, then assign the white model(s) the same material as the other model

Change the properties editor to a UV Editor

Open the image you want to edit. In this case, we are only editing the Alb image

Back in the viewport, select the model, press Tab to switch to edit mode, and press A to select all vertecies. Your UV editor should be filled with orange dots and lines

In the UV editor, click the UV pannel and select Export UV Layout. You may need to scroll down the menu to see it.

For organizational purposes, export the png file to the same place as all your image textures. Make sure to name it something that stands out
Open your photo editing program. Import the Alb texture and place the exported UV layout image on top of it. Now we can see how the model displays the texture.
Now go crazy. put anything you want on it. Remember not to change the size of the image though.

TIP: Remember to repeat the above process to get the UV layout for ALL of the objects that use the same material and put that UV map over the first one. You'll know if multiple objects are using the same material if there is some detail that looks like it should be covered by a UV layout.

Once done, hide the UV layout images so they dont appear in the final product. Export it in the same place as the original Alb image to replace it. we wont need it anymore
Back in the shader editor, click on the Alb node. then hit N to bring up a panel. Go to the Node section on that panel. Click the refresh button to refresh the image texture and make sure its to your liking

Once ready, go back to toolbox and replace the Alb image on the model. The default settings in the window that pops up should be fine

**If you're following along with the new tutorial, return back to that section using this link. if you're using this tutoairl because that method diddnt work, ignore this message.

Right click the Textures folder and click export

Save it as textures.bntx to where your model and textures are
In toolbox, go to Tools > Compression > ZSTD > Decompress
Find your model in the models forlder and open it
Remove the .zs.dec in the name so the file extension becomes .bfres

Save it to where you originally exported the model
Open your hex editor. I'm using HxD
Drag the .bfres file into the hex editor to open it. You should now see a bunch of random characters

Do the same for textures.bntx it should open in a new tab
Go to the textures.bntx tab and copy all of it (Ctrl + A then Ctrl + C)
Go back to the Wmn_Weapon_Name.bfres and hit Ctrl + F
Type in "bntx"
Click "Search All"
We want the line that has "BNTX" in all caps. That should always be the second line

Click it to go to it.
Click Right before the highlighted portion (42 4E 54 58) right click and click "Paste Write." You should now see a lot of red text.
Hit Ctrl + S to save it. The text should be normal now. You can close the hex editor. (A .bak file might have been created. Ignore it)
Lets check if it worked. Drag the .bfres file into toolbox. If everything worked, you should see your textures on it now.
Go to Tools > Compression > ZSTD > Compress
Navigate to your folder with the .bfres file you just opened and select it.
Delete the "td" at the end of zstd on the file. it should now read Model_Name.bfres.zs
Now navigate to your romfs folder for your SD card where you keep mods for the game. Inside your romfs location, make a folder called "Model" if it isnt there already.

ignore the 485348974563 mods I have in there its not important

Save the .bfres.zs inside the model folder
Boot up the game

Awesome! You just finished your own weapon reskin.

Replacing Textures

This method is still experimental. if it fails, please refer to the above texture replacement guide in order to replace textures as it is much more reliable but takes a bit longer

let's make a mod that changes the base texture of your favorite weapon.

Start by going into romfs/Model and searching for Wmn this will filter results so we only get main weapon models.

if you wanna do a peice of gear instead there are lists for all gear codenames with pictures up until 3.0.0 for now made by my friend John#1878 on discord

Headgear

Clothing

Shoes

List of weapons as of Sizzle Season 2023

Blaster_Coop Grizzco Blaster

Blaster_Light Rapid Blaster + Rapid Blaster Pro

Blaster_Light_Cstm01 Rapid Blaster Deco

Blaster_Light_Cstm11 Rapid Blaster Pro Deco

Blaster_LightShort Clash Blaster

Blaster_LightShort_Cstm01 Clash Blaster Neo

Blaster_Long Range Blaster

Blaster_Middle Blaster

Blaster_Precision S-Blast 92

Blaster_Short Luna Blaster

Blaster_Short_Cstm01 Luna Blaster Neo

Brush_Heavy Painbrush

Brush_Mini Inkbrush

Brush_Mini_Cstm01 Inkbrush Nouveau

Brush_Normal Octobrush

Charger_Coop Grizzco Charger

Charger_Keeper Goo Tuber

Changer_Light Bamboozler 14 Mk I (my beloved)

Charger_Long E-Liter + E-Liter Scoped

Charger_LongB Splatoon 2 E-Liter (For Amiibo)

Charger_NormalT Splat Charger

Charger_NormalT_Cstm01 Zekkofin Charger

Charger_Pencil Snipewriter 5H

Charger_Quick Squiffer

Maneuver_Dual Dualie Squelchers

Maneuver_Dual_Cstm01 Custom Dualie Squelchers

Maneuver_Gallon Glooga Dualies

Maneuver_NormalT Splat Dualies

Maneuver_Short Dapple Dualies

Maneuver_Short_Cstm01 Dapple Dualies Nouveau

Maneuver_Stepper Dark Tetra Dualies

Maneuver_Stepper_Cstm01 Light Tetra Dualies

Roller_BrushNormal Splatoon 2 Octobrush (For Amiibo)

Roller_Compact Carbon Roller

Roller_Compact_Cstm01 Carbon Roller Deco

Roller_Heavy Dynamo Roller

Roller_Heavy_Cstm01 Gold Dynamo Roller (Not Released)

Roller_Hunter Flingza Roller

Roller_NormalT Splat Roller

Roller_NormalT_Cstm01 Krak-On Splat Roller

Roller_Wide Big Swig Roller

Roller_Wide_Cstm01 Big Swig Roller Express

Saber_Coop Grizzco Splatana

Saber_Light Splatana Wiper (Wiper can also be seen in other places named Saber_Lite instead)

Saber_Light_Cstm01 Splatana Wiper Deco

Saber_Normal Splatana Stamper

Shelter_Compact Undercover Brella

Shelter_Coop Grizzco Brella

Shelter_Normal Splat Brella

Shelter_Wide Tenta Brella

Shelter_Wide_Cstm01 Sorella Tenta Brella

Shooter_Blaze Aerospray MG

Shooter_Blaze_Cstm01 Aerospray RG

Shooter_Expert Splattershot Pro

Shooter_Expert_Cstm01 Forge Splattershot Pro

Shooter_First Splattershot Jr.

Shooter_FirstCstm01 Custom Splattershot Jr.

Shooter_Flash Squeezer

Shooter_Gravity .52 Gal

Shooter_Heavy .96 Gal

Shooter_Heavy_Cstm01 .96 Gal Deco

Shooter_Long Jet Squelcher

Shooter_Long_Cstm01 Custom Jet Squelcher

Shooter_Msn0Lv0 Hero Shot (All 3 Phases)

Shooter_Normal Splatoon 1 Splattershot (For Amiibo)

Shooter_NormalB Splatoon 2 Splattershot (For Amiibo)

Shooter_NormalT Splattershot

Shooter_NormalT_Cstm01 Tentatek Splattershot

Shooter_QuickLong Splattershot Nova

Shooter_QuickLong_Cstm01 Anakai Splattershot Nova

Shooter_Quickmiddle N-Zap 85

Shooter_QuickMiddle_Cstm01 N-Zap 89

Shooter_RvLv0 Rival Octolong Octoshot (Hero Mode)

Shooter_Short Sploosh-o-Matic + Splash-o-Matic

Shooter_Short_Cstm01 Sploosh-o-Matic Neo

Shooter_Short_Cstm11 Splash-o-Matic Neo

Shooter_Triple L-3 Nozzlenose

Shooter_Triple_Cstm01 L-3 Nozzlenose D

Shooter_TripleMiddle H-3 Nozzlenose

Shooter_TripleMiddle_Cstm01 H-3 Nozzlenose D

Slosher_Bathtub Bloblobber

Slosher_Coop Grizzco Slosher

Slosher_Diffusion Tri-Slosher

Slosher_Diffusion_Cstm01 Tri-Slosher Nouveau

Slosher_LauncherSloshing Machine

Slosher_StrongT Slosher

Slosher_StrongT_Cstm Slosher Deco

Slosher_Washtub Explosher

Spinner_Downpour Ballpoint Splatling

Spinner_HyperT Hydra Splatling

Spinner_QuickT Mini Splatling

Spinner_QuickT_Cstm01 Zink Mini Splatling

Spinner_Serein Nautilus 47

Spinner_StandardT Heavy Splatling

Spinner_StandardT_Cstm01 Heavy Splatling Deco

Stringer_Coop Grizzco Stringer

Stringer_Normal Tri-Stringer

Stringer_Short REEFLUX-450

Would you believe me if I said that took 45 minutes to type out

For now, lets just modify the base image texture Alb. If you wanna learn about all the maps, I've made a list below this. I wouldent reccomend trying to mess with these textures yet so this is another list thats just here for future reference. Just skip to below the list if you dont care right now.

Texture Names

Alb - Albedo Base image texture. Can also be called Diffuse, Diff, or Dif

Mlt Also a base image texture Not to be confused with Mtl textures

Tcl - Team Color An image mask that tells specific parts of the model to be the ink color of the team and how much. Black means 0 intensity, grey means anywhere from 0-1 intensity depending on how dark or bright it is, and white means 1 intensity

Ao - Ambient Occlusion Adds detail/shadows to base textures Not to be confused with the purpose and functionality of Nrm textures

Mtl - Metalness An image mask that tells specific parts of the model to be matalic and how much. Black means 0 intensity, grey means anywhere from 0-1 intensity depending on how dark or bright it is, and white means 1 intensity

Rgh - Roughness An image mask that tells specific parts of the model to have a specified roughness value. Black means 0 intensity, grey means anywhere from 0-1 intensity depending on how dark or bright it is, and white means 1 intensity

Nrm - Normal Map Adds details to a model's surcace using vectors extracted from the image for very fine details without adding model geometry. They also look very pretty

2cl - Ink Damage Effect This is used to tell the game where on the model to display the enemy ink material when damage is taken. Black means 0 intensity, grey means anywhere from 0-1 intensity depending on how dark or bright it is, and white means 1 intensity

Mfk - Secondary Normal Map A very rare map to see paired with a model. This acts as even finer details to the model and very annoying to work with.

Opa - Opacity Used to set opacity values to specific parts of the model. Black means 0 intensity, grey means anywhere from 0-1 intensity depending on how dark or bright it is, and white means 1 intensity

Emm - Emission An image mask that tells what parts of the model need to have light emission and how strong. Black means 0 intensity, grey means anywhere from 0-1 intensity depending on how dark or bright it is, and white means 1 intensity

Trm - Transmission Used to emulate a subsurface scattering effect on a model. usually best to not mess with these

Thc - Thickness Helps make the transmission look better. Always paired with a Trm texture. Black means 0 intensity, grey means anywhere from 0-1 intensity depending on how dark or bright it is, and white means 1 intensity

Hlt / Mac - Highlight Used to make something very shiny. Black means 0 intensity, grey means anywhere from 0-1 intensity depending on how dark or bright it is, and white means 1 intensity

Rft - Lightwarp Emulates a Frensel Effect as well as the color of it

Fxm - Effect Mask Used to mask various material specific effects. Black means 0 intensity, grey means anywhere from 0-1 intensity depending on how dark or bright it is, and white means 1 intensity

Hlm - Lightwarp Effect Mask Used to mask a lightwarp texture. Black means 0 intensity, grey means anywhere from 0-1 intensity depending on how dark or bright it is, and white means 1 intensity

Mlta / Mltb - Special Effects Can be used for anything. Nothing specific

Mai - Skin Mask Image mask usually used to define what part of the model is skin and what is not. Black means 0 intensity, grey means anywhere from 0-1 intensity depending on how dark or bright it is, and white means 1 intensity

Source : PastaOwO's Squidnodes Materials and Textures Wiki

decompress the file using Tools > Compression > ZSTD > Decompress and save it to a place you can find it.
drag the .bfres file you just decompressed into toolbox
click on the model folder.
right click on the model that uses the texture(s) you want to modify
export it as .dae to the same folder your .bfres is in.
check Use Old Exporter and uncheck Use Texture Channel Swaps
refer to this section of the old method because i cant be bothered to explain again.

9. Save the .bfres file using the save icon in the top left corner

Recompress the file using Tools > Compression > ZSTD > Compress and compress the bfres file
remove the "td" at the end of zstd to make it just say 'zs' and then save that file to the model folder of your sd card romfs directory.

TIP : You can combine these 2 modding tecniques that you've learned so far to create custom icons and badges for your reskin just like my Comet Range Blaster mod! To learn how to make 2D icons from 3D models, here is a link to a small tutorial inside the repo. (TO BE MADE)

Replacing Text.

This is how i made my Google Translate Mod. Hours of copying text from the game and putting it through translate a million times. Cant believe im gonna do the same thing for side order

Anyways enough of my crippling anxiety, lets start by downloading the required editor

I would reccomend setting Kuriimu as your default .msbt editing program so you dont need to drag the file in the program to open it every time.

In your romfs dump, open the Mals folder. i'm assuming youre language is english so we want this file right here

Drag the file into toolbox to open it. there are a ton of .msbt files in here so here is a small list of where important ones are as well as important prefixes

any files starting with msn or mission or any files located inside the LogicMsg folder or any files in CommonMsg/Mission relate to hero mode

any files starting with vs or versus or lobby relate to multiplayer

you can find the splashtag titles files in CommonMsg/Byname

weapon names are in CommonMsg/Weapon

try looking at the glossary file in CommonMsg/Glossary.msbt if you want to find names of characters

gear names can be found at CommonMsg/Gear

text relating to salmon run is any file that has Coop or LobbyCoop in the name

if you want to edit what Deep Cut says on the news, search for any files starting with News

Toolbox cant edit the msbt files so we need to export them to edit them.

Find any .msbt files you want. right click on them and click Export Raw Data

Save the file to a place you will remember
open Kuriimu then open the .msbt file with Kuriimu by dragging it over
click yes to keep a backup. this is very helpful for multiple reasons then just if you need to revert

Click this icon here to get a preview inside the text entries

Dont worry if the entry names are gibberish. We never need to worry about names

remember you can always use these 2 options to find something(s) specific (first one) or find and replace something(s) specific (second one)

Once you edit everything you want to edit, do Ctrl + S to save the file.
back in toolbox, right click the file you just exported but now click Replace Raw Data

Navigate to the .msbt file you edited with Kuriimu. You should also see a .bak file there. ignore it
select the .msbt file
back in toolbox, double click the file you just replaced to open a preview of it to make sure it has your edits. toolbox can preview msbt files but it cant edit them.

Close the pop up window and save the file

Click Yes to the promt

Copy the .sarc file we just edited and navigate to your SD card romfs directory. Make a new folder called Mals and paste the file in there
Boot up the game

NOTE: You will need to

Text editing is one of the simplest but most effective ways of modding in my opinion. I really enjoy making characters just say the dumbest things.

Editing UI Layouts

Not started yet but you can use when ive already taught you to edit the files in the Layout folder

Replacing Audio

This is completely optional. If you wanna learn how to actually get into the hacking part of this then skip to the next section. Otherwise follow this tutorial

cant be bothered to write out my own right now. might do this last. for now, refer to this tutorial

Custom Kits

Time for your first game hack. Weapon kits are stored in romfs/RSDB/WeaponInfoMain.Product.GAME_VERSION.rstbl.byml.zs

Before we get started, here is a list of all the subs and specials that can go on weapons

SpBlower Ink Vac

SpCastle Kraken

SpChariot Crab Tank

SpEnergyStand Tacticooler

SpFirework Super Chump

SpGachihoko Rainmaker

SpGreatBarrier Big Bubbler

SpInkStorm InkStorm

SpJetpack Inkjet

SpMicroLaser Killer Wail 5.1

SpMultiMissile Tenta Missiles

SpNiceBall Booyah Bomb

SpShockSonar Wavebreaker

SpSkewer Reefslider

SpSuperHook Zipcaster

SpSuperLanding Splashdown (yes really)

SpTripleTornado Tristrike

SpUltraShot Trizooka

SpUltraStamp Ultra Stamp

Sub Weapons, if there are parenthesis next to a name, that tells you its second name that can be seen in the files on occasion. The second names arent too important i just put them there so you would know.

Beacon Beacon (Flag)

Bomb_Curling Curling Bomb

Bomb_Fizzy Fizzy Bomb (Bomb_Piyo)

Bomb_Quick Burst Bomb (Bomb_Handy)

Bomb_Robot Autobomb (Bomb_Robo)

Bomb_Splash Splat Bomb

Bomb_Suction Suction Bomb (Bomb_Hold)

Bomb_Torpedo Torpedo (Bomb_Tako)

LineMarker Line Marker (LinMarker)

PointSensor Point Sensor (MarkingBall)

PoisonMist Toxic Mist (DevillBall)

SalmonBuddy Lil' Buddy - Needs to be modified if you want to use it on a weapon

Shield Splash Wall

Sprinkler Take a guess

Trap Ink Mine

Alright. Now we can get to editing kits.

Open switch toolbox and go to Tools > Compression > ZSTD > Decompress
Go to your romfs dump and go inside RSDB. Select WeaponInfoMain.Product.GAME_VERSION.rstbl.byml.zs
Delete the ".zs.dec" at the end of the file name so you're left with ".bfres" as the extension
save the file in a place so it will be easy to find.
go to where you saved the file and drag it into toolbox
Use this list again to find your weapon.
switch to text editor and hit "Decompile." hit Ctr + F and type in the weapon codename. dont use any underscores
Find the paragraph that looks like this relating to your weapon

The only notable things you can change in this file are:

Weapon kits
Weapon Special Points
What badges you get from getting 4 and 5 star on that weapon
Weapon UI Values (a.e the game showing you how much range the weapon has)
Weapon ID. This is a bit more complicated and is explained what it is and how to do later in the guide.

Right now, we will only need to look at these 3 lines

Note that this isnt the correct kit for Bamboozler because i have already messed with it. Dosent change the process for changing any weapon kit though

Lets replace the special first. Copy the special codename you want from the list above and replace the original special

This is the only part of the line that needs to be fully replaced with your special

Now do the same thing for the sub weapon. Again this is the only part that should be replaced

If you feel like it, edit the required amount of special points for the weapon. Setting it to 0 will automatically fill the special meter again after you use it

Dont worry about the !l thats just telling the game that its a Int32 value meaning it can store values up to 2,147,483,647

compile it by clicking "Compile" near the top of the window

Now save it with the save icon

Finally, we need to recompress it

go to Tools > Compression > ZSTD > Compress
select the .byml you just saved
delete the "td" at the end of the file name so the end of the file reads .rstbl.byml.zs
navigate to the romfs folder on your sd card. Make a folder called RSDB and place the file in there
Boot up the game

Have fun with your new kit but be sure to take a little break if all that code overwhelmed you because the next tutorial will involve a lot of code as well.

Changing Weapon Functionality / Parameters

This might be the most anticipated part for you. At the end of this walkthough you will be able to change almost anything about any main, sub, and special weapon.

Right now i will just show you how to modify some very basic parameters. After this tutorial though is where everything gets more specific and i show you literally everything i know

Lets change the range, damage, RNG, and fire rate of the Splattershot Nova

This tutorial will have less pictures and less descriptive text for things we've already done multiple times in previous tutotials.

Inside toolbox, lets decompress another file with ZSTD compression. You should know how to decompress and compress with ZSTD by now
go to your romfs dump and open the Pack folder. Then select Params.pack.zs

This file contains all main, sub, special weapon parameters as well as stage parameters

save it as Params.pack to a location you can find easily
open the newly saved Params.pack in toolbox

We are going to search for the code name of a weapon we want to modify. If you want to modify its functionality specifically for salmon run or hero mode, add _Msn for hero mode or _Coop for salmon run to the end of the search.

Hit the search button and search for ShooterQuickLong. To find splattershot nova. however this brings up 2 files

We always want the one that dosent have "Coop" in the name. Coop means Co-op which means salmon run. any file in Params.pack with Coop in the name only changes specific parts of the weapon in salmon run so we dont care about it.

Click the file without Coop in the name to locate it in the file view. Close the search window now
double click the highlighted file.
switch to text editor and hit "Decompile"

Lets start by giving it 100 damage just for the hell of it.

Locate the line that says DamageParam. Should be at line 15
ValueMax and ValueMin are the only values we care about

240 and 120 are the damage numbers multiplied by 10. the extra zero is in case a decimal value is needed. so lets set the Max and Min damage to 1000 to make it do 100 damage no matter what.
Lets also give nova perfect RNG. To do this, scroll down to the bottom section WeaponParam

RNG is under the 2 variables that contain DegSwerve Jump_DegSwerve is jump RNG and Stand_DegSwerve is ground RNG. set them both to 0

now on to fire rate. the RepeatFrame variable. Set it to 1 to make it fire every frame. i dont know what setting it to 0 will do and im too scared to try
Finally, range. scroll up to the line called MoveParam (should be line 18) and find the variable called SpawnSpeed. this is the range. but because its so small, just adding 1 or 2 will make it shoot across the map. although you can set this as high or as low as you want. Set the highlighted value on this line to a larger number
click Compile at the top
once you save that file, make sure to save the Params.pack file too

compress the saved file with ZSTD. and put your newly created Params.pack.zs inside the Pack folder in your SD card romfs directory

Boot up the game

Nova is finally a functioning weapon.

Specific Weapon Parameters

This section will have sub sections that all focus on telling you where and how to modify more specific weapon functionality. general functions of a class will not be covered as they are either unimportant or easy to understand yourself. If you dont see a specific variable in the wepon you're editing, try adding that variable. For example, dualies dodge number is based on the RepeatCnt variable. However, that variable only shows up on tetras. This is because it's left at the default value (2) for all other dualies. All you need to do in this case is add that variable in the same place and in the same way you see it on tetras.

This section will not cover everything you can do. Just some interesting things you can start with

Ink Consumption

Down in the WeaponParam section for your weapon you will find a variable called InkConsume this variable tells the game how much ink to remove from the tank per shot.

Paint Parameters

find a section called PaintParam these give you a ton of customization for how much paint the weapon does. Multiplying all the values by 10 gives you some really fun results.

RNG

Down in the WeaponParam section for your weapon you will find multiple variables that start with Jump_DegBias and Stand_DegBias. The Int values relate to how quickly (in frames) the RNG takes effect and the float values relate to how much RNG the weapon has in what situation (Jump or Stand)

Range

At around line 18 where MoveParam is, find the variable called SpawnSpeed. While it might not look like it, this is range. The number represents range based on the weapon meaning something like inkbrush and E-Liter will have similar values for this. Try not to think about it too hard.

Damage

Everything in DamageParam aside from ReduceEndFrame and ReduceStartFrame

Fire Rate

Down in WeaponParam find the variable called RepeatFrame this tells the game to shoot a bullet every X frames

Homemade Aimbot

Up in CollisionParam, edit every variable that contains the word "Radius" to be maybe 50X larger. Also make sure that all of those values are the same. This increases the radius of your bullet's hitbox making it easier to hit targets as well as objects blocking the way.

Class Specific Parameters

Chargers - Increase Air Charge Speed

Chargers - Force Scope, Divided Shots, and/or Charge Holding

Dualies - Roll Count

Dualies - Shoot while Rolling

Dualies - End Lag

Shooters - L-3 and H-3 Shooting (3 Shots)

Splatanas - 1-Shot Radius

Brushes - Rolling Ink Resistance

Brushes - Roll Speed

Blasters - Explosion Radius

Splatlings - Recharge while Shooting

Stringers - Charge Hold

Stringers - Jump Tilt Angle

Stringers - Trajectory Guide

Object Place Limit

Misc

Actor Swapping

Weapon ID Swapping

Ink Splatter Textures

Stage Editing

Stage editing is pretty complex but right now, its not even possible with most of the stages. toolbox kinda dosent compile some of the byml files correctly so until thats fixed, dont worry about it

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