A Theory On How We Might Add New Weapons And Armor To ME2.Okay, since we can't edit the game data files like PC users can, we can't mod a lot of things; but maybe we can add things if we can trick the game into thinking that what we're adding is new DLC so that we don't need to screw with the data (this would actually be helpful for PC modders too since they currently can't add extra weapons, only mod the ones they have).
Finding The DLC Files on the 360 Hard DriveAfter I came up with this theory, I opened up my 360 hard drive and found where the game stores its DLC. The DLC is located in the Content (user profiles, saves, etc.) partition; but is found under the first partition down (named 0000000000000000 on my 360) as opposed to the third partition down (named E00001EE5AB04F56 on my 360) where the career saves we've been modding are located. Once you get into that first partition under the content partition you'll see a whole bunch of partitions relating to Xbox Live content including things like whole games you downloaded over Xbox Live (Mega Man 9, Shadow Complex, etc.), dashboard themes as well as the partitions which hold the DLC for all the games you own including ME2. Look towards the bottom and you'll find a partition labeled Mass Effect 2 - Xbox Live Content (named 454108CE on my 360) and within that partition you should look into the top partition (named 00000002 on my 360). Inside that partition you'll find a bunch of files with labeled with nondescript names each consiting of a series of 42 numbers and letters which are in fact the ME2 DLC files you've downloaded over the 360.
Now I'd imagine you're wondering how I deduced that all these files with nondescriptive names are in fact the ME2 DLC files. First, it makes sense that they would be here since the files are located under a partition labeled Mass Effect 2 Xbox Live Content; but more definitively if you look at the file sizes for all the files you will notice that they correspond to the size of the ME2 DLC files you downloaded and by looking at the file size you can actually deduce which file corresponds to which piece of DLC. For example I can see that the largest of these files on my 360 is 802 megabytes which correspond to the size of the Kasumi DLC, the second largest is 442 megabytes which corresponds to the size of the Zaeed DLC and the third largest DLC is 370 megabytes which corresponds to size of the Firewalker DLC.
Theory On Adding Mod Content Under the Guise of "New" DLCSo now that we know where the DLC is, here's what I was thinking we might try to add new mod content.
1: Copy one of the smaller DLC files (like the Sentry Interface for example) to your PC and change the file name to a new file name which resembles the original and still consists of a series of 42 numbers and letters.
2: Use some of the PC modders existing modding programs to open the file and delete the unwanted data so that we now have a blank psuedo DLC file.
3: Use existing PC modding programs to edit our new file pseudo DLC file so it contains the appropriate data for whatever we want to add. Clearly knowing exactly what sort of data we'd need to add to have the game recognize the data is the trickiest part of the process; but fortunately the PC modding community has already done a lot of the ground work for us. So in many cases finding the appropriate text would simply be a matter of searching around some of the PC modding threads and forums and downloading the data.
4: Inject the new pseudo DLC file we created back into the 360 hard drive, fire up the game, cross your fingers and hope for the best.
Banhammer Concerns.I don't think corrupting the game by adding a pseudo DLC file should be a major concern since we could just delete the pseudo DLC file if it screws things up; but I am somewhat concerned about how Microsoft or EA might react to this sort of thing. As I see it there are a number of potential issues....
1: Either the structure of the seemingly arbitrary 42 character long file name or some other element of the DLC file may be involved in telling the game that the file is new DLC so that the game might still fail to read the file even if the data contained within the file is readable.
2: Either the structure of the seemingly arbitrary 42 character long file name or some other element of the DLC file may be tied in with the DLC file's registration on the EA servers (the Cerberus Network) and/or the Microsoft Servers (Xbox Live) and if those servers don't think the DLC should be there then there could be issues. Unlike the modded save files, modded DLC files seem like the sort of thing that Microsoft or EA might be able to detect on your hard drive and if they did they might throw the banhammer at your ass and they might even have good reason to, because...
3: While my intent is solely to find a means to import user created mods using this method could theoretically allow one to acquire liscensed DLC they didn't pay for. So, even though the method itself isn't inherently nefarious, the potential for piracy is the sort of thing that might set off alarm bells.
Research Question. In order to determine whether the file names on the DLC files are related to registration we should investigate if the file names are the same on every console or if each player is assigned their own unique one. If the filenames for a specific piece of DLC is the same across consoles then it would seem that the file itself isn't involved in telling the game and/or the console and/or the Cerberus Network and/or Xbox Live that the DLC is legit; but if it differs then it seems likely that the DLC's authentication assigns each user a particular file name and if you entered one which wasn't on file with EA and/or Microsoft it might raise some eyebrows. Furthermore, since there are 3.6 X10 to the 43rd power different permutations of a 42 character file name using letters and numbers, it seems unlikely that you'd be able to guess a legit filename.
So, for anyone with the Kasumi DLC, a transfer kit, and some free time you might try booting up Xport 360 looking in the partition I mentioned and post whether the complete file name of
the largest file (the 800 megabyte one) is the same as mine which is....
5BBB11E23527D5993527D3C8C431D55A759AD02945
Modifié par implodinggoat, 17 mai 2010 - 08:05 .
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