FFVI_Explorer Tool [GUIDE / HOW TO]

[Rhyagelle]

This is a thread to explain how to use the tool in full detail. Please give me a few minutes to set up reference images and paste the contents here. Withhold any questions until then, please! :)

Please keep in mind this is a guide on how to MAKE patches, not use them! I will post about that in a secondary post.

STEP 1:

Before we start, you will need the latest version of the tool. You can find a quick link to the tool in the SECOND post below. The file is a .zip file, which means it will need to be extracted with 7zip or winrar.

Once you have extracted it, place it someplace easy to remember and access. I personally put mine in the FFVI Steam install directory, at the root, under a folder name "FFVI Tool". You can decide where, but I highly suggest Desktop or Documents at the very least!

STEP 2:

With the contents of the tool extracted, our next step is to head over to the ROOT of the FFVI install directory. If you do not know what root means, it means the folder at the highest level of hierarchy belonging to FFVI's install. In "visible" examples, it means this:

C:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Final Fantasy 6 (< root)
*where the main.obb and .dll files are located

Find the file called main.obb. Right click it and copy it. Next, go to the ROOT of the FFVI_Explorer Tool and paste the copy there. This is our fallback, so you don't have verify cache and download it should something go wrong.

Now, inside of the Tool folder, right click and launch the FFVI_Explorer as admin. You will see a clear, untouched window like this:

https://imgur.com/wTLrGCF

The first thing you want to do is press Open Archive.

https://imgur.com/uJLt0Lv

You will direct this toward the main.obb in the ROOT of your install location. Find it in this new window, click it and then confirm. When you have do so and done so properly, you see see a window like this:

https://imgur.com/Q6tI745

STEP 3:

With the .obb file from your install open, it is time to start the patching. This is what you should be clicking:

https://imgur.com/8b1cT5J

Now you are in the PATCH window. Click NEW PATCH and then open a secondary browser window and locate your EDITED FILES (this means any sprites or graphics you changed).

What you need to do here is drag your edited files INTO the Patch window, which is this:

https://imgur.com/JFbejNp

NOW WAIT! Read this first before proceeding!

[CAUTION; please read this thoroughly!]

Something you need to know first before dragging any edited files in is that, as of as of v0.4b of the tool we're using, the files extracted from main.obb that turn out as filename.gz will absolutely NEED to be recompressed as .gz files before using in any patch. This means you can't extract .gz into bmps/tgas and throw those bmps and tgas into the patcher. They have to be recompressed as .gz files first!

However, .png files can be easily dragged into the window.

[/caution]

When you drag a file into the window, it will look very similar to this:

https://imgur.com/xv7TeOQ

For the sake of the guide, I used Terra's large Face Graphic, located in Graphic\Ui\Face_L inside of the main.obb. It is VERY important to remember the file locations of the files you are editing when found inside of the main.obb.

Why? Because, if you noticed to the LEFT of the above image, you see this:

https://imgur.com/go7SVWk

The location of the files within the main.obb is important because we need to fill that in where above the red line, where the picture says F_00000.png. You can easily do this by pressing the [....] to the right, which I boxed in blue for you.

If you press that [....] button, you get this window:

https://imgur.com/wePCA0v

In this window, you can scroll down and find the file you are editing and click it. Doing so will automatically fill in the "url" path of the file. Like so:

https://imgur.com/QqQKYNK

STEP 4:

Once you do that, you will be presented at the left with a valid file path to the file inside of the .obb you are editing. It will look something like this:

https://imgur.com/C1mvQmH

Now, you can also just remember and type in the location, if you want. I find that easier than pressing that damn button and searching through that list you can't filter. lol what I did was have a third browser window open looking into an extracted COPY of the main.obb file someplace outside of the install location of FFVI. I used the path and just copied and pasted, replacing \ with / though, as the tool needs "/" instead.

That lefts us to the right of the window, with the button called "browse". Now, the file paths here only have to point to your EDITED files, not the files inside of the .obb. For example, in the above images, I had:

C:\Location to your files\Graphic\Ui\Face_L\F_00000.png

Obviously I can't help you with this part, as I have no idea where you might have stored your images.

However, when you have the location path url, what you want to do is make sure they are pointing (and there should be NO reason they aren't if you dragged them in unless you need to fix an oopsy or two manually) to your edited file.

Now you just need to repeat the last few steps for every file you dragged into the window until you have thrown in every edited file you have made.

STEP 5; FINAL STEP:

When this is through, we just need to SAVE the patch.

You can do this by using these two buttons:

https://imgur.com/JZp1GqM

SAVE PATCH makes a manual patch, which means people who use it will need to have the FFVI_Explorer Tool to APPLY it with the APPLY PATCH button. It will create a file called .zeb.

Using SAVE SELF-APPLYING PATCH button though will create a .exe program that will automatically do it for people. Those who use this feature will just have to point the .exe to the main.obb in the FFVI install directory.

I HIGHLY advise saving patches in BOTH formats.

Now, if you are wishing to immediately test out your patch, all you have to do is click the "APPLY PATCH" button near the end of the button selections, just after CLOSE PATCH.

A process window will pop up and go through the motion. Once it is finished, it will say "Patch completed!". Press OK and go launch FFVI to test your mod!

That's it! You're done! YAY! :)

Photos;

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1295267020
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1295267041
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1295267062
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1295267093
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1295267125

Troubleshooting:

If you got the end and your patch crashes on save, this means your main.obb file in the install directory got "broken" or was in the process of downloading fresh. NEVER start building a patch on an edited main.obb or when it is missing from the install directory. ALWAYS and I really do mean ALWAYS use a fresh main.obb file for patching!

If your patch saved and seemingly applied without error but launching your game crashes at any point, it means your FILE PATHS during the drag-and-correct process was messed up. It could be one, two, three or one hundred broken paths. Just go through your patch again by OPENING it via the PATCH menu again and make sure the paths all align.

That's it. If there are other errors, I haven't come across them yet. I'm willing to help beyond this point as best as I can thought! :)

That's it, go have fun you crazy kids you!

[Rhyagelle]

HOW TO PATCH:

THIS POST WILL HAVE INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO USE THE APPLICATION TO PATCH. NOT HOW TO MAKE THEM.

Let's say you downloaded a patch, .fep which is manual, meaning you need the tool or a slef-applying patch, which is an .exe. This one means you just run it and point it to your main.obb.

Method 1 will refer to manual, the .fep patch. Method 2 will refere to the automatic version, the exe patch.

METHOD 1:

First make sure your main.obb file is NEW. Untouched! Otherwise, it will crash! Delete it if you are not sure and then have Steam redownload it. A fresh obb will have a size of 721,835 kb. Now, right click and create a zip of it or copy and paste it elsewhere as a backup. So that we do not have to redownload it if something goes wrong.

Second PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT HAVE FFVI OPEN OR DUPLICATE EXPLORER TOOL OPEN.


With all of that done, download your .fep patch and place it inside of the FFVI_Explorer Tool folder or anywhere, I suppose.

Open your Explorer Tool and press OPEN ARCHIVE. Head over to the install directory of your FFVI folder, in Steam. Find your main.obb file at the root of the folder (right click and create archive for backup or copy and place it elsewhere) and then select it and press OPEN.

Now, in the Tool press PATCH and then OPEN PATCH. Locate where you saved your .fep patch. For the sake of the guide, let's call it FF6.fep. Click it and OPEN.

Now, in the Patch window, you will see a huge list of paths. To the left, you will see some in blue font and some in black. Those are the files being replaced in the obb. To the right, you will see the pathway to the patch content.

DO NOT TOUCH ANY OF THEM.

With that down, click the APPLY PATCH button above the list. It looks like this:

https://imgur.com/P0GWPvz

If it is greyed out, you forgot to select your main.obb in ARCHIVE tab. Please absolutely make sure you are selecting the obb in your install directory and that it is fresh! It will absolutely crash otherwise!

Now, click APPLY PATCH. A pop up will appear and ask if you want to patch and save to the main.obb. Click YES.

A new window like this will appear:

https://imgur.com/v2EUpAE

This is the progress bar. Wait for it to be done. It will look like this when it is finished patching and about to save (you will not get a "PATCH APPLIED" notification):

https://imgur.com/4yY8yog

Now close your Explorer Tool entirely and then go to Steam and launch from the library. You have patched your game! :)

METHOD 2:

This method is the easiest, and if the exe isn't broken or something, you literally just download it, open it and point it to the main.obb in your FFVI Steam install folder.

Make sure to run it as ADMIN just to be sure. And remember, NEVER patch an altered main.obb, or you will crash.

That's it! Enjoy your patched FFVI! :)

[Rhyagelle]

RESOURCE POST:

FFVI_Explorer Tool Download Link:

http://www.rivernyxx.com/projects/download.php?pn=FFVI_Explore

For the sake of it, here is the defilter mod link:

http://www.rivernyxx.com/projects/download.php?pn=FFVI_Defilter

BOTH links will AUTOMATICALLY update as the creator updates them.

(^ posted by Nyxo himself!)

Secondary Link:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=591798883

[Rhyagelle]

UPDATE:

Through vigorous testing and finally having someone discuss it with the creator, I am warning the community that the FFVI_Explorer Tool is now somewhat BROKEN!

The last FFVI update has rendered a portion of its functions as non-working. Those non-working functions include the ability to make a manual or automatic patch, fep or exe, for others to use. What this means is that you cannot save a fep or exe to give to someone else, as it will just crash the game.

You can still use the Tool to patch a game techincally by creating the patch and then immediately applying it from within the Tool. You can also still use the tool to extract the obb, go to modding mode (which allows a third way to mod your game by emptying your main.obb into your obb folder) and of course the compression tab still works.

The creator of the tool has been notified of this and said this:

There's a chance I might revisit it now that I know there's a problem, but my mind is currently occupied with another project, so it won't be right away.

So, for now, if you happen to have a non-updated FFVI the tool should work. However, that's unlikely, so if you want to mod your game, use the modding mode and then replace the files in your obb file (which is located inside of your FFVI install directory).

Thank you! I'll keep the thread updated if there is a change! :)

[Azure Fang]

If you're interested, there's a way to download Final Fantasy VI (or any Steam game, for that matter, with some small process modifications) in its previous patch state, which in this case would allow continued use of FFVI_Explorer until it's updated. The following can be done even if you do not currently have Final Fantasy VI installed through Steam, though it does (obviously) require you to own it on Steam. <insert obligatory "yes this is legal, no this doesn't violate ToS" disclaimer here>

1. Open this thread in your web browser and shut down Steam entirely. For easy copy, the URL to this thread is http://steamcommunity.com/groups/ff-modding/discussions/10/1699416432411423372/
   
2. Create a shortcut for Steam on your desktop. Right-click said shortcut, then hit "Properties". On the Target bar, add "-console" without quotes, then hit "OK". On a common Steam installation, the Target will look like this: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe" -console
   
3. Open Steam through the new shortcut. You will now see "CONSOLE" next to your Steam name. Save this for later.
   
4. Go to SteamDB.info and log in, then go to the page for Final Fantasy VI. For those not afraid of links, it's here[steamdb.info]. Logging in will help point toward any regional variants. if they exist.
   
5. Copy down the AppID. Unless Final Fantasy VI has regional variants, the AppID will be 382900.
   
6. Click "Depots" and copy down the ID listed for "Final Fantasy VI Content". Unless there are any regional variants, the DepotID will be 382901.
   
7. Click the DepotID link, then click "Manifests". As of this post, there should only be three: Jan. 18 2018, Dec. 18, 2015, and Dec. 16 2015. Copy the Manifest ID for Dec. 18. Unless there are regional variants, the ID will be 895076045398103900.
   
8. Go back to Steam.and click "CONSOLE". On the command line, enter the following command, replacing the <> with the desired information: download_depot <AppID> <DepotID> <ManifestID> - Barring regional variants, this will be download_depot 382900 382901 895076045398103900
   
9. Hit Enter and wait. When it's done it will display the download location. On an average Steam installation, this will be C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\content\app_382900\depot_382901
   
10. In this folder is a full, working copy of Final Fantasy VI as it existed before the Jan. 18 2018 patch. Start configuring FFVI_Explorer from Step 2 in the OP, pointing to this folder as the root.

[Rhyagelle]

Dude, that's a life changer until the creator can fix the issue! Thank you so much for adding this to the thread, I appreciate it! :)

[Azure Fang]

No problem. Had to do similar to Fallout 4 when the Creator Club update broke the script extender, so just adapted the steps to FFVI. Hope this helps someone!

[Rhyagelle]

EDIT

Nyxo has updated the tool! Hoozah! HAPPY DAYS! OH MY GOD! xD

http://www.rivernyxx.com/projects/download.php?pn=FFVI_Explore

[Scorpiova]

Is it possible for me to edit the script of the game at all?

I edited Gogo to be the female empire soldier from the reborn mod - and gave it a unique female portrait.

So I would like to be able to change it's default name and also the description from it to her.

Is this possible?

[Rhyagelle]

You'd need to edit the rom.bin with another tool, not with this. Once you do, you drag the rom.bin back into the obb > misc folder that was created from this tool. For example, you could find existed modded versions of the rom.bin and just drag them into the folder and there you go. So yes, it is possible to edit the game like that. How complicated that is though, I cannot say.

I forget the name of the tool, but FF6Hacking forums will have more information on it.

http://emulation.gametechwiki.com/index.php/ROM_Hacking_Resources#Final_Fantasy_VI