List of useful apps for modding

Only the best apps!

Introduction

This guide contains a list of useful apps that can be used to modify the contents of the files in Puyo Puyo Champions. As this game uses a lot of the same formats as Puyo Puyo Tetris, the apps that can be used in that game can also be used in this game, exceptions being MoveMySmpl (WAVs produced by Looping Audio Converter and VGAudio loop properly in-game without any modification), XWBTool, and unxwb (voices and sound effects are now stored in NARC archives).

Looping Audio Converter

Readme[github.com]
Download[github.com]

A GUI-based app that is able to convert between various audio formats. Most notably, it can convert to WAV while still retaining loop points.



To convert to WAV, the output format must be set to WAV, and "Write looping metadata" needs to be set, as shown above.

Narchive

Readme[github.com]
Download[github.com]

Lets you create and extract NARC archives.

To create a NARC archive, drag a folder containing the files and folders you want to add onto create.cmd and follow the prompts. Note that Puyo Puyo Champions doesn't make use of embedded filenames, so you can always say no when it asks you that question.

To extract a NARC archive, drag the NARC archive onto extract.cmd and follow the prompts. Note that extracted files may not always have a file extension.

Paint.NET

Homepage[www.getpaint.net]
Download[www.getpaint.net]

A GUI-based image editor that is able to open and save DDS textures.

To save an image as a DDS, go to File -> Save As..., then change "Save as type" to "DirectDraw Surface (DDS)". When you enter a file name and click save, this dialog will appear:



The format will generally be one of the following:

• DXT1 when your image contains no transparancy
  
• DXT5 when your image contains transparancy
  
• A8R8G8B8 when you need the highest image quality possible

The other settings should match what you see in the picture above.

Puyo Text Editor

Guide on how to use Puyo Text Editor

Puyo Text Editor lets you modify the text in the game. I already wrote a Steam guide on how to use this; just click the link above to take you to the guide.

Texconv

Readme[github.com]
Download[github.com] (You only need to download the file named texconv.exe.)

A command-line based app that lets you convert DDS textures to any supported WIC-supported image format (most notably PNG) and visa-versa.

To convert a DDS texture to PNG, use the following command on the command prompt, replacing <files> with the files you want to convert:

texconv -ft png <files>

To convert a PNG to a DDS texture, use the following command on the command prompt, replacing <files> with the files you want to convert:

texconv -m 1 -ft dds -f <format> <files>

<format> will generally be one of the following:

• DXT1 when your image contains no transparancy
  
• DXT5 when your image contains transparancy
  
• BGRA when you need the highest image quality possible

TppkTool

Readme[github.com]
Download[github.com]

Lets you create and extract TPPK archives. Note that TPPK archives will almost never have a file extension. TPPK archives are generally the larger files (at least 256KB) you see when you extract a NARC archive. They can also be identified with the text "tppk" at the start of the file if you open up the file in a hex editor.

To create a TPPK archive, or update a TPPK archive in an existing NARC archive, drag the DDS files, or a folder containing the DDS files, onto create.cmd and follow the prompts.

To extract a TPPK archive, drag the TPPK archive, or the NARC archive containing the TPPK archive, onto extract.cmd and follow the prompts.

VGAudio

Readme[github.com]
Download[github.com] (You only need to download the file named VGAudioCli.exe or VGAudioCli.zip.)

A command-line based app that is able to convert between various audio formats. Most notably, it can convert to WAV while still retaining loop points.

To convert to a WAV, use the following command on the command prompt, replacing <output> with the name of the WAV file to create (including the .wav extension) and <input> with the name of the audio file you want to convert:

VGAudioCli -o <output> -i <input>

[Roger D. Cheeto Jr.]

are the narc files for the music just the song in an archive?

[NickW]

@DanPROsak I believe this is the source of it: https://cosplay.com/costume/en3473

[NickW]

@BooMan They are in the xwav format.

[_nTag!]

can I know where I can get that thumbnail in full size?

[Boo]

What format are the voice files in when you extract them from the narc?