Beginner's Guide to Custom Colors in SFxT

Update: The steps from this tutorial have been automated. You can now do all of it easily from sloth86's EMMEdit tool.

Street Fighter x Tekken handles colors in a completely different way from Street Fighter 4 and its derivatives as a result of the color customization feature. Instead of just pulling colors and textures directly from the texture image, the textures look like this:

and the game calculates the appropriate color based on a series of numbers, which represent a color mix from the texture image's color channels. These numbers are stored in the *.obj.emm files--specifically the 'MatCol' attributes--alongside the various other object materials and material attributes.

There are two main ways to edit *.obj.emm files, manually via hex or using NanjouJ's MatEdit tool, which is a little more user-friendly than fiddling with hex codes. In this tutorial, we'll be using MatEdit to copy colors from another color file, rather than calculating the color from scratch. If you would like to calculate an entirely new color from scratch, this post from yajirobe does a good job of explaining it.

So, first thing, we need to make backups of any of the files we plan to mess with. Once you've done that, go download MatEdit from the AE wiki's 'tools' page and identify which files you want to work with. I'm going to be copying a color from one of Ryu's *.obj.emm files into one of Poison's.

Now, create a new folder (on your desktop or wherever) and copy matedit.exe and both Ryu and Poison's *.obj.emm files into it. Then, hold ctrl+shift on your keyboard and right-click somewhere inside that folder, and choose 'Open command window here':

 This will open a command line window, but don't freak out. I'm going to tell you exactly what to type in.

First thing, we want to export the materials from both of our files, using the syntax "matedit.exe export [target obj.emm file] [newfile.txt]." So, in my case, I'm going to type (replace PSN/RYU and poison/ryu as appropriate for your files):

matedit.exe export PSN_01_01.obj.emm poison.txt

and

matedit.exe export RYU_01_01.obj.emm ryu.txt

If done correctly, you should have two new files in your directory, in my case, poison.txt and ryu.txt. At this point, we're done with the command line for now, but don't close it yet because we're going to need it again later.

For now, open both files in the text editor of your choice. Notepad works, but I prefer Notepad++ (it's free and awesome; go get it).

Open both of the txt files in your text editor. You'll see a series of sections which correspond to the various objects that make up the character's model. In each section, there are a bunch of variables and values that tell the game how to render each object. The ones we're worried about today are the MatCol variables:

 You'll notice that I highlighted just the *R, *G and *B MatCols, which correspond to the red, green and blue color channels, respectively, and not the *A MatCol, which corresponds to the Alpha channel. You shouldn't mess with the alpha value if you're just trying to change colors. ;)

So, lets say we want to take the color of Ryu's pants--i.e., white--and copy it over to Poison's hair. To do this, we would hop over to our ryu.txt file and search for 'pants.' Then, scroll down through his 'pants' section until we find the MatCol subsection.

 In this case, I only have a single color, MatCol0 to choose from, but some models will have multiple color groups, such as MatCol1 and MatCol2. These MatCols represent the color groups that can be customized in-game, so make sure you're choosing the correct one.

Copy those values and then switch over the poison.txt file and search for 'hair.' Scroll down to the MatCol section and replace the values there with your new, copied values:

 Great, we're almost done.

The last step is to import the modified text files back into the target *.obj.emm file. So, back to your command line window (if you didn't listen earlier and closed it, just open a new one) and type:

matedit.exe import poison.txt PSN_01_01.obj.emm

Now you're ready to test it out. Copy the PSN_01_01.obj.emm file into your [install directory]\resource\CMN\battle\chara\PSN folder, overwriting the one that was there (you made a backup, right??) and go check it out.

If you had calculated a new color from scratch using yajirobe's instructions instead of copying the color from some other costume, you would go through the exact same steps, only using your calculated color numbers instead of the ones from Ryu's pants.

That's it. Have fun, share your work and always make backups.

Beginner's Guide to Cyanogen Mod on Epic 4G (Samsung Galaxy S SPH-D700)

UPDATE: This guide also works with the new Cyanogen Mod 9 release, which is based on Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Based on Sprint's depressingly slow release of Gingerbread OTA (over the air) updates for the Epic 4G (aka Samsung Galaxy S SPH-D700), it looks like this phone will be considered EOL (end of life) in the very near future, despite being barely a year old (that's like, what... 7 years in cell phone time?). It is, therefore, very unlikely that us Epic owners will ever receive an official update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

However, thanks to the open source nature of Android and some extremely clever community members, we can now use the awesome, fast, feature-filled Cyanogen Mod (CM) on our phones. CM7 has only just recently reached 'supported' status on the Epic 4G, while international versions of the phone have had support for some time.

Preparation

To get started, we need to download some tools:

1. Odin, which is a Windows-only (boo) utility for flashing firmwares on the Epic 4G. Mac/Linux users can try Heimdall, but I won't be covering that in this tutorial.

2. A rooted kernel for Samsung's official Gingerbread ROM. This will prep your phone for all of the shenanigans we'll be getting into. It also includes some nice community-provided goodies, like a fix for the keyboard's habit of dropping double-tapped letters.

3. ClockworkMod, a special bootloader that now works with the Epic 4G. Once you get this guy installed, you never have to use your computer for this kinda stuff again. You can just flash in new ROMs (like CM updates) directly from your phone's SD card.

4. A Cyanogen Mod image optimized for the Epic 4G. This is the one I used, but since then, the epicmtd (the codename for the Epic 4G) has become an officially supported device! That means you can always get the latest stable and/or nightly builds from the official CM distribution source. One thing to be aware of: CM10 requires repartitioning your phone, so once you go to it, you can't go back to CM9/ICS or earlier without returning to stock first. As long as you stay with CM9 or earlier, however, you can swap between them without doing a full reversion.

5. Samsung's USB Phone Drivers. Without this driver, Odin will fail to see your phone :(

6. G-Apps. They're named in this fashion: gapps-[android revision]-[date]-signed.zip. Find the one that matches your CM version (ICS corresponds to CM9 while JB corresponds to CM10) and has the most recent date.

You'll also need a USB-A-to-microUSB cable that is SHORTER than the one that came with your phone. For some strange reason that I won't go into here (it has to do with impedance of the wire :O), the 6-foot cable that is shipped with the phone will almost always fail the process, leaving you with a semi-bricked phone. Get one like this instead.

Ok, once you've collected all of your tools, we can get started.

Installation

1. Install your USB Phone Driver and unpack your Odin zip file. Inside the resulting folder, you should have your Odin executable (ends in *.exe), Odin3.ini and a *.pit file (mine is victory_8G_100528.pit).

2. Plug your USB-A-to-microUSB cable into your computer, but not into your phone. Now, power off your phone, slide open your phone's keyboard and hold down the number 1 key and the power button while plugging in the microUSB cable. It should boot into this screen:

3. Now, open Odin. It should look something like this:

Make sure, under 'Option' on the left, the box next to 'Re-Partition' is NOT checked. Then, on the right, click the button labeled PDA and navigate to your Samsung recovery ROM (#2 in the tools above). Choose it and, back in the main window, click the big button labeled 'Start.'

Some messages should run through the window on the bottom left of the Odin window and, if everything went well, it should end up like this:

and your phone should reset itself and boot into the Samsung ROM.

4. Now, power off your phone again, unplug it from your computer and perform step #2 again to get it back into the recovery state.

5. Back in Odin, click the PDA button again, but this time, navigate to the ClockworkMod ROM (#3 from the tools above). Choose it and, back in the main window, click the 'Start' button again. The message window in the bottom-left of the menu should cycle some more messages and, if everything went well, it should say All threads completed. (succeed 1 / failed 0) and your phone should reset itself again.

At this point, we're finished with Odin (forever), so go ahead and close it out.

6. From now on, you can flash anything you want directly from your SD card, which is awesome. So, put your phone into USB Mass Storage mode (I had to unplug my USB cable and then reconnect it, then it prompted me as usual) and drag your CyanogenMod ROM (#4 from the tools above) to the root (top level directory) of your SD card and rename it to 'update.zip' (very important).

Now, on your phone, tap the button labeled "Disconnect storage from PC" to unmount it from your computer and power-off your phone. Once it's completely turned off, power it back on, but when you do, press and hold the power button, the camera button (i.e., the button below the power button) and the 'Volume Down' button on the other side of your phone to enter the ClockworkMod bootloader. It should look something like this:

Using the volume up/down button to navigate, select 'Apply sdcard:update.zip.' It will ask for confirmation and warn you that it cannot be undone. Confirm your selection and it will begin installation, which should look like this:

When it's all finished, it will put you back in the bootloader, where you can choose 'Reboot system now':

If everything went well, you should see the CyanogenMod7 boot screen, like this:

Congratulations! Take a deep breath and give yourself a pat on the back. We just have a few more things to add and then we'll be done! You can proceed to step #7.

If you just keep seeing the CyanogenMod7 boot screen over and over (like I did), then you've encountered the "bootloop" error, which is no big deal. Just boot back into your ClockworkMod bootloader, choose 'Mounts and Storage' from the main menu, and then 'mount USB storage' (you may have to unplug/replug the USB cable from your computer if it doesn't recognize it straightaway). Once it mounts on your computer, you can try to redownload your CyanogenMod image, rename it to update.zip and replace it on the root of your SD card. When it's done copying, select 'Unmount,' tap the 'back' button to go back to the bootloader, select 'wipe data/factory reset' and then flash it again to CM.

7. Once you successfully reach the CM desktop, activate USB Mass Storage mode via the pulldown main menu. Once your SD card mounts on your computer, create a new folder in the root directory (you can call it whatever you want, but I'm going to call it 'updates'). Note: you can also delete your CM image at this point, if you want to free up the space. Put your G-Apps into your new directory and boot back into your ClockworkMod recovery.

Once you're there, choose 'Apply update from zip file on SD card,' then 'choose zip from SD card,' then navigate to your newly created directory ('updates' for me) and choose your gapps zip. When it finishes, choose 'Reboot' from the bootloader and you should be all set!

Whenever new updates for CyanogenMod are released, simply rename them to 'update.zip' and place them on the root of your SD card, then run the update from ClockworkMod's bootloader. < Note: since this was written, you can update straight from CyanogenMod without using ClockworkMod by going to System Settings > About phone > CyanogenMod updates. Here, you can browse and download updates and apply them on the next reboot.

Getting Started with RetroArch

Update (4/23/2012): SSNES has changed its name to reflect its versatility beyond SNES emulation. The new name is RetroArch and this article has been updated to reflect the change.

RetroArch is a multi-platform multi-emulator with support for some really cool, unique features, including extensive shader and filter support, real-time rewind, lossless video dumping, advanced "lagless" netplay, and more. Unlike many other emulators, RetroArch is under rapid and active development and receives new features on a regular basis. However, all of these esoteric options and capabilities can be daunting to new users, so this guide will cover the basics. The instructions are primarily geared toward Windows users, but the configuration information is essentially the same on any platform.

So, first off: RetroArch is all about modularity, so we need to download a couple of initial modules, namely the RetroArch executable and its helper libraries. To get started, go to the RetroArch homepage and download the RetroArch full package that suits your system (the 'x86' build will work on all machines, while the x64 build will only work in 64-bit versions of Windows; get the x86 version if you don't know which is appropriate for you). The slim package contains the absolute minimum required for bare, no-frills emulation, while the full package is prepared to utilize RetroArch's many advanced features.

Once your download finishes, extract the zip file, navigate to the extracted RetroArch folder and look for retroarch-phoenix.exe. This is the graphical user interface (GUI) module that will help us get RetroArch set up and configured. Double-click it and you should see a window that looks like this:

Along the upper edge of the window, open the RetroArch menu and select Update RetroArch:

It should open a window that looks like this:

You can use this tool to automatically download updates for RetroArch, its helper libraries and any/all of the various emulation cores. First off, you'll need to select which flavor of RetroArch you're using--x86 or x64 (aka x86_64)--by clicking on the appropriate bubble next to CPU.

Then, click on the button labeled Check version. This will search for updates to RetroArch and/or its helper libraries and populate the list of available emulation cores:

After that, click on the bubble labeled Redist and then the button that says Download RetroArch. This will fetch any updated RetroArch executables, as well as fresh copies of all of the helper libraries (you can update RetroArch without the helper libraries by using the Full button instead of Redist).

At this point, you can also automatically download any of the cores in the list by double-clicking on its entry. After the download finishes, it will ask if you want to use the core. Whether you do or not is okay, as we'll be specifying our desired core in just a few seconds anyway.

Once you're done downloading cores (you can come back to this menu and download more cores at any time), close the Updater window and return to the main window, where we'll need to configure some options.

Starting from the top, the Normal ROM path is where you select the ROM you want to play. It will not hide inappropriate files, so make sure you pick the right one for the system you wish to emulate ;)

Next, we need to tell RetroArch where to store and load its settings, via the RetroArch config file path. Click Open, and then navigate to your RetroArch folder and choose the file named retroarch.cfg. Likewise, for RetroArch path, click Open, navigate to the same folder and select retroarch.exe.

Finally, the Emulator core path lets us select which emulation core we wish to use. So, click Open, navigate to the RetroArch folder and look for your desired core that you downloaded from the Updater, such as gambatte-0.5wip1-x86_64.dll in my case. RetroArch can be paired with any emulator core that conforms to the libretro API specification, including but not limited to the original libretro (previously known as libsnes) derived from byuu's bsnes.

At this point, simple emulation should be functional, so go ahead and try it by clicking on the big button labeled Start RetroArch. If it works, congratulations! You're ready to play. Check out the advanced configuration options to learn about filters/shaders, netplay, rewind support and more.

If it doesn't work, click on the File menu at the top of the window and select Show log. This will give you some information on why it failed. If you seek help at the RetroArch forums or in the RetroArch IRC channel, be sure to have this information handy, as it will help others solve your problem.

If you would like to explore some of RetroArch's more advanced features, check out this guide.

For Linux Users

If you're using a Debian-based distro, such as Ubuntu or Mint, you can use my PPA repo, where I package a number of emulators, including RetroArch and all flavors of libretro. To install RetroArch, open Synaptic Package Manager and add ppa:hunter-kaller/ppa to your software sources. You can then install any of the packages through your normal installation procedure of choice.

Otherwise, configuration is just like in Windows, except your retroarch.cfg file is initially installed to /etc/retroarch.cfg (but can then be copied to and overridden by any retroarch.cfg file located in ~/.config/retroarch/) and the emulation cores install to /usr/lib/.

Beginner's Guide to SF4 Skinning

There are several tutorials floating around for skinning in Street Fighter 4, namely those by Providenceangle and hornyyoshi, but they were both written fairly early on and have not been updated to reflect new, easier methods. So, here is a definitive guide to creating new skins in SF4:

1. Collecting the Tools

First and foremost, you'll need a painting program. Photoshop is obviously quite common but also very expensive. GIMP is a free alternative that works quite well (it's what I usually use) and you can download it free from here. This tutorial will mainly focus on Photoshop, but I'll include some info for GIMP when possible.

Next, you'll need a plugin for your paint program to allow you to open/modify DDS textures, which are used by SF4. For Photoshop, you can use Nvidia's free Photoshop plugin, available here. If you would rather use free software, GIMP has a DDS plugin available here. I'm not going to cover installing the plugins, but you should be able to find documentation at the respective sites.

You'll also want to download Nvidia's free Windows Texture Viewer tool, which will give you some valuable information about the DDS textures you will extract. You can download it here.

Finally, you'll need to download the latest version of piecemontee's Asset Explorer, which greatly simplifies the whole modding process, from decompressing files to identifying, viewing, extracting and injecting textures. It does it all and you can download it from here.

2. Some basic information

Vanilla SF4 uses two main files to control the appearance of a character:

A. The cos file (stands for costume), which is designated by the character's three-letter name abbreviation (ZGF for Zangief, RYU for Ryu, etc.), a number delineating which costume (01 for original, 02 for Capcom's alternate), the file extension (cos) and the compression container (emz). So, Zangief's original costume will be named ZGF_01.cos.emz.

B. The col file (stands for color), which is similarly designated by the character's three-letter name abbreviation, a number designating which cos file the color goes with (i.e., original costume or alternate), a number delineating which color slot the file occupies (one through ten), the file extension (col) and the compression container (again, emz). So, Zangief's first color for his original costume will be named ZGF_01_01.col.emz.

The cos files primarily contain the 3D model and other embedded files used by the engine to display the body that you see in-game. I won't cover editing any of these files here, but I wanted to mention it anyway.

For simple skinning, you will be entirely focused on the col files, which contain embedded texture files stored in DDS format (hence the need for a DDS plugin).

In AE, the *.emz containers are no longer used, so all of the component files are just sitting inside the character's directory. 3D models are stored in the ***.obj.emo file, while textures are stored in the ***.col.emb file.

3. Using piecemontee's Asset Explorer

The Asset Explorer is the cornerstone of the modding process and it takes the place of offzip, Dragon Unpacker and Infuser, all of which are difficult to use and can be scary for would-be modders.

So, just open up the Asset Explorer and drag a cos file and a corresponding col file which you wish to edit into its left-hand pane. In AE, you would drag over an ***.obj.emo model and a ***.col.emb texture file.

Now, expand the entries for the cos file until you see and entry that says #EMO (HND_01.obj.emo) (HND will be replaced with your character's three-letter abbreviation) and highlight it. As you can see, the program will then load the costume model, which will appear spooky and gray (this is the ambiant occlusion map; nothing to concern yourself with, but I thought I'd mention it for completeness):

To see the col textures applied to the model, use the pulldown menu in the middle of the window to select an option that displays 'texture' (the one at the bottom, 'Shadowed + Ink Shader + Texture + Normal Map' looks the closest to what you would see in-game):

Throughout the skinning process, you can use this to preview your work without loading up the entire SF4 program just to check a small detail.

4. Extracting Textures

Back in the left-hand pane of the Asset Explorer, expand the col file structure (and the entry labeled #EMB (HND_01_01.col.emb)) until you see one or more entries named 'DDS.' If you click on it, the preview window will change to display the texture file:

Once the desired DDS is selected, if you right-click on the DDS entry, you'll see a contextual menu with an option to 'Extract...' Choose it and you will be offered a chance to save the extracted texture as a standalone DDS file. This is what we'll be editing in our paint program and then re-injecting later, so I like to name it something that will tell me its position in the DDS order later, such as "ryu-bag-1.dds" or whatever. At this point, I also like to make a backup of the original DDS texture for future reference.

5. Painting Your Skin

When you open your extracted DDS texture(s) in your paint program, be it Photoshop or GIMP, it will bring up a dialog box asking you some questions. It's fine to skip loading MIP maps and to 'Load Using Default Sizes.'

I won't go over how to use the paint programs here (that's up to you to figure out), but some things to keep in mind:

A. Straight-up 'painted' textures usually look like crap. You're often better off using the hue/saturation tools to change the existing textures (there are obviously plenty of exceptions to this, so try things out and see what you like).

B. Some, though not all, textures include transparency, via what is known as an 'Alpha Channel.' I won't spend much time on it in this tutorial, but it is the cornerstone of another modding trick, known as 'col-based transparency.' I just wanted to mention it here so you're aware of it.

C. Since you'll be applying these textures to curved, irregular models, what looks like a straight line in Photoshop does not always look straight in-game. Frequently check your work in the Asset Explorer to ensure everything looks right and save yourself time and effort later.

6. Saving

Saving is a little more complex than hitting ctrl+S. After you name your file and choose its destination, a new dialog will pop up with a bunch of esoteric options:

We need our new texture to have exactly the same filesize as the original or the game will choke on it and crash. So, we'll want to 'Generate MIP maps' and make sure we select the correct DXT compression from the pulldown menu. Remember that backup I suggested at the end of Step 4? To find out which DXT compression to use, take your backup and open it with Nvidia's Windows Texture Viewer tool:

Along the bottom of the window, we can see the format, in this case, DXT5, so that's what we'll save our new texture as.

7. Injecting Your Texture Into the Col File

Now, back to the Asset Explorer. Navigate to the DDS textures and select the one you wish to replace. Right-click to bring up the contextual menu and, this time, choose 'Inject...' and browse to your new texture. If it complains about the filesize being incorrect, you have messed up something, probably in either resolution or one of the saving options, so go back and try to find your error. If not, you can click back on your model and see how it looks:

That's it. You've made your first skin. Congrats!

Once you feel comfortable with this process, you can move on to hex-editing the col file to create transparency effects or material swapping, making custom Normal Maps and directly editing the 3D mesh model.