I found a copy of the PS2 SDK ISO and was wondering if I there was a way to unpack the WAD files found in some PS2 games using it? Specifically Sly Cooper 3, to find if there was anything cut from the game. Do any betas exist for the Sly Cooper games that were not publicly released? I am fascinated by betas and finding things that were no kept in the final version of a game. This is my first post in the non welcome forum area. The PS2 is my favorite console and making homebrew for it would also be cool, but I digress. Any help is appreciated, if this is the wrong place then I am sorry.
The first 2 Sly games have what's called a "ghost TOC" which basically has the main data file hidden. Sly 3 has the WAD, as you said. I sent a sample of the WAD file to a guy I know who pretty much specializes in the extraction and reimporting of archives from games, and he himself said it's a "chaotic and complex format". Thread found here: http://zenhax.com/viewtopic.php?t=2079 As for betas of the Sly series: Not at all. Closest you'll get to a beta is the E3 demo of the first Sly game, which I uploaded online. And in regards to cut stuff: I went into the HD collection's files a while back and after unpacking the WAL file for Sly 1, I saw a level called "uw_bonus_drivewheels" in Raleigh's level. As you may know, no racing levels existed in Raleigh's level. The "uw" in the file name is referring to the whole "underwater" approach they were going after, where it was all underwater. There's also 2 unused songs I found, as well, pertaining to the Paris tutorial level.
I figured. I asked because someone on another forum asked the same question and someone said you would need an SDK to unpack it. I did download the E3 demo file you uploaded. Is there anything else on that "drivewheels" level or is there just a name or string of text in the code? If it is a full level, maybe you could rename it to a level name that the game calls for and see if it loads it(renaming it would be hard though). On a side note, could someone develop a walk through walls code for the Sly Cooper E3 beta on PCSX2? Maybe we could see what was on the other side of that tunnel that you can't enter normally.
It has it's own file, and I'm assuming it could be made playable by somehow changing the pointer to an existing level so it loads the unused one instead, but not sure on how that could be done. As for the E3 demo and the other side of the barrier, I managed to glitch myself past the invisible barrier a while back (used a real console, with a turbo controller and jumped repeatedly) and an unused enemy was there. This one specifically: [/IMG] [/IMG]
Cool. Wonder why the enemy was deleted. Is there any way to get all the keys in the E3 demo? I can't test it myself because A I don't know how to glitch past barriers or hack the game and B PCSX2 is the only current way I can play this demo and I get 10-20 FPS at BEST. I'll look into renaming PS3 game files(doubt there will be any information though). I wonder if you could make the unpacker BMS script repack the file after you renamed the level file and then put it back in the game and see if it worked(while keeping a backup of the original to make the game normal again, of course).
Not all of the keys can be obtained since SP quite literally deleted the data for the remaining 4 levels in Raleigh's world. I think the BMS script can actually reimport modified files using the "reimport.exe" file included with QuickBMS so that's a possibility (with the HD collection, at least. Not the PS2 retail version), but then how would you test the modified version? RPCS3 can't play the HD collection atm.
You're right, RPCS3 does not support the sly collection, but ESX does. Will that work? I don't own the sly collection and if I tried to emulate PS3 games my laptop would explode EDIT: It seems that ESX might be fake so nevermind. There seem to be a few arguments over whether or not ESX is legit. If you had Custom Firmware on your PS3 the maybe you could run it like a backup game, but whether you do that or not is entirely your decision.
Ah, that complicates things. You don't have a PS3 and I don't have the sly collection(plus I don't know how to unpack the WAL file in it anyways). It would be nice if the file existed in the original full game but finding the file is like finding the games beta. EDIT: I found the file...almost. If you use a program called WinDirStat and hit F7 while viewing the sly cooper disc, you will see a huge chunk of data labeled UNKNOWN that is 2.6GB in size. I heard that using a hex editor could extract the data into something usable, but since I am a total noob at using hex editors and any other programming language other than QBASIC, I can't do it unless you teach me how. So at least you can see that the data is there, it just doesn't have a file name.
I'm sure a hex editor could be used to dump the data, though I wouldn't know the first thing on what to do. A friend of mine in Italy was working on the extraction of the WAL files last time I was in contact with him, and he DID manage to get the files rather easily, but I haven't talked to him in a while.
If you hear anything from him, let me know. I'm really interested in this unknown level. Thanks for telling me about it. EDIT: While looking at the Sly E3 demo's WAL file in HxD I found a string of text that said "fish_freeze", this was a feature Sly's cane was originally supposed to have but was cut. I was surprised to see it mentioned in a fairly close to finished version of the game. EDIT2: How do you get past the invisible wall in the tunnel in the demo? Iknow you jump repeatedly but is there any specific angles?
Would you mind if some time in the future I put the missing level UW_BONUS_DRIVEWHEELS on the cutting room floor? I would give you credit since it was you who discovered it. Maybe see if anyone could help make it playable? Don't know if I will ever post it even if you give me permission, but it would be cool to share it with the world. Thanks, VGA Guy
