Character Pack (Old)

Character Packs is a feature in the CTGP-7 MyStuff folder that allows configuring all the assets related to custom characters.

Applying Character Packs

Character packs can be individually enabled from the CTGP-7 Custom Character Manager. In order to load or unload the Character Packs, a game reboot must be triggered (by closing and opening CTGP-7, for example), which will patch the necessary files.

NOTE: Keep in mind that modifications to files in a character pack may not take effect until the next patch. In order to trigger a patch, do any operation in the Custom Character Manager (such as disabling and then enabling a custom character).

Structure

Each Character Pack contents must be placed inside its own folder. This folder (which will be refered to as the root folder) can have any name, as long as it is less than 32 letters.
The contents of the root folder have the following structure:

- Driver (optional)
- Kart (optional)
- bcsarSoundData.ips (optional)
- config.ini
- menuSoundData.ips (optional)
- stdWingColor.ips (optional)
- UI.sarc (optional)
- voiceSoundData.ips (optional)

config.ini

This file is the only mandatory one for the Character Pack to be recognized by the mod. It dictates which character should this pack replace, as well as the custom character names in different languages. Here is an example of a config.ini file: (You can use it as a template for your own character pack.)

name_ENG :: Example Name :: Ex. N.
name_DEU :: Example Name :: Ex. N.
name_DUT :: Example Name :: Ex. N.
name_FRA :: Example Name :: Ex. N.
name_ITA :: Example Name :: Ex. N.
name_JAP :: Example Name :: Ex. N.
name_POR :: Example Name :: Ex. N.
name_RUS :: Example Name :: Ex. N.
name_SPA :: Example Name :: Ex. N.

origChar :: mr

Name Entries

Each one of the name_(Language Code) entries define how the custom character will be named ingame. Only the entry for the currently loaded Language Pack is used. If the entry for the current language pack doesn't exist, the english entry is used instead. (Making it the only mandatory one.)

Original Character

The origChar entry defines which original character the Character Pack should replace. Here is a table for all the original character codes:

Code	Name
bw	Bowser
dk	Donkey Kong
ds	Daisy
hq	Honey Queen
kt	Koopa Troopa
lg	Luigi
lk	Lakitu
mr	Mario
mtl	Metal Mario
pc	Peach
rs	Rosalina
sh	Shy Guy
td	Toad
wig	Wiggler
wr	Wario
ys	Yoshi

Driver and Kart

This are the only subfolders present in Character Packs. Both of them are optional.

Driver

Contains the models for the characters, in .bcmdl format. During the patch procedure, the contents of this folder are directly copied to CTGP-7/gamefs/Driver, replacing existing files. As a result, you can replace any file found inside the Driver folder in the Mario Kart 7 romfs, even those not related to the character slot defined in config.ini (not recommended as it can interfere with other character packs). Check the Driver folder structure to see which files can be replaced.

Important files
Here are the most important files that can be placed in the Driver folder. Replace (character code) with the original character code used in the config.ini file.

Driver/(character code)/(character code).bcmdl -> Main character model (used in the menu and during a race for your driver)
Driver/(character code)_lod/(character code)_lod.bcmdl -> Low resolution model (using during a race for other drivers)

Kart

Contains several kart and emblem related data, in .bcmdl format. During the patch procedure, the contents of this folder are directly copied to CTGP-7/gamefs/Kart, replacing existing files. As a result, you can replace any file found inside the Kart folder in the Mario Kart 7 romfs, even those not related to the character slot defined in config.ini (not recommended as it can interfere with other character packs). Check the Kart folder structure to see which files can be replaced.

Important files
Here are the most important files that can be placed in the Kart folder. Replace (character code) with the original character code used in the config.ini file.

Kart/Emblem/emblem_(character code)/emblem_(character code).bcmdl -> Main emblem model.
Kart/Emblem/emblem_(character code)_lod/emblem_(character code)_lod.bcmdl -> Low resolution emblem model.

Furthermore, some kart bodies and gliders allow character specific models to be used. If the original character supports this feature, you can replace those files as well. Check the Kart folder structure and pay attention to your chosen original character code in the file names.

UI.sarc

UI.sarc is an optional archive that holds any modified files inside any of the game's .szs archives. It has the same format as standard .szs files, but not YAZ0 compressed (SARC). In order to open this file, you can use Every File Explorer directly. This file is normally used to replace the game 2D assets, like menu images and icons (however, it can be used to replace any file, as mentioned earlier, but not recommeneded).

In order to generate a new UI.sarc file, there are two options (first being the recommended one):

Method 1: MyStuff Tools

Look in menu.szs, race.szs, and trophy.szs in Every File Explorer, and find bclim files you want to be modified and export them. It will be easier to find these bclim files with the search feature. Put the original character code in the search bar, and EFE will highlight the files you need to export. Keep track of the szs file the individual bclim files came from! You can easily edit bclim files using Ohana3ds (not rebirth) by opening them in the textures menu.

In the MyStuff Tools folder, go into the sarc folder, then the sarc folder inside of that. Make a folder called UI, and go in it. Now make three folders called menu.szs, race.szs, and trophy.szs. Next put the bclim files in these folders, depending on what szs file they came from. If that's too complicated, lemme make it easier for you thanks to this table (xx being the original character code):

SZS - BCLIM Table

SZS	BCLIM
menu.szs	b_pip_xx.bclim
	b_std_xx.bclim
	g_std_xx.bclim
	rank_xx.bclim
	select_xx.bclim
race.szs	map_xx_r90.bclim
	rank_xx_r90.bclim
trophy.szs	rank_xx.bclim

So for example, b_std_xx.bclim should be in the menu.szs folder. And yes, the two rank_xx.bclim files are the same textures, so you can just make a copy to put both of them in menu.szs and trophy.szs.

Now if you haven't already, you need to set up the sarc script. Launch setup.bat. Find the folder of Every File Explorer, and drag EveryFileExplorer.exe into the window of setup.bat. Then press enter. Now you can exit setup.bat.

Finally you can launch build.bat. If it says "Adding changes to file... Done!" near the end then it should have worked. However, if it says something like (part of file path) is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file, then the setup didn't work correctly. Thankfully you can fix it. Open build.bat in a text editor, and look at the line that starts with SET EFEEXE=. You should see two "s after it. Delete one of them. Then go to the end of the line and delete the last " in the line. Then save the file. Now build.bat should work.

Now, you should have finished your UI.sarc!

Method 2: Every File Explorer

UNDER CONSTRUCTION