PS2 hacking

The SDK won't help you because you can't get the source code to the games, just whatever is on the disk.

You'll need to reverse engineer the game binaries manually. Each company uses entirely different formats for things like menus (a lot of menus are also just images and not text, so you can't just translate it, you'd need to supply new images); the binary format will also vary entirely between games.

I believe that there is a TRC from sony that disallows the storing of anything in plain-text. That means that even if the text is somewhere, it's compiled/encrypted somewhere on the disk in non-human readable form.

Other than just randomly flipping bits over the entire executable I don't think this is a solvable problem, even with hacked firmware (which you'll need to do anyway).

-me

Well, it's easier to disassemble MIPS than it is to disassemble x86, I can say that much. Especially for consoles. All of the instructions are the same width, and you usually don't have to worry about supporting 30 years worth of duct-taped-on compatibility modes like x86 has.

On the other hand, once it's been disassembled, x86 is WAY easier to read manually and make sense out of things than MIPS and other RISC sets.

If you can get past the encryption/compression level, and you have the masochistic talent required for understanding MIPS disassembly, then it's certainly possible. It just won't be easy.

Yeah I figured it in no way would be easy. But I do know that there have been several games that have been fully translated for ps2 and ps1.

I guess to re-structure my question a bit. Do those who hack console games normally dissassemble things to modify images and text, or do they use other methods. I know I obviously won't have access to the source, and that there will be fair amount of encryption and deliberate hiding of things, but is writing assembly what hackers mainly do to insert things?

The best place to go to for general translation hacking would be www.romhacking.net and read the FAQ (should be listed on the left side, can't go there due to work restrictions). They have a very large resource of programs and documentation geared towards this.

I would probably say it would be a good idea to learn MIPS assembly. Just search for what processor you want to learn (MIPS R3000A for the PSX) and you should be able to find the manual for it (some of the instructions could be changed or missing, but at least it gives you a good general reference).

You may not need assembly though in hacking the text, as I've seen quite a few times that the text is stored plainly in SJIS and they have english font already included so you'd just need to change the letters.

Feel free to email me too if you have any questions.

Doug