Drezz' Definitive Guide to Addon Importing (NHL 2005, 2006, 2007)
I am going to consolidate all the info I know into this thread - and it will be updated as I find more things. This is mainly for people looking into getting into importing addons.
To begin, you'll need the following tools:
gfxpak
FshX
ImpBIG and BIGGui
genbhnhl
You should be able to find these utilities on download servers around the community.
Part One: Extracting and reviewing stock EA textures
1) Start up BIGGUI.
2) Press the open button and navigate to the gamedata folder in your NHL06 main directory.
- go to My Computer
- click on your Drive
- open the folder that says Program Files
- open the folder that says EA SPORTS
- open the folder that says NHL06
- open the folder that says gamedata
3) Select a VIV or BIG file to open.
There are a series of .viv & .big files here. This is the only filetype BigGUI recognizes. So - let's say you want to edit a jersey - select jerseys.viv. If you want to edit a goalie, select goalies.viv.
When you select the viv file, the archive will open up in the BigGUI pane, and you will see a large number of FSH files. The FSH files are the files which store the texture data. It is inside here where you will be importing your own files to replace the stock EA ones.
4) Select the FSH file you wish to extract and replace with new graphics.
Each team has its own number designated to it. Starting with Anaheim at 00 and ending with Washington at 29. The teams are in alphabetical and numerical order. If you want to edit something from Calgary, their number is 04. If you want to edit Ottawa, their number is 20.
So if you are editing jerseys, and want to import Ottawa's 3rd jersey - here's what you have to look for.
Within the viv files, you'll see each team listed numerically - there are also a number of components as well - there is a team pog (100.fsh, 101.fsh, etc) followed by the team letters for the nameplates (letters_XXXX.fsh) and the numbers for the arms and back (numbers_XXXX.fsh). After all of those listing comes the uniforms - (uniXX_X.fsh).
These are the files you want to extract. So - for Ottawa's instance, you scroll down to uni20. But you'll notice that there are more than one instance of uni20 - uni20_0.fsh, uni20_1.fsh, etc.
The last number in that title uni20_
0.fsh is the jersey type.
Generally,
0 is the away whites
1 is the colored home
2 is the third jersey
In some cases, the third jersey is bumped as far back as slot 5 (Calgary) and 11 (Dallas) !!
So we want the third jersey, which would mean we have to extract uni020_2.fsh.
5) Extract the file - and save it in a location where you can find it later.
6) Start up FshX.
7) File> Open and navigate to the place where you saved that fsh file.
8) Select the file and open it.
9) Select the corresponding texture from the list.
You'll notice that a few textures open up along with the jersey. (From what I remember, I think the helmets are included with the jersey this time around.) Select the jersey texture, and it will appear in the right pane.
Now you're ready to import your texture.
I won't gve a tutorial on how to make a jersey, because that's too time consuming - but let's just say you have skills, and you made yourself a rockin Ottawa Senators Third jersey. So - you've saved the file as a PNG and you want it in game. Well - follow along...
10) Increase the texture size in the fsh from the menu. (Increase Texture Size) if necessary.
Do this if the file you made is larger than the one in the FSH file, otherwise it will be shrunk to fit. You'll see the size double in the measurements of the files on the left listing.
11) Replace the texture with your new texture.
Import the new texture by selecting the import function and navigating to the folder where your texture is. If you save it as a PNG, don't worry - start typing in the file name, and as you're typing, the name will appear - which you can select. FshX will handle PNG files - it just doesn't see them initially. (It takes BMP and DDS files.)
12) Save the changes to the FSH file
You've successfully imported your new Ottawa Sens Third jersey into an FSH file. Now you have to get it into the game.
Part two: Reimporting the textures
1) Open Notepad and insert the following text
Code:
ImpBIG /i gamedata\jerseys.viv uni020_2.fsh uni020_2.fsh /c
ImpBIG /r gamedata\jerseys.viv
genbhnhl gamedata\jerseys.viv
ImpBIG /i preload\gmisc.viv jerseys.bh gamedata\jerseys.bh /c
ImpBIG /r preload\gmisc.viv
ImpBIG /i preload\czone.viv jerseys.bh gamedata\jerseys.bh /c
ImpBIG /r preload\czone.viv
pause
I'll explain what this is:
Line 1 tells IMPBIG to import uni020_2.fsh into jerseys.viv and replace the one that is there (\i). After that, it says to compress the file (/c).
Line 2 tells IMPBIG to rebuild the archive.
Line 3 tells genbhnhl to create a .bh header file and call it jerseys.bh.
Line 4 tells IMPBIG to import the bh file into gmisc.viv and compress it.
Line 5 tells IMPBIG to rebuild the archive.
Line 6 tells IMPBIG to import the bh file into czone.viv and compress it.
Line 7 tells IMPBIG to rebuild the archive.
The reason those bh files are needed are because they store extra header information about the textures. If they don't match up to what is located in the fsh files, the game crashes.
Just an extra annoying step to have to go through.
2) Save this Notepad file as a Batch file.
Click on Save as - give your bat a name, and type in the extension.bat after it. Make sure you change the file type at the bottom of the dialog box to All Files.
Part Three: The final step - the installation
Okay, now that you have completed the texture replacement and made the batch file, its time to import it into the game and see how it looks.
Make sure that these items listed are in the NHL06 main folder:
genbhnhl.exe
IMPBIG
Your FSH file.
Your Bat File.
When all 4 things are there, double click on that bat to run the process, and your addon should import into the game. Once the batch file is done processing, you will see a command saying "Press any key to continue". From here you can scroll up to see if everything was imported successfully - if it was not, you will see an error message.
If everything is clear, press the 'any' key to continue. ( :lol:
)
Fire up the game, and you should see your work come to fruition. Hope this guide helps.
Happy importing!
PS: Goalie gear works a little differently. Each goalie is assigned his own number (which you can look up with the aid of a roster editor such as NHLView). You need to find that number, then extract the corresponding goalie file for it.
Importation and replacement works the same way - except you obviously have to substitute jerseys.viv for goalies.viv, and change your fsh file to that of the goalie whose texture you are replacing.
-Drezz
Linear Mode
