FFXII Editor
Introduction
FFXII Editor is a savegame/memory editor for Final Fantasy XII. FFXII Editor enables you to do the following:
- Edit Gil, Clan Points and Game Time (useful for changing the weather in Giza Plains).
- Simulate the Weak-Mode feature of FFXII IZJS (when Weak-Mode is activated, no EXP are gained for defeating foes).
- Activate all Gambits.
- Activate all Teleport destinations.
- Activate Espers on the License Board.
- Party editor. You can add/remove/replace characters in your party. A total of 29 characters including guests and espers are available for selection.
- Edit characters stats, equipment (includes extra equipment such as Omega Mark XII's laser beam weapon).
- Complete License Board editor. You can activate or deactivate any particular license.
- Gambit editor. Edit Gambits for characters including Guests and Espers. Also, it comes with extra Gambits and Actions that are unavailable through the game.
- Status Effects editor. Includes about 150 of various effects (immunes, weakness, absorb etc...).
- Equipment editor. You can add/remove any weapons, ammunition, armor, accessories.
- Item editor. Potions, Elixirs, Motes, etc...
- Loot editor.
- Ability editor. You can activate any Magicks or Technicks.
- Map editor. Ivalice maps and candles.
- Key Items editor. Monographs, keys, trophies, etc...
- Bazaar Goods editor. Activate any particular Bazaar item or reset History for already unlocked Bazaar Items so they can be reactivated by selling necessary loots in the game.
- Bestiary editor.
- Sky Pirate's Den editor.
FFXII Editor works with NTSC-U/C version and it might not work with PAL or NTSC-J versions of Final Fantasy XII. Also, please keep in mind the editor is not supposed to work with Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System, there is FFXII IZJS Editor for that.
Requirements
FFXII Editor requires Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 or higher installed on your system. You can download the latest version here: http://www.microsoft.com/net/download.aspx.
Please note: FFXII Editor has been tested only on Windows 7 x86 (32-bit) and I don't know whether its Memory Editor feature will work on 64-bit systems.
Working with savegame files
FFXII Editor supports the following save file formats: AR MAX (.pws and .max), CodeBreaker (.cbs), Memory Linker (.psu) and, of course, RAW save format too. You can export your FFXII savegame files from PCSX2 emulator memory cards using mymc utility. For the information on how to use it see the mymc documentation or check this link: How to use the myMC tool to import/export saves from PCSX2.
To export savegame files from the PlayStation 2 memory cards you can use uLaunchELF utility. Check these links for more information:
If your savegame files are not supported by the editor, try to use PS2 Save Converter or PS2 Save Builder utilities to convert your savegame files to a supported format. Here are some useful links:
Before editing a savegame, make sure you have a backup copy of the savegame file, in case Final Fantasy XII rejects the changes, then click File > Open SaveGame and open your savegame file.
Working with PS2 emulator memory
I tried to make FFXII Editor to be emulator-independent memory editor, and hopefully it will work with any version of PCSX2 or any other PS2 emulators. By default FFXII Editor is configured to work with PCSX2 version 0.9.7 r4029 or higher, since they use static memory address for allocating PS2 RAM. But if you're using an earlier version or another PS2 emulator, the editor will request you to adjust Gil Address. Gil Address is a pointer to Gil field of Final Fantasy XII in the PS2 emulator memory. FFXII Editor requires the Gil Address to compute addresses for the other fields. I chose the Gil field as orientation for the other fields, because it is available from the beginning of the game and it can be easily found by memory scanners. FFXII Editor is also able to perform search for the Gil Address, so I hope you won't face any problems here.
Before opening PS2 emulator memory for editing, make sure it has running Final Fantasy XII and you have loaded previously saved game or started a new game, then click File > Open Process and select your running PS2 emulator from the Process List.
Natural, Temporary and Permanent effects
While researching Final Fantasy XII data, I have discovered three types of Status Effects, and according to their properties, I have classified them into the following groups:
- Natural effects - mainly consist of enemy abilities and License Board augments and also, includes some accessory properties such as Diamond Armlet effect (obtain superior items from chests) or Firefly effect (reduces EXP earned to 0) and some others. The reason why I called these effects "Natural" is because once they are activated, they remain active throughout the game as if they were natural effects of the character.
- Temporary Status Effects - consist of both the negative and positive status effects that can be imposed by magicks or items. These effects are limited of duration and can be removed by using spells and curative items. Also note that, FFXII Editor allows you to edit the duration of effects.
- Permanent Status Effects - consist of negative and positive status effects, immunes to the status effects and resistance to elemental magicks. I called these effects "Permanent" because they don't have a duration limit and they cannot be removed by curative spells or items. However, there are some known issues with them, see the Limitations and known issues section.
Forcing changes take effect
Some fields in FFXII Editor require additional actions from the user in order to changes take effect. Here are some of them:
Fields: |
Required actions: |
Characters HP, MP, equipment, License Tree, etc... |
Touch a Save Crystal. Final Fantasy XII will recalculate the characters stats. |
Characters EXP |
Kill a foe to update the EXP-dependent data. |
Party Editor and Equipments. |
Change or re-enter your current area. |
Gil, Clan Points, Inventory, etc... |
Reopen the Party Screen. |
Limitations and known issues:
- Characters equipment editor. Changing equipment of non-main characters may cause 3D model animation bugs, since they are hardcoded to work only with particular equipment. For example if you give Vossler a bow, it will cause animation bug, because his 3D model doesn't support any "Shooting with bow" actions, but one thing is obvious - Vossler can use Great Swords, so if you give him Tournesol it should be fine. Also, be careful with items marked as "Reserve" or "NOT_USED" some of them might be buggy.
- License editor. Characters except Vaan, Fran, Balthier, Basch, Ashe, Penelo and Reks ignore the License Board. But some augments still can be activated.
- Permanent Status Effects editor. I've called them "Permanent" because they don't have a duration period and they cannot be removed or healed using Magicks or Items such as Esuna, Dispel and Remedy. However, they will be removed as soon as the game will update the Status Effects. The following actions cause the Status Effects update:
- Equipping, changing or removing an affected character's equipment.
- Imposing or removing a Status Effect from inside the game using magicks, technicks, and items. For example: casting the Blind spell, healing Silence using Vox magick or Echo Herbs.
- Activating some Licenses on the License Board.
- When an affected character's HP fall into or rise from the HP Critical status.
- When an affected character dies or revives.
- Touching a Save Crystal.
So it will be hard to keep the activated/deactivated Permanent Status Effects if you're using FFXII Editor in SaveGame editor mode. But PS2 emulator users can use the editor in Memory editor mode which has a feature to freeze the Permanent Status Effects.
- Key Items editor. Some Key Items weren't included, since you inevitably will get most of them during the main storyline.
- Bestiary editor. I didn't include Bosses and Hunts, because I don't think someone can miss them during the game. Also, the following foes are missing in the editor: Battery Mimic, Tiny Battery, Miriam Guardian, and Miriam Facer, since I couldn't find offsets for those foes.
From the Author
For those who have never played the game before I don't recommend using this editor to make your game easier, since too easy gameplay can cause a loss of interest in the game itself.
But if you find the game too easy, you can make your game harder, for example by lowering your characters stats and activating the Weak-Mode feature which prevents gaining EXP for defeating foes.
Another interesting use of the editor is to customize the Battle Menu by disabling unwanted Magicks and Technicks. :P
I hope this document was clear to understand, if not I apologize for my English, I live in Kazakhstan. :)
I want to thank the following people for their direct/indirect contributions:
Author: |
Contribution: |
tyreafus |
for the FFXII savegame checksum info |
ZERO369 |
for giving some useful info |
Aten |
Guest character editor idea was stolen from Aten's Ivalice SE editor, and it developed into Party Editor :) |
ffgriever |
for the PSU format info, source codes and especially for FFXII English conversion patch |
gothi |
for the AR Max save format specification |
[)amien |
for the article: Calculating CRC-32 in C# and .NET |
PCSX2 team |
for the great PS2 emulator :) |
Thanks for reading,
_DTG_