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Sonic Origins Character Select

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This research was done with heavy AI assistance (Claude), directed and tested in game by Superevil for the NoSwap mod. It is shared freely for anyone to use.

All addresses are for the Steam release, Steam build ID 12197262 (the executable's version resource reads 2.0.2.2667). The build ID is the one the research was done against. The file version was read from the same installed executable; the DLL itself never checks it.

Addresses are build-specific. Never trust an address blindly: before patching, compare the first bytes of every function it hooks with the bytes found in this build (listed in Re-finding the functions) and leave the game alone on any mismatch. After a game update, search the executable for those byte patterns to find the new addresses.

Sonic Origins' character select for the classic games is a popup window drawn by the Hedgehog Engine side of the game, not by the Retro Engine (RSDK) games themselves. This page documents how it works internally (the data tables, the functions that fill it, the save records behind it and the menu archives that draw it) and how to add new character cards to it.

Everything here applies to Sonic 1, Sonic 2 and Sonic CD. Sonic 3 & Knuckles picks its character on its own save screen and is left out.

Overview

After a mode is picked in the main menu, each classic game's title screen opens the popup UICharacterSelectWindow. It shows up to 7 cards (casts obj_btn_1 to obj_btn_7), one per playable kind.

A kind is a byte that is the classic game's own character ID. The picked kind reaches the Sonic 1, Sonic 2 and Sonic CD scripts unchanged as stage.playerListPos:

Kind Character
0 Sonic
1 Tails
2 Knuckles
3 Sonic + Tails
4 Knuckles + Tails
5 Amy
6 Amy + Tails

In the games' own data these match the GameConfig constants (Sonic 1: PLAYER_SONIC = 0, TAILS = 1, KNUCKLES = 2, SONIC_TAILS = 3, AMY = 5, AMY_TAILS = 6; ID 4 is unused in Sonic 1). The Retro Engine never bounds-checks stage.playerListPos, so every per-character behaviour is decided by the scripts.

Games are numbered in RSDK order everywhere below: 0 Sonic 1, 1 Sonic 2, 2 Sonic 3 & Knuckles, 3 Sonic CD. Modes are numbered 0 to 3.

The image base is fixed at 0x140000000, and the executable has no relocations, so the addresses below are the same every run.

Data tables

The kind table

At 0x140D586A0: 7 entries of 24 bytes (one per kind 0 to 6), each three pointers to C strings:

Offset Type Meaning
0x00 const char* SurfRide animation (pattern) that shows the card's picture: PRM_chara_<kind+1>
0x08 const char* Text key of the card's first name line (MAINMENU_character_name_*)
0x10 const char* Text key of the card's second name line

The second line is only shown for the "+ Tails" kinds. That test is KindHasTails(kind) at 0x140331060. The vanilla name keys in text_menu_<language>.pac are MAINMENU_character_name_sonic, _tails, _knuckles and _amy.

The table ends exactly where Sonic 1's row table begins (0x140D586A0 + 7 × 24 = 0x140D58748), so it cannot be grown in place.

The row tables

Each game has a table of 7 rows of 7 bytes. Each row lists the kinds to show, in card order. 0xFF marks an unused card. The unlock state and Origins Plus pick which row is used.

Address Game Notes
0x140D58748 Sonic 1 Rows 4 to 6 (Plus): 0 1 2 5
0x140D58780 Sonic 2 Plus row: 0 1 2 5 3 4 6
0x140D587B8 Sonic CD
0x140D587F0, 0x140D58828, 0x140D58860 Not identified Three more tables with the same 0x38 spacing

Sonic 1's 49 bytes in this build, row by row:

row 0: 00 01 02 FF FF FF FF
row 1: 00 01 02 FF FF FF FF
row 2: 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF
row 3: 00 01 02 FF FF FF FF
row 4: 00 01 02 05 FF FF FF
row 5: 00 01 02 05 FF FF FF
row 6: 00 01 02 05 FF FF FF

Which unlock state selects rows 0 to 3 was not worked out.

The row picker is the function at 0x1403E0D80, const uint8* RowPicker(uint8 game, uint8 mode, uint8 a, uint8 b). It returns a pointer to the chosen 7-byte row, which it indexes with an imul 7. The meaning of a and b was not identified. Rows are 7 wide in code, which matches the 7 card casts.

Special values

  • 0xFF in a row is an empty card. That is why the highest usable kind is 254.
  • Kind 3 fallback: KindAllowedInGame(kind, game) at 0x140331080 starts with cmp cl, 6 / ja, so it rejects every kind above 6. A rejected kind is replaced with 3 (Sonic & Tails) before the game starts. Any new kind needs this check to let it through.
  • "kind ≤ 6" checks: the popup's build function calls a shared helper at 0x140331220 to test that a kind is in range. Other 7-value enums (the MapArea enum, for one) use the same helper, so only the popup's own call sites may be redirected, never the helper itself.

The functions

Building the popup

The popup's build function is 0x1403E0030 (vtable slot 6 of UICharacterSelectWindow). It fills an array of 16-byte card entries at window +0x2B0 (count at +0x2B8), one per card:

Offset Meaning
0x00 Kind
0x01 Zone of the save
0x02 to 0x0C Mission data (not decoded)
0x0D Flags: bit 1 = has a save, bit 0 = cleared

The card loop is at about 0x1403E09D0, inside the build function. For each entry it finds the cast obj_btn_%d in the layout and plays the kind's pattern from the kind table. It then plays PRM_save_icon_on or PRM_save_icon_off and sets the name text casts sysf_btn_name_1 and sysf_btn_name_2.

These are the build function's references that matter when adding kinds (offsets from 0x1403E0030):

Offset Instruction Target
+0x78, +0x183, +0x1EE, +0x9AC, +0xB3E call "kind ≤ 6" helper 0x140331220
+0xA01, +0xA9B, +0xB0B lea r64, [rip+disp32] Kind table 0x140D586A0
+0xAB1 call KindHasTails 0x140331060

A seventh "kind ≤ 6" call is in another of the popup's functions, at 0x1403E0F10 + 0x47.

Seen in testing (by temporarily editing Sonic 1's row bytes): the window shows 5, 6 or 7 cards and re-centres and resizes itself automatically. A duplicated kind works as a card (it highlights, shows its save and launches). The window's layer has animations PRM_btn_2 to PRM_btn_7, which are probably what lays out each card count (unconfirmed).

Window and cursor structures

Known fields of UICharacterSelectWindow:

  • +0x251 and +0x250: the two bytes the popup passes to the save views as their a and b arguments (probably mode and game);
  • +0x264: handle of its cursor controller;
  • +0x2A8: layer lay;
  • +0x2B0 and +0x2B8: the card entries and their count.

Its cursor controller is a ui::MenuItemContainer:

  • +0x250 and +0x258: the "cursor moved" delegates and their count. Element 0 is the popup's: vtable 0x140D58B78, popup pointer at +0x8, handler 0x1403E10A0 at +0x10. This is a reliable way to tell the character select's container apart from every other menu list.
  • +0x290: the "decide" delegates, fired by FireDelegates(ctrl, ctrl+0x290, index) at 0x1403BF8D0;
  • +0x2EC: current index;
  • +0x2F0 and +0x2F8: items (MenuItem*, with the card's cast at item +0x18);
  • +0x318: flags, where bit 2 means input is enabled.

The popup keeps nothing per card beyond the entries: OK and the save line read entry n by the cursor index.

Paging (NextEnabledIndex / PrevEnabledIndex)

The cursor moves through NextEnabledIndex (0x1403BFBB0) and PrevEnabledIndex (0x1403BFC40), both int (MenuItemContainer* ctrl, int index). MenuItemContainer::Update is at 0x1403C0810.

The popup has only 7 card slots, so a longer list needs a sliding window of 7. Moving right from the last card, or left from the first, scrolls the list by one (wrapping at the ends) and refills the 7 cards in place with the game's own calls:

  1. Copy each card's 16-byte entry into window +0x2B0.
  2. PlayAnim(card, pattern, 0) (0x140481C20) with the kind's picture pattern, then with PRM_save_icon_on or _off.
  3. Get the layout component: GetComponent(window, 0x142882E30) (0x1405C6FD0).
  4. Find each name text: FindChild(component, "obj_btn_N", "sysf_btn_name_1") (0x14047F760), and the same for _2.
  5. Set each name: SetTextKey(textCast, key) (0x140483330), with "" to hide a line.
  6. Redraw the save line under the cards: UpdateSaveInfo(window, index) (0x1403E1140).

The cursor index is returned unchanged, so the cursor stays where it is while the cards change. A hook on the build function (0x1403E0030) resets the page and records each kind's entry when the popup opens.

Other helpers

Address Name (unofficial) Notes
0x1405C6420 ResolveHandle Handle to object
0x14047F7A0 FindCast(component, name)
0x142882E78 (text cast class) Compared against a cast's class chain before SetTextKey, as UpdateSaveInfo does at 0x1403E11C5
0x140454170 PlaySfx(out, window, sound) Playing sound 0 after a page refill works as the cursor sound (assumed)
0x140483A00 SetCropIndex(layer, cast, index) Sets an image cast's crop

Launch: how a kind reaches the game

When a card is picked, its kind is stored as the "last kind" for (mode, game) and the game starts with it. Testing shows the kind arrives in Sonic 1, Sonic 2 and Sonic CD as stage.playerListPos unchanged (kinds 7 and up launch correctly once KindAllowedInGame lets them through). The exact native code that writes playerListPos was not traced. The research notes place the kind 3 replacement in RetroEngineBase::Setup (unconfirmed by name).

The launch paths that read the last kind (all calls to GetLastKind, below):

  • 0x1403546D9: the menu scene's launch state (function 0x140354080). A kind that the row check RowHasKind(game, mode, kind, a, b) (0x1403E0FA0, called at 0x140354705) rejects becomes Sonic, or Sonic & Tails in Sonic 2.
  • 0x14033A422: the game scene's setup from a queued start request (function 0x14033A070). It stores the kind at +0xC9 and then opens the 16-byte save view with it. A pick in the popup can reach the game this way too, so a mod that changes the kind must handle both paths.

Saves: SlotIndex and the save views

Origins keeps its classic-game saves as records per (mode, game, kind) slot. Every record lookup goes through SlotIndex(mode, game, kind) at 0x14045DA50. Its tables are indexed [game * 7 + kind] (74 slots). It has no slot for kinds 7 and up: callers then get a null record and crash.

Records are reached through four views, each View(this, out, a, b, kind), which fill out = {vtable, record*, owner}:

Address Record size Contents
0x140459B60 0x10 Byte 0 is 1 when there is a save, byte 1 is the zone, and bit 25 of the u32 at +4 means cleared
0x140459420 0xA0 Sonic 1 keeps its classic save here (the first 0xA0 bytes of the engine save data)
0x140459360 0x8000 The classic game's save RAM (not used by Sonic 1)
0x14045A190 0x10001 Not decoded

Origins keeps a separate, complete save RAM array per character. Entering a classic game loads the last-played character's array.

The CONTINUE head (main menu)

The main menu's CONTINUE button shows the head of the character last played in that (mode, game). Origins stores one "last kind" per (mode 0 to 3, game) in its save:

  • GetLastKind(save, mode, game) at 0x14045A110 (it reads save bytes +0x06, +0x0A, +0x12 or +0x0E);
  • SetLastKind(save, mode, game, kind) at 0x14045CB50.

The main menu reads it at 0x1403E509D, in its fill function 0x1403E4F10, which builds the table of the buttons' kinds. The CONTINUE button reads it at 0x1403E92AD, in 0x1403E8FC0, to find the kind whose save must exist (0x1403E70D0). The launch reads above use it too.

The head is drawn by SetIconChara(menu, layer, kind) at 0x1403E7830, called at 0x1403E8436 (the main menu's fill) and 0x1403E94D3 (after a pick in the select). It rejects kinds above 6. It reads a crop table at 0x140D59518, whose kind 0 entry is 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF: crop 0 on cast pattern_chara_1 and none (−1) on pattern_chara_2. It then calls SetCropIndex. The layout of the remaining entries is assumed from that first one.

The head texture is menu_main_menu_icon_chara_s.dds in ui_mainmenu.pac (block .004). It is BC7, 480×96, holding 4 cells of 120×96 (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy), and is drawn at 4 texels per pixel. The scene is menu_main_menu_island.swif, which is in each of the 12 language archives ui_mainmenu_<language>.pac (de, en, es, fr, it, ja, ko, pl, pt, ru, zh, zhs). Its layer ref_icon_chara has the casts pattern_chara_1 and _2 and the animations PRM_chara_1 and _2.

The CONTINUE button is greyed out in Classic mode even in the vanilla game (that mode has no resume).

The menu archives

Which archive the popup uses

The scene menu_main_menu_chara_select exists in two archives under image/x64/raw/ui/:

  • ui_gamestage.pac: the popup over the classic games' title screens loads this one. Editing only ui_mainmenu.pac changes nothing in the popup.
  • ui_mainmenu.pac: the main menu's own copy of the same scene.

In both, the scene file (.swif) is in the root, while the textures (menu_main_menu_chara_select_chara_sonic.dds, _tails, _knuckles, _amy, _tails_parts, _btn_bg, _icon_save) are in a dependency block: .000 in ui_gamestage.pac, .004 in ui_mainmenu.pac.

PACx v403 (split) layout

Origins' .pac files are a PACx v4.03 outer archive around PACx v4.02 inner archives.

Outer (PACx403): a 0x30-byte header (signature PACx, 403, L), with the fields used here:

Offset Meaning
0x0C File size
0x10 Root offset
0x14 Root compressed size
0x18 Root uncompressed size
0x24 Size of the root chunk table, padded to 8
0x30 Root chunk table: u32 count, then {u32 compressed, u32 uncompressed} per chunk

After the table come the dependency blocks (.pac.000, .pac.001, ...), each starting on a 16-byte boundary. The root follows them, and the file is padded to 16. Every block and the root are split into 64 KB pieces, each compressed on its own as an LZ4 block (a chunk whose compressed and uncompressed sizes are equal is stored raw).

Root (PACx402): a 0x30-byte header whose sizes at 0x10 to 0x24 are, in order, the node trees, the dependency section, the data entries, the string table, the file data and the offset table (0x0C is the total size).

  • Dependency section: u64 count, u64 → entries. Each 0x20-byte entry holds u64 → name, u32 compressed size, u32 size, u32 offset of the block in the outer file, u32 chunk count and u64 → chunk table ({u32 compressed, u32 size} per chunk). Each block's chunk table lives in the root, so a block that grows needs more table entries in the root.
  • Data entries (0x30 bytes): u32 uid, u32 size, u64 0, u64 → data, u64 0, u64 → extension, u64 flags. A file stored in a block is listed in the root with flags 1 and data pointer 0, and the block (itself a PACx402 archive, without a dependency section) holds its data.
  • Names are radix trees of fragments, as documented by HedgeLib's PACx v4 code. Each node is 0x28 bytes: u64 → fragment, u64 → data, u64 → child indices, i32 parent, i32 global index, i32 data index, u16 child count, u8 has data, u8 full path size.
  • Offset table: the position of every pointer, as deltas >> 2 in 1, 2 or 4 bytes (top bits 01, 10 or 11), padded with zeros to 8. With it, bytes can be inserted anywhere and every pointer fixed up.

Rebuilding an archive with nothing changed reproduces the original byte for byte, provided unchanged 64 KB chunks are written back as their original compressed bytes.

The scene: main_menu_chara_select

menu_main_menu_chara_select.swif is a SurfRide SWIF file (the "version 5" layout used by Origins; structures as in DeaTh-G's surfboard templates). All pointers are u64 absolute file offsets, 8-aligned, and listed in the SOF0 chunk. Relevant layers:

  • lay: the window. Its card casts are obj_btn_1 to obj_btn_7 (each inside lay_btn_N). The save line under the cards is null_save_stage with the text sysf_save_stage.
  • ref_btn: the card template that every obj_btn_N instances. It holds the picture groups null_char_1 to null_char_7 (one per kind, for example null_char_1 containing sonic_1), the name texts sysf_btn_name_1 and _2, and the save icon. Its animations are the shared states (in, loop, out, over, loop_act, go_away, press), then PRM_chara_1 to PRM_chara_7, PRM_save_icon_on and PRM_save_icon_off.

How a card's picture works: PRM_chara_<kind+1> only switches the Display of the groups null_char_1 to _7 (and of sysf_btn_name_2). The shared state animations key the groups' sprite frames, but never touch a group they don't know. A new group's Display and crop index therefore stay as its pattern set them.

The card pictures are BC7 textures. menu_main_menu_chara_select_chara_sonic.dds is 2640×1320 (BC7, DXGI format 98, one mip). The .swif declares textures at half their DDS size (1320×660 here), and crops are stored as normalised (left, top, right, bottom) floats.

Text keys

Names come from image/x64/raw/text/text_menu_<language>.pac. These are small PACx403 archives whose content is all in the root, holding a cnvrs-text file (BINA 2.1):

  • root: u8 version (6), u8 languages (1), u16 entry count, u32 0, u64 → entries, u64 → language name, u64 0;
  • entries (0x30 bytes each, sorted by id): u64 id, u64 → key, u64 → attributes, u64 → UTF-16 text, u64 length, u64 0;
  • the id is a hash of the key, h = h * 127 + byte (mod 232), and the game looks keys up by id.

Adding cards

This approach is confirmed working in game. It has two halves: archive edits made once at build time, and runtime patches from a mod DLL (loaded by HiteModLoader through HedgeModManager; hooks via MinHook or similar).

Archive edits (64 generic card slots)

Instead of one picture group per new character, which would need a hide track per group in every animation, the scene gets one generic group whose crop index picks the picture. The steps below are done in both ui_gamestage.pac and ui_mainmenu.pac.

  1. Texture: append rows of cells (for example 64 cells of 440×536 DDS pixels, filled with transparent BC7 blocks) below menu_main_menu_chara_select_chara_sonic.dds in its dependency block. Update the DDS height, the file's size in the block and in the root's entry, and the block's chunk table in the root.
  2. Crops: in the .swif's texture list, rescale that texture's existing crops to the taller texture (the same pixels). Add one crop per cell, and set the texture's declared height (half the DDS height) and crop count.
  3. Casts (layer ref_btn): add a group null_char_extra as the next sibling of the game's last null_char_N. Give it a child image cast chara_extra, copied from Sonic's sonic_1 but with the cell's size and one crop reference per slot ({u16 texture list, u16 texture, u16 crop}, crop index 0 = slot 1).
  4. Animations (layer ref_btn): for each slot s, add PRM_extra_<s> and PRM_extra_<s>_2, copied from PRM_chara_1's header. Each has constant keys at frame 0: Display = 0 on null_char_1 to _7, Display = 1 on null_char_extra, CropIndex0 = s − 1 on chara_extra, and Display of sysf_btn_name_2 set to 1 only in the _2 variant.
  5. Hide the new group in the game's patterns: add Display = 0 on null_char_extra to each of PRM_chara_1 to _7.
  6. Text: in every text_menu_<language>.pac, add the keys MAINMENU_character_name_extra<s>_1 and _2 for each slot, with room for 31 UTF-16 units each. Re-sort the entries by id and check that no two keys share a hash.

All edits are append-only: new structures go after the last chunk (before SOF0), existing pointer fields are repointed at them, and the new pointers are added to SOF0. Nothing existing moves. Done this way, the archives rebuild byte-identically when no slots are added.

The same idea gives the CONTINUE head its new characters. In ui_mainmenu.pac, append 120×96 cells below menu_main_menu_icon_chara_s.dds. In each language's menu_main_menu_island.swif, rescale the four existing crops and add one crop per cell (crop 4 + slot − 1). Then give both pattern_chara_1 and _2 a crop reference for every crop.

Filling slots without rebuilding: store the 64 KB chunks that hold the cells and name texts as LZ4 blocks of literals only, so those bytes sit in the file uncompressed. A descriptor (raw/ui/cards.json) records where those runs, each slot's cell rows and each name's text and length are. At startup the DLL writes each installed character's picture and name into a cached copy of each archive and serves the copies. The game archives are never modified.

Runtime patches

  1. Kind table: copy the 7 vanilla entries into memory allocated within ±2 GB of the executable, so rip-relative references reach it. Add one entry per new kind (7 and up), with the pattern PRM_extra_<slot> (or _2) and the name keys MAINMENU_character_name_extra<slot>_1 and _2. Repoint the three leas in the build function at the copy.
  2. Range checks: redirect the six "kind ≤ 6" call sites (five in the build function, one at 0x1403E0F10 + 0x47) to a stub returning "kind ≤ highest kind" (cmp cl, imm8 / setbe al / ret).
  3. Second name line: redirect the KindHasTails call at build +0xAB1 so new kinds can show two lines.
  4. Rows: hook RowPicker (0x1403E0D80) and return your own 7-byte row with the new kinds included. Skip game 2 (S3&K).
  5. Launch: hook KindAllowedInGame (0x140331080) to accept the new kinds outside S3&K. Without this, they start as Sonic & Tails.
  6. Saves: hook SlotIndex (0x14045DA50) to give new kinds Sonic's slot, so callers get a valid record and don't crash. Then wrap the four views so a new kind's record pointer is swapped for a buffer of your own after the original fills out. Origins' own save file is never written with a new kind.
  7. Last kind: hook SetLastKind (0x14045CB50) so it never stores a kind above 6 in Origins' save (store 0 instead), and remember the real one yourself.
  8. More than 7 cards: hook NextEnabledIndex and PrevEnabledIndex as described in Paging, plus the build function to reset the page.
  9. CONTINUE head (optional): redirect the four GetLastKind call sites (0x1403E509D, 0x1403E92AD, 0x1403546D9, 0x14033A422) to return your remembered kind when Origins says 0. Let it through the row check at 0x140354705. Wrap the two SetIconChara calls (0x1403E8436, 0x1403E94D3): draw Sonic's head, then SetCropIndex(layer, "pattern_chara_1", 4 + slot − 1).

Patch only after checking every function's first bytes and every call site's E8 rel32 target. If anything differs, patch nothing.

Re-finding the functions

These are the exact bytes to compare before hooking (at the start of each function, unless noted). Search the executable for them after an update.

Address Function Bytes
0x1403E0D80 RowPicker 48 89 5C 24 08 48 89 6C 24 10 48 89 74 24 18 57 41 56 41 57 48 83 EC 20
0x14045DA50 SlotIndex 48 89 5C 24 08 48 89 6C 24 10 48 89 74 24 18 57 48 83 EC 20 0F B6 E9
0x14045CB50 SetLastKind 44 0F BE D2 4C 8B D9 84 D2 74 3C
0x140331080 KindAllowedInGame 80 F9 06 77 2A 0F BE D2 85 D2 74 1C
0x1403BFBB0 NextEnabledIndex 48 89 5C 24 08 48 89 7C 24 10 4C 8B 99 F8 02 00 00 45 33 C9
0x1403BFC40 PrevEnabledIndex 48 89 5C 24 08 48 89 7C 24 10 4C 8B 99 F8 02 00 00 45 33 C0
0x1403C0810 MenuItemContainer::Update 48 89 5C 24 20 57 48 83 EC 40 8B 81 18 03 00 00
0x1403E0030 Popup build (vtable slot 6) 48 89 54 24 10 55 53 56 57 41 54 41 55 41 56 41 57 48 8D AC 24 78 F2 FF
0x140459B60, 0x14045A190 Save views (0x10, 0x10001) 48 89 5C 24 08 48 89 74 24 10 57 48 83 EC 20 41 0F B6 C0 48 8B DA
0x140459420, 0x140459360 Save views (0xA0, 0x8000) 48 89 5C 24 08 57 48 83 EC 20 41 0F B6 C0 48 8B DA
0x14045A110 GetLastKind 48 0F BE C2 4C 8B C9 83 F8 07 77 4B
0x1403E0FA0 RowHasKind 40 53 48 83 EC 20 41 0F B6 C1 41 0F B6 D8
0x1403E7830 SetIconChara 48 85 D2 0F 84 8D 00 00 00 48 89 5C 24 08 57 48 83 EC 20 41 0F B6 C8
0x140483A00 SetCropIndex 40 53 48 83 EC 20 41 8B D8 E8
0x1403E1140 UpdateSaveInfo 40 55 53 41 57 48 8D AC 24 40 FF FF FF 48 81 EC C0 01 00 00 8B DA
0x140D59518 Head crop table (data) 00 00 00 00 FF FF FF FF
0x140D58748 Sonic 1 row table (data) The 49 bytes listed in The row tables

The call sites are checked as an E8 opcode whose rel32 lands on the expected function. The lea sites are checked as 48/4C 8D with a rip-relative ModRM whose target is the kind table.

Saves and pitfalls

  • Per-character records: give each new character its own record buffers for all four views, kept in a file of your own (for example under %APPDATA%\SEGA\SonicOrigins\), never in Origins' save.
  • CONTINUE loaded the wrong character before per-kind saves: while new kinds shared Sonic's record, "continue" on an extra's card restored whichever character was stored in Sonic's shared record (picking Metal Sonic loaded Big). New games were fine. Separate records fixed it.
  • Kinds 4 and 6 in Sonic 1: putting Sonic 2's full row (0 1 2 5 3 4 6) into Sonic 1's table crashed when the popup opened. Sonic 1 appears to have no setup for kind 4 or 6 (kind 3 works in Sonic 1: picture, name and launch as Sonic & Tails).
  • The 7-card window: the layout has exactly 7 card casts and the rows are 7 wide in code, so more characters need paging (above), not wider rows.
  • Kinds 7 and up with no save slot: SlotIndex returns no slot, and callers crash on the null record. Map them to a vanilla slot first, then swap the record.
  • Never send a new kind to Origins: the scripts' NOTIFY_PLAYER_SET callback with an unknown ID (7) crashes the game. With an extra's ID in stage.playerListPos, NOTIFY_SPECIAL_RETRY (special stage results in Sonic 1 and 2) left the results screen blank or showing garbage. Report the character as Sonic for these calls.
  • Which archive: edits to ui_mainmenu.pac alone don't show in the popup. Use ui_gamestage.pac.

Credits and references

  • NoSwap (source to be published). The references for everything above are its tools and DLL headers:
    • tools/origins_pacx.py: split PACx403/402 reader and writer, with pointer relocation;
    • tools/origins_pac.py: small unsplit archives and LZ4;
    • tools/surfride.py: SWIF reader and append-only editor;
    • tools/bc7.py: exact solid-block BC7;
    • tools/cnvrs_text.py: cnvrs-text;
    • tools/origins_cards.py and tools/build_origins_menu.py: the card slots;
    • native/src/NoSwapS3K.cpp, native/src/MenuCards.h and native/src/Roster.h: the hooks, card writing and kind registry.
  • HedgeLib by Radfordhound: the PACx v4 layout (node trees, data entries).
  • HedgeArcPack (HedgeLib): the standard tool for these archives.
  • HedgeModManager and HiteModLoader (hedge-dev): loading code and file mods into Origins.
  • DeaTh-G's surfboard templates: the SurfRide SWIF structures.
  • The RSDK decompilation projects by Rubberduckycooly and chuliRMG (RSDKv3, RSDKv4 and RSDKv5(U); original Retro Engine by Christian Whitehead / Evening Star), and the script decompilations: character IDs and engine behaviour on the classic-game side.
  • Origins Ultrafix: its Ultrafix3kFixes headers were the reference for RSDK and S3&K types and some fixed addresses.
  • MinHook by Tsuda Kageyu: function hooking.
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