Tutorial - Convert save files for another region

[Silversonic]

Introduction

Hello folks,
this is a tutorial, witch describes, how to edit a save file from one region type of a game to use it with another region type of the same game.
I made this tutorial because i would like to share what i know but first i'll tell you how i acquired that knowledge.

Some time ago a friend of mine asked me for help to find a save file for Soul Calibur III with everything unlocked because he was too lazy to unlock all the stuff in the game by himself. He had an AR MAX disc so importing save files to his mc was no problem. I found some savefiles but only for the US version. This was a problem since we live in germany and therefore we have the EU version of the game. We tried to import it anyway but the game has displayed just his own save. Fotunately i'm not the type of person, who gives up that fast. After a close look to the saves with ULE i realised that each save is located in a directory, witch contains the region code of the game and the save could be loaded after changing the name of the directory to match the region code with the one our discs had.

Now that i'm using PCSX2 i thought that exporting a save to a PS2 mc to convert it and then import it back to the mc file of PCSX2 is somewhat uncomfortable, so i tried a few things and found a simpler way to do it.

Sorry for the long introduction, it ended up longer then i thought.
It's time for the tutorial so here it is.


Requirements

• mymc
  
• a hex editor
  

Tutorial

Don't forget to make a backup of your PCSX2 mc!

First make sure you have at least 2 saves of your game, one that you want to convert and one from the other region.

• Step 1 Start mymc (mymc-gui.exe) and open the PCSX2 mc witch contains the saves.
  
• Step 2 You should see a list with all the saves that are on this mc, find the one that you would like to convert and export it to a EMS save file (.psu). Don't close mymc yet, you need it again.
  
• Step 3 Open the exported psu file with a hex editor.
  
• Step 4 Search for the 5 numbers from the game id.
  Exsample: Final Fantasy X (EU) has the id "SCES 50492" so search for "50492".
  
• Step 5 In mymc find the save from the other region, in the row "Directory" you can find the game id that you need to replace the one you found in the hex editor (the two letters in front of the game id have to be changed too if they are different).
  Exsample: change "BESCES-50492" to "BASCUS-12345".
  
• Step 6 Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you don't find the game id anymore.
  
• Step 7 Save the psu file and close the hex editor.
  
• Step 8 In mymc import the edited psu file. Now you can close mymc and try to load your save in the game.
  

I don't know if this can be done for every game! If it wasn't successful you either missed something or it can't be done with the choosen game.

I hope that i described everything clear enough, my english is far away from perfect.
Don't hesitate to correct me if i wrote something wrong.

[Blyss Sarania]

Good tutorial, but it doesn't always work. Usually it does, though.

[Silversonic]

Do you have a save file witch doesn't work?
Maybe i find something if i can take a look at such a file.

[Ryudo]

Do you have a save file witch doesn't work?
Maybe i find something if i can take a look at such a file.

I had a game where it didn't work, but I can't remember which one it was. Think it was one of the more well known games though. Could be Metal Gear Solid 3 now that I think about it. The PAL and NTSC versions were probably quite different. Buuut I can't be too sure if it was that game exactly.

[vsub]

Or you can just open the save with PS2 Save Builder,type the ID in the Root/ID,save and import the save with mymc to the memory card(after deleting the old save from the card)
I think there are some saves that become corrupted if you hex edit them(they have some checksum or something like that)

[Pr. Sunflower]

Thank you for your tutorial Silversonic, it worked well for me.

I was using a PAL version of Shadow the Hedgehog, switched to the USA version and got a different save file. Your method worked perfectly for that game.

[A-bag]

Converting game save Fatal Frame 3 -> Project Zero 3 (usa -> eu) with this method is not working, when try to load the save from one of the five slots it says 'corrupted data' and return to title screen