This is an updated version of the
guide explaining how PNACH files work.
PNACH files are used for the following things:
- Storing game names
- Storing game comments
- Storing ZeroGS configurations for a game
- Storing game patches (widescreen patches for example, or fixes for games) and cheats
When you're using regular cheats the PNACH file is saved in the
cheats folder located under
My Documents/PCSX2/ by default.
Widescreen patches are stored under a different folder called
cheats_ws.
The filenames are always labeled via the CRC of a game. Each game has a unique CRC number which can be found in the Console Log window when you run the game.
Quote:ELF (cdrom0:\SLUS_213.86;1) Game CRC = 0x14FE77F7, EntryPoint = 0x00100008
In the above line is the game Tales of The Abyss, when looking for the CRC of the game it is the one you want after the '0x' part.
Now let's take a look at the structure of a PNACH file. Usually it will look like something like this:
Code:
gametitle=Tales of The Abyss [SLUS 20963] (U) [14FE77F7]
comment=Patch by Ryudo
//Max Gald
patch=1,EE,206D2C10,extended,0098967F
//Max Grade (In-game and Grade Shop)
patch=1,EE,2070F91C,extended,0098967F
<table><caption><span style="font-size: large;">
A rundown of what's inside:</span></caption>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center; border: 1px solid; padding: 3px;">patch</td>
<td style="text-align: center; border: 1px solid; padding: 3px;">1</td>
<td style="text-align: center; border: 1px solid; padding: 3px;">EE</td>
<td style="text-align: center; border: 1px solid; padding: 3px;">206D2C10</td>
<td style="text-align: center; border: 1px solid; padding: 3px;">,extended,</td>
<td style="text-align: center; border: 1px solid; padding: 3px;">0098967F</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center; border: 1px solid; padding: 3px; font-size: 10px;">Defining that it's a patch.</td>
<td style="text-align: center; border: 1px solid; padding: 3px; font-size: 10px;">1: Always active.
0: Activates once at the start of a game.
If you want to turn a code completely off, simply comment it out with
// in front of the patch=1.</td>
<td style="text-align: center; border: 1px solid; padding: 3px; font-size: 10px;">That it affects the EE memory.</td>
<td style="text-align: center; border: 1px solid; padding: 3px; font-size: 10px;">This is the address of a code. (This is where something gets stored by the game, like money values for example) These codes generally almost always start with either 0, 1, or 2. (There are some exceptions though!)</td>
<td style="text-align: center; border: 1px solid; padding: 3px; font-size: 10px;">The data size/type. In the past, PCSX2 used to make use of byte, short, and word for this. While it can still be used now; it's much easier to just use ,extended, as it works for each data size. The first number of the address is what matters when using ,extended, this determines where it will write to. (More info into that further in the guide).</td>
<td style="text-align: center; border: 1px solid; padding: 3px; font-size: 10px;">This is the 'value' that gets written on the address. In this case it's the max. amount of money you can have in the game Tales of The Abyss. These values are always in HEX format. The DEC format would be 9999999 Gald.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Different kinds of codes
As mentioned previously in the guide, almost all the addresses of a code usually start with either 0, 1, or 2.
0 means it will write to one byte only.
1 means it will write to two bytes.
2 means it will write to four bytes.
A simple example here would be the following fake money code.
Code:
00005000 000000FF = 255 Gold
10005000 0000FFFF = 65535 Gold
20005000 00FFFFFF = 16777215 Gold
20005000 FFFFFFFF = 4294967295 Gold
If you were to go by the above example, it basically means that when you use a code starting with
0 it will only write to the last byte and it will completely ignore the other bytes. So if you want to have more than 255 Gold in the game, you would have to go for the code starting with 1, or 2. Remember to always check what the maximum values are inside each game, because you don't want to end up breaking your game by setting values way too high.
Sometimes you'll also find codes starting with 4. These are so called 'condensed' codes. What this means is that it's a lot of codes condensed into a much shorter code. For example: If you plan to add items to your inventory in a game.. there are usually well over 100 items in any given game, so you'd get 100 lines of code for each item. This can be condensed into one code, because items are usually almost always near each other in the memory region.
On a lot of sites you'll also find the so called 'Master' or 'Enable' codes. These are not necessary for PCSX2 and you don't have to add these to your PNACH file. You can recognize these codes by the fact that they commonly start with 9 or F. But it's generally always there in the code description as well.
There's also codes starting with D or E. These types of codes used to not work with PCSX2, but nowadays they work fine. The D-type codes are usually a 'what if' code and are combined with exactly the same code but as a regular code instead, rather than constantly writing a value to an address.
(Example: If my gun only has 1 bullet remaining, go to the next code and use that code, otherwise do nothing.)
Code:
D0005000 0000001
00005000 000000A
So what does this do exactly? As mentioned earlier, this code looks for whether or not you have 1 bullet remaining. If you reach the point where you only have 1 bullet remaining in your gun, it will go to the next code, which is basically where it will write 'A' (10) to the address. This automatically refills your gun to 10 bullets again, essentially causing you to never run out of ammo, nor will you ever have to reload the gun, because it never reaches 0.
These type of codes (as well as the E-Type) codes are also commonly found in Joker codes. Joker codes are basically codes where you have to press a certain button combination to enable/disable the code.
Now most of the time when you're browsing the Internet for cheat codes, you may find some weird looking codes. Common types of codes you'll find are either AR-MAX codes, or Codebreaker (v1 or v7+) codes.
Here's what an AR-MAX code looks like:
<table>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center; border: 1px solid; padding: 3px; font-size: 10px;">
Tales of the Abyss - Max Gald</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center; border: 1px solid; padding: 3px;">3ZMY-2K0X-XFDBU
U10C-2QXA-AEBRN</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
The code in that format will NOT work on PCSX2. You will first have to convert it using a tool such as
Omniconvert.
This is a tool designed to convert any type of code to a 'standard unencrypted' format that PCSX2 requires.
So when you get a standard unencrypted code (or simply put- raw code) you will have this:
Code:
206D2C10 0098967F
Which then in turn can be used in a PNACH file like this:
patch=1,EE,206D2C10,extended,0098967F
You can find various guides on the forums for further info on converting codes, and some users even made handy tools to do it all for you automatically.
Useful Links:
CodeTwink (NTSC, Codebreaker)
CodeJunkies (NTSC, AR-MAX)
CodeJunkies (PAL, AR-MAX)
PCSX2 Cheat Converter - by fuzzymillipede
Multi Converter / Decrypter / Editor - by vsub (Highly recommended for Beginners to PNACH files)
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