how to properly create a pnach file for pcsx2

From now on, changing anything is as easy as hitting Build again the Mod Compendium.įor Nocturne, there is one extra series of steps to complete first-time setup. If the cheats were applied, you should hopefully notice the modifications have loaded. No more waiting around to repack the CVMs and the ISO every time you make changes!Īll that’s left to do is select your unmodified ISO in PCSX2, but instead of booting the typical way, we’re going to select Run ELF and choose our extracted ELF file. Now, whenever you rebuild your mods, it’ll immediately output the files directly to this folder. Set this folder as your output folder in your mod manager’s settings and click Build to merge your modded files in this location!.Note: In Nocturne’s case, you also want to extract dds3.img, dds3.ddt, and the MOVIE folder.

Open your ISO with 7zip and extract the file beginning with “SLUS” to your game folder.

Make a folder anywhere you want on your PC for the game.

Next, in the emulator’s settings, under the Emulation tab, check the box that says Enable Host Filesystem.

Be sure to enable cheats in the emulator!

Check the boxes for any optional patches you want, and click the download button at the bottom of the page.

pnach, a text file with a custom extension that the emulator loads code patches from. So it has several advantages over the old method, which could take ~10 minutes to build a mod each time, even with optimal hardware. This method is 100% free, and results are pretty much instant every time you change a file, even while the game is running. This method does not require you to modify your ISO at all! Instead, we’ll be using a code patch that makes the game load files over the local network (your computer’s filesystem) rather than the archives in the ISO.

PCSX2 1.5.0 or newer (versions older than this probably won’t work!).

A North American ISO of P3FES, P4 or SMT3: Nocturne.

While this method should work on any device or emulator that runs PS2 games (as long as there’s hostFS support and a way to boot from an ELF), this guide will mainly focus on PCSX2. Please note: This video is pretty old, so if you’re using the most recent version of the emulator, it will look very different! Thanks to new patches by TGE, repacking ISOs– and even CVMs– is finally a thing of the past. In our previous guide on modding Persona 3 and 4 (PS2), it was mentioned you’d need to use paid software UltraISO to repack your modified files into a new, bootable ISO.

Update 2/27/22: Clarified how to enable hostFS in the latest emulator interface. pnach file now that resources have moved around on the site. Update 12/13/22: Clarified how to generate HostFS.

How to properly create a pnach file for pcsx2