Hack Name:  True Analogs Mod For Armored Core 3 Portable (PSP) - USA (PSP Emulators)
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Status:  Complete
Patch Version:  1.03
Last updated:  December 12, 2023
Type of Hack:  Gameplay
Downloads:  145

Works at least with PPSSPP version 1.13.2 or newer.

Analog input processing inside this game was retro-fitted using algorithms from AC Nine Breaker:

Left analog sends the following commands: strafe left, strafe right, forward, backward.
Right analog sends the following commands: turn left, turn right, look up, look down.

The analog controls keep working exactly as described above, even if the user changes the control scheme for the digital buttons or the left analog pad, so all the buttons can be remapped in-game as you like. The left analog pad will revert to the user’s control mapping outside missions.

Notes:

  • feature complete, but possible bugs
  • PPF patch format for the decrypted EBOOT.BIN (also ‘cwcheat’ format – ‘.ini‘ file – but not recommended, apparently this method has unintended consequences)
  • replays are (and will be) broken
  • single-player only

In order for this to work, you need the following settings inside the PPSSPP emulator:

  • the controller configuration needs to have mappings added for the in-game right analog (even if the real PSP didn’t have a right analog pad), matching the axis of your controller (1st screenshot).

 

PPF patch on the decrypted EBOOT.BIN

  1. PPSSPP can be configured to generate a decrypted EBOOT.BIN (or you can extract the EBOOT.BIN from the ISO with 7zip, then use the command-line tool “pspdecrypt” on the .BIN file)
  2. Next, use PPF-O-MATIC 3.0 or other compatible tool to apply the PPF patch on that decrypted EBOOT.BIN
  3. Finally, use UMDGen or a similar tool to insert the new, patched EBOOT.BIN inside the original ISO in place of the old EBOOT.BIN.

This convoluted method is necessary since creating a PPF patch directly on the game ISO is legally problematic: the original EBOOT.BIN file is encrypted, and patching that would create a file that will contain information about the whole executable, instead of just a difference.

 

CWCHEAT method (not recommended, unstable)

  • cheats have to be enabled in the emulator settings
  • with a recent PPSSPP at least – the ‘ini‘ extension file that contains the cwcheat information has to be placed into the ‘C:\Users\<your user>\Documents\PPSSPP\PSP\Cheats’ folder (for older PPSSPP versions, this path is ‘<PPSSPP-install-folder>\memstick\PSP\Cheats’ instead).

 To confirm, right click the game’s icon, click the ‘Cheats’ option and you should see the patch name on the right, with an enabled checkbox.

Purging

Version 1.02 of the mod includes an extra ‘Purge’ modifier, by watching the PSP MUSIC_NOTE button. Pressing this button sends the “strafe left/strafe right/look up/look down” combo (no matter how they are mapped in-game), which means it only needs an extra button pressed (weapon changetoggle extension or left weapon – depending on what you want) for the actual purge. This should work even if the in-game keymap is modified, but needs to have an extra key or controller button mapped in the PPSSPP emulator, so that the PSP MUSIC_NOTE button can be actually sent to the game.

The patch might work with the Adrenaline, if that emulator is also able to map a right analog pad and send the data inside the game alongside the left analog, as PPSSPP does.

UPDATE: I got a couple of reports that it does work with Adrenaline on Vita, if any plugins or mappings for the right analog are disabled.

Hashes: 
CRC-32: 11F9E06E
File download: 
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