[HOW TO] Prepare NFS:Shift for modding by unpacking all .bff files

[redi]

Since the modding of NFS:Shift is taking off now, I thought it would be good to create some order in the organized chaos and start with a basic how-to guide to get your game ready for modding.

If anything is wrong with the provided info or tools, let me know!


To prepare your game for (easy) modding, you have to unpack all of the .bff archives of the game.

For unpacking, you'll need the following:
- QuickBMS (tool for unpacking)
- QuickBMS script for NFSShift
- game_unpack.bat file for easy unpacking
- game_unpack_v102.bat file for easy unpacking of the game patched to v102

Or you could use the newest QuickBMS provided with the file Shift-Unpack.zip, it will unpack all .bff files automatically based on directory search.

All files are attached.

Procedure:
- Place the 3 files in the root folder of the game where your “shift.exe” is located. If you installed the game on your system drive you may need to run the batch file with administrator rights (probably also true if you have UAC enabled in Vista).

- It has been reported that at least in Windows 7, files in the pakfiles folder can be Read-Only. This will cause problems when unpacking and hence before proceeding to the next step you have to remove the read-only tag from everything in the pakfiles folder.

- Run the game_unpack.bat file.

Be sure to have a clean NFS:Shift install that has not been tinkered with (especially the .bff files), otherwise the game may not run after unpacking.

After unpacking, right-click on the NFS:Shift shortcut on your desktop, select Properties and add the option '-loose' to the Target path. The option makes the game accept unpacked files. The Target path will then look like this:

"...\Need for Speed SHIFT\shift.exe" -loose


Windows 7 step-by-step instructions:

*NB* before installing fresh copy, go to User/AppData/Local/Virtual Store/Programme Files/Electronic Arts/Shift. Delete the whole Electronic Arts Directory(about 5Gig+)
For some reason Win7 unpacked the game to that folder. After deleting:
1 Disable UAC
2 Install fresh copy
3 Uncheck the "Read Only" property of the Shift folder
4 Copy over the following files from "Shift-unpack.zip", quickbms.exe and nfsshift.bms.Copy over the *.bat file from "game_unpack_v102.rar".
5 Go to your main game folder and right click on the file named "game_unpack.bat", select "Run as administrator" and the game should start unpacking.
6 add " -loose" option to shortcut (including the space in front)

*TIP* After you moved the Unpack Files to your Shift Directory, leave the window open, so when you run the unpack.bat file you can see if the new directories are being created!!



That's it. You can now pick your favourite mod and add it to the game. Enjoy!


You may want to have two installs, one original (for patches etc.) and one unpacked. To get two installs, simply copy the original install folder and all its contents to a new folder. Create a new shortcut from the executable of the copy, and you're set.

Here are the folder structures of the normal and unpacked game, for reference (thanks to RMI for providing the info):

Original

<DIR> Audio
<DIR> ControllerDefaults
<DIR> GUI
<DIR> Languages
<DIR> Movies
<DIR> Pakfiles
<DIR> Render
<DIR> Support
<DIR> UI


Unpacked

<DIR> ai
<DIR> animation
<DIR> Audio
<DIR> cameras
<DIR> campaign
<DIR> characters
<DIR> ControllerDefaults
<DIR> effects
<DIR> eventinfo
<DIR> GUI
<DIR> Languages
<DIR> Movies
<DIR> paintshop
<DIR> properties
<DIR> Render
<DIR> replay
<DIR> saves
<DIR> scripts
<DIR> Support
<DIR> text
<DIR> tracks
<DIR> UI
<DIR> upgrade
<DIR> vehicles


note the absence of "<DIR> Pakfiles" in the unpacked/modded version

Credits:
- Luigi Auriemma for the QuickBMS unpacker (website)
- Tobias Kluge (from RaceDepartment.com) for the .bat file and instructions.
- Simon sein Blog for providing mod info

[Frankalexandre]

I believe the target must be:
"D:\Need for Speed SHIFT\SHIFT.exe" -loose

[avioni]

thank you. its also good idea for mod creators to try be a bit more explanatory with the first mod they make for example where to place it exactly. I have doubts with two mods i downloaded. the ai agression and grip mod and the damage mod. they are both the same file. so one will replace the other. what do you do in this case?

[Husky42]

Originally Posted by avioni

thank you. its also good idea for mod creators to try be a bit more explanatory with the first mod they make for example where to place it exactly. I have doubts with two mods i downloaded. the ai agression and grip mod and the damage mod. they are both the same file. so one will replace the other. what do you do in this case?

Logic would state that you cannot use those anymore which is indeed the case now.

Now that the -loose command was discovered all mods must be extracted to work when running that command, this is indeed likely the way it is going to be moving forward and the original mod author of those mods has stated he is updating to use this format.

So hopefully not much longer and you can use the mods again.

[redi]

Originally Posted by Frankalexandre

I believe the target must be:
"D:\Need for Speed SHIFT\SHIFT.exe" -loose

I guess both ways work equally well?

[avioni]

ok just did the unpacking. and game launched with no problem so far. I exited and removed the videos form the begining by renaming to .bak. also installed the damagemod 3.0 by copying the vehicles folder into the game directory. what other mod is working with unpacked or"-loose" method of the game.?

[Frankalexandre]

Originally Posted by redi

I guess both ways work equally well?

For me, XP didnt recognize "...\Need for Speed SHIFT\shift.exe -loose"

[Smuckers]

Originally Posted by Frankalexandre

For me, XP didnt recognize "...\Need for Speed SHIFT\shift.exe -loose"

command line arguements always go after the end quote. like so, "D:\Need for Speed SHIFT\SHIFT.exe" -loose

[Geekboy]

I'm at work right now so I can't search as much as I'd like, but where are you all finding mods for Shift?

[redi]

Originally Posted by Smuckers

command line arguements always go after the end quote. like so, "D:\Need for Speed SHIFT\SHIFT.exe" -loose

Fixed!

[redi]

Originally Posted by Geekboy

I'm at work right now so I can't search as much as I'd like, but where are you all finding mods for Shift?

Most are linked to in the NFS Shift Modding thread. Once we get an NFS:Shift downloads section, we can organize that a little better

[Geekboy]

Gotcha, I haven't fully explored the shift threads yet. Thanks for the info.

[redi]

Hah, tried it myself and all worked flawlessly. Unpacked all, then took the Cayman S for a spin around the Nordschleife. Beautiful.

Now installing the Reduced Bling mod to get rid of all the banners, circus attractions and the lot

[matt2380]

I've read that using a fully unpacked game (with -loose command) can make cars load faster, but tracks load slower. Anyone noticed this?

[RMi Release Group]

everything loads faster the 2nd time you launch with -loose

[redi]

Loading times are about the same for me, though it seems the track loading time is a bit longer.

[NoClue48]

Redi--

Are your instructions above for the game with patch installed?

There are different versions of the patch available on EA's site, but I don't know if the differences are just linguistics or otherwise.

I had installed the patch and ran the unpack and shift.exe -loose only brought up the main menu--crashing as soon as I tried to enter a race.

Am I having a unique experience or are others asking the same questions? I am running 32-bit XP.

Thanks!

[redi]

Yes, those are for the patched game. Ran it on my EU version and worked like a charm.

[NoClue48]

Excellent! Thanks for the quick reply.

I'm starting over with a fresh install and then patch it--which would you recommend? I'm suspecting that the different versions may just be pointing to servers that are near the users.

[redi]

Originally Posted by NoClue48

Excellent! Thanks for the quick reply.

I'm starting over with a fresh install and then patch it--which would you recommend? I'm suspecting that the different versions may just be pointing to servers that are near the users.

There is only a patch for the US version and one for the non-US version, the other choices are just different download locations.

[schuubars]

vista x64, the same prob.

[Suby56]

No, I have the same problem. Ctd when entering race.

[Pyr0]

use the updated quickbms 0.3.1 for patched games
http://aluigi.altervista.org/papers.htm#quickbms

i had the same problem with crashing until i used the latest quickbms

[fred9000]

i have windows xp 64 bit and it is working good

i have the patch and a the unpack thing ...

[mclarenf1]

worked fine for me too on vista64 with patched game

[redi]

Just to be sure, I put the latest QuickBMS version in the first posting (I think it was already the latest version, but now I'm really sure ).

[Suby56]

I am not sure why I had trouble, but what ended up working was moving the pakfile folder to a new empty folder, unpacking them there, and dragging them back to the NFS folder.
I have no idea why this worked, same # of files unpacked.

[NoClue48]

Well, I have reinstalled, moved and unpacked the files at least three(3) times and I am still getting a game that crashes when I enter a race. Each unpack takes from 5 to 6 HOURS, so of course while the machine is busy with that, I'm not racing.

I'm using the QuickBMS (0.3.1) version Pyr0 pointed to in post #23, but had the same results with Redi's originally posted version.

I've attached images of my hardware specifics and the resultant NFS folder.

I will try Suby56's method next.

Anyone with any suggestions outside of that, please let me know.

[scca1981]

5-6 hours to unpack!? Sounds like there's some other issues at work there.

[NoClue48]

I heard that... I can't figure out what's up though

The processing seems to really slow down when it hits folders dealing with render shaders...

[NoClue48]

Question--ASSUMING I get a working unpack, does the Pakfiles folder stay in the directory or not?

Sorry, I failed to notice if it was there or not in all the other unpacks I did...

Never mind... didn't see the copy to Backup_Pakfiles.

[redi]

When the pakfiles get unpacked there will be a mass of new folders be created in which all the unpacked files are stored. After unpacking, the pakfiles folder will still be thre with all the archive folders, so it is renamed in order to prevent a conflict with the unpacked files.

[redi]

Originally Posted by NoClue48

Well, I have reinstalled, moved and unpacked the files at least three(3) times and I am still getting a game that crashes when I enter a race. Each unpack takes from 5 to 6 HOURS, so of course while the machine is busy with that, I'm not racing.

I'm using the QuickBMS (0.3.1) version Pyr0 pointed to in post #23, but had the same results with Redi's originally posted version.

I've attached images of my hardware specifics and the resultant NFS folder.

I will try Suby56's method next.

Anyone with any suggestions outside of that, please let me know.

5-6 hours

What are your system specs?
What operating system?
How much free space do you have left on your HDD?
Do you have anti-virus stuff running?
What other background tasks do you have running? Maybe post a screenshot of the process list from Task Manager.

On my E8400 PC it takes about 30 minutes.

[NoClue48]

Originally Posted by redi

5-6 hours

What are your system specs?
What operating system?
How much free space do you have left on your HDD?
Do you have anti-virus stuff running?
What other background tasks do you have running? Maybe post a screenshot of the process list from Task Manager.

On my E8400 PC it takes about 30 minutes.

System specs are:Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 @2.4 GHz
OS: XP SP3
HDD: 500 GB with 292 GB free
Antivirus--it's off now! What a dummy I am! "On-access scan" was culprit regarding the processing speed.

Seems to have helped a LOT!

more to follow

I will let this run complete and then, if necessary, start a new one with AV off from get go.

[Shinzah]

This unpacking method isent working for me. I put all the files into the main directory of shift, ran the bat file for 20-30 mins,lots of stuff says its unpacking but nothing unpacked, and the bat says can no move backup_pakfiles, so I still have the same old .bff files.

I tried running the bat in admin mode, and only got it saying the same thing after about five seconds.

Can anyone help?

[-=Prodrive=-]

I am a little confused. In the first post it says you need the 3 attached files.

I have placed them all in the root directory, and ran the game_unpack.bat but the instructions say no more about the others, what do they do, do you have to do anything to them?

[SFDMALEX]

I just cant get the game to unpack.

FOllowed the instruction, ran the batch as Admin just to make sure and what happens is that the batch runs, I get the prompt for like 5 sec but nothing extracts, it appears as if something is extracting but it isnt.

I get a "no such file or derictory" under every file I guess it tries to extract.

Tried a clean install same thing.


I put the three files in root and ran the batch. Dont know what else to try.


Vista 64 bit.

[SFDMALEX]

Can anyone please explain the unpacking process withouht using the batch file?

[NoClue48]

Make sure you're placing the QuickBMS; the nfsshift.bms file; and the game_unpack batch file in the folder in which the game (i.e., shift.exe) is installed. The root term may be confusing the issue.

CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG...

As I understand things, the QuickBMS is the extraction tool; the .bms file is the script (unique to NFS Shift) that QuickBMS uses to extract the data and the game_unpack.bat is the batch file that directs QuickBMS which files to perform its operations on and in which order.

All that said, I feel your pain...

[SFDMALEX]

Originally Posted by NoClue48

Make sure you're placing the QuickBMS; the nfsshift.bms file; and the game_unpack batch file in the folder in which the game (i.e., shift.exe) is installed. The root term may be confusing the issue.

CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG...

As I understand things, the QuickBMS is the extraction tool; the .bms file is the script (unique to NFS Shift) that QuickBMS uses to extract the data and the game_unpack.bat is the batch file that directs QuickBMS which files to perform its operations on and in which order.

All that said, I feel your pain...

Yea man, thats were I put it. I put all the bare extracted files into the root folder.

Its all in there, but isntead of extracting it gives me all those errors.

Here is a screencap, looks like the error is in src/quickbms.c whatnever that means

There is no PakFile folder in my NFSShift root after running the bat, only a backup_pakfiles

[Shinzah]

I'm having a similar problem, but no errors, the only error I get is backup_pakfiles could not be moved because of permissions and I cant run the bat in admin mode, it just goes right to that

Win 7 X64

I tried editing the bat with the command

quickbms -o nfsshift.bms "Pakfiles" .
echo "Done "
pause

and it still did not unpack.

If theres a manual way to unpack using QuickBMS that would be helpfull

[SFDMALEX]

Originally Posted by Shinzah

I'm having a similar problem, but no errors, the only error I get is backup_pakfiles could not be moved because of permissions and I cant run the bat in admin mode, it just goes right to that

Win 7 X64

I tried editing the bat with the command

quickbms -o nfsshift.bms "Pakfiles" .
echo "Done "
pause

and it still did not unpack.

If theres a manual way to unpack using QuickBMS that would be helpfull

I tried everything, tried a batch file from another mod (the bling removal mod) and got the same thing.


My guess is that doing it the manual way using quickbms will require us to point to each BFF and do it one by one which will take ages.

[NoClue48]

Hmm.. that looks like the requisite .bff files can't be found, so the script and batch files are squawking. It may be that the batch file ran part of its script in a earlier run and copied the "Pakfiles" folder into "Backup_Pakfiles". Open your NFS game folder and see if that folder is in there or not. If it's not, then look for the "Backup_Pakfiles" folder. It their both not there, go to control panel and remove the game and reinstall.

Just so we're on the same page, what is the name of the folder you're calling the "root folder"? On my machine, I installed the game into: "c:\Need for Speed SHIFT"--that is the "root folder" into which I've installed the batch file, the extraction file and the script.

Hope this helps...

By the way, I am of little help if you're running Vista--I'm on XP

For what it's worth, I continue to be able to extract the files, but I can't get the game to run a race. I'll keep trying though...

[SFDMALEX]

My root is G:/Games/NFSShift

I looked into the backup_pakfiles and it just has a bunch of BFF files and folders containing them...so it is creating a proper backup just no extraction is taking place.

[NoClue48]

It would appear to me that, as I suspected, part of the script/batch file ran and did the copy of the Pakfiles folder.

Is there a folder named "Pakfiles" in your g:\Games\NFSShift folder? If there isn't, I believe you can copy or move the Pakfiles folder from the "Backup_Pakfiles" folder and have at it again.

BTW, I continue to be able to unpack, but once again, the program crashes as soon as I try to enter a race. I'm reinstalling again--I damn near have the 20-character security code memorized...

Looks as though I'm going to re relegated to running a packed version and installing mods will be more difficult for me. Oh well...

[Shinzah]

It did not create or move any folders for me. All my files are the same.

I may end up having to run a packed version too.

EDIT: Nvm I figured it out.

On windows7 and probably on vista, make sure you set your Need For Speed : Shift root folder without Read Only.

Right click on it and deselect Read Only, It should unpack then, currently unpacking again now.

[redi]

NoClue48, what graphics settings in the game do you use?

[NoClue48]

Yeah, it's going to suck, but at least I'm standing on the gas pedal and turning the wheel.

The good thing is that, as more of us have problems, the hackers may step in and find us a fix...

[RMi Release Group]

the main issue here is the .bat requires editing for your config

view the .bat in notepad, verify your drive/path name.
also, the path needs to be quoted:

"g:\nfsshift\foo\foo.bff" g:\old_packfiles

[NoClue48]

Originally Posted by redi

NoClue48, what graphics settings in the game do you use?

Haven't checked them--just the defaults selected by the installer. It's reinstalling (again!) now, so I'll check when it's done. The thing is that it runs fine regardless of graphics settings (or did in the past), but crashes as soon as it's unpacked.