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Welcome to the Link-Evolution-Editing-Guide wiki!
So here I will give a basic guide on how to edit the different files in Link Evolution. Keep in mind that this is written ONLY for Link Evolution. While the files between both games are laid out almost identically, the python scripts posted here to unpack/repack the files as well as some of the tools listed won't work 100% on the first game. You can check the bottom of this page for a link to the tools for the original Legacy as well as the various tools talked about here as well (they are also listed on each page for them as well).
It might seem a bit intimidating to look through stuff at first if you never did this stuff really, but its very simple to change basic things like changing card sleeves or alternate art for cards like some people want to do. You can find a full list of of the files and folders on this page here and also a directory of pages and what they are for at the bottom of this page. As always if you need help directly the best place to ask or talk about it is in my discord here-
The first thing you will need is to install Python 3.8 here. Make sure to add it to PATH on install as well. I personally use the 32 bit version, but you may get memory errors when using it, so use the 64 bit version if you can. Check this if you get memory errors or want to extract only certain things and not literally everything.
Next, download my python script here, thanks to Maide from my Discord for helping create these scripts.
Next, take a copy of your YGO_2020 dat file, and the YGO_2020.toc files that are located where your exe is, and copy them and move them into a new folder where you will be working from.
KEEP A CLEAN UNEDITED/ORIGINAL BACKUP OF THESE IN CASE SOMETHING GOES WRONG LOL
Put both scripts into your new working folder as well. Double click on the Yugi_Extract script and it should start unpacking the files. You can also open it directly from a cmd window by dragging it to the window and pressing Enter. Wait until it finishes and the window closes, then you should have a full YGO_2020 folder with all the unpacked files. You can find tools to help edit characters, decks, cards, story scenes, packs and other things on other pages of this guide.
Note, if you replace any images, make sure they are the same size/width as the original image. This isn't always needed, but is recommended to make sure it works, especially for things that have a dfymoo file attached with them such as in game avatars during duels, menu icons and others.
When you are done and repack the files, it will create a new dat and toc file named 'test'. Take these and rename them so they are the exact same as your original dat and toc file (will be YGO_2020), then place them into the directory where your exe is, overwriting the originals or moving them elsewhere as a backup.
Note If you have any issues repacking or the file size is like 300mb or so, that means the repacker got stuck somewhere and it's usually the card images. If this happens, delete both the 2020.full.illust_a.jpg.zib and 2020.full.illust_j.jpg.zib folders and leave them out entirely when repacking. If you edited those files and changed the artwork of any cards, then leave just those folders in there. You may have to repack things twice that way (doing it without the card artwork, then doing it again with only the card artworks if you edited them), but doing it this way should fix that error.
Other wiki pages on this guide-
Card ID- Contains all the card ID's and list of every card in the game.
Changing Art- Quick guide to changing art of either characters or card art.
Character/Arena ID- List of all ID's of both for modding purposes.
Creating a New Character-Full guide of how to add a completely new character into the game.
Banlist- Guide on how to edit, remove or customize the in game banlist.
Editing Bin Files- Quick guide with links to the tools needed on how to edit characters, decks, card packs and story scenes.
Music-Basic guide on editing music.
TOC file-Info on how to edit the YGO_2020.toc file. If you add any new files into the game, you will have to edit this and put the new names in there so the repacker can read them. Any files that are inside zib folders will be packed automatically and don't need to be listed in the toc.
Scripts- It is possible to edit the python scripts so they don't have to unpack/repack literally everything each time, as you can change them to pack only certain parts that you edited without having to wait for everything to be repacked each time you need to test something.
File List Breakdown-This is a fairly extensive breakdown of all the files that will be unpacked and what each of them do.
FAQ-Some frequently asked questions, both about the game or gameplay itself and about modding in general of what is possible or not.
Mod Index-some links to actual mods created for the game using these guides/wiki.
Misc.- Some random info here such as how to change starting LP, adding new monster animation videos, and changing the cards you start the game with.
Some useful links to other people's work-
https://github.com/nzxth2?tab=repositories Various tools created by nzxth2 to edit data like characters, decks, packs, etc. You can find info on how to change these on the different wiki pages here.
https://github.com/pixeltris/Lotd Duel starter program created by Pixeltris to enable Tag and Rush duels as well as some other things.
https://github.com/Arefu/Wolf Johnathon's tools to unpack the original Legacy's files. You can find info about doing so on his wiki pages.