Reverse engineering of Final Fantasy XV (PC, PS4, Xbox One)

Please refer to the research document to know more about Final Fantasy XV internals and other minor findings.

How to contribute

Package models

Not all the packages have all the types mapped. Creating a model is straight forward.

1. Dump your copy of Episode Duscae or Platinum Demo from your Playstation 4 (go here and press F12)
2. From the dump, extract every EARC content with Noesis.
3. Convert all the EXML files to XML using xmbtool.
4. Put the XML file into FFXV.Services.Tests binary folder.
5. Add the test and run it.
6. When you receive an exception like 'Type SQEX.Ebony.Framework.Sequence.Tray.SequenceTray not found', just create the model in the respective project and write the implementation looking the XML structure. The PackageService will automatically recognize it.
7. Run the test and be 100% sure that it passes.
8. Create a pull request :)

Tools development

The following tools are missing:

• Convert between XML and XMB2 (PS4 and PC version of the final game).
• A save editor (I have a prototype that I will upload later).
• BTEX converter (there is the need to convert between PS4 and PC textures).
• Package editor (to create quests, debug menu, enemies, dungeons, expaing maps).

Format supported

Package

The main boss of the game. Every EXML/XMB/XMB2 can be converted to an XML, which the Luminous Engine reads that as 'package'.

A package is a descriptor that drives almost all the aspects of the game. On FFXV.Services there is a PackageService which de-serialize an XML and returns a Package object.

A package contains a list of objects, where every object is part of a group of nodes connected to another object (imagine that as a tree).

Every object has a type, which is used by PackageService by just creating its model into the projects Black, SQEX.Ebony or SQEX.Luminous.

Since the complexity of the PackageService deserializer, there are some tests to validate the way which it behaves.

XMB

XMB is used by Final Fantasy XV Episode Duscae and Platinum Demo and can be modified using xmbtool.

The full documentation is available here.

XMB2

XMB2 is used by the final version of Final Fantasy XV and the Judgment Demo. It has not been reversed yet.

EARC

A file archive format that it is responsable to link other dependent EARC files. Not the best implementation here, but it works. I recommend to use FFXV Scout or Noesis.

BTEX

PC/PS4 texture format. Not completed at all. Everything is currently commented.

Tools

All the command-line tools requires .NET Core runtime installed and runs on Windows, Linux and macOS.

All the graphical tools requires .NET Framework runtime and runs on Windows only.

xmbtool

Converts between XMB and XML.

Parameters

-i|--input Input file or directory.

-o|--output Output file or directory.

-x|--export If the tool should convert from XMB to XML. If not specified, it will convert from XML to XMB.

-d|--directory The input and output will be considered as directories instead of files.

-r|--recursive Recursively process all the files from the input directory to the output directory.

Examples

Convert a XMB file to XML:

dotnet xmbtool -i layout_title_epd.exml -o layout_title_epd.xml -x

Convert a XML back to XMB:

dotnet xmbtool -i layout_title_epd.exml -o layout_title_epd.xml

Convert all the exml files in the game folder to XML

dotnet xmbtool -i ./ffxv-epduscae ./ffxv-epduscae-out -x -d -r

pkgvalidator

This is a diagnostic tool for the reversed package structures.

It scan recursively every XMB of its running folder and create a log of all the implemented and missing structures.

pkgviewer

Read EXML/XML files and show their struture node on a GUI application.

The tool uses SQEX.Ebony and Black structures to parse and show XML information.