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Wii Characters

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digdat0 edited this page Oct 30, 2026 · 2 revisions

Convert WiiMK Characters (beta), in the MKDD-NX Tools app, turns a Mario Kart Wii driver into an MKDD-NX character. The model goes on a Double Dash character's skeleton, so the game's animations move it, and it shows on the select screen's extra pages like any custom character. Your disc image and saves are never changed, and nothing from the disc is written.

Download

MKDD-NX Tools, from the latest release: MKDD-NX-Tools.exe (Windows), MKDD-NX-Tools-arm64.dmg (Mac, Apple Silicon) or MKDD-NX-Tools-x86_64.dmg (Mac, Intel). Open the Convert WiiMK Characters tab. First-start notes for Windows and Mac are on the Characters page.

Get Wii drivers

Custom drivers for Mario Kart Wii, for example from GameBanana or the Custom Mario Kart wiki. Download one and unzip it.

A Mario Kart Wii driver comes as a set of .szs files, one per kart, named <kart>-<driver>.szs (for example sa_kart-kk.szs, Toadette on a kart). They're usually in a Kart folder (Race/Kart/ in a game layout). Any one of them will do: each holds the same driver.

Convert

  1. Wii driver file: Browse…, open the mod's Kart folder and pick one of its .szs files. On Windows you can also drop the file on the window. It converts straight away and shows the result from the front and the back. Drag Turn under each picture to look around it.
  2. Disc image (to match) (optional, recommended): your own .iso or .gcm. The model is then checked against the character's skeleton on your disc, and the best character to play as is picked from it. The disc is only read.
  3. Check the fields:
    • Name: the name shown in the game (from the file name to start with).
    • Author and Source link: the model's creator and where you got it, kept with the character so they stay credited.
    • Plays as: the Double Dash character it replaces on the skeleton, and whose weight, stats, special item and voice it takes. It's guessed from the driver code in the file name (-kk: Toadette), then from the skeleton. Wii-only drivers go on a character with a matching skeleton (Funky Kong on Donkey Kong, for example). Change it if you like: Convert again redoes it.
  4. Read the notes under the pictures: OK, INFO, WARN and ERROR lines say what was converted and what wasn't.
  5. Output folder: pick switch/MKDD-NX/mods/characters/ on the SD card, or a folder to copy there later. Then Write character folder…. Write GameCube mod… writes an MKDD Patcher mod instead (as a zip or a folder), for a real GameCube or Dolphin: see GameCube (MKDD Patcher).
sdmc:/switch/MKDD-NX/mods/characters/
    funky/
        character.ini
        driver.bmd, driver_200.bmd
        kinoko_hair.bmd     (Toadette's braids, for a Toadette base)
        face.bti, map.bti   (the pack's own icons, else a face rendered from the model)

Limitations

  • Drivers only, no karts. The kart isn't converted: the character drives the Double Dash kart you pick.
  • Mii outfits aren't supported. Mario Kart Wii draws the Mii's head at run time; the outfit files have no head, so the character would have none. The tool warns about these.
  • Skeletons: the driver's body joints must match a Double Dash character's. A model built on a skeleton no Double Dash character has can't be converted, and the tool says so.
  • Looks: materials are made Double Dash style (texture, lighting and the model's shine), not a copy of the Wii's shading, so colours and shine can differ a little.
  • Faces: where the Wii model paints its eyes on (no numbered eye textures), they stay open, as in Mario Kart Wii. Models with eye textures blink and change expression with the base character's face animations.
  • Hair: a separate hair model (Toadette's braids, for example) becomes Toadette's hair model on a Toadette base, or is joined to the head on any other. A driver on Toadette without braids gets none, as in Mario Kart Wii.
  • Beta: tested on a range of drivers, but not every model out there. If one looks wrong, open an issue with the file's name and where it's from.

Command line

py -3 tools/wiichar.py IN.szs OUT_FOLDER [--base toadette] [--name NAME] [--author A] [--iso GAME.iso] [--gc [--folder]]

--gc writes an MKDD Patcher mod (a zip; with --folder, a folder).

Without --base, the character is picked from the file name and the skeleton.

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