Ripping sprites for the switch

[Evan.F]

I'm wondering how to rip sprites from a Nintendo switch game as it hasn't been ripped yet. (It's also on PC, but I don't want to buy it a second time just for this) is there any way I can rip them (without modifying any switch files).

Also I should mention that the game is Iconoclasts, a beautiful game that has seemingly no rips online, only the developers gifs of certain animations.

Also I just noticed while writing that Celeste has no rips too (minus the pico-8 original and custom sprites), I have celeste on Switch too so I could rip both.

[Barack Obama]

I have it for PC, the assets are inside a single .DAT file and the game itself was made with Construct Classic. Never heard of that engine before, so it might be pretty difficult.

Edit:
I was able to extract .OGG and .WAV files from the Assets.DAT, using the tools find_anime and find_common.

Edit2:
Westside Media Extractor also just rips .OGG and .WAV files.

Edit3:
Bitmap Ripper got me 3732 image files, but they were .JPG and not viewable by windows explorer or my graphics software.

Edit4:
X-Ripper brought me .OGG and .WAV files, again. Also some .TGA document files which I could open with Libre Office, but in the end they were useless.

[Simpsons Dumper]

(without modifying any switch files)

You can't rip legally-acquired Switch games without installing custom firmware on your Switch. Only systems sold up to around summer 2018 can be hacked, and it's a bit of a pain (but not too bad either).

If you already have a dump of the game and Switch keys (most likely from the internet somewhere...) you can use hactool on your PC to extract game files. I can't publicly go deeper into this because the moderators won't appreciate it.

[Barack Obama]

@Simpsons Dumper
Windows 10 recognizes hactool as a virus and puts it into quarantine as soon as you click on the .EXE or try to drag a file on it. Probably a false positive.

@Evan.F
Pretty much all of my ripper tools are either not working or giving me useless files (sounds, text documents, broken images), but I always had problems with .DAT files.

However, there are methods I haven't tried yet:
https://www.vg-resource.com/thread-30406...#pid628730
TiledGGD and CheatEngine to rip stuff from the RAM. If that doesn't work, I'll give up on it for now.

Edit: Yep, not my cup of tea.

[Evan.F]

(without modifying any switch files)

You can't rip legally-acquired Switch games without installing custom firmware on your Switch. Only systems sold up to around summer 2018 can be hacked, and it's a bit of a pain (but not too bad either).

If you already have a dump of the game and Switch keys (most likely from the internet somewhere...) you can use hactool on your PC to extract game files. I can't publicly go deeper into this because the moderators won't appreciate it.

Okay, I'll probably have to have to install the firmware, I got my switch around Day One so I've a good chance of it working.

[Barack Obama]

Just a reminder: If you hack your Switch while having an internet connection with it, Nintendo will probably notice it after some time and ban the console from their services.

What will be restricted once banned?
A: Online play is the main thing that will be restrcited once you're banned. This doesn't have any affect on local multiplayer which is entirely different. In my theory, if Nintendo can detect that you've pirated content, they can issue an Eshop ban as well which is what happened to the two devs who used CDN. My guess is that typical bans will only prevent online access, while piracy related bans will restrict both online and Eshop access.
However, you will still be able to download game updates and system updates normally even while banned. Everything else will function as usual so you can still enjoy your games, just not online with others.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SwitchHacks/com...formation/

[Simpsons Dumper]

If you care about online bans, install CFW on EmuNAND and keep your SysNAND clean. But any good guide such as https://switch.homebrew.guide/gettingsta...restarting will cover this.

[Evan.F]

Just a reminder: If you hack your Switch while having an internet connection with it, Nintendo will probably notice it after some time and ban the console from their services.

What will be restricted once banned?
A: Online play is the main thing that will be restrcited once you're banned. This doesn't have any affect on local multiplayer which is entirely different. In my theory, if Nintendo can detect that you've pirated content, they can issue an Eshop ban as well which is what happened to the two devs who used CDN. My guess is that typical bans will only prevent online access, while piracy related bans will restrict both online and Eshop access.
However, you will still be able to download game updates and system updates normally even while banned. Everything else will function as usual so you can still enjoy your games, just not online with others.

https://www.reddit.com/r/SwitchHacks/com...formation/

Does that mean if I turn the internet off or do I have to reset all wifi connections?
Online bans wouldn't affect me much, as I don't usually play online multiplayer

[Simpsons Dumper]

If you install CFW on SysNAND, you are at high risk of a ban if you connect to the internet from your Switch without 90DNS ever again (unless you restore from a clean backup before connecting?). It's believed one way of getting caught is via system logs.

If you install on EmuNAND and keep that effectively offline (90DNS) but continue to use SysNAND as normal, you should be in the clear. Maybe going online with EmuNAND would be safe, but I'd expect them to check the serial number.

However, I make no guarantees. I'm not as clued up on these things as some people are and take no responsibility for if you get banned or brick your Switch.

[Evan.F]

Looking at things further, there are emulators such as YUZU. Would they work? YUSU's site claims Iconoclasts and Celeste only suffer graphically slightly, but are compatable


Also wait This was started!!
https://www.vg-resource.com/thread-32418.html

It's a whole Idle animation for a background character and 2 other sprites

[Barack Obama]

It's hard-ripped content, which means the ripper used screencaps. This is a tedious and useless effort, since you absolutely need the files from the data (completion-wise).

Also the thread is over 2 years old and probably abandoned.

[Simpsons Dumper]

For Yuzu you need the game ROM and Switch keys. At that point, why not at least attempt extracting the ROM with hactool?

[Evan.F]

It's hard-ripped content, which means the ripper used screencaps. This is a tedious and useless effort, since you absolutely need the files from the data (completion-wise).

Also the thread is over 2 years old and probably abandoned.

I know the thread was over before any work went into it, it was more about the fact it was started at all.

[Evan.F]

I am afraid to say this, but while checking how to install firmware, I found out a SD card (probably referring to the micro SD card as that's the only one that can be removed is needed. A good while ago, my switch stopped accepting the micro SD card I had in it was in. I think it could have been the card, so until I get a new one, I won't be able to accurately rip them

For now, I am just going to use images online and edit out any of that weird multicolour thing images and video sometimes have. So far I've done this with sprites of Oedipuss during the cutscene in the Bastion, tutorial sprites, the hud sprites for health and the stun gun, the rock tiles and sprites of the mother statues and busts.

Now I'm looking through every post on Konjak's tumblr to find anything, so far things are looking good, but only one thing could count as an individual sprite sheet so far (the nightmare arena backgrounds). The sheet I will end up uploading will probably be a bunch of miscellaneous assets as opposed to an organised collection of spritesheets.

I will still give updates and try to do an actual rip at some point in the future

[AFruitaday!]

The same at the top, i've been trying to rip sprites from Eshop games. I have an SD card, so how can I transfer the data from the switch to the computer?