TNT Gameclock

[dude4523]

D1X1NG, did you read the TNTgameclockREADME.txt file included?

What error messages(s) are you receiving?

Couple things you can check;

Did you unzip the file directly into your main NBA Live 2003 directory?
If so, do you now have a "Clocks" subdirectory?
If not, unzip ugain with the "Use folders names" option checked in Winzip.
(this is the most common cause of errors)

Do you have the file gfxpak.exe in your main NBA live 2003 directory?

[k8]

got a question for you. I unzipped the files and I also downloaded the gfx file but it still remains the same. Can you please give me a step by step guide on how to install it.

[dude4523]

Here ya go;

1) Open the file TNTgameclock2003.zip with WinZip.
2) Click the big "Extract" button at the top.
3) In the "Extract to" small window on the upper left side, make sure it displays the correct path to YOUR main NBA Live 2003 directory
(EXAMPLE mine is c:\program files\ea sports\nba live 2003).
3) In the lower left corner, make sure the "Use folder names" option is checked.
4) Click on the "Extract" button in the upper right corner.
5) Close the WinZip program.
6) Make sure you have a copy of the file "gfxpak.exe" (v0.57 or newer) in YOUR main NBA Live 2003 directory
(EXAMPLE mine is c:\program files\ea sports\nba live 2003).
If you don't have gfxpak, the latest version can be downloaded from the authors website www.nhlinfo.net
7) Click on the Windows "Start" button, then select the "Run" option.
8) Type in the full path to YOUR main NBA Live 2003 directory along with "clockTNT.bat" at the end.
(EXAMPLE mine would read "c:\program files\ea sports\nba live 2003\clockTNT.bat").
9) Click the "OK" button and an MSDOS window will pop up while the .bat file installs the TNT gameclock.
10) When it says "Finished" in the window title bar at the top, you can close the MSDOS window.

Now start NBA Live 2003 and you will be playing with the TNT logo on your gameclock.

[D1X1NG]

I did exactly as u said and I noticed I dont have the gfxpack file you said... so I downloaded it and everything is fine now, I just didn't read that part of the readme stating that you need it
thanks a lot it works now.

[k8]

got it. thanks

[dude4523]

Excellent!
Glad to hear everything is now working.

[nba2kstuff]

very excellent patch dude4523!
your TNT patch works excellent on my system now.

here is the technical details for how to make the patch work perfect:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

your TNT gfx is very nice! and great it was the first patch also.
however, the reason for the game problems after installtion of the patch is due to gfxpak. the author, Toni Wilen did a superlative job in making the gfxpak program! however, it had exhibited small anomolies with regards to the NBA Live series games. it is more geared toward the NHL series file formats.


with the introduction of NBA 2003, EA has enhanched their VIV file format
into what is termed "BIGVIV" (?). apparently they have optimized the file
structure to follow the native register structure of the PS2 console microprocessors (is my guess??) to increase load and setup time for both
architetcures INTEL and Morotolla.

The results of recent experiments revealed the detailed technical reason
for these game crashes (modification of viv files using legacy tar utilities). the experiments gave birth to a new program that can more safely manage the new 2003 game VIV file formats.

here are the commands using this new program that illustrates the corruption:

- this commands lists the contents of the original xoverlay.orig.viv:

Code: Select all

e:\>games\nba2003\render> eazip -l xoverlay.org.viv

2003 Viv file format detected.
xoverlay.org.viv
vivsize=673548, filesize = 673893 diff=345
nfiles=47
*   0)      7358 Bytes        xvoil.fsh       768  Offset      8126 +2 
*   1)     32776 Bytes       XSCORE.fsh      8128  Offset     40904 +8 
*   2)     80343 Bytes      xscrsts.fsh     40912  Offset    121255 +9 
*   3)      3148 Bytes     xfrethrw.fsh    121264  Offset    124412 +4 
*   4)      6840 Bytes        xviol.fsh    124416  Offset    131256 +8 
...
*  44)     18498 Bytes           x2.fsh    654592  Offset    673090 +14
*  45)       321 Bytes        xstat.fsh    673104  Offset    673425 +15
*  46)       453 Bytes        xplay.fsh    673440  Offset EOF-   673893   +
          672794 Data Bytes       331 Data Pad  14 Hdr Pad 798 calc
Sum 673893, Diff -345, vsize 673548, fsize 673893


------------------------------------


Now after running GFXPAK, you can see GFXPAK has removed a number bytes of program data from the game file.

Code: Select all

e:\>games\nba2003\render> gfxpak -r -real xoverlay.gfxerr.viv\XSCORE.fsh  clocks\0000TNT.png 0000 clocks\0002TNT.png 0002 clocks\0004TNT.png 0004 clocks\0006TNT.png 0006 clocks\0008TNT.png 0008 clocks\righTNT.png righ

e:\>games\nba2003\render> eazip -l xoverlay.gfxerr.viv
xoverlay.gfxerr.rviv
vivsize=670744, filesize = 670744 diff=0
nfiles=47
*   0)      7358 Bytes        xvoil.fsh       756 ^Offset      8114 +2 
*   1)     29884 Bytes       XSCORE.fsh      8116 ^Offset       KOK   
*   2)     80343 Bytes      xscrsts.fsh     38000  Offset    118343 +1 
...
*   3)      3148 Bytes     xfrethrw.fsh    118344 ^Offset       KOK   
*  45)       321 Bytes        xstat.fsh    669964 ^Offset    670285 +3 
*  46)       453 Bytes        xplay.fsh    670288  Offset EOF-   670741   +
          669902 Data Bytes        86 Data Pad   0 Hdr Pad 539 calc
Sum 670742, Diff 2, vsize 670744, fsize 670744


this is the reason of the errors most likely.


------------------------------------


using the new EAZIP program, this gfx can be safely inserted, and work
correctly and quicky in the game.
the procedure is as follows:

1) -- use FSHTOOL, EAGRAPH, or gfxpack to create XSCORE.FSH
2) -- use eazip to insert the GFX into new 2003 viv format files, when
absolutey neccessary, or to increase game loading times.
3) use following commands to insert the file safely

Code: Select all

e:\>games\nba2003\render> eazip -c XSCORE.FSH
e:\>games\nba2003\render> eazip -a xoverlay.viv  XSCORE.FSH


4) here is the listing of the xoverlay.viv after the eazip properly inserts
this graphic. notice the file size of the XSCORE.FSH has remained constant.

Code: Select all

e:\>games\nba2003\render> eazip -l xoverlay.viv
2003 Viv file format detected.
xoverlay.viv
vivsize=671341, filesize = 672144 diff=803
nfiles=47
*   0)      7358 Bytes        xvoil.fsh       768  Offset      8126 +2 
*   1)     31022 Bytes       XSCORE.fsh      8128  Offset     39150 +2 
*   2)     80343 Bytes      xscrsts.fsh     39152  Offset    119495 +9 
*   3)      3148 Bytes     xfrethrw.fsh    119504  Offset    122652 +4 
*   4)      6840 Bytes        xviol.fsh    122656  Offset    129496 +8 
...
*  45)       321 Bytes        xstat.fsh    671344  Offset    671665 +15
*  46)       453 Bytes        xplay.fsh    671680  Offset EOF-   672133   +
          671040 Data Bytes       336 Data Pad  14 Hdr Pad 803 calc
Sum 672144, Diff -803, vsize 671341, fsize 672144


------------------------------------

this utility will be available to the NLSC community after additional
testing. it is for experimental purposes only. the more elegant solution is
to use the customization guide provided here at NLSC even if the load
times are a bit slower!



in anycase, excellent work dude4523!
and continue to investigate and create nice patches like this, as the game has many new and different formats that need to be studied!

peace!

[dude4523]

If the instructions included with my patch are followed, it installs fine.
The only reported problems were not caused by the gfxpak utility program, but by users who, in their haste, did not fully read the instructions in the readme file, or are new to installing patches and working with the required utility programs.

While I am always glad to see new utility programs being created that will make it easier to modify the graphics, please don't promote your work at the expense of other authors existing programs.

[nba2kstuff]

hello dude!

my aplogies for your responses.

it was my intent only to contribute technolgies,utilities, and patches to assist the creation and development of advanced professional patches for my friends here and the NBA Live community as a whole.

you should feel proud and not insulted, as your graphics patch was the first and only advanced avaliable to use in the inital testing and to discover some of the differences in the new files structures and formats.


however your responses (private) make me reconsider the enormous efforts it takes engineer and provide these developments and tools to support the general public.

without appreciation or understanding for the weeks and months of prodigous technical efforts that is required to create tools such as custom team creators, database editors, and dynamic database insertion utilities, and graphics converters, what is the point?

perhaps it is best to provide these technolgies to a private set of developers to use for professional patch creation instead of to the end user.

thank you for your considerations and enlightenment!
peace!