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NBA JAM: 1990's On Fire Edition
v1.0
by johnz1
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=== OVERVIEW ===
- NBA JAM: 1990's On Fire Edition is a historical conversion mod of NBA JAM: On Fire Edition (OFE) for PlayStation 3. It features every franchise's best teams of the 1990's (and 80's). Because of the limited scope, many of the limitations in the "Legends On Fire Edition" project are not present here. Every team has accurate uniforms, courts and arenas, coaches, and logos.
=== FEATURES ===
- 36 teams from the 1990's, including 20 new teams that weren't in "Legends On Fire Edition"
- Atlanta Hawks (Late 1990's)
- Boston Celtics (Mid 1990's)
- Charlotte Hornets (Late 1990's)
- Dallas Mavericks (Mid 1990's)
- Denver Nuggets (Mid 1990's)
- Houston Rockets (Late 1990's)
- Los Angeles Clippers (Early 1990's)
- Los Angeles Lakers (Late 1990's)
- Miami Heat (Early 1990's)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (Late 1990's)
- Philadelphia 76ers (Early 1990's)
- Phoenix Suns (Late 1990's)
- Portland Trail Blazers (Late 1990's)
- Sacramento Kings (Mid 1990's)
- San Antonio Spurs (Late 1990's)
- Toronto Raptors (Late 1990's)
- Vancouver Grizzlies (Late 1990's)
- Washington Bullets (Late 1990's)
- Houston Rockets (1980's)
- San Antonio Spurs (1980's)
- 7 teams from the 1980's, including 2 new teams that weren't in "Legends On Fire Edition"
- Houston Rockets (1980's)
- San Antonio Spurs (1980's)
- 3 bonus teams and one bonus player, unlockable in the Jam Store
- 1992 Team USA "Dream Team" (all players except John Stockton and Christian Laettner)
- Space Jam Tune Squad (Jordan and Bill Murray)
- NBA JAM: On Fire Edition fictional characters (Mark Turmell, Tim Kitzrow, and 70! bonus players from the original game)
- Fletch (from the movie and novel "Fletch") on the 80's Lakers
- 18 new in-game player heads
- Arvydas Sabonis
- Damon Stoudamire
- Dee Brown
- Eddie Jones
- Hersey Hawkins
- Jeff Hornacek
- Jim Jackson
- Latrell Sprewell
- Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf
- Marcus Camby
- Mookie Blaylock
- Rod Strickland
- Ron Harper
- Sean Elliott
- Stephon Marbury
- Steve Smith
- Ralph Sampson
- Artis Gilmore
- 7 new heads for existing players
- Jason Kidd (with hair)
- Kevin Garnett
- Kobe Bryant ("The Frobe")
- Latrell Sprewell (bald head)
- Ray Allen (with hair)
- Tim Duncan
- Julius Erving (short hair)
- Accurate body textures and accessories for all players
- 24 new arenas
- Atlanta Hawks (Late 1990's)
- Charlotte Hornets (Late 1990's)
- Chicago Bulls (Early 1990's)
- Dallas Mavericks (Mid 1990's)
- Denver Nuggets (Mid 1990's)
- Detroit Pistons (Late 1990's)
- Golden State Warriors (Early 1990's)
- Houston Rockets (Late 1990's)
- Los Angeles Clippers (Early 1990's)
- Los Angeles Lakers (Late 1990's)
- Miami Heat (Late 1990's)
- New Jersey Nets (Mid 1990's)
- Orlando Magic (Mid 1990's)
- San Antonio Spurs (Late 1990's)
- Seattle Supersonics (Late 1990's)
- Toronto Raptors (Late 1990's)
- Utah Jazz (1990's)
- Vancouver Grizzlies (Late 1990's)
- Washington Bullets (Late 1990's)
- Detroit Pistons (1980's)
- Los Angeles Lakers (1980's)
- San Antonio Spurs (1980's)
- Space Jam Tune Squad
- Team USA Dream Team
- 13 new uniforms
- Atlanta Hawks (Late 1990's)
- Charlotte Hornets (Late 1990's purple away uniform)
- Chicago Bulls (Late 1990's black pinstripe alternate road uniform)
- Denver Nuggets (Mid 1990's)
- Detroit Pistons (Late 1990's)
- Houston Rockets (Late 1990's)
- Los Angeles Clippers (Early 1990's)
- Minnesota Timberwolves (Late 1990's blue away uniform)
- Seattle Supersonics (Mid 1990's)
- Utah Jazz (1990's)
- Washington Bullets (Late 1990's)
- Space Jam Tune Squad
- Team USA Dream Team
- New shoes
- New coaches
- New "Jam Now" game mode options:
- Make-It Take-It
- Inbound After Made Basket
- Taunt Shot Extra Points
- New Road Trip campaign with new game rules that weren't used in the original Road Trip mode
- New loading screen photos, celebrating the best players and plays from the 1990's
- New loading screen gameplay tips
- New crowd signs for all arenas
- New courtside banners for 1990's video games
- New Hot Spot locations that weren't used in the original game
- Jam Challenges that are impossible (because this project cannot be played online) or silly have been removed.
=== PLAYER RATINGS ===
- Ratings have been adjusted for 4-player gameplay. 3PT has been lowered to balance the game. With the original ratings, the game tends to become a 3 point shootout because, with a good shooting release, you can expect nearly every 3 pointer to go in. Exclusively taking 3's becomes the most viable strategy for winning. Because of this, the 3PT rating has been shifted down so that the maximum rating is 8 instead of 10. Consider an 8 3PT to be a 10, a 7 to be an 8 or 9, a 6 to be a 7, and so on.
- This game isn't a sim, and neither are the player ratings.
- The player ratings are more about team performance than player stats. Players are generally good at what they are good at in real life. But how good their ratings are is based on how good their team was, and how good they were overall. To me, it is more important that the player ratings reflect how good the team was in real life than it is for the player ratings to reflect how good the players were individually.
- Example #1: The Early 1990's Heat have two absolute sharpshooters (Glen Rice and Steve Smith), but their 3PT ratings are only 5 and 6 because those teams were bad. If these players were rated "properly", the team would be significantly better than they were in real life.
- Example #2: Mitch Richmond was a great shooter, but he only has a 6 3PT rating because his Sacramento Kings teams were terrible. To be more "fair" to him would make that Kings team better than they were in real life.
- Example #3: The 1980's Rockets only have two players, and they are both big men. This team made the NBA Finals, so they have to be good. Someone has to be a good ball handler, so Ralph Sampson has a DRB rating that is probably higher than it would be if you were solely rating him on his real-life skills.
- Because this game has players from multiple eras, consider the 3PT rating to be a reflection of generally how good of a shooter someone was, not necessarily from 3 point range. For example, Michael Jordan was not a great 3 point shooter (career 32.7%) but he was a great shooter overall and a great player, so his 3PT is above average.
- Some players have an inflated 3PT because their shooting form is slow or easy to block because they don't jump high. For example, Arvydas Sabonis has a 6 3PT.
- CTH is mostly used as an "overall" rating, but points were given or taken away for players who are especially clutch or not clutch.
=== LIMITATIONS AND KNOWN ISSUES ===
- The length of a player's shorts cannot be changed without editing 'attribdb'. This is the primary reason why the 1980's players are in this game; there aren't enough short shorts players for a "1980's On Fire Edition" project.
- None of the audio has been modified. I know how to extract audio from the game files, but I don't know how to reinject audio back into the game.
- The Charlotte Hornets are called the "Charlotte Bobcats".
- Some new players use the same "SpeechID" as stock players that have the same last name. For example, you'll hear Steve Smith referred to as "J.R. Smith". However, the announcer usually doesn't say the player's first name, so I think using the substitute "SpeechID" is worth it.
- Some jerseys don't have the correct neck type.
=== INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS ===
- Before playing, you should own the original NBA JAM: On Fire Edition game (or the 2010 NBA JAM). However, this is a legal and ethical requirement, not a technical one.
- This mod is playable on PS3 emulators and jailbroken PlayStation 3's.
- PS3 testing was done on a CFW PS3 running Rebug 4.84.2 and 4.89.
- There have been reports of problems with HEN, and I don't currently know how to fix them.
- I recommend playing on RPCS3. The game runs flawlessly and can look very good when you bump up the internal resolution ("Resolution Scale").
- This game has a unique PS3 TITLE_ID. It has been changed from "NPUB30558" to "NPUB19910". Because of this, it can be installed without conflicting with the stock NBA JAM OFE or any of my other OFE projects.
- RPCS3 installation instructions:
1. Install RPCS3 using the quickstart instructions here: https://rpcs3.net/quickstart
2. In RPCS3, click the "File" menu and select "Install Packages/Raps/Edats"
3. Inside the ZIP file ("NBA_JAM_1990s_On_Fire_Edition_v1.0_by_johnz1.zip"), go into the "Installation Files" folder and install both of the PKG files ("NBA_JAM_1990s_On_Fire_Edition_v1.0_by_johnz1-Part_1.pkg" and "NBA_JAM_1990s_On_Fire_Edition_v1.0_by_johnz1-Part_2.pkg").
4. "NBA JAM: 1990's On Fire Edition" should show up in the game list now. Start the game.
5. The first time you play a game, it may be slow and some textures may be missing because the emulator needs to build the shader cache. I recommend you start a game, let it run for a minute, then restart RPCS3.
- RPCS3 optimization instructions:
WARNING: This was written in September 2024 and may not be entirely accurate if you're reading this months or years later.
1. In RPCS3, click the "Pads" button to open the Gamepad Settings menu. Assuming you're playing with a controller, change the "Handler". I recommend "XInput" if you have an Xbox controller. If you want to play multiplayer, you'll need to do this for each controller.
2. Start a game against the CPU to determine if it is running at full speed or not. Leave fullscreen mode by double-clicking the mouse or pressing Alt+Enter. The title of the game window should list the frames per second (FPS). You want this to be at or very close to 60.
- If the game doesn't run at 60 FPS:
- Stop the game and click the "Config" button again. Under the "CPU" tab, enable "Enable SPU loop detection". Be aware that this will likely cause some audio issues, but it may be the difference between the game running at full speed or not.
- Start another game against the CPU and observe the FPS. If it's still not running at 60 FPS, stop the game and go into "Config" again. Under the "GPU" tab, try changing the "Renderer" to "OpenGL".
3. If the game runs at 60 FPS, I highly recommend changing some settings to make the game look much, much better. After changing each of these, start a game against the CPU and make sure the game is running at 60 FPS.
- Under the "GPU" tab, increase the "Resolution Scale". In general, the higher the resolution, the better the game will look.
- Under the "GPU" tab, increase the "Anisotropic Filter".
- Under the "GPU" tab, enable "VSync". WARNING: Vsync adds latency, but it shouldn't be perceptible. If you are playing competitively, you may want to leave this option disabled.
4. In the game settings, I recommend lowering the commentator volume to about 75%. I find that it's much louder than the sound effects and music.
- Jailbroken PS3 installation instructions:
1. Install the first PKG file ("NBA_JAM_1990s_On_Fire_Edition_v1.0_by_johnz1-Part_1.pkg")
2. Install the second PKG file ("NBA_JAM_1990s_On_Fire_Edition_v1.0_by_johnz1-Part_2.pkg")
- Installation file checksums:
- NBA_JAM_1990s_On_Fire_Edition_v1.0_by_johnz1-Part_1.pkg
- CRC32: 68FA9081
- MD5: 1C78FC81058975331FBD6D6260F674B4
- SHA-1: FEA72D0D75B3CAEEE465F834850BA67D4C132A94
- NBA_JAM_1990s_On_Fire_Edition_v1.0_by_johnz1-Part_2.pkg
- CRC32: 05E025E8
- MD5: E48FD27555DE7678A090420BB075CD72
- SHA-1: A7042FF14560719FD2ED9CA75A7431ED52408962
=== FAQ's ===
Q: Hold on a second... I love NBA JAM. Is this real?!
A: Yes. It's real, it's free, and it's spectacular.
Q: Is this a new game created by EA?
A: No, this is not a new game by EA. This is a historical conversion mod of NBA JAM: On Fire Edition. You should own the original NBA JAM: On Fire Edition if you want to play this game.
Q: How can I pay you or donate to this project?
A: This project is entirely and strictly free. There is no Patreon or GoFundMe or PayPal. You cannot send me money for this project. Please just enjoy it :)
Q: How long did it take to make this?
A: Took a long time, many hours.
Q: I need help getting this game to run. Where should I go for troubleshooting help?
A: Please post in this project's thread on the NLSC forum (nba-live.com). That way, other people with the same questions/problems will be able to see the conversation.
Q: How can I play this online?
A: This game is not playable on PSN. I highly recommend using Parsec to play online.
Q: Can you make a mobile/Android version?
A: No. I have no interest in the NBA JAM mobile game, and I will not be modding it.
Q: I found something wrong with the game. How can I report it to you?
A: Before contacting me, PLEASE read this entire document. If it isn't mentioned here, you can report bugs by emailing nbajamofe@protonmail.com or posting in this project's thread on the NLSC forum (nba-live.com).
Q: Why have two of the main menu options been replaced with "----"?
A: These were online options that should not be used with this project. Playing on a real PS3 could get you banned if you try to play online, so I want to do everything I can to discourage people from trying.
Q: Why are there players with no profile photo and zeroes for all ratings?
A: Blank players were added to teams with only two players. If a team only has two players, then you can't change which player you play as; player 1 will always be the player in the first slot and player 2 will always be the player in the second slot. By adding a blank player, you can change which player you play as.
Q: Why are the 3PT ratings so low?
A: In an attempt to balance the gameplay, the 3PT rating has an artificial maximum value of 8. Please read the "Player Ratings" section above for more information.
Q: Why is Road Trip so hard? I can't get a win!
A: In my projects, Road Trip is for expert players looking for a challenge (or something close to a challenge). All the Road Trip matchups are set to the maximum difficulty ("Real AI"). I really didn't like how the original game's Road Trip was super easy when playing real NBA players, then got challenging when playing the fictional teams. Keep playing exhibition games and increase the difficulty when you start winning. You'll get better, and soon you'll be able to compete in Road Trip.
Q: Have you discovered anything new about modding NBA JAM OFE since the last release of "Legends On Fire Edition"?
A: Yes! I have discovered many things - and all of them have been used in this project:
- The 'rend_roster_update_big.ast' from EA's last downloadable roster update can be used to expand the number of player model slots. Crucially, this adds many more skinny players. Without the ability to edit 'attribdb', I consider this is a major discovery.
- How to edit the arena video screens and aisle lights. All arena textures have been identified and can be modified.
- How to edit the coach textures
- How to edit the "How to Play" loading screen tips
- How to edit the main menu text
- How to modify the teams and players in the Jam Store
- How to expand the range of some gameplay options:
- The quarter length can now be any value between 1 and 10 minutes
- The shot clock can now be any value between 3 and 30
- How to add gameplay options
- FINALLY found the textures for the final Road Trip challenge. In the original game, this was the NYC map and an image of the Beastie Boys.
- Identified all Hot Spots - even ones that the original game doesn't use (like corner threes)
Q: Why are there 1980's teams in "1990's On Fire Edition"?
A: There aren't enough short shorts players to create a proper "1980's On Fire Edition", and the length of a player's shorts cannot be changed without figuring out how to modify 'attribdb'. I want the 80's teams to be in a decade edition project, so I think it makes sense for them to be in this project.
Q: Who is Fletch and why is he on the 1980's Lakers? I don't remember a 6'3" white guy with a huge afro on those teams!
A: Fletch is a fictional character from the novel and 1985 movie "Fletch", played by Chevy Chase. In the movie, Fletch has a dream about playing for the Lakers. Kareem is interviewed by Chick Hearn and talks about how great Fletch is. I highly recommend this movie. It's one of my all-time favorites.
Q: Why are there courtside banners for other videogames?
A: The 1990's NBA Jam games had courtside banners for a variety of things, including other videogames. In this project, every arena has a banner for one of my favorite 1990's videogames.
Q: How can I unlock the bonus teams and players if I'm not good enough to beat the computer on "Real AI" difficulty?
A: The game gives you a nice little bonus (~15,000 credits and a bump to level 10) if you have a save game file from the 2010 NBA JAM game on your PS3.
=== HOW TO HELP ===
If you think you can help with any of the items below, please reach out to me at nbajamofe@protonmail.com, or post in this project's thread on the NLSC forums (nba-live.com). Many elements of the game have been figured out, but there are still many more that remain unchanged from the original game. Solving these would really take this game to the next level. As it is, I feel like I've taken this game as far as I can with what I've discovered.
- Decode 'attribdb'. I think this is the most important file to work on right now. It controls many parts of every player model, including which uniform they wear, the shape of their body, and whether they wear short shorts or long shorts. Until this file is editable, changing which uniform a player wears is an arduous process. The file name is 'attribdb_big.ast', and it contains two files: 'ATTRIBDB_BIN' and 'ATTRIBDB_VLT'. Aside from the plain text in 'ATTRIBDB_BIN', I have no idea how to read these files.
- Expand the number of arenas.
- Expand the number of teams. I couldn't find a way to add a 68th team and not have the game crash.
- Change the color of the team-controlled player accessories.
- Change the position and size of jersey numbers and names.
- Edit the shooting animations. It would be great to create new signature shots.
- Edit the commentary audio. I have been able to play back these audio files outside of the game, but haven't been able to edit them. Existing audio could be spliced together to create names for new teams and players. For example:
- "Charlotte" and "Hornets"
- "Anthony" and "Davis"
- "Ben" and "Wallace"
=== THANK YOU'S ===
I am the sole creator of this project, but I absolutely would not have been able to make it without the help of these people:
- Luigi Auriemma, for creating and supporting QuickBMS and the "nbajamfire.bms" script.
- Artem Khassanov, for his work on TDB databases. He created "TDBAccess" libraries and a VB template app that made it easy for me to make the 'bounce.db' editor. He took time to personally help me start editing 'bounce.db', and I thank him profusely.
- Rinaldo, for creating FIFA DB Master.
- Myfifa2005, for creating FIFA DB Converter.
- The RPCS3 team. Without this great emulator, I certainly would not have even started to work on modding this game.
=== RELEASE HISTORY ===
- v1.0 (2024-09-29)
- First public release
