SSBB Snapshot files. We need to crack em!

[blob]

Yes, I am thinking there is NO header. Or the header is small and contains information to do with... perhaps filename? and that would be it.

I've tried parsing the pixeldata again... multiple ways.
Every time I get either... nothing just black. Or gibberish colors.

I've tried:

• RGB 8-Bit
• ARGB 8-Bit
• RRRGGGBBB 8-Bit (Which means all red bytes together... et cetera)
• AAARRRGGGBBB 8-Bit (look above)
• I put it through every 'normal' windows image type
• ARGB 16-Bit
• ARGB 32-Bit

I asume there is no alpha component stored in the image (absolutely pointless). Next I will try GRB/RBG/et cetera. Just switch around bytes. Then I'll try some random stabs at decompression...

(640x480 it is then?)

We should e-mail nintendo.

 

[Arteen]

Your resulotion makes no sense. Why would the Wii, which can only output 480p (aka 640x480 image), save out something to 1024x768?

Well, Halo 3 saves its screenshots at a higher resolution than it can output, so it's not unprecedented.

 

[Kakkoii]

What was this picture saved in? 4:3 or 16:9 ?

I've found a few datapoints that might be indication of width/height. I found 1024 (twice) and 768 once. I'm thinking the resolution is 1024x768 and its saved in 4:3. The other 1024 might be some part of a pixel. The one thing that is bugging me is the 768 shows up before the 1024. Its standard for it to be width THEN height. not height THEN width... weird.

Also I got some gibberish colors to appear. lol
But with that run all the colors were in the beginning. Again, against standard... weird.

Does anyone know where I can find specs on how the Wii stores pixeldata?

Yeah. I still have an old tv. No pretty high def flat widescreen for moi .
Old curved sanyo tv lol. Have it set on 4:3 ingame.

And while the Wii may not output 1024x768 res. It is still capable of reading textures from games that are more then 480pi. And most likely takes the pictures in that resolution as a way to give a better image. Sort of a cheap Anti-Aliasing.

Example: If you take a picture that's only 480pi and then you take a picture that's 1080pi and resize that saved image to 480pi. It will be a more detailed and smooth looking then the other 480pi picture due to the detail of the original it was resized from. Since those details from the higher res picture are merely blended into the resized image. Instead of just being non-existent.

 

[blob]

I've e-mailed Nintendo regarding my request to develop a program to convert the pictures to a computer readable format.



Hopefully they will respond, most quickly.

While I am waiting for a reply, I will attempt to break the file more.

 

[Ichida]

I'm sure it's safe to say at this point that the .bin file saves the place of the screenshot's data, as in where, who, when, and what else is going on... as in, not an actual image file. It's more like a saved game. That's why you can zoom and angle around while looking at screenshots.

 

[Wiwiweb]

I've e-mailed Nintendo regarding my request to develop a program to convert the pictures to a computer readable format.



Hopefully they will respond, most quickly.

While I am waiting for a reply, I will attempt to break the file more.

XD

While you're at it, could you ask them to release a patch so all downloaded games work perfectly on a Wiikey ? XD

1. Take a zoomed-in picture of one character.
2. Take another picture of 8 Ice Climbers.

Then, if the second picture's file size is significantly larger than the first, that means it saves instructions for the game to recreate that exact snapshot; not the snapshot itself.

I did that, and I'm going to put the images on my comp to see the results as soon as I find my USB SD card adaptator.

 

[2L84U]

I'm sure it's safe to say at this point that the .bin file saves the place of the screenshot's data, as in where, who, when, and what else is going on... as in, not an actual image file. It's more like a saved game. That's why you can zoom and angle around while looking at screenshots.

No I don't think so.
What do you do with explosions ? You create all the flames at the exact same position ??
And you're telling me the game saves 3D screenshots ???
I'll check.
Afterall the files are 99KB only.

 

[Ichida]

No I don't think so.
What do you do with explosions ? You create all the flames at the exact same position ??
And you're telling me the game saves 3D screenshots ???
I'll check.
Afterall the files are 99KB only.

...Yes. They're all just animations. It doesn't take much to pick a particular frame of an explosion animation effect, nor to place it at a certain point on the stage. For all we know, that explosion could just be referred to in the .bin simply by its filename, how far into the animation it is, as in 00:03, and then XY coordinates for where it set off. Then, upon recalling the screenshot, it simply uses that info to recreate the screenshot and the explosion.

 

[webrunner]

It was said earlier- if the screenshots were actually 'reconstruction' files, it would take just as long to load a screenshot as it would to load the stage to play it (which in Brawl we've seen is significant)

 

[Wiwiweb]

Ok, I did four pics : I ordered them by expected size.


- First is a close up of Mew.
- Second is Snake with a Nintendog.
- Third is my Kirby fighting Master and Crazy Hands.
- Fourth is a large shot of 8 Ice Climbers on the Starfox level (with ships shooting in the background) and with 3 items.

Here are the sizes of the files :
78 KB, 101KB, 100KB, 101KB.

Apart from the first picture, the sizes don't really follow the expected sizes, if it was just a recreation of the pictures.

All my other pictures are ranged from 98KB to 101KB, with the exception of one 81KB image.
Conclude as you wish. I hope it helps.

 

[Frames]

Couldn't you just use nero to burn the .bin files to a disc and then see if it opens in your computer. Since the BIN filetype is for a disk image, maybe this is how the Wii saves them. I've also heard that .bin files are commonly used in emulation software, especially in gaming, so maybe an emulator like mame or something would actually be able to open it.

 

[Ichida]

It was said earlier- if the screenshots were actually 'reconstruction' files, it would take just as long to load a screenshot as it would to load the stage to play it (which in Brawl we've seen is significant)

And who says it doesn't take that long for said screenshot to recompile when viewing it?

 

[Wiwiweb]

And who says it doesn't take that long for said screenshot to recompile when viewing it?

I do. My 40 screenshots loads in less than 10 seconds in the menu (they are loaded all at once in the menu).

 

[Kakkoii]

Couldn't you just use nero to burn the .bin files to a disc and then see if it opens in your computer. Since the BIN filetype is for a disk image, maybe this is how the Wii saves them. I've also heard that .bin files are commonly used in emulation software, especially in gaming, so maybe an emulator like mame or something would actually be able to open it.

.BIN isn't just a Disc Image.

.BIN stands for BINARY DATA.

So unless the .BIN is actually configured to be an ISO and be burned as one. Then that doesn't work.


And as I stated in my very first post. I already tried mounting the image. It doesn't work.

 

[Xane]

Couldn't you just use nero to burn the .bin files to a disc and then see if it opens in your computer. Since the BIN filetype is for a disk image, maybe this is how the Wii saves them. I've also heard that .bin files are commonly used in emulation software, especially in gaming, so maybe an emulator like mame or something would actually be able to open it.

BIN is just the short form for "Binary", which doesn't have to be ONE exact format.
I know there are ISOs called "BIN", but this binary file Brawl creates as snapshot data is something TOTALLY different~
You know.. if you rename an executable (EXE) into an image (BMP), you can't open it with an image viewer, just because it's extension says so. :/

Ok, I did four pics : I ordered them by expected size.
(...)
Here are the sizes of the files :
78 KB, 101KB, 100KB, 101KB.

Apart from the first picture, the sizes don't really follow the expected sizes, if it was just a recreation of the pictures.

All my other pictures are ranged from 98KB to 101KB, with the exception of one 81KB image.
Conclude as you wish. I hope it helps.

Ok, I'm pretty sure now that Brawl's snapshots are compressed, which explains the little differences in the filesizes.

Try shooting a snapshot of a clear blue sky or alike..
Somewhere or something which doesn't have much variety in colors and contrast.
And for the contrary.. try shooting one with many different characters and effects for as many as colors and contrast you can get.
I'm sure the first one will be way smaller~

 

[Ichida]

I do. My 40 screenshots loads in less than 10 seconds in the menu (they are loaded all at once in the menu).

Well, I'm out of ideas. I'll leave this up to you guys to solve. I'll just take screens with my GameBridge.

 

[Wiwiweb]

Try shooting a snapshot of a clear blue sky or alike..
Somewhere or something which doesn't have much variety in colors and contrast.
And for the contrary.. try shooting one with many different characters and effects for as many as colors and contrast you can get.
I'm sure the first one will be way smaller~

Hum... Ok I'll try it tomorrow.
Maybe a photo of Final Destination background ? It's dark, and... black. Here's a dojo picture for reference :

Then I'll do a photo of a trophy pose, with lots of colored trophies. Like this :

Maybe I should try making a sticker photo too. Just to see.

 

[blob]

ROFL!! Got a reply from Nintendo..

Message(#6851-000659-2452\6592452)

Hello,

I'm sorry, we do not have access to the information that you requested. After the title is released, if that feature is available on the North American version, we will be equipped to assist you.

Thank you,
Nintendo of America Inc.
Joel Nicholson

Nintendo's home page: http://www.nintendo.com/
Power Line (Automated Product Info): (425) 885-7529

-----

Take our Survey! You have been chosen to participate in an e-mail quality survey. This should take less than 5 minutes. Please click here: http://www.nintendo.com/consumersurvey.jsp?ref=blobmiester@gmail.com

-----


ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
-----------------

The following is regarding Super Smash Brothers Brawl. This -is- serious.
After taking snapshots in-game, there is an option to upload them to an sd card.
Taking this sd card to my computer I realize that there is no standard way to view the photo. So I tried to extract pixel data in a number of fashions. My question to you is, 'How is the .bin super smash bros. brawl snapshot file formatted?' As in, will you allow me to create a program that takes the files on the sd card and transfers them to the computer as viable media. This would take the snapshot option to a whole new level. I would conform to any and all regulations in making this application. I am an experiened freelance programmer and am willing to create the complete program regarding your restrictions.
My question again: Will you allow me to develop an application to convert pictures saved to the sd card in super smash brothers brawl to a jpeg or bitmap format readable in Windows/Mac/Linux/etc.
Thank you in advance.

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

Lol....

 

[Darkfur]

Perhaps resend the email next month? If it isn't figured out yet of course...

 

[webrunner]

Take one of the trophies like Tingle, and zoom in, so it's all one color

 

[Surgo]

I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised at that reply. Wonder what they'll say next month...

 

[blob]

Someone who can write japanese want to send one to Nintendo of Japan?

 

[TheBigBadCow]

The funny thing is I've been searching for answers on the net, and I've found several posts on at least 3 different forums asking how to convert a .bin file into a .bmp or a .jpeg and NONE of them have replies.

I hope we can find an answer soon.

EDIT: do you think part of the problem is that the data is in japanese? Now, I really don't know much about programming, but thats what I get if I open the pictures up in a text file.... Yep, Japanese characters.

 

[NintendoTogepi]

No, he didn't. It is indeed "bear".

No, it's bare.

Look it up.

 

[Darkfur]

No, it's bare.

Look it up.

Wrong. It's bear:

Thanks to Meriam-Webster.


Main Entry:
2bear
Function:
verb
Inflected Form(s):
bore Listen to the pronunciation of bore \ˈbȯr\; borne also born Listen to the pronunciation of born \ˈbȯrn\; bear·ing
Etymology:
Middle English beren to carry, bring forth, from Old English beran; akin to Old High German beran to carry, Latin ferre, Greek pherein
Date:
before 12th century

transitive verb1 a: to move while holding up and supporting b: to be equipped or furnished with c: behave, conduct <bearing himself well> d: to have as a feature or characteristic <bears a likeness to her grandmother> e: to give as testimony <bear false witness> f: to have as an identification <bore the name of John> g: to hold in the mind or emotions <bear malice> h: disseminate i: lead, escort j: render, give2 a: to give birth to b: to produce as yield c (1): to permit growth of (2): contain <oil-bearing shale>3 a: to support the weight of : sustain b: to accept or allow oneself to be subjected to especially without giving way <couldn't bear the pain> <I can't bear seeing you cry> c: to call for as suitable or essential <it bears watching> d: to hold above, on top, or aloft e: to admit of : allow f: assume, accept4: thrust, pressintransitive verb1: to produce fruit : yield2 a: to force one's way b: to extend in a direction indicated or implied c: to be situated : lie d: to become directed e: to go or incline in an indicated direction3: to support a weight or strain —often used with up4 a: to exert influence or force b: apply, pertain —often used with on or upon<facts bearing on the question>
— bear a hand
: to join in and help out
— bear arms
1: to carry or possess arms2: to serve as a soldier
— bear fruit
: to come to satisfying fruition, production, or development
— bear in mind
: to think of especially as a warning : remember
— bear with
: to be indulgent, patient, or forbearing with

 

[2L84U]

No, it's bare.

Look it up.

No. It is bear.
bear = tolerate unwillingly.
bare = naked :D

EDIT: wow, that was an explaination.

 

[blob]

do you think part of the problem is that the data is in japanese? Now, I really don't know much about programming, but thats what I get if I open the pictures up in a text file.... Yep, Japanese characters.

No. Not in the slightest. (To my knowledge, please correct me if I am wrong) There is no language outside of a few 'homebrew' programming languages that is NOT in English. (Great, isn't it). And the only reason there would be character data in the file would be for a title of an image (and that would be in japanese yes).

And the reason why you get japanese characters is because our alphabet only goes to 0x7F (in Hexadecimal). Any number in a file past that is represtend by an approiate character which is for some reason kanji becuase its a huge part and because its near the end of the charater 'specturm' if you will.

The only reason we're having trouble is finding out exactly how its compressed. I'm thinking a color intesnity table. But embbedded differently than standard (how I would at least) because I tried one. But the hardest part is... we need when the actual pixel data starts in a file. If were one byte off of where it starts everything is messed up. Lots of factors.

EDIT: Could we drop the competely pointless issue about bear v/s bare. I honestly couldn't care less about homonyms.

 

[Xenesis]

Can't you perform corruption tests on the screenshots?

Eg, corrupt a section of the screenshot file (Eg, kb 10-11), load it up in brawl and see if it works, and what's changed?

If it loads up then it means you've got a way to figure out data. If it doesn't load then you've probably got a file checksum.

Edit: While I remember, Lz77 compression is a favourite for Nintendo - it's used extensively in their handheld games. For something that's intended to be used on an Sd-Card or passed around the internets it might be worth a shot.

 

[Surgo]

(To my knowledge, please correct me if I am wrong) There is no language outside of a few 'homebrew' programming languages that is NOT in English. (Great, isn't it).

Well, APL used non-ASCII characters and originally required really new terminals to display them on (boy I bet that was fun). I don't think that counts, though. You're right...even languages designed or more widely used outside of English-speaking countries, such as Prolog and Ruby, still have their reserved keywords and spelled-out operators as English words.

 

[holizz]

Someone who can write japanese want to send one to Nintendo of Japan?

My Japanese isn't very good, but I sent one anyway. It's essentially the same as your email, but you know, in Japanese.

Unfortunately I don't have the leet skillz to pass the digital signal processing section of a recent exam, let alone assist in figuring out an image format. But hopefully I can help in this way.

 

[Emura]

I'm interested in taking a shot at cracking this. I'm right in the middle of midterms now though, so I can't do much until the weekend. Does anybody know of other teams working on this already?

It would not surprise me if the data in the screenshot .bin file is encrypted. There is no plaintext header for the file, and identifiable data that usually divides up an image file into chunks appears to be missing.

I am pretty sure that (assuming it is a screenshot), it must be an encrypted JPEG. It could also be an encrypted TIFF using JPEG compression, but that format is not usually used anymore. I would have expected it to be some kind of lossless format, like a PNG, but the file size is way too small for that. 100 KB is about the size of a somewhat lossy 640 x 480 pixel JPEG image.

Does anybody know, accurately, what the approximate size of a replay is? I would guess it would be less than half a meg, which would further support the theory that these .bin photos are in fact images, not a means of positioning actors.

I do not think Sakurai's team would go to the trouble of developing a new file format for image storage, so right now I am suspecting we are looking at encrypted JPEG images.

Edit: Next steps:
We can find out pretty quickly if cracking these screenshots will even be feasible. First, we need two people who own the game, 'Player 1' and 'Player 2.' Player 1 needs to take any screenshot in game, then send the .bin file to Player 2. Keeping the directory structure intact on the SD card, Player 2 should try and view the image file on his Wii. If the image shows up, we can crack it. If it doesn't, it may be nearly impossible.

This is, of course, still assuming we are dealing with an encrypted JPEG. If not...

 

[kaibyaku]

You are probably not going to be able to transfer video data to your computer from an SD card. I'd put my money on it that the videos are basically just a collection of instructions, much like the ones that are transferred over the internet for WiFi play, and then it's just interpreted by Brawl and displayed as a video.

Not sure if someone already went ahead and said that but I'm too lazy to look through all the pages.

 

[Ichida]

You are probably not going to be able to transfer video data to your computer from an SD card. I'd put my money on it that the videos are basically just a collection of instructions, much like the ones that are transferred over the internet for WiFi play, and then it's just interpreted by Brawl and displayed as a video.

Not sure if someone already went ahead and said that but I'm too lazy to look through all the pages.

And thus, the gaming gods sent us the GameBridge.

 

[Emura]

OK, after performing an entropy analysis on the provided BIN, I can confirm that the data is either encrypted or compressed. I suspect it is encrypted, due to the fact that there is no plaintext anywhere in the file. This is consistent with the way game saves are stored on SD cards, as they are all encrypted using AES and signed by the console that creates them.

So, we just need to try decrypting the screenshot BIN the same way as any game save BIN, and we should have something a little more interesting to look at.

 

[Wiwiweb]

Ok, I'm pretty sure now that Brawl's snapshots are compressed, which explains the little differences in the filesizes.

Try shooting a snapshot of a clear blue sky or alike..
Somewhere or something which doesn't have much variety in colors and contrast.
And for the contrary.. try shooting one with many different characters and effects for as many as colors and contrast you can get.
I'm sure the first one will be way smaller~

Here is my second series of tests :

- A perfectly black photo of the backgorund of Final Destination.
- The whitest grey I've managed to do using a blank trophy stand.
- The colorfulest (?) photo I could take using trophies.

Sizes are : 2KB, 2KB, 101KB.

I think your theory was right.
You win a star.

I hope it helps you.

 

[Surgo]

The console encrypts saves with AES? Well, at least that means the key has to be in the console's ROM somewhere...

 

[blob]

Here is my second series of tests :

- A perfectly black photo of the backgorund of Final Destination.
- The whitest grey I've managed to do using a blank trophy stand.
- The colorfulest (?) photo I could take using trophies.

Sizes are : 2KB, 2KB, 101KB.

Thank you, that's perfect!

Xane got me thinking of a color index. And this proves it (I'm nearly positive).

So the data in the file would be like:

[Color at 0] [Color at 1] [Color at 2]
[Pixel using 0] [Pixel using 0] [Pixel using 1]

Confusing as hell... but I'll load it up and see if I can get something working.

Thanks again.

By the way, it's 'most colorful'.

 

[Wiwiweb]

Oh, yeah, because colorful has over 2 syllabus.


... nevermind. Make that program quickly, whoever. I have a "Kirby Snake using his Final Smash" image to show >_<
Have you seen I added rapidshare links to the screenshots ?

 

[blob]

Okay, yes (****) its encrypted. I think the index is still there but .. its under an encryption.

So.. I guess were screwed, until someone gets the key?

 

[Hydde]

guys this is not essencially on topic but... i have a question...

since the game saves screenshots ins a weird format.. it will also save videos in formats not compatible with the pc?
in other words..we will not be able to use our videos recoded from the game, in the pc?