Madden 19 BGFE Editor

[StingRay68]

Madden 19 AST/BGFE Editor v1.01

MaddenBGFE101.zip

(56.52 KiB) Downloaded 1469 times

*** NOTE ***
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY;
without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

This tool is meant for modders that already have a grasp on editing graphics with Adobe Photoshop.
Prior experience with Frosty is also needed.
It is beyond the scope of this editor and any documentation to provide instructions for the installation and/or usage of Photoshop or Frosty.

Tools Needed:
https://frostytoolsuitedev.gitlab.io

Adobe Photoshop:
https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html

DDS Plugins needed for Photoshop:

Nvidia Texture Tools for Photoshop:
https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-tex ... -photoshop

or

Intel Texture Works
https://software.intel.com/en-us/articl ... rks-plugin


The portrait graphics are DDS and of DXT5/BC3 format, they do contain alpha transparency.

Adobe is recommended for DDS editing/saving. Although there are differences between the Nvdia and Intel saves,
they both appear acceptable for importing portraits.
Gimp is not recommended at this time, unless there is a DDS plugin available for Gimp that saves DDS formats correctly.
There may also be other graphics editors that can edit/save DDS format correctly, but Photoshop is the most widely used.


NOTE : If you have problems installing or getting frosty to run, DO NOT ask for help in this thread.
You can search the Madden 19 PC Modding forum for any relevant threads.
Post your own thread if you are having an issue that has not been already discussed.
Please be patient when asking for help. It may take some time for someone to get back to you.
Always keep in mind, we are not withholding information from you, members of the forum may not know how to solve your issues.

Adobe Photoshop. Various versions may work. I'm using cs2 and am able to successfully edit and save portrait graphics.
I also have both the Intel Texture Works plugin, and the Nvidia Texture Tools plugin, installed.

DO NOT ask for help regarding installation/usage of Photoshop and needed plugins in this thread.
Again, search the forums for any relevant threads

[StingRay68]

Usage :
When first running the tool, there are only 2 options available.

File Menu: Open - Used to load a given AST file that has been previously exported with Frosty from Madden 19.

Options Menu : The only enabled option for now is Prompt For Filenames When Extracting.
This will prompt the user to name each file that was selected for extraction.


Upon loading an AST from Madden 19:
A directory of files will be created. The more files in the AST the longer this will take to process.


Once loaded and the initial directory is processed, each file is displayed and consists of:
ID number
Offset - Where the file is located in the AST (for reference only)
Comp Size - The size of the actual file (likely compressed). (All ?) Compression is based on zlib.
UnComp Size - The size the file will be when it is uncompressed.
Type - Best guess as to what the type of file is.

Known File types contained in AST/BGFA:

Comp files are compressed.
DDS files which are graphics, stored in DDS format.
Apt files which are largely based on an unknown format
DAT files which do not have a known type and are treated as plain data. (These are NOT related to any previous year's Madden PC files)

Additional Options available once a valid AST file is loaded.
File Menu: Save As. Will save the currently loaded AST file as a new file with a user chosen name.
You CANNOT save with the same name as the currently opened file.
The editor requires access to the original AST to read any original files from.

Edit Menu: Extract (decompress) ALL Files - This will decompress and extract all files to a user chosen directory.
Files will automatically be names according to the AST they were located in and the File id number.
ex. "portraits-File00000" extensions will be added according to the filetype they were determined to be by the editor.

Edit Menu: Extract ALL files RAW - This will extract all files from a given AST file in their current form in the AST file.
This is likely compressed. Filename will be automatic based on the above method.

If the loaded AST file supports adding new files, there will be addtional options.
Edit Menu: Import
Edit Menu: Batch Import

Importing:
Will import selected files and add them to the currently loaded AST file.
Each file will require a unique file id and those will be assigned as follows:

For any file chose for importing, if the filename does not follow the previously mentioned file naming scheme, the
imported file will be given a file id based on the first available unique id for the currently loaded AST file.
ex. The default portraits.ast file includes used id numbers from 0-23 and then skips to 234.
Anything imported will be given available ids starting 24-233. Once there are no longer any missing ids from an
AST, file ids will be generated as needed.

For any file following the previously mentioned scheme, the file id will be added or replaced according to the filename.

Examples: Assuming the default portraits.ast from madden 19.
A file named "File07993.DDS" will replace any file that has the id of 7993.
A file named "File00025.DDS" will add a new file to the AST and it will be assigned an ID of 25.

* As long as "File7993" is included in the name, and separated with -, the filename will be processed according to
the previously mentioned scheme.

A file named "EzekielElliott-File7993.DDS" "File007993-EzekielElliott.DDS" "Cowboys-File07993-EzekielElliott.DDS"
Would all be valid for importing a graphic with an id of 7993.
Any leading zeros before the file id are not necessary, they were in the dir and for extracting for readability.

A file named "EzekielElliott.DDS" would be imported and given the first available id #, which would be 24 for a
default portraits.ast in madden 19.

Any file imported that contains an in use ID number, that file will be replaced. Be aware of your naming if you use this
function, if you make a mistake and have several files that contain File0025 it will keep replacing that file and you will end
up with only the last processed file actually being imported.

[StingRay68]

Instructions for replacing a portrait in Madden 19.

Export portraits.ast with Frosty
Load portraits.ast in the BGFA Editor

For this tutorial I have loaded the default roster from Madden 19 and used the player editor to display Ezekiel Elliott from the Cowboys.
The portrait id is 7993 and I have selected that in the editor. Right click on the entry and choose "Replace Selected"

port-step1.jpg (154.52 KiB) Viewed 7813 times

[StingRay68]

Here I have already premade a graphic with photoshop and have chosen it to be the replacement graphic.
The portrait graphics are DDS and of DXT5/BC3 format, they do contain alpha transparency.

port-step2.jpg (157.52 KiB) Viewed 7813 times

[StingRay68]

Scrolling down to the file again, showing what the replacement file is going to be in the editor.

port-step3.jpg (158.46 KiB) Viewed 7813 times

[StingRay68]

Saving the AST as a new file. You CANNOT save the currently opened file. The editor needs to access the original AST to read the original files from.
Click save and wait a few seconds while the portrait.ast is saved with your desired name.

port-step4.jpg (118.61 KiB) Viewed 7813 times

[StingRay68]

Open frosty and load Madden profile. Go to the legacy browser and search for portraits.ast or select the shown directory tree path.
Import your saved file in place of portraits.ast

port-step5.jpg (69.4 KiB) Viewed 7813 times

[StingRay68]

Launch the game with frosty. Once in game, open the roster file and go to manage rosters and then you can verify that whatever id you replaced has been correctly imported into the ast file.

port-step6.jpg (103.94 KiB) Viewed 7813 times

[StingRay68]

FAQ:

Q - When will more features be added ?
A - There is no timeline, programming is not my job, and I work on things as my free time and interest level allows.
Any relevant updates or announcements will be posted in this thread.


Q - Does this work for (filename) ? , Why doesn't this work for (filename) in Madden 19 ?
A - Instructions were are on the portraits.ast file in Madden 19.
The editor may work properly with other ast files, but it is not guaranteed.
You may provide the names of ast files that the editor doesnt work with, but there are no guarantees
of if or when support will be added for those files.


Q - Why are there missing ID #'s in the extractions.
A - No idea, the extractions are based on the contents of the loaded AST file.
The missing ID #'s do not exist in the file.


Q - Can I replace/import a custom picture ? , Why can't I/where can I find an import option ?
A - Review the instructions again for replacing/importing. If there is not an import option for a
given AST, it is for a good reason.
Replacing a file is done through the directory listing after a given AST file from Madden 19 has been
loaded. The context menu (right click on a given file entry) will include a replace option.
Importing is NOT an option for some AST files. These AST files are specific and you should not be adding
custom files to them at this time. Replace = yes, ADD = no.


Q - What types of files are in the AST files for Madden 19.
There are several.
.DDS files which obviously are graphics
.Apt files which are largely based on an unknown format
.DAT files which do not have a known type and are treated as plain data.


Q - What kinds of files can replaced/imported.
A - For the portrait.ast file, DDS files that are of a DXT5 format.
For other supported AST files, any filetype can be replaced.
No support is currently offered for editing/replacing Apt or DAT types of data.
Replacing these files may produce undesired results.

[Austinmario13]

If uniform making can be made this simple, then I'm switching to Madden 19.