Notes:Kingdom Hearts II

This page contains notes for the game Kingdom Hearts II.

General

The Kingdom Save Editor can be used to load into any accessible room in the game reliably on the PS2, PS3, PS4, and PC versions.
The majority of the game's file types can be opened using OpenKH, an open-source KH modding utility for the PlayStation 2 versions of the game.
The HD versions of the game contain nearly all of the files from the original game, and as such can be inspected using a combination of OpenKH and modern standard utilities.

Extraction

PlayStation 2 Extraction

Mount the ISO
A guide for the rest of the steps can be found here here.

PlayStation 4 Extraction

Dump a copy of the game
Download leecherman's PS4 PKG Viewer and use this tool to extract the game's contents. This process takes around 10-15 minutes.
Extract "kh2_first.psarc" and "kh2_second.psarc" using Noesis. This process takes a considerable amount of time.
Merge "kh2_first_content" and "kh2_second_content" into the same folder (some theatre mode thumbnail files are repeated, skip those when prompted).

The directories should now look identical to the PlayStation 2 Final Mix version of the game. The files shared between versions are slightly different, with headers pointing to the new HD assets, and the audio files replaced with higher-quality versions compatible with PlayStation 4 hardware.

Windows Extraction

Download this tool
In \Kingdom Hearts HD 1 5 and 2 5 ReMIX\Image\en\ (substitute en with the appropriate language code for your region), drag kh2_first.hed onto KHPCPatchManager.exe
Repeat the same process for kh2_second.hed, kh2_third.hed, kh2_fourth.hed, kh2_fifth.hed, and kh2_sixth.hed
Merge the folders this process creates (some theatre mode thumbnail files are repeated, skip those when prompted)

You should now have 2 folders, one called "original" and another called "remastered", which both match the file structure of the PlayStation 2 game. Save for music, voices, & sound effects, the file types in "original" are identical to those in the PS2 version, while those in "remastered" contain updated versions of the files from "original", which can (mostly) be viewed in modern software.

File types

BAR

These are (B)inary (AR)chives, and most of the game's files are stored as BAR files. You can use OpenKH's bar editor to extract most files in the game, but the file types below all have dedicated tools to help visualize and understand them more easily. Files stored as .bar files are often functionally similar to ZIP files, and contain many files which can be again extracted using OpenKH's bar editor.

MAP and ARD

MAP files contain models and textures used to render locations, these can be opened, along with ARD files, using the method below. ARD files contain area data, which can be visualized without extraction via OpenKH's Map Studio by enabling every option in the View menu. They can be edited and saved here as well.

ARD files contain many subfiles including event activators, spawn data (player, enemy, and NPC), and walk paths. A full guide to what is contained within ARD files can be found here

MDLX and MSET

These are the game's model and animation files. Using either KHKH_MDLX (better for animations), Soraiko's MDLX Viewer (better for models), or Noesis with the kingdom_hearts_2_v2 plugin you can open MDLX files.

Note that only KHKH can view MSET files, which are loaded automatically with each model based on their filename. To apply animations to a model, rename either the MDLX or MSET file so that they are both the same. For example, M_EX310_NPC.mdlx would always open M_EX310_NPC.mset with it.

IMD/IMZ/IMGD/TM2/ARC/TEX and font BARs

These can be opened with OpenKH's image viewer. More common file types (such as PNG) can also be opened with this program.

2DD and 2LD

These files are used for HUD icons and UI placement. They must first be extracted with OpenKH's BAR editor. After this, OpenKH's image viewer can be used to view the icons.

PSS

PlayStation 2 video files. These can be opened in VLC media player.

BGM and WD

These are background music and soundfont files. They can be opened with VGMTrans and exported as Midi+SF2 files from this program.

DBG

These contain flag names for the game's debug menu, which can be opened in Notepad.

PAX/DPX/DPD/MAG

These contain texture, effect and image data. They can be opened with Str_Petrichor's KH2 Effect Toolkit.

APDX

These are a variant of BAR files used to store data related to models. They can be extracted with a BAR editor and viewed using one of the respective methods for their file type.

(Written by: Jumpy)

VSB/VAG/IOPVOICE

These files contain voices and audio, in VAG format. They can be extracted using VAGExtractor. However, you'll need to compile the program yourself, & there's no GUI; it only works in Command Line. Once extracted, VAG files can be opened in Foobar2000.

SCD

These are containers for all audio files used in the HD versions, whether they're music, sound effects, or voices. You can open them in Foobar2000.

DDS

These files are the updated textures, used in the PC HD version. Every single texture in the game, whether it be something on a map or Sora's HUD, is now a DDS file. You can open these with a variety of different image-editing software, like Gimp or XnView, though other image editing software might need a plugin to allow opening them.

(Written by: Zurphing)

Directory Structure

Looking for something specific? Below is a list of every subfolder of the /KH2/ directory in the extracted game, and what's contained inside of it.

@noname

Contains various binary data including command menus tied to specifc objects (Skateboarding, Zexion's Book World, etc), motion detectors, background music and sound fonts, and various other things. None of these files are labelled with anything readable. All of the files in this director must first be extracted with OpenKH's BAR Editor, then opened with one of the other tools listed above.

anm

This directory houses animation files (separate from MSET) used for more sophisticated motion than mset files (attacks, reaction commands, cutscenes).

ard

Contains area data (.ard) for every room in the game, and some unused rooms.

bgm

Contains background music (.bgm) and sound font (.wd) files.

dbg

Contains an unused trampoline texture and flag names used in the game's debug menu. Every file in those folder (except the trampoline texture) can be opened in notepad, so ignore file types when browsing this folder.

effect

Contains very few (seemingly random) textures and effects.

event

The /effect/ subdirectory contains textures and effects used during cutscenes.
The /layout/ subdirectory contains theatre mode images.
The /layout/en and other region code subdirectories contain the Atlantica song names and Twilight Town Day countdown translated into various languages.

field2d

Contains all command menu and HUD icons for every world.

file

Contains images, code for minigames, and some of Jiminy's data.

gumibattle

Tons of gummiship data, including maps (.map and .gbx), enemies (.gbx), sound effects (.seb and .wd), tutorials (.imz), and sprites (.bar -> .imz).

gumiblock

Most likely Gummi Ship parts, I have never been able to get them to open.

gumimenu

Gummi Ship Menu/Editor sprites and textures. Many of these need to be exported using OpenKH's BAR Editor.

itempic

Item icons for receiving and viewing icons.

libretto

Various animations and sound effects. Must be extracted using OpenKH's BAR Editor

limit

BAR files containing the appropriate data for the limits labelled. trinity_zz is for solo trinity.

mag

Contains magic data and textures.

map

Contains the game's locations stored as .map files.

minigame

Contains BAR files with code for each minigame.

movie

In the non-FM version, this directory contains the pre-rendered cutscenes. in FM, they're located in the /OVL/ folder at the root of the extraction (outside the /KH2/ folder). In the Windows version they are located in /Kingdom Hearts HD 1 5 and 2 5 ReMIX/EPIC/juefigs/KH2ReSource/.

msg

Contains button icons, dialog boxes and text for each world (.bar -> .imd). OpenKH's Text Editor can be used to view the text (without extracting it from the .bar) Also contains place.bin, which can be opened with OpenKH's place editor, and can be viewed online here.

msn

BAR files containing code for events ("missions" internally).

obj

Contains model and texture data(.mdlx) and animation files (.mset), and additional data (.apdx).

se

Contains sound effects (.seb) and sound fonts (.wd).

vagstream

Contains streamed music.

voice

The /battle/ subdirectory contains streamed battle sound effects
The /event/ subdirectory contains audio files used for cutscenes, events, and other purposes.
The /gumibattle/ subdirectory contains one streamed audio file.

Other

There are various files without folders in the /KH2/ directory which can either be opened normally, or their purpose is unknown. Below is some additional info about the remaining file types:

All IDX files stored here are leftovers from the extraction, opening them will show duplicates of the extracted files.
The binary (.bin) files stored here contain information integral to the game engine, for example 03system.bin contains a list of all abilities, event rewards, and party members in the game, and 00place.bin contains an list of every room in the game.
There are several files without extensions in the Japanese original, listed below:
- "@0A11C560_39425" is a BAR file which contains motion data
- "@11BC0DEC_23035" is a PAX file
- "@625E55A1_31485" is a BAR which contains only one image of an early gummi ship menu
- "@A9B32D18_21148" is a PAX file
- "@FCA4E99A_5305" is unknown. It is not a BAR file or a sub-type of BAR based on analysis in a hex editor.
- The majority of the rest of the files (and possibly these ones, with proper extensions) found in the Japanese version are stored elsewhere in other releases