Sonic Adventure 2/Cutscenes

Main Cutscenes

Depending on the version of SA2, the data for the event cutscenes can differ. EXXXX.PRS is the main file, while the _0 to _J files contain miscellaneous resources, such as audio timings and lighting/screen fade information. In the Dreamcast version, the models and animation data for a scene are all contained within the main file, while in SA2B, the animation data was split off into an uncompressed file labeled exxxxmotion.bin. With two exceptions in the DC version - those being E0203 and E0210 - the event files can only be interpreted by the game if the main file is compressed.

Files that are labeled as evmes??.prs contain the subtitle text and their assignments per cutscene. The first ? wildcard starts with either H, D, or L, denoting the text used for the Hero Story, Dark Story, and Last Episode respectively. The second ? wildcard contains a number from 0 to 5, which represents the language. As an example, evmesH1 contains all the English subtitle information for the Hero Story cutscenes. The contents of these files can be edited using SA2CutsceneTextEditor.

The main cutscenes can be previewed using SA2 Event Viewer and their contents can be extracted with the use of splitEvent. Editing the contents and rebuilding with buildEvent is mostly functional, but some changes can cause issues. For a more hands-on experience, using the SAIO add-on for Blender is recommended.

Main File Information

The base pointer for the DC version is 0xC600000
The base pointer for SA2B is 0x8125FE60

Offset	Type	Description
0	Pointer	Cutscene entity arrays
4	Pointer	Texture list
8	UINT32	Scene count
C	Pointer	Texture sizes
10	Pointer	ARK character reflection control
14	Pointer	Blur model array
18	Pointer	Mech character parts (Usually contains pointers to their upgrades and weapons)
1C	Pointer	Tails' tails
20	Pointer	Upgrade list
24	Pointer	Texture animation information
28	UINT32	Drop shadow control. A value of `01` allows the character drop shadows to be rendered over updated geometry. (SA2B only)

Cutscene Entity Data

This section of the main file is the source for all things related to camera controls, models, animations, and Big the Cat cameos for the cutscene.

Offset	Type	Description	Notes
0	Pointer	Scene Entity Array
4	UINT32	Scene Entity Count
8	Pointer	Scene Camera Array
C	UINT32	Scene Camera Count
10	Pointer	Particle Motion Array	The animations in this array are used for positioning certain particle effects if the scene uses them
14	UINT32	Particle Motion Count
18	Pointer	Big Cameo Array
1C	UINT32	Scene Frame Count	"Scene 0" will contain the total number of frames for the entire cutscene, as its section stores the cutscene geometry and must remain visible at all times.

Scene Entity Arrays

This section of the cutscene entity data array controls which models and animations are to be loaded as a singular entity in a scene. The contents of this section are slightly different between game versions.

Dreamcast

Offset	Type	Description	Notes
0	Pointer	Model
4	Pointer	Animation
8	Pointer	Shape Motion
C	UINT32	Unknown
10	Float(3)	Position
1C	UINT32	Flags

SA2B

Offset	Type	Description	Notes
0	Pointer	Model
4	Pointer	Animation
8	Pointer	Shape Motion
C	Pointer	GC Model	This section is primarily used for "Scene 0" whenever the scene geometry was updated.
10	Pointer	Shadow Model	These models are usually texture-less versions of the character models and are used in cutscenes with GC models
14	UINT32	Unknown
18	Float(3)	Position
24	UINT32	Flags
28	UINT32	Display Layer	This is a value between 0 and 4, which is tied to the game's rendering system. The higher values are sometimes used with models that use transparency to improve visibility

Upgrade List

The upgrade list is constant throughout the game. To work around a technical limitation with the character models in SA2B, Mech Tails and Mech Eggman were given an upgrade slot each for their windshields, as they would have problems rendering otherwise.

Number	Description
1	Sonic's Light Shoes
2	Sonic's Flame Ring
3	Sonic's Bounce Bracelet
4	Sonic's Magic Gloves
5	Shadow's Air Shoes
6	Shadow's Flame Ring
7	Knuckles' Shovel Claw (Left)
8	Knuckles' Shovel Claw (Right)
9	Knuckles' Hammer Glove (Left)
10	Knuckles' Hammer Glove (Right)
11	Knuckles' Sunglasses
12	Knuckles' Air Necklace
13	Rouge's Pick Nails
14	Rouge's Treasure Scope
15	Rouge's Iron Boots
16	Rouge's Heart Plates
17	Mech Tails' cockpit window (SA2B only)
18	Mech Eggman's cockpit window (SA2B only)

Upgrade Override/"Mech Parts" List

The list used to detect mech character parts is constant throughout the game. The way this list works is that each part of the mech is referenced via pointer to its OBJECT struct and pieces that are deemed redundant are given the "hide" object flag to render them invisible. For example, if the player has acquired Mech Tails' Bazooka upgrade, his Vulcan Cannon won't render on his model and vice versa.

The list is essentially split into three sections, with the first two including pointers to the upgrade models and the last section focusing on the regular models if they exist. The order of the upgrades in the list is identical to a set of flags that are found in the game's code, which is the basis for the descriptions found in the table. The Tornado object in E0004 references its Vulcan Cannon where the Bazooka upgrade would normally be referenced. The reasoning for this is unclear at the moment.

The original purpose of this section was to serve as the upgrade application list for cutscenes. As such, all visible upgrades are supported here, but due to the inclusion of a new upgrade list that more closely matches the in-game implementation, the mech characters are the only ones to utilize the feature at all.

Italics indicate an assumed upgrade/normal model, and bold denotes that the upgrade doesn't normally have a visual component.

ID	Description	ID	Description	ID	Description
0	Sonic's Light Shoes 1	31	Sonic's Light Shoes 2	62	Null
1	Sonic's Ancient Light	32	Null	63	Null
2	Sonic's Magic Gloves	33	Null	64	Null
3	Sonic's Flame Ring	34	Null	65	Null
4	Sonic's Bounce Bracelet	35	Null	66	Null
5	Sonic's Mystic Melody	36	Null	67	Null
6	Mech Tails' Booster (Left, Node 51)	37	Mech Tails' Booster (Right, Node 40)	68	Null
7	Mech Tails' Bazooka (Root, Node 11)	38	Null	69	Mech Tails' Vulcan Cannon (Root, Node 3)
8	Mech Tails' Laser Blaster (Root, Node 8)	39	Null	70	Mech Tails' Missile Blaster (Root, Node 5)
9	Mech Tails' Mystic Melody	40	Null	71	Null
10	Knuckles' Shovel Claw 1	41	Knuckles' Shovel Claw 2	72	Null
11	Knuckles' Sunglasses	42	Null	73	Null
12	Knuckles' Hammer Gloves 1	43	Knuckles' Hammer Gloves 2	74	Null
13	Knuckles' Air Necklace	44	Null	75	Null
14	Knuckles' Mystic Melody	45	Null	76	Null
15	Null	46	Null	77	Null
16	Shadow's Air Shoes 1	47	Shadow's Air Shoes 2	78	Null
17	Shadow's Ancient Light	48	Null	79	Null
18	Shadow's Flame Ring	49	Null	80	Null
19	Shadow's Mystic Melody	50	Null	81	Null
20	Mech Eggman's Jet Engine (Right, Node 6)	51	Mech Eggman's Jet Engine (Left, Node 11)	82	Null
21	Mech Eggman's Large Cannon (Root, Node 22)	52	Null	83	Mech Eggman's Vulcan Cannon (Root, Node 17)
22	Mech Eggman's Laser Blaster (Root, Node 24)	53	Null	84	Mech Eggman's Missile Blaster (Root, Node 19)
23	Mech Eggman's Protection Armor (Node 16)	54	Null	85	Null
24	Mech Eggman's Mystic Melody	55	Null	86	Null
25	Rouge's Pick Nails 1	56	Rouge's Pick Nails 2	87	Null
26	Rouge's Treasure Scope	57	Null	88	Null
27	Rouge's Iron Boots 1	58	Rouge's Iron Boots 2	89	Null
28	Rouge's Mystic Melody	59	Null	90	Null
29	Null	60	Null	91	Null
30	Null	61	Null	92	Null

Effect Files

EXXXX_0 Information

Originally, cutscene files that had a numbered suffix (e.g. E0000_1) would contain all the graphical features and subtitle/audio timings for each cutscene, all of which could change depending on the language. This was changed in the final release so that the languages would only alter audio/subtitle timings as necessary, as only that information would require tweaking.

The EXXXX_0 files were meant to store subtitle data and audio timings for the Japanese language setting, but in all retail versions of SA2, they were repurposed to store graphical effects and features for each specific cutscene. The following is a list of what can be found in each segment of the file.

Screen Effects

Information starting at 0x9800 denotes any screen effects that occur within the scene, such as fades or color changes. Each chunk of this information is 64 bytes long, with the last 32 bytes acting as a buffer.

The maximum number of screen effect entries per cutscene is 64.

Italics indicate that the values are used in combination with the texture screen effect IDs.

Offset	Type	Description
0	UINT32	Frame in which the screen information takes effect
4	Byte	Effect Type
5	Char Array [3]	Null
8	Char Array [4]	ASCII color (ARGB)
C	Byte	Fadeout check
D	Byte	Null
E	UINT16	Screen texture ID
10	UINT32	Visible time
14	INT16	X Position
16	INT16	Y Position
18	Float	Width
1C	Float	Height

Screen Effect Types

ID	Description
1	Screen fade-in
2	Screen cut-in
3	Texture fade-in
4	Texture cut-in
5	Background fade-in
6	Background cut-in

Simple Particle Effects

Information starting at 0xA800 denotes any simple particle effects that are loaded in the scene, such as flashing lights or the sun. Each chunk of this information is 56 bytes long, with the last 32 bytes acting as a buffer.

The maximum number of simple particle effect entries per cutscene is 2048.

Italics indicate that the custom particles treat these values as depicted in the list, while normal particles treat these as displacement values.

Offset	Type	Description	Notes
0	UINT32	Frame in which the particle information takes effect
4	Byte	Particle ID
5	Byte	Particle Motion ID
8	Float	Texture ID
C	Float	Pulse Control	X displacement for normal particles
10	Float	Unknown	This is a constant used for the "Pulsing texture cancel" ID, otherwise it's Y displacement for normal particles
14	Float	Size

Simple Particle IDs

ID	Description
0	Null
1	Dust puff
2	Sparkle
3	Sparkle
4	Dirt patch
5	Fire blast
6	Steam
7	Snow blast
8	Sun
9	Sun cancel
A	Water splash
B	Smoke cloud
C	Steam puff
D	Rocket steam puff
E	Flame puff
F	Null
10	Invalid
11	Pulsing texture
12	Pulsing texture cancel

Object Lighting Information

Starting at 0x26800 are 68-byte chunks that dictate the object lighting information for the corresponding cutscene. The last 20 bytes can be considered a buffer for now.

Lighting information is split into four sections of 256 entries each and all four sets are combined at runtime, depending on certain settings and game versions. Dreamcast uses the first set of instructions and a combination of the other three via enabling specific entity flags, while SA2B will always use the first two sets of lighting information while ignoring the other two sets. "Scene 0" models are always given a default lighting value unrelated to these parameters, with the Dreamcast version allowing for the usage of entity flags to apply certain lighting combinations.

There are a maximum of 1024 possible lighting entries per cutscene.

Offset	Type	Description
0	UINT32	Frame in which the lighting information takes effect
4	UINT32	Fade control. 1 is a hard cut, while 2 is a fade-in from the previous set of instructions
8	Float	Light Direction Vector (X-Component)
C	Float	Light Direction Vector (Y-Component)
10	Float	Light Direction Vector (Z-Component)
14	Float	Red
18	Float	Green
1C	Float	Blue
20	Float	Single ambient intensity
24	Float	Ambient R
28	Float	Ambient G
2C	Float	Ambient B

Blur Effect Information

Information starting at 0x37800 denotes the controls for motion blur effects used by models in the blur array. Each chunk is 64 bytes in size.

There are 64 total blur effect entries per cutscene.

Offset	Type	Description
0	UINT32	Frame Start
4	UINT32	Effect Duration
8	Char Array [6]	Blur Model ID
E	UINT16	Null
10	UINT32	Blur Entity Count

Particle Generator Effect Information

Information starting at 0x38800 denotes any particle generators that are loaded in the scene, such as sparkles or smoke clouds. Each chunk of this information is 64 bytes long.

The maximum number of particle generator entries per cutscene is 64.

Offset	Type	Description
0	Float(3)	Position
C	Float(3)	Velocity
18	UINT16	Added Rotation Z
1A	UINT16	Added Rotation Y
1C	UINT16	Added Rotation X
1E	UINT16	Unknown
20	UINT32	Frame in which the particle information takes effect
24	INT32	Particle rotation constant
28	Float	Particle spread
2C	INT32	Particle Y Scale
30	UINT32	Number of particle instances
34	UINT32	Model ID
38	UINT32	Particle ID
3C	UINT32	Frame Delay between generated particles

Particle Generator IDs

ID	Description
0	Invalid
1	Dust cloud
2	Sparkle
3	Sparkle
4	Dirt patches
5	Fire blast
6	Steam
7	Snow blast
8	Invalid
9	Invalid
A	Water splash
B	Smoke cloud
C	Steam puff
D	Rocket steam puff
E	Flame puff
F	Null
10	Invalid

Video Overlay Information

Information starting at 0x39800 determines whether or not an FMV overlay is meant to be loaded in a scene. Depending on the settings, the video can either be superimposed over the screen, or onto a mesh that's in the cutscene. The chunks are 48 bytes long, with the last 16 acting as a buffer.

The maximum number of video entries is 64.

In the Dreamcast and GameCube versions, .m1v files are loaded for these cases. The 2012 re-release checks for and loads the .sfd equivalents of the video overlays.

Offset	Type	Description
0	UINT32	Frame in which the video begins to play
4	INT16	X Position.
6	INT16	Y Position.
8	Float	Depth value. A higher value means the video overlay will be pushed further away from the screen
C	Byte	Overlay type
D	Byte	Overlay texture ID. Any meshes that use the texture ID denoted here will have the specified texture replaced with the video. This is used in combination with the "Mesh overlay" type.
E	INT16	Null
10	Text	Name of the video file that's to be loaded

Video Overlay IDs

ID	Description
0	Null
1	Screen overlay
2	Mesh overlay
3	Screen overlay
4	Screen overlay
5	Pause video
6	Resume video

EXXXX_1-J Information

Suffix	Language
1	English
2	French
3	Spanish
4	German
5	Italian (2012 port only)
J	Japanese

The start of the file contains subtitle data. Each data set is 8 bytes long and is tied to the subtitle order found in the external evmes?? file.

There are a maximum of 256 possible entries for subtitle timings.

Offset	Type	Description
0	INT32	Frame in which the subtitle is set to appear. A value of -1 in this slot will set the mapped subtitle text as the opening text crawl for the cutscene.
4	UINT32	Number of frames in which the subtitle is to remain onscreen.

Information starting at 0x800 and continuing until the end of the file contains audio timings for voices and BGM for each language. Each chunk is 72 bytes in size. Voice clip playback is determined by using the cutscene ID, so a value used by E0000 will not be the same as a value used by E0102, for example.

The maximum number of audio entries is 512.

Offset	Type	Description
0	UINT32	Frame in which the audio clip begins to play
4	Byte	SFX initializer. Setting this value to 0 will start sound effect playback at the frame specified
5	Byte	Credits control. FF is a null entry and the effect seems to only work with E0210. Higher values reduce the scrolling speed of the credits
6	UINT16	Number of the voice clip that's to be loaded if applicable. This number is added to a default value set by each cutscene and the result is compared against a master array to load the desired voice clip. FF FF denotes a null entry
8	Text	Name of audio track that's to be loaded, if applicable. Placing a hex value of 30 in this spot will stop the current audio track from playing
18	Text	Name of the jingle that's to be loaded, if applicable. No cutscenes appear to use this feature.
28	UINT32	Determines the VSync mode used by the cutscene. The entry seemingly only accepts values of 0 and 2, with the latter locking the cutscene's framerate to 30FPS when set. Only the first entry's value is read at runtime. This value does nothing in SA2B.

Mini-Event Scenes

Scenes that are labeled as MEXXXX.PRS in the event files are cutscenes that occur within a game state, such as before certain boss fights like Big Foot and Flying Dog. The contents of these files are not as robust as those of the main cutscenes, often only containing animation and shape motion data for the designated characters. As these scenes rely on the player models, specific parts of their body are omitted and replaced with cutscene-specific variants for the duration of the scene, with the exception of Mech Eggman as he only requires animation data.

The assets found within the main mini-event files can be extracted with splitEvent. They can be repacked with buildEvent, but at the moment, there are file size limitations that prevent elaborate editing from being possible if not handled correctly. If the final file size exceeds roughly 550kb, the game will crash.

The contents of these files can be broken down as follows:

Offset	Type	Description
0	UINT32	Character flags
4	Pointer	Camera information
8	Pointer	Sonic's pointer array
C	Pointer	Shadow's pointer array
10	Pointer	Mechless Tails' pointer array
14	Pointer	Mechless Eggman's pointer array
18	Pointer	Knuckles' pointer array
1C	Pointer	Rouge's pointer array
20	Pointer	Mech Tails' pointer array
24	Pointer	Mech Eggman's pointer array

Any models that are referenced by specific model IDs in each character's model information will be rendered invisible for the duration of these scenes. The way this works is that the game directly alters flags within the referenced model's data to achieve this effect, which can have adverse effects if the reference points to a joined mesh, i.e. an arm can be rendered invisible if the targeted model ID only points to the hand and the two parts are one continuous mesh. Please refer to each character's model ID lists found [here](https://github.com/X-Hax/SA2BModdingGuide/wiki/Character-Model-IDs#main-character-model-ids) for more information.

The order for each character's pointer array always begins with the player model's animations, followed by the model -> animation -> shape motion data sets for each cutscene model. The head's data goes first, followed by the mouth, then the left hand, and finally the right hand.

The DC base pointer for these scenes is 0xCB00000. The base pointer for these scenes in SA2B is 0x816DFE60.

MEXXXX_0-5 Information

Suffix	Language
0	Japanese
1	English
2	French
3	Spanish
4	German
5	Italian (2012 port only)

Much like the _1 to _J files for the main event cutscenes, MEXXXX_0 to _5 dictates audio and subtitle information for the mini-event scenes. These files are uncompressed.

The start of the file contains subtitle timings and their duration. Each data set is 8 bytes in size and is tied to the subtitle order found in the appropriate evmes?? file.

There are a maximum of 32 subtitle timing entries per file.

Offset	Type	Description
0	UINT32	Frame in which the subtitle is set to appear
4	UINT32	Number of frames in which the subtitle remains onscreen after it has been loaded

Information starting at 0x100 contains timings for each language. Each chunk is 76 bytes in size. Note that voice clip entries are dependent on the cutscene's internal ID, so the "first" entry of ME0001 isn't the same as the one found in ME0007, for example.

There are a maximum of 64 entries of these settings per file.

Offset	Type	Description
0	UINT32	Frame in which the instruction is set to begin
4	Byte	Screen control. 1 is a normal fade-in, while 2 maintains the screen fade tint until the mini-event is finished.
5	Byte	Sound effect ID that is to be loaded, if applicable. FF is considered a null value.
6	Byte	Secondary sound effect ID that is to be loaded, if applicable. No cutscenes intentionally use this value.
7	Byte	Null (00)
8	UINT16	Number of the voice clip that's to be loaded if applicable. This number is added to a default value set by each cutscene and the result is compared against a master array to load the desired voice clip. Valid entries are written as 00 ??, while FF FF is a null value.
A	Byte	BGM control. Setting this value to 2D (45) will cause the level's music to play at the frame specified.
1A	Byte	Jingle control. No mini-events appear to use this feature by default.
2C	Float	Rumble control. This determines the power of the rumble feature.

Information starting at 0x1400 controls the positioning/rotation data for both the characters and the event camera.

Offset	Type	Description
0	Float(3)	Event position data. All characters and the camera will have this value applied to them.
C	INT32(3)	Player rotation data. This value affects all characters present in the cutscene.
18	INT32	Camera Y Rotation