TUTORIAL: Beginner's guide to the EVP

[jakeypearce]

In an attempt to make it easier to do entrance modding, I thought I'd give everyone a mini-guide on how the EVP works. Supposing you're creating a fresh entrance from scratch, or you're looking to port over an entrance from an older game that has props, then this is the guide for you. I will use 00100 (The Rock's) as my example, then I will show you another EVP that contains props.

Just a quick little disclaimer before I begin. This won't teach you EVERYTHING about how the EVP works, but rather, teach you what I know.

Firstly, I am going to open 00100 (in pac\evt) into Pac Editor and uncompress the first BPE I see. Then, I'll open it up in a hex editor.

Highlighted in yellow are two identical lengths. They go from the start of the file ("0FOP") and are always 8 bytes off before "POF0".

Underlined in blue is the ID. This ID must equal the entrance ID that is being used. For example, if I am using an entrance in slot 216, then I must label the ID in the EVP as "00 D8". This is because D8 means 216 in hex. In WWE 2K15 and prior, it was somewhat of a challenge to figure out all of the IDs. With that said, since you're looking at a 2K16-2K18 EVP, this won't be a problem because...

Underlined in red is the string! Starting with WWE 2K16, the EVPs have become labeled with ID_Wrestler_Name. Now, you don't have to include the ID as part of the string (call it whatever you like!), but it's a good habit to get into as it makes identifying entrances easier and means it's more accessible for everyone. In my case, it is "0100_The_Rock".

Underlined in black is the ch model. "27 12" is 10002, which refers to The Rock's in-ring pac. As far as I know, it's not compulsory for there to be a valid model slot. You just can't 00 those bytes out, as you won't get a model in the entrance.

Alright, now to show you a different EVP header. The formula is identical to what I just showed you before, however we are going to step it up a little and show you a single wrestler motion that has props in his/her entrance. Surprise! It's big match John!

As you can see, there are eight bytes that I have highlighted - "00 0D", "17 7A", "00 0E" and "17 9D". Why, you may ask? Remember when I said this entrance contains props? That's exactly what it sounds like. The way the game calls for props in a motion is simple. You have your series of incrementing bytes on the right (00 0D and 00 0E in this case). Then, two bytes after are the prop IDs themselves. 17 7A is 6010 in decimal. When we look into the prop folder, have a look at what is found:

The same applies for 17 9D:

Knowing this, you can mix and match different prop IDs. You will likely get glitchy/unintended results, however!

Now, why mention 00 0D and 00 0E? If you take a look into Cena's CAE EVZ, you can see the 000D and 000E. When you open them up in a hex editor, they contain animations for the props.

Cheers!

 

[BlindedByTheGrace]

Thank you for this info @jakeypearce. Valuable. Will study this at my spare time. My brain  is saturated at the moment.

[BlindedByTheGrace]

Thank you for the tutorial once again. One question. In the EVP's , what do the hex  id's 13 91  and  07 E8 refer to ? 

[AznBlusuazn]

On 2/10/2018 at 2:21 AM, squaredcirclefan said:

Thank you for the tutorial once again. One question. In the EVP's , what do the hex  id's 13 91  and  07 E8 refer to ? 

It’s been a while but I believe 1391 is a belt obj for belt movement for champion entrance