File Structure

This part of the tutorial will go over the main file structure of the game. We will be covering the more common files used when modding to get a better understanding of the game.

Build Folder

When opening a SSF2 build folder you will the files below.

../../_images/filestructure.png

We’ll only cover the important files.

  • data - Is where all the stages,ui,characters,music are located. These are the files that most modders will be working with.

  • SSF2.swf - this is where all the engine code is stored, physics, communication , object loading, etc is all done in this file.

  • SSF2.exe - this is what launches the game and puts everything together (you really dont have to worry about this unless you are using ANE or something along that level)

File Format

In the data folder, you’ll find files that the game loads, but they are encoded in a .ssf format that cannot be opened or edited directly. To edit and use these files, you’ll need either JPEXS or Adobe Animate.

  • JPEXS (FFDec) - JPEXS is a Flash Decompiler allows you to edits directly. It’s fast and it’s easy to learn.

  • Adobe Animate - Animate is a program used for creating 2D animations. While it can be more challenging to learn—since you need to familiarize yourself with both modding SSF2 and the Animate software—it offers more features and allows for greater possibilities.

In this tutorial we will be using Adobe Animate. To open a .ssf in Adobe Animate you first need it’s .fla and at this time I believe it’s a good time to explain the file extensions before continuing.

File extensions

So far in the tutorial you have heard me talk about fla,swf,ssf so what are they?

.fla - A .fla file stores all the assets, code, and animations in a format that can be opened with Adobe Animate. Once opened, you can use the available tools to edit or create the contents.

.swf - The swf is a portable file of all the data you made (think of it like a encoded zip file) . Any time you want to test your changes you have to create a new .swf to test it out in the game.

.ssf - A .ssf file is just a .swf just renamed (dont ask me why). You typically see these files being distributed.

.as - A .as file is a Actionscript file which contains the code to run the games and animations.

Note

The terms below are focused more towards people who use jpexs to edit their mods.

DAT - A DAT file is just a .ssf file renamed to corresponded to an ID. Example DAT34.ssf` could point to zelda character or DAT240.ssf could go to the main menu, it all depends on how the devs ID the files. Sometimes game patches change the DAT numbers, you an always find the correct one on the wiki.The IDK have their files renamed to what’s in the .ssf folder so you dont have to worry about the ID’s if you use it.

decompress - The action of turning a DAT into a editable file (so in animate’s case a fla)

(re)compress - the action of turning a DAT back into .ssf for the game to use (so creating the .swf file,which animate does automatically)

Next Steps

Working with Github - gives an overfiew of how the file structure works in SSF2