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| Gotcha Force |
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| Aka: Gacha Fōsu (JP) |
| Developer: Capcom |
| Publishers: Capcom |
| System: GameCube |
| Release Date |
| Japan: November 27, 2003 |
| USA: December 3, 2003 |
| Europe: February 20, 2004 |
Gotcha Force is a fighting / third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom for GameCube in 2003.
GCM versions
| Name | sha1 | Game Code |
|---|---|---|
| Gotcha Force (Europe) (En,Fr,De).iso | A94DF10304E6A18827C7325169E9ACE117F17A00 | GG4P |
| Gotcha Force (USA).iso | DFE963E5070B9BEC02BBBEFBA3F038B04DAC953E | GG4E |
| Gotcha Force (Japan).iso | 1B413F219A47E6B3E862A3F7A469A046E88BE893 | GG4J |
| GFRB2.2c.iso | E207F2223ACDE7A7FD287FBAB3C2DE59CF7984E6 | GG4P |
GFRB2.2c.iso is a rebalanced version of the game made by the team Gotcha Force Rebalanced to play multiplayer battles. The modded iso come from EU iso version.
Game terminology
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Borg | 3D character used in battles. |
| Stage | 3D map used in battles. |
| Data Crystal | 3D items looted at battle's end that can be combined to earn new Borgs. |
| NPC | Ally or Enemy characters seen during battles. |
| Gotcha Box | Boxes used to store Borgs. |
| WareHouse | Game element used to store Borgs when the Gotcha Box is filled up. Borgs can't be selected from WareHouse during battles. |
GameCube DVD Architecture
The page GCM (File format) describes in details the GCM file format used by GameCube mini DVD.
GameCube Tooling
The page GameCube Tooling provides softwares and scripts for handling GameCube games ROM / files.
Hardware
GameCube technical specifications
Gekko powerpc CPU user manual: This manual is useful when reverse engineering executables (dol, rel, and so on.). Assembly instructions and Gekko architecture are documented in details.
Another interesting document is the GameCube SDK architecture guide providing technical acronyms definitions and global SDK internal knowledges.
The DSP (Digital Signal Processor allowing to process audio signals - codecs...) has been studied in depth by one of Dolphin Emulator developers team.
Game file formats
| Format | Content | |
|---|---|---|
| ADX | Audio file | |
| AFS | File packing others files (Ongoing researches) | |
| ARC | HSD Files | |
| ARZ | Compressed file | |
| BIN | Unknown | |
| BNR | Banner file format | |
| CHD | DSP part | |
| DOL | SysDolphin executable file (Ongoing researches) | |
| DPK | DSP part | |
| IMG | apploader file | |
| MDT | Uncompressed packed files which contains dialogs | |
| PTL | Particles settings (Ongoing researches) | |
| PZZ | Compressed archive | |
| REF | Unknown (Related to particles?) | |
| SFD | MPEG Sofdec | |
| TPL | Texture Palette Library | |
| TSB | DSP part | |
| TXG | Particles images container (Ongoing researches) |
The page file formats reverse engineering is dedicated to methods and researches ongoing on it.
Files and folders tree
USA:
GCM_SYS/ ├─ apploader.img └─ boot.dol afs_data.afs ├─ *.adx (2113) ├─ *.arc (1369) ├─ *.arz (184) ├─ *.bin (586) ├─ *.chd (4) ├─ *.dpk (4) ├─ *.mdt (6) ├─ ptcl00.ptl ├─ *.pzz (254) ├─ ptcl00.ref ├─ *.sfd (2) ├─ *.tpl (442) ├─ *.tsb (4) └─ ptcl00.txg opening.bnr poq_adx_usa.afs ├─ *.adx (2115) └─ *.sfd (2)
EU:
GCM_SYS/ ├─ apploader.img └─ boot.dol afs_data.afs ├─ *.arc (1334) ├─ *.arz (172) ├─ *.bin (586) ├─ *.chd (4) ├─ *.dpk (4) ├─ *.mdt (1) ├─ *.ptl (1) ├─ *.pzz (253) ├─ *.ref (1) ├─ *.tpl (27) ├─ *.tsb (4) └─ *.txg (1) afs_data_a.afs ├─ *.arc (47) ├─ *.arz (12) ├─ *.mdt (5) ├─ *.pzz (2) └─ *.tpl (415) afs_data_f.afs ├─ *.arc (47) ├─ *.arz (12) ├─ *.mdt (5) ├─ *.pzz (2) └─ *.tpl (415) afs_data_g.afs ├─ *.arc (47) ├─ *.arz (12) ├─ *.mdt (5) ├─ *.pzz (2) └─ *.tpl (415) opening.bnr poq_adx_pal.afs ├─ *.adx (2113) └─ *.sfd (4) - pal version
JAP:
GCM_SYS/ ├─ apploader.img └─ boot.dol afs_data.afs ├─ *.arc (1369) ├─ *.arz (184) ├─ *.bin (586) ├─ *.chd (4) ├─ *.dpk (4) ├─ *.mdt (6) ├─ *.ptl (1) ├─ *.pzz (255) ├─ *.ref (1) ├─ *.tpl (442) ├─ *.tsb (4) └─ *.txg (1) opening.bnr poq_adx.afs ├─ *.adx (2113) └─ *.sfd (2)
afs_data.afs file naming scheme
You can check full description of all file here: All Assets File Name Index
File naming scheme:
| File naming scheme. | |
|---|---|
| Name | Description |
| pl####* | Borgs files (Player Character) |
| mn####.tpl | Borgs names in Menus (206) |
| st## | stage - maps files. We find in position 1,2,3 hitsxx.bin files. |
| so## | stage object. Building and structures used in battles. |
| firstld.pzz | Memory card related files (First load - We found the memory card picture in the pzz) |
| icon.bin | Same than firstld\003C_firstldicon.bin - 3D icon of the memory card |
| face#### | Describe NPCs and properties used when using Special Moves / Abilities |
| it####_mdl.arz | (90 files) - Item Data Crystal -> #### Match everytime to a Borg requesting multiple Data Crystals |
| box00_mdl.arc | Gotcha Box |
| ckpt* | Graphical user interface elements used in battles. |
| d###_mdl.arc | Menu collection 002: Borgs list, 001: Borg View |
| deck00_mdl.arc | Edit force menu |
| entry00_mdl.arc | Interface used to enter player name with characters |
| optn00_mdl.arc | Option menu |
| fmg00_mdl.arc | Neo G Red icon used in Story Mode dialogs |
| rpot##_mdl.arc | Graphical elements used in end of battles |
| unitall_mdl.arc | Borgs miniatures images used in Edit Force menu, at battle start and so on. |
| mcmg00_mdl.arc | When loading memory card. |
| stff* | Main menu |
| story* | Used in Story Mode progress |
| trade00_mdl.arc | Used in Trade Menu |
| set* | Elements to place in the maps (wall, trees and so on.) |
| tl00_mdl.arc | Used on the corners of the main menu. |
| gets* | Cinematic used when earning a new Borg. (Blue = Crystal); |
| gets06_mdl.arc | Cinematic when earning Neo G Red and others colors of Neo G Red. |
| nwld* | Unimplemented. |
| staff00_mdl.arc | Credits screen. |
| vsel00_mdl.arc | Multiplayer screen. |
| vsel01_mdl.arc | Created forces selection screen before start of battles. |
| st###_mdl.arz | PNJs images |
| stm## | Dialogs used in story mode. |
| sts## | Images used when selecting zones in story mode (face your opponent & defeat the boss) |
| briff00_mdl.arc | Images used for "VS" page start of fight. |
| cnd* (3) | Unimplemented files or used for animated titles. The text is inclined and distorted. (defeat enemy gotcha borgs! and so on.) |
| efct* | Effects - effects used in battles like Shots or Shock. |
| name00_mdl.arc | Used in "Enter Name" window with grey alphabet. |
| arrow_mdl.arc | Used probably with a scale for Ally / Enemy health bar. |
Game assets implementation
The page implementations group technical details about game assets implementations:
- Borgs
- Data Crystals
- and so on.
You might also want to read:
See also our documentation available on github.
Main executable
Depending of which software is used the name of main executable may change since it's not stored in the GCM file: boot.dol / Start.dol and so on.
The page DOL (Gotcha Force) group ongoing researches, technical details and characteristics of the mains Gotcha Force dols.
The main executable embeds MetroTRK, a Target Resident Kernel for embedded systems allowing to remotely debug the game.
We found differents staticly linked libraries in it and in particular HSD engine (HAL Sysdolphin engine). Source files haven't been leaked on the internet but we can find an awesome work realized by "Super Smash Bros. Melee" GameCube community on which we can refer:
Beta version
The beta version of the game contains differences from the final releases. The 3D map is isometric with 3D elements in it and Borgs descriptions were contained in the screen with two sections: one for characteristics and the other one for the Borg story.
