SSSSSSSSSSS HHHHH    HHHHH EEEEEEEEEEEE NNNNNN         NNNNN
S         S H   H    H   H E          E N     N        N   N
S         S H   H    H   H E          E N      N       N   N
S    SSSSSS H   H    H   H E    EEEEEEE N       N      N   N
S    S      H   H    H   H E    E       N   N    N     N   N
S    S      H   H    H   H E    E       N   NN    N    N   N  
S    SSSSSS H   HHHHHH   H E    EEEE    N   N N    N   N   N   ______
S         S H            H E       E    N   N  N    N  N   N  |      | 
S         S H            H E       E    N   N   N    N N   N  '------'
SSSSSS    S H   HHHHHH   H E    EEEE    N   N    N    NN   N
     S    S H   H    H   H E    E       N   N     N    N   N
     S    S H   H    H   H E    E       N   N      N       N
SSSSSS    S H   H    H   H E    EEEEEEE N   N       N      N
S         S H   H    H   H E          E N   N        N     N
S         S H   H    H   H E          E N   N         N    N
SSSSSSSSSSS HHHHH    HHHHH EEEEEEEEEEEE NNNNN          NNNNN

            MMMMM             MMMMM UUUUU     UUUUU EEEEEEEEEEEE
            M    M           M    M U   U     U   U E          E
            M     M         M     M U   U     U   U E          E
            M      M       M      M U   U     U   U E    EEEEEEE
            M   M   M     M   M   M U   U     U   U E    E
            M   MM   M   M   MM   M U   U     U   U E    E
            M   M M   M M   M M   M U   U     U   U E    EEEE
            M   M  M   M   M  M   M U   U     U   U E       E
            M   M   M     M   M   M U   U     U   U E       E
            M   M    M   M    M   M U   U     U   U E    EEEE
            M   M     MMM     M   M U   U     U   U E    E
            M   M             M   M U   U     U   U E    E
            M   M             M   M U    UUUUU    U E    EEEEEEE
            M   M             M   M U             U E          E
            M   M             M   M U             U E          E
            MMMMM             MMMMM  UUUUUUUUUUUUU  EEEEEEEEEEEE


                                    IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
                                    I                          I
                                    I                          I
                                    IIIIII     IIIIII     IIIIII
                                         I     I    I     I
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                                         I     I    I     I
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                                    IIIIII     IIIIII     IIIIII
                                    I                          I
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                                    IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII






                   US to UK Save Convertion Guide
           Method provided by Alex Goolsby (AKA MaxTheRabbit)
                
                FAQ written by Brian "TheFreak" Balsan
                         THEFREAK@prodigy.net 
                  in 640x480 format ('Cuz I'm nice.)

Updates since the last save:

December 14, 2001
1.04 - Added some important info regarding
       downloading with DC browser 3.0 from
       booyaka.com thanks to Sam aka Garfield.
       If you have more info on this or anything
       else in this guide, let me know.
       

December 11, 2001
1.03 - At the request of Alex Goolsby, he has
       been given credit as the sole founder
       of the convertion method.
       Also added warning regarding Dreamcast
       Browsers.

December 10, 2001
1.00 - First Release
1.01 - Added Contents for easier reference,
       small word-wrapping annoyance.
1.02 - Some more spelling annoyances.  I got
       to cut this out.

CONTENTS
--------
A) INTRODUCTION
B) NECESSARY ITEMS
C) STEP 1: EMAILING THE FILE TO YOURSELF
D) STEP 2: CONVERTING SHENMUE1_000 TO A UK COMPATIBLE FILE
E) STEP 3: GETTING YOUR CONVERTED SAVE BACK INTO YOUR VMU
F) SPECIAL THANKS TO:


A) INTRODUCTION
---------------

Good day ladies and gents, and welcome to the Shenmue US-to-UK
save convertion guide.  This guide will offer importers of the 
UK Shenmue 2 the possibility to convert their US Shenmue 1 save file for 
play in Shenmue 2.  Quite a bit is carried over from Shenmue 1, including 
Martial arts moves, toys, and pictures.

The reason for this method coming to pass was pretty much due to a
bunch of bitter Sega fans whom felt shafted after the Dreamcast's 
ultimate swan-song, Shenmue 2 was cancelled as a result of a 
US-exclusive contract to Microsoft.

Fortunately, this only applied to the US, so anyone with the proper
import devices (Like a Utopia Bootup disk or Modded Dreamcast) could
import the UK version, which not only has english subtitles, but 4 other
languages as well.  Even more fortunate is that the game auto-detects
NTSC televisions, so accessability of the game only depends on if you
have a bootup bypass method (Note to VGA box owners: Shenmue 2 works
with the VGA, but currently only MODchips and the Gameshark CDX work
properly.)

So with all of that, the only thing standing in the way of full 
accessability was the Shenmue 1 game-save.  Since just about
every die-hard US Dreamcast fan owns a US copy of Shenmue 1, most 
wouldn't have the extra money to purchase an UK-version Shenmue 1.
Even then, It's practically impossible to find online anymore,
so most will have to suffice with their US copies.

And that's where this guide comes in.

The process is actually pretty simple.  All you really need is a
very basic knowledge of hex values.   Even then, I'll proceed to
go through the method step by step. You may have seen another
convertion method floating around online, but it's very different
from the one used here.  This method has been confirmed to work.
  

Ready?  Then we'll begin.


B) NECESSARY ITEMS
------------------

Just remember that some of what I write is through my 
own experience.  Certain methods depend on who you 
talk to, but this is what I consider to be affective.

Here's what you'll need:

A PC with a harddrive and Modem
  (This method is confirmed for Windows,
   I can't help you Mac owners.  Sorry.)
A Dreamcast, with a modem, of course.
US DC browser 2.0 or 2.6.
  (NOTE: Japanese BBA DC Browser 3.0 is known to encrypt VMU save 
   data, and US BBA DC Browser 3.0 will not download Booyaka.com 
   saves.  Any additional information regarding these browsers would
   be helpful.)
An internet connection (Preferrably dialup) and Email account
Hex workshop
  (Found here: 
   http://www.bpsoft.com/downloads/download.jsp?dlfile=hw32v31.exe)
VMS CRC
DCI_VMI
  (Both files can be found here: 
   http://www.franken.de/users/deco/myfiles/myfiles.html)
An account with www.booyaka.com
  (Free membership.  Easy to sign up.)
A complete US Shenmue 1 file 
  (Should say "Clear" when you
   run it in the game)


C) STEP 1: EMAILING THE FILE TO YOURSELF
----------------------------------------

Yup.  You'll need to to find a way to send the file from your DC to
your PC.  The most effective way to do this is to Email the file to 
yourself.  Here's how you do it...

Log onto the internet with your DC browser.
  (CAUTION:  Japanese BBA Browser 3.0 has been known
   to encrypt VMU data, making this convertion
   method useless.)

Go to your mailbox.

Click the paperclip icon and add the file SHENMUE1_000
  (Note 1: Only DC browsers 2.0 and higher have the paperclip
   function.)
  (Note 2: Earlier browsers are known to currupt the first file
   on the clip-board list.  So add a file you don't need, then
   add the Shenmue 1 file second.)

Enter your Email address and send.

Now, disconnect from your DC and connect with your PC.

Check your Email, you should have the file attachments.
save the SHENMUE1_000.dat file to someplace in your C drive,
where you can find it.
  (Example given in this guide: C:/Games)
  (Note: Make sure you have file extension-viewing on.)

Don't delete your letter.  You can use it to keep
a backup of your save.

D) STEP 2: CONVERTING SHENMUE1_000 TO A UK COMPATIBLE FILE
----------------------------------------------------------

Install hex workshop.

Run the Hex workshop program.

Click file, and open SHENMUE1_000.dat.

Here's the fun part...You should see a bunch of numbers
and letters.  Notice the lower-left box.  You should see 
something that says "offset: 00000000" etc.  You'll be paying
attention to the offset values in the parenthesis
("(0x0000000)" etc.)

Now, scroll down until you reach offset 683
(Should read as "(0x00000683)")

You should see the value 55 FA00. Simply
type in 45 0E01 in it's place.
  (Note: The value you type will replace the original
   value (This is necessary) and the space will automatically
   be made.)

Next, go to offset 689 (0x00000689) and replace value 00 with 58.

Save your file.
  (You can keep a backup file, but you won't really
need it)

Now, use VMS CRC.  Extract the zip to the folder where your
game file is.  Rename your file with a .VMS extention.  For
example, Change SHENMUE1_000.dat to something simple like
SHEN.VMS.

Now, right-click VMS CRC and go to properties.  Click the
"Program" Tab and in the "Cmd line" Erase what you see there and
enter "VMS_CRC SHEN.VMS" (Or whatever the name of the VMS file you
gave it).   Run the program and it will change the checksum 
value of the VMS file.

Congratulations, you have just made a compatible VMU file for your
UK Shenmue 2.  But of course, you aren't done, now there's the process
of getting it back to your VMU....

E) STEP 3: GETTING YOUR CONVERTED SAVE BACK INTO YOUR VMU
---------------------------------------------------------

CAUTION: The following upload method is not known to work on
BBA-compatible DC browsers (I.E. Planetweb 3.0).  If anyone
knows of an alternate method, please contact me.

There are several ways that's been known to do this.
You can ask on the Shenmue 2 Gamefaqs boards for more
info.  But in the meantime, here's my method....

Unzip the DCI_VMI program and in the Cmd line
write "DCI_VMI SHEN.VMS"

Run the program and you'll be asked a series of Questions:


IS *name* a <D>ata file or a <G>ame file? D

Filename for DCI Output file: any you want, so long 
as you know what it is (I.E. enter "Shen". The file will 
convert to "Shen.DCI")

Filename that appears in VMU directory:  SHENMUE1_000
  (Note: This is important.  Shenmue 2 will be looking for this name.
   If it's not there, it won't detect the file.)

VMI program description: NONE (You won't need the VMI file)

VMI copyright information: NONE (Again, you won't need the VMI file)

That's it for the DCI part. You should have a nice converted DCI file.

Now go to www.Booyaka.com. 


Click "Console Development", then "Sega(r) Dreamcast(tm) 
VMU Development", and finally "Dreamcast saved games". If you
hadn't signed up for an account, you should be prompted to. 
Don't worry; Signup is free and credit card isn't required.

Now, here you should have the choice to upload DCM or DCI 
saves. Simply upload the DCI file. Sometimes you'll get a page 
error after uploading. Hit back on the browser a couple of times, 
if you see your file, it's uploaded. The upload response page is 
a bit wacky, so that's why it reads as an error.

That's it for uploading. Now go to your DC browser, head to 
booyaka.com, enter your name and password, and download your 
file.

You now have a Shenmue 1 data file prepared for play on the UK
Shenmue 2.  Enjoy.


F) SPECIAL THANKS TO:
---------------------

Bamargera and MaxTheRabbit:
  These guys have been constant visitors of the Shenmue 2
  Gamefaqs message boards.  While MaxTheRabbit was the one
  to have discovered the method, Bamargera has made sure to
  keep interest up for the method to become possible.  At least,
  That's what I believe.

Popoi:
  She's the one that told me to get this guide going.  Bamargera had
  given permission for the method to be distributed via FAQ so I she
  told me "Why don't you do it"?  Why not?  Everyone should have the
  ability to fully play Shenmue 2 regardless of country codes.

There are other people that I probably forgot to thank.  For that
I'm sorry.


Shenmue, Shenmue 2 and its characters are property of Yu Suzuki,
AM2, and Sega 1999, 2000, 2001.  Original save convertion methods
are properties of their owners.  Sega is not responsible for any
methods told within this guide and are not to blame for any problems
that may occur. (Not as if converting your file will make your 
Dreamcast explode or anything).  He wears sunglasses, a black leather 
jacket and has a tattoo on his arm.  Space Harrier rules.


Keep Circulating the FAQs.


*Twang*