How to open/extract PS2 SSH files?

Hello, everyone!

I recently started getting interested in modding EA's MVP Baseball 2005 after I recently got back into playing the game.

What I want to do is to make a mod that will turn default controller button icons into PlayStation icons.

So, instead of it looking like this, I want it to look like this.

I know that this isn't an MVP Baseball forum, but seeing how all the classic EA games share the same engine and can be modified using the same tools, I was hoping someone here would be able to help me in solving this problem.

Anyway. one way to create this mod that I want is by manually editing the images extracted from the game files, and replacing those button icons with PS icons, however, since I've never done graphics editing before, and I'm pretty sure it's a complicated process, I thought of a simpler method, and that is, I take the same files from the PS2 version of the game and replace them with the PC version, simple right?

Unfortunately, when I try to do this I stumble upon a problem where the files extracted from the PS2 game that contain the images I want, come with a different extension called SSH, which is something I wasn't able to find out how to open or extract them, no matter how much Googling I do.

On the PC port of the game, the same files that I'm looking for come with a FSH file extension, which can be simply extracted with tools like nfshtool, EA Graphics Editor, etc. These tools extract these files, and then give me proper images to work with.

On the other hand, if I try to use the same tools on the PS2 SSH files, I get an error or weird "pixelated"/corrupted rendering.

For example, here is how the PC FSH file contents look when viewed with EAGE

And here is how they look when I try to do it with SSH files while at the same time comparing the same file to the PC version.

Notice how as I said before the PS2 image files look "pixelated"/corrupted, whereas the PC file looks normal.

Does anyone know what these SSH files are, and how would someone be able to extract them and have normal looking files which I could use?

I've uploaded these files which I'm working with along with EAGE in the attachments if anyone is curious, and wants to take a look at it themselves. If the attachments don't work, here's a mirror link to Google Drive.

You can use EAGE to extract and preview files from the .BIG files provided. The files I'm looking to edit are within the "pitchslc.fsh/ssh" file.

Apologies for the long post, and thank you for reading this far.

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We were always more focused on the PC versions of NBA Live back in the day, so we didn't end up with many tools that were compatible with the console files (or as you noted, they kind of open those files, but not correctly). Most of the people who worked on those tools (and subsequent mods) are no longer active, so I'm not sure anyone will be able to provide any insight. After a quick Google search, it doesn't look like anyone else has had much luck working with the console files, either. As far as our resources though, yeah, they're pretty much exclusively PC.

We were always more focused on the PC versions of NBA Live back in the day, so we didn't end up with many tools that were compatible with the console files (or as you noted, they kind of open those files, but not correctly). Most of the people who worked on those tools (and subsequent mods) are no longer active, so I'm not sure anyone will be able to provide any insight. After a quick Google search, it doesn't look like anyone else has had much luck working with the console files, either. As far as our resources though, yeah, they're pretty much exclusively PC.

Ah, that's a shame. Still, thank you for the reply Andrew. I remember visiting this forum frequently back in the day, so I thought there might be someone still left who would be able to help me, but as you said, most of them have moved on.

I think I'll give up on trying to extract files from the PS2 version, and do manual image editing. Is there by any chance anyone on these forums, whether for NBA LIVE, or 2K games who's active in the modding community, particularly with image editing, who might be able to assist me in doing this, as I have literally zero knowledge about image/graphics editing, so I could use a little hand-holding

Check out mvpmods forum.

I think I'll give up on trying to extract files from the PS2 version, and do manual image editing. Is there by any chance anyone on these forums, whether for NBA LIVE, or 2K games who's active in the modding community, particularly with image editing, who might be able to assist me in doing this, as I have literally zero knowledge about image/graphics editing, so I could use a little hand-holding

There are definitely fewer people still around who worked on NBA Live's files, with most of the people who are still active being more familiar with NBA 2K. That makes it tough to specifically recommend someone who might possibly have the knowledge required. If there's anyone who's released a similar mod for NBA Live, they might be worth reaching out to via PM/email. If they're still lurking, or their email address is still up to date at least, they might still be reachable.

I think I'll give up on trying to extract files from the PS2 version, and do manual image editing. Is there by any chance anyone on these forums, whether for NBA LIVE, or 2K games who's active in the modding community, particularly with image editing, who might be able to assist me in doing this, as I have literally zero knowledge about image/graphics editing, so I could use a little hand-holding

There are definitely fewer people still around who worked on NBA Live's files, with most of the people who are still active being more familiar with NBA 2K. That makes it tough to specifically recommend someone who might possibly have the knowledge required. If there's anyone who's released a similar mod for NBA Live, they might be worth reaching out to via PM/email. If they're still lurking, or their email address is still up to date at least, they might still be reachable.

There's no need to specifically look for those who worked with NBA Live's files, all that I would like is to meet someone who knows graphics editing, which means anyone who created some texture mods, jerseys, courts, shoe mods, etc. So if you know anyone like that, please feel free to forward them to me.