First official Animal Crossing DLC

[DsPet]

> So dspet, how is the recompression coming?
Slowly. AFAIK: Nobody has an (working) open source implementation of the decompressor, much less an acceptable compression/recompression tool.
Even if I had that working, I'd probably wait a while before releasing DLC_Tool (for reasons stated below)

OLD question:
> how do you decide what hex value it becomes?
That's in the "DLC" data along with lots of other info. The data is almost identical to the data for the built-in items, so a lot is possible. I'm barely scratching the surface of crazy things you can do: http://www.aibohack.com/wii/crazy_pikmin.jpg

Eventually DLC_Tool will assign a 16-bit item code for any new 'hacked' DLC item. It should be consistent and placed in the gaps around the regular items (although that may not be critical). Hopefully I'll come up with a range for experimentation. Releasing a new item into the "wild" has more complications. You can't go back and change the number.
BTW: The only official DLC ("red Pikmin") uses code $AEB0 which is in the middle of the gap between the end of the built-in hats/masks and the start of the built-in glasses. Time will tell where they put other 'official' DLC.

> and what happens if one person has one thing as a hex value and someone else has another?
It appears that first one installed in the town wins. The DLC is not redownloaded. This will be a problem if a hacked items collide with official ones. Also if two hacked items use the same code, the first one will win. Any updates will not be seen in towns that have previously 'seen' the item.
I'm still looking to see if there is a 'version number' somewhere in the data or a way of forgetting a DLC item without WiiBrew (even if you get rid of all items in your pockets it is still in your catalogue and in the gamesave data).

Another reason why DLC_Tool will take some time before published. We need to understand how Nintendo is assigning codes to avoid future problems (ie. this is tricky to do even with the best intentions, can be very dangerous if people want to intentionally harm towns).
Not a danger for WiiBrew folks, since DLC_Tool will let you delete existing DLC items (as well as tweek them) for your town.
For the larger non-WiiBrew community, there is potential danger (ie. the more powerful the tool, the greater chance for damage in the hands of 'evil hackers')