Wild Area News: Common Questions and other info

[theSLAYER]

What is "Wild Area News"?

In Gen 8, Promoted/Event Raids has been introduced as a way for players to try to encounter (and potentially catch) mons that were event exclusive, or have the stuff that are harder to find normally to have a more common encounter rate.

Examples of event exclusives:
Gigantamax Milcery, Gigantamax Hattrem

Examples of 'them being harder to find normally"
Any of the featured Gigantamaxes (normally 5-10% rare den only, normally 5* only)

 

How does one update the "Wild Area News" in game?

Either grab a Mystery Gift in-game (Serial or Nintendo Network [internet gift])
or use the Mystery Gift -> Update Wild Area News option.

How are they stored in the save?

They are stored as 4 to 6 different blocks on the save.
PKHeX can dump them via the Block Data button.

The 4 blocks are KBonusRewards, KDaiEncount, KDropRewards and KNormalEncount.
kNormalEncountRigel1 was introduced for Isle of Armor,
kNormalEncountRigel2 was introduced for Crown Tundra.
 

The files have been seen on the Event Gallery. How can users import them?

Download the .rar, extract the 4 to 6 files from inside the archive, and import the 4 to 6 files into the corresponding blocks.
There is a tutorial regarding blocks importing.

All 4 to 6 files must be imported from the same index to make the raids appear in-game.

 

What are Indexes?

Indexes are the way we implemented to differentiate the various changes to the Wild Area News files made by the server.
Indexes can be observed from the files.

So far, the first byte in the file denotes the index of the file, and whenever the server updates the Wild Area News,
and the server always increments the Index by one, even if the raids are the same.

While the index on the first byte is in Hexadecimal, we name the archive in Decimal.
(So 0x0E as 14, for example)

As an example, when a certain event is ongoing (A), and they interrupt (A) with a different event (B).
When (B) ends and they go back to (A), as opposed to using the original index (A) had, they (so far) +1 to (B).

At some times, there is no rhyme and reason to why the servers change indexes for the same event distribution.

Importing older Wild Area News without rigel1, into saves that are from 1.2.0 and above

As of v.1.2.0 of the game, they added a new file called normal_encount_rigel1,
which is used to activate wild area events in Isle of Armor.

For wild area events Index 24 and lesser, there is no need to import a file into kkNormalEncountRigel1.


Importing older Wild Area News without rigel2, into saves that are from 1.3.0 and above

As of v.1.3.0 of the game, they added a new file called normal_encount_rigel2,
which is used to activate wild area events in Crown Tundra.

For wild area events Index 39 and lesser, there is no need to import a file into kkNormalEncountRigel2.

What does some of the details in the comments mean?

Least/most amount of event dens on reset - the amount of event dens on reset, with the reset either being forced by day change, or by clearing all the dens in a sub-region (Galar/IoA/CT)

Chance of event from wishing piece - the chance of getting the event den by using a Wishing Piece. The Event VS ROM dens roll occurs before Purple light VS Red light roll.

Checksum over Pokémon encounter data - This gives users a quick look over whether the encounter from the files are exactly the same. For example:

Spoiler

It can be seen the checksum of the Pokémon encounter for Index 68 and Index 66 are the same value (0x3426), which means the encounter data and reward table used are exactly the same.

An additional point I'll like to bring up: the files are only checksum'd over Shield's Pokémon Encounter area, so that the checksum won't change simply because the index changes.
 

[AliceTheAlice]

@theSLAYER, I am repeating this question here because I feel like I will not be the only one to ask this or be confused.

There is a Basic & a Rigel version of all the newer Events in the Events Gallery. Which one is the correct one to use my game?

I have not seen the answer to this posted ANYWHERE. (Since I suspect there may be a 3rd or 4th once the 2nd Expansion comes out, I figured clarity would help people.)

[theSLAYER]

Hey!

It hasn't been posted anywhere because simply, I have no idea which is used.

Presently, my assumption is that, both are used, and they serve a particular purpose, presumably:
a) if you are hosting a raid on Galar Mainland, it's normal_encount
b) if you are hosting a raid on Isle of Armor, it's normal_encount_rigel (rigel being the codename for IoA).

While the file themselves have subtle differences, using Index 21 as an example, the values between both (relating to which mon is hosted, or the rewards it yields) are actually the same, even raid rewards.
It's possible they have the raids separated between vanilla and DLC, as they intend to have an event in the future which will split.
(maybe only DLC gains access to super special raids, where vanilla will have previously ongoing event raids, all speculation of course)

Regardless, you need all 5 files in 1.2.0 onwards.

[Curxxx]

On 7/17/2020 at 2:03 PM, theSLAYER said:

...Regardless, you need all 5 files in 1.2.0 onwards.

Does this mean we can’t import older events into 1.2.0/1.2.1 if they don’t have the 5th file?

[theSLAYER]

3 minutes ago, Curxxx said:

Does this mean we can’t import older events into 1.2.0/1.2.1 if they don’t have the 5th file?

unsure, never tested it.

[theSLAYER]

Update for the most part, I finally got my head around how the bonus/drop rewards are stored.

drop_rewards

Spoiler

0xB8 in size, starts with a 0x10 and ends with a 0xFFFF.
If those are back to back, they'll be easy to find.
Within the 0xB8 block, the items are rather easy to find.
(1*)(2*)(3*)(4*)(5*)(item value 2 bytes)(unknown 2 bytes)(0xFFFF)
Can hold up to 10 items.

The value for 1* - 5* is out of a hundred, it stands for percentage chance.

Here it is in action:

Example of it being parsed:

 

The one thing I'm unsure about, is a way to derive the Table_IDs from the hex file itself (if at all possible)

bonus rewards

Spoiler

0x68 in size
Similar to drop_rewards, starts with a 0x10 and ends with a 0xFFFF.
If those are back to back, they'll be easy to find:

Within the 0xB8 block, the items are rather easy to find.
(1*)(2*)(3*)(4*)(5*)(item value 2 bytes)(unknown 2 bytes)(0xFFFF).
Can hold up to 5 items.


The value in the byte is basically amount given.

Parser in action

The one thing I'm unsure about, is a way to derive the Table_IDs from the hex file itself (if at all possible)

edit: If you saw what I wrote about "unsure about table_IDs", they were found in the file.
They're 3 bytes after the "0x10".

[Curxxx]

1 hour ago, theSLAYER said:

unsure, never tested it.

Alright, well for anyone else wondering - it doesn’t look like we can unless we find a way to trick the game. Not been able to get any older events to work on 1.2.0.

[theSLAYER]

5 minutes ago, Curxxx said:

Alright, well for anyone else wondering - it doesn’t look like we can unless we find a way to trick the game. Not been able to get any older events to work on 1.2.0.

I believe if that is the case, you could just make a copy of the same version of normal_encount and name it normal_encount_rigel.

[rhebyel]

Thank you for the tutorial, confirmed working... but is there such a file that can activate all wild area event? *just wondering*

[theSLAYER]

19 minutes ago, rhebyel said:

that can activate all wild area event?

*All*?

Wild Area Events are thoroughly not found in the ROM. The data can only be found in those files.
It's not as simple as setting a bunch of bitflags in the save to true.

Additionally, the files can barely store one Wild Area Event, not to mention all.

Here's an example:
There is a wild area events (pre 1.2.0) that wanted to feature all available Gigantamaxes then, and had to sacrifice the normal slots to do so.
(If you want to check out what the slot comprises of, you can check the comments)

 

So sadly no, there is no way to activate all event raids
I hope that explanation was sufficient.

[rhebyel]

3 hours ago, theSLAYER said:

So sadly no, there is no way to activate all event raids
I hope that explanation was sufficient.

Understood. Really appreciate all of the efforts you guys put on this. Pardon my dumbass question to think it's like a tick box to activate everything all at once. lol 

[theSLAYER]

3 minutes ago, rhebyel said:

Understood. Really appreciate all of the efforts you guys put on this. Pardon my dumbass question to think it's like a tick box to activate everything all at once. lol 

No worries no worries. Some people may think the data is in the ROM and could simply be toggled on and off, but that really isn't the case. :3

[stebrick]

Hello there,

If I dump a wild area event in the past (like, 1 year ago) through pkhex as per the tutorial, and catch a pokemon via the event myself today, is it even a legit encounter?  Isn't the date met should be like, 1 year ago?   How do we explain its late encounter if being asked?  Apart from that, is there any legality issue I should be wary of from dumping a wild area event? (Sorry I'm a newbie so I cant be sure what else might be a concern here)  I heard some people can create an artifical shining event from the scratch.  How do we even know if an event dumped is legit?

Another question, how many wild area events can be dumped at a time into a save file?  It seems to me from the above only 1 event can be dumped at a time?  If that's the case it seems pretty troublesome to get them.  I already missed a lot of the events in the past  

Edit: Spelling

Edited June 18, 2021 by stebrick

[theSLAYER]

4 minutes ago, stebrick said:

If I dump a wild area event in the past (like, 1 year ago) through pkhex as per the tutorial, and catch a pokemon via the event myself today, is it even a legit encounter?  Isn't the date met should be like, 1 year ago? 

depends on location it was caught in, it can be legal.
For example, you could have grabbed a wild area event from the network once, and never updated your Switch wild area news ever again.
 

Updating your game version won't change your wild area events. So for example, if you're on the Delibird event, it would be legal as long as it's cause in Galar Wild Area.

Also, the date doesn't matter: it follows your Switch date, and you could have set it to any date...

6 minutes ago, stebrick said:

How do we explain its late encounter if being asked?

I explained it in the last line above :3

6 minutes ago, stebrick said:

Apart from that, is there any legality issue I should be wary of from dumping a wild area event?

I don't wanna go through all the hoops to describe every situation.
Basically, just catch stuff you can get legally, and you won't have to worry ever.

7 minutes ago, stebrick said:

I heard some people can create an artifical shining event from the scratch.  How do we even know if an event dumped is legit?

If the mon is on a game save that can be dumped, it is automatically not legit.

I think the word you're looking for is "legal".
There are a few shinies that can happen with den manipulation (RNG or save editing)
1. Seed manipulation. If you manipulate the "seed" which the game uses to call the Pokemon's stats, it would appear Legal.
2. PID editing. Editing the PID can make the mon look shiny, however if you check closer to try to match all the stats generated from the seed, it may end up being illegal.
PKHeX doesn't check for this just yet because the seed -> EC/PID/IVs/HT/WT process takes a while.

If you didn't understand what I just said.. well, I don't know how to make it clearer. This isn't the right place to clarify that.

10 minutes ago, stebrick said:

Another question, how many wild area events can be dumped at a time into a save file?  It seems to me from the above only 1 event can be dumped at a time?  If that's the case it seems pretty troublesome to get them.  I already missed a lot of the events in the past  

Your usage of "dumped into a save" baffles me. I'm guessing you meant restored into a save.
Dumping usually mean the extraction of data to create a file. Given you're asking about putting files into the save, it's not the act of extracting.

Officially, you can have 1 set at a time.

In theory, you probably could have 3 different sets at a time, (1 for Galar Mainland, 1 for IoA, 1 for CT), but I'm not fully certain it'll function properly.

[stebrick]

1 hour ago, theSLAYER said:

Also, the date doesn't matter: it follows your Switch date, and you could have set it to any date...

Thank you for the quick reply, and sorry for my confusing choice of words.

Ummmm...I had no idea that the date of encounter can be maniuplated in the Switch system.  Does it only apply to mons encountered in Wild area events, or or to all Gen8 mons?  Does maniuplating time cause other legality issues?  Like, if I return the time to the past, I will have many mons, mystery gifts coming from the future.  Also I heard maniuplating time can cause issues to or interrupt the current normal wild area event held by nintendo?  What are those issues and is there any workaround to remedy them?

A bit off topic but does this date maniuplation apply to other gens (1-7)?  

1 hour ago, theSLAYER said:

Seed manipulation. If you manipulate the "seed" which the game uses to call the Pokemon's stats, it would appear Legal.

Is it legal if I just import the wild area events from the github of this site, capture the mon and edit its IVs and shinny myself in pkhex?  IVs should be  fine?  Shinny tho I'm not sure but if it's not shinny locked it should be fine too? 

Btw, I actually editted a few mons conveniently this way more than 1 year ago: directly grabbed pk8 files (resulting from wild events) from RoG-PC > changed the IVs > Set me as the latest OT name > Change the OT name to something else to make it look like as if it's traded from someone else instead of RoG.   Is it also ok and legal to do it this way?   Should I change the original SID and TID of those mons too? I've been repeatedly thinking this lately, I probably should change SID and TID right? Duplicating a mon with original SID and TID from an open source sounds too risky when everyone can have those mons...? But then idk how to generate a new and valid SID and TID and I hope i can get some advice in this regard.

And yes, I found this link when you mentioned "seed manipulation" but sounds much more complicated than the method I've mentioned above and I wonder why and when should I use the tutorial below?

 

[theSLAYER]

9 minutes ago, stebrick said:

Does it only apply to mons encountered in Wild area events, or or to all Gen8 mons?

All SWSH mons.

 

10 minutes ago, stebrick said:

changed the IVs

I advise you to not do that.

Also from this point onward, I'm only answering wild area related questions. This isn't the right thread for all the legality questions you may have.

11 minutes ago, stebrick said:

Is it legal if I just import the wild area events from the github of this site, capture the mon and edit its IVs and shinny myself in pkhex?  IVs should be  fine?  Shinny tho I'm not sure but if it's not shinny locked it should be fine too? 

capturing imported wild area events is fine, as long as they are in the right areas.

Changing their stats haphazard is not.

 

12 minutes ago, stebrick said:

why and when should I use the tutorial below?

how to manipulate wild area raids in your save file, and encounter what you want in game.

[Cr4z1p0w3r]

How can I go back to the original values? (before loading the event files)

[theSLAYER]

3 hours ago, Cr4z1p0w3r said:

How can I go back to the original values? (before loading the event files)

Officially? You can never get it back. The best you could do is update to the latest version.

unofficially? Just use the null ID file.

[Cr4z1p0w3r]

What is the null file? Where I can find it? Sorry for all the questions but I'm new to this

[theSLAYER]

18 hours ago, Cr4z1p0w3r said:

What is the null file? Where I can find it? Sorry for all the questions but I'm new to this

 

[rinakun_takeda101]

how about the files kNormalEncountRigel1 and kNormalEncountRigel2 doesn't include the null files I can't seem to find sorry I'm new for this stuff.

[theSLAYER]

58 minutes ago, rinakun_takeda101 said:

how about the files kNormalEncountRigel1 and kNormalEncountRigel2 doesn't include the null files I can't seem to find sorry I'm new for this stuff.

Use the kNormalEncount file for those blocks.

[monachito1]

Hello,

 

I recently started a new game and I have been unable to import any wild area events to my new save file. I have tried importing blocks separately and the game won't recognize imported raids and if I do the import blocks from folders then I get an error. I have used the last 2 versions of PKHEX. Can someone help me out I know in the past I was able to do this no problem. I have reached the wild area on the new game.  Any help would be appreciated thanks in advance. 

 

@theSLAYER if you could help me would be appreciated.

Edited April 1 by monachito1