Using a browser hack to facilitate on-the-fly RAM edits, modders now have the power to rename courses and tweak musical cues in Mario Kart 8 — and this is only the beginning.
Youtube user and Mario Kart speedrunner MrBean35000vr demonstrated these new abilities during a Twitch live stream this weekend. According to the description of the YouTube highlight reel below, the changes were achieved via a recently released browser hack and some additional code from his compatriot Chadderz, which enabled kernel reading and writing.
Simple tweaks, but MrBean35000vr says what we’re seeing is the key to changing everything about the game.
All of this may not look impressive, but it’s merely because we don’t even know where to start; we can do anything now, anything at all! Custom tracks, custom songs, you name it. We just have to decipher the RAM and work out how.
MrBean35000vr is adamant that this work will not be used for cheating, assuring worried YouTube commenters.
Remember guys: We’re not going to be encouraging cheating with this and won’t let our work be used for it. Our goal is to make game mods; custom tracks, etc. Relax and enjoy what we come up with 🙂
I just worry that there are other, more unscrupulous folks out there who now know this can be done, and won’t stop until they can do it to — or Nintendo patches the exploit once and for all.
First Mario Kart 8 hacks! [YouTube via GoNintendo]
Comments
24 responses to “Modders Begin Hacking Into Mario Kart 8”
Yeah not too happy about this, hopefully they shut it down…. jerks.
Yeah, I’m worried. They *say* this won’t be used to cheat, but someone out there will inevitably use it to cheat. It’s only a matter of time before online is completely ruined.
Jerks? Really?
I’m sorry, but if I purchase hardware, I have the right to use said hardware however I damn well feel, so long as it isn’t harming anyone else.
If I have fun finding exploits, then there isn’t anything wrong with that. Nintendo can patch it and issue fixes to prevent this from causing problems in your multiplayer games. But to say that people that find bugs and exploits in software [AND REPORT THEM PUBLICLY] are jerks is just downright ignorant.
The fact is, these exploits are present and possible in the code whether they had said anything or not. Would you prefer the exploits were not disclosed, and only used by those wanting to be dicks while Nintendo was none the wiser [thus, unable to patch the code]?
Cool your jets bro, I mainly meant that if I buy a game and get onto a server where people are using mods and hacks then that’s going to tarnish my experience…. all because some people get kicks out of it.
If it’s all done on the sidelines then I’m all for modding but being able to slot that into a legitimate game where unassuming players are playing kinda stinks.
ps I give Massive credit for people who find these exploits (because I couldn’t)… I’m just hoping it gets shut down and doesn’t affect the masses.
Call me when they fix N64 rainbow road
The only way they could fix rainbow road is by making it 3 laps again, that course is awesome.
That and put the shortcut back in directly after the starting line, the incredibly risky one that can essentially cut off half a lap. I spent hours trying to perfect that jump on the original.
I like that moomoo farm name better.
To be honest i havnt played mk8 after i learnt that the tracks sucked and the new handling and drifting.
The new tracks are fantastic actually. And the handling/drifting is more or less identical to MK Wii, apart from outward drift bikes being buffed (they are much better now).
Meh. I grew up on mk64 and a ton of ds mario kart. Back the you could build up drift by spamming left to right, now.you have to get drift by the amount of degree turned.
That kind of drifting lead to snaking… And killed online play for ds.
I prefer it this way actually.
Yeah, that’s to remove snaking. Snaking was not a good thing.
Back when mkds was out, i had to work for my games,20$ a month and ds games were 70ish, so i learnt to play alot of what i had and got good at it. In that case it was heaps of mkds.
I managed to get a top ghost time wich was cool and all, but know i try and play mk8 and i get my hide handed to me by japanese school girl, its quite depressing.
Long life story short: im just so ised to the old style of raceing and race to win that i find it hard to adjust to the whole “loose at the start of the race to get boss items” formula.
A very skilled player will still win. That technique you describe are for people who cannot rely on their own skills to win, and that will never beat the more skilled player. Snaking may be gone, but there are other expert techniques that will guarantee an edge to ability over luck. Specially now that there are additional ways of dealing with blue shells.
The new tracks are amazing, incredible amount of options and strategy, and just beautiful.
Drift has improved too, don’t miss out on the fun because of a few internet jerks. Play it for yourself.
I have. I pre ordered the blue shell edition and played it. I then silently raged and put it back in the case.
The shell is nice mind you.
You sound like a odd one… how could you rage silently? I’m yet to meet someone who hasn’t agreed mario kart 8 is pure excellence…
Either you a trolling or just a special kind of person 😉
I actually find it kinda lackluster compared to Sonic Racing Transformed.
Or even diddy kong racing for that matter.
I was amazed at how dkr was so freaking good! Even the music was insane.
I hate this drifting business, I want old mario kart
Yep. I agree
Drifting was a great addition.
Have you ever tried to use a heavy character without drifting? It sucks! Your turn circles are awful.
Can someone explain how a browser hack lets you edit Mario Kart?
I imagine it’s got something to do with interrupting memory requests (much the same way as other hacks work). He’s probably not releasing the exact details on how it’s done to avoid others abusing it to cheat.
Mario Kart 64 hasn’t aged as well as we remember. The tracks are still great, especially for their time, but the karts handled very weirdly – you went left when you pushed right, and vice-versa, before starting to turn the direction you wanted to. The vehicles felt like there wasn’t much weight behind them, which was the biggest change in Double Dash. The weight was a bit too much in Double Dash, however, as some turns became physically impossible at relatively low speeds.
DS and Wii balanced it out a bit, but the games didn’t hit control perfection until 7. 7 controlled perfectly, the only problem was that the different kart pieces didn’t really change anything… until 8. 8’s kart pieces can completely and utterly change how your vehicle controls, to the point where you might find certain combinations unplayable (but others might think they’re the best).
8 is a perfection of a system that has evolved over the years (except for the year that was Super Circuit), and no amount of Nostalgia for Mario Kart 64 can change that. Rainbow Road was lovely as a child, because it was easy. But fans complained about it so much that they put it into F-Zero X with all the rails removed as punishment. I loved Rainbow Road 64 when I was little, but my 3 and 4 year older friends always hated the track, their biggest complaint being that it was too long.
Honestly, they should have kept Rainbow Road 64 as it was, but just reduced it to 2 laps.
R.I.P, Mario Kart 8.