User:Ballistic Planet/PVZ2 CTG Hacking Guide/Archive



Originally, most of this guide was from Chompy the Great, so I dedicate this to him (even tho he's blocked. rip). I've pretty much reworked the page all together, because I've added in quite a few of my own hacks.

If you want an easier to digest guide (that doesn't include as many hacks) then check out the guide from my good friend here.

Important notes
Before hacking, make a backup of your .obb and .section file in case you end up doing the hack wrong and subsequently crashing the game, or else, you'll have to re-download the game. You may need to keep five copies, just in case.

It is should be noted that you should always open HxD Hex Editor and open the .section file with it, so it isn't included in the instructions.

As of the 3.4.4 update, the OBB has been compressed, but an awesome user named 1Zulu has released a tool to that patches the OBB. To download it, go here. You can edit all post-3.4 OBBs!

Credit to, Chompy the Great for making all of this possible!

''NOTE: This blog was originally* copy-pasted from Brainulator9, who in turn copy-pasted it from ChompytheGreat. Credit to him for giving me the idea for this.''

*Not anymore

Terminology
There's some terminology that I will use here. Here's a list.


 * Nullify = To fill with 0's
 * Delete= Nullify

Sun costs
This is a little hard for me to explain, I do apologize. NOTE: This hack is explained through HxD Hex Editor.


 * 1) Search for {PlantName}Default. (IE: BonkChoyDefault)
 * 2) If you see POPANIM_PLANT_{PLANTNAME} shortly after it, you're in the wrong place. Press F3, (or search again if not using HxD) to search for the next time this phrase is used.
 * 3) Find the nearest $ sign after {PlantName}Default.
 * 4) Change the next two bytes to the hex values below.

For a list of plants internal names, see here.

For example, to make Banana Launcher cost 150 sun, change "24 F4 03 91"  to " 24 96 01 91" (in hex) after BananaDefault.

This method is for plants costing 150-600 sun.

The method is slightly different for plants that cost 125 sun and below. Due to how the game works, plants that normally cost 125 sun and below have their sun costs stored in a single byte, rather than two like plants that cost 150 or above.

For example, to make Peashooter cost 75 sun, change "24 64 91"  to " 24 4B 91" (in hex) after PeashooterDefault.

For plants that cost 125 and below, use this table:

Unfortunately, it isn't possible to get these plants to cost more than 125 sun.

Different recharge speeds
Search for {PlantName}Default and change the two selected bytes on this picture (it's not always " @", it can be " A", " B", "pA" or "pB") to the hex values above.

Shortcuts
Credit to for teaching me how to do this.

Make all plants cost 0 Sun, instant recharge, and instantly recharged at the start of a level.

For 0 Sun:

Search for "Cost!" and nullify it

For instant recharge:

Search for " PacketCooldown!" and Nullify it

For instantly recharged plants at the start of a level:

Search for "StartingCooldown!" and Nullify it

Insta-chomp
Remove Chomper's and Toadstool's chewing times.

For Chomper For Toadstool
 * 1) Search for "ChewTimeSeconds".
 * 2) There you see dots, then 2 crazy symbols, then dots again.
 * 3) Nullify the 2 crazy symbols.
 * 1) Search for "NormalChewTimeSeconds"
 * 2) There you see dots, then 2 crazy symbols afterwards.
 * 3) Nullify the 2 crazy symbols.

No sleep Spring Bean

 * 1) Search for "SpringBeanDefault"
 * 2) Below you should see "AttackRecoveryTime"
 * 3) In "AttackRecoveryTime".. A..", nullify "A" and the space before "A"

Lightning Reed Hacks
Make Lightning Reed's PF cloud deal  insanely big  amounts of damage, make it fly faster, make Lightning Reed's chain lightning have more bounces. Basically, this mod makes Lightning Reed one powerful zeus-like plant.

More bounces
 * 1) Search "lightningreeddefault".
 * 2) Press F3.
 * 3) Below you should find "NumShotBounces$".
 * 4) The dot next to the dollar sign's hex code is "03", now change it to "0A".

Gotta go fast
 * 1) Search "lightningreeddefault".
 * 2) Press F3.
 * 3) Below you should find "PlantFoodCloudSpeed"..úC.."
 * 4) Now change "C" to "D".

More damage
 * 1) Search for "lightningreeddefault".
 * 2) Press F3
 * 3) Below you should find "PlantFoodLightningBoltDamage".. A.."
 * 4) Now change "A" to "B".

Note: When changing the letters, it is important for it to be  capital letter , using small letters makes a  huge  difference.

Unlock Marigold
Search for "IsZenGardenTreasurePlant" and nullify it.

Always free Tile Turnips

 * 1) Search for "PowerPlant" until you will see "SecondTileCost" and "$" after that.
 * 2) Change the numbers after "$" to "80 00" and your turnips will be free.

Infinite Duration Puff-shrooms

 * 1) Search for "ExpirationDurationSecond$<"
 * 2) Delete the "<"

Chard Guard Hacks
Infinite Leaves


 * 1) Search for "PushesPerLeft$"
 * 2) Change the "." next to the "$" from 01 to 7F.

Chard Knockback


 * 1) Search for "ChardGuardDefault"
 * 2) Below, you should see "KnockbackOffset"
 * 3) After KnockbackOffset, there will be a "C". Turn that "C" into a "D".

NOTE:Unsure if this works with Spring Bean'

Sun-shroom grows from Stage 1-3 instantly

 * 1) Search for "TimeToGrowInSeconds"
 * 2) There should be a "$" afterwards, followed by a ".". Nullify the ".". This'll get it to grow to stage 2 instantly.
 * 3) Afterwards, find the next "$". There will be an "H" next to it. Nullify the "H". This'll get it from stage 2-3 instantly. If you did the previous step, Sun-shroom should be stage 3 right when you plant it!

Make Gold Leaf Plantable in all worlds
Simply search for "ValidStages" and nullify it.

''NOTE: This has the side effect of making Lily Pad, Tangle Kelp and Hot Potato selectable in all worlds too. This has no effect for Tangle Kelp and Hot Potato, and Lily Pad can be planted, but it doesn't do anything.''

Kernel-pult always shoots butter

 * 1) Search for "ButterChance". You will see "ButterChance"..€>"
 * 2) Change the ">" into a "?"

Bowling Bulb's heads recharge all at the same time

 * 1) Search for "AmmoRefreshTime"
 * 2) You should see AmmoRefreshTime, followed by ", then €@.
 * 3) Nullify the €@.

<font color=#00CCCC>Infi-nut with infinite regenerations, or instant revival from the dead
<font color=NavyBlue>Infinite Regenerations


 * 1) Search for "HolonutDefault"
 * 2) Below you should see "DelayBeforeRegenFromDamage", with some symbols. Those symbols are actually the EXACT same symbols as the ones used for the mediocre recharge.
 * 3) Change the symbols to the instant recharge as shown in the table above.

<font color=Brown>Instant Revival


 * 1) Search for "HolonutDefault"
 * 2) Below, you should see "DelayBeforeRecoverFromDeath", followed by some symbols. Those are the EXACT same symbols as the ones used for the mediocre recharge.
 * 3) Change the symbols to the instant recharge as shown in the table above.

<font color=#00CCCC>Hurrikale the blow hard

 * 1) Search for "GroundZombieBlowingSpeed"
 * 2) After a little after that you should see an "@". Change that to an "A"

<font color=Silver>Ghost Pepper and <font color=Green>Lava Guava 's explosion deal big damage
For Ghost Pepper


 * 1) Search for "GhostPepperDefault"
 * 2) Scroll down to where you see "DeathExplosionDamage"..áC"
 * 3) Change the "C" into a "D"

For <font color=Green>Lava Guava


 * 1) Search for "LavaGuavaDefault"
 * 2) Scroll down until you find "ExplosionDamage"..HC"
 * 3) Change the "C" into a "D"

Zombot spawning
Edit what the Zombots summon. Note: There is currently no way to edit what Zombot Dark Dragon summons, this only works for the four-legged cyclop zombots.
 * 1) Search for "ZombossSpawnJump" until you find something about future zombies. (for example: future, future_armor1) Just press  F3  to continously search for it.
 * 2) Once you find it, go here. That is where the code names of all zombies are.
 * 3) Now replace. Remember to  nullify  extra space if you want to replace something that has less number of letters than the original one.

Zombot battles with new plants
Edit plants in conveyor belts.
 * 1) Search for "zombossmech_{choose either "egypt", "pirate", "cowboy", "future", "dark", or "beach"}
 * 2) When you find it, scroll up and down until you see some list of plants.
 * 3) Edit them. Remember to nullify if the new plant has less letters than the original.

Note: This is for Zomboss Battles only, editing plants on other conveyor-belt levels is still possible, but i still don't know what to search to find your desired conveyor-belt level, aside from boss battles.

Seed-Choosing Zombots
Make zomboss battles seed selection levels. Originally copied from this thread. Credit to for making the original thread. I've changed the wording around, but it's still generally the same his thread.


 * 1) Search for the code name of any boss
 * Now, you should edit 3 things
 * 1) First, you need to find "CurrentLevel..ConveyorBelt". You need to change it to SeedBank. (If you edit ConveyorBelt into SeedBank, the result would be SeedBankBelt, so you need to nullify the Belt, if you do so, the result should be SeedBank....)
 * Now, you need to search for ConveyerBelt ALONE, no words next to it to it. Change the ConveyorBelt into SeedBank (Once again, the result will be SeedBankBelt, nullify the Belt.)
 * Now, here comes the most annoying part. You need to search ConveyorBeltProperties, you need to change it into SeedBankProperties (NOTE, you have to edit from start, as in ConveyorBeltProperties, then SeedeyorBeltProperties, then SeedBankBeltProperties, then SeedBankPropertiesoperties, nullify the operties at the very end.)

Boss code names:

Sphinx-inator: zombossmech_egypt

Plank Walker: zombossmech_pirate

War Wagon: zombossmech_cowboy

Tommorrow Tron: zombossmech_future

Dark Dragon: zombossmech_dark

Sharktonic Sub: zombossmech_beach

Tuskmaster 10,000 BC: zombossmech_iceage

Aerostatic Gondola: zombbosmech_lostcity

Jester hacks
Edit what Jester Zombie deflects.
 * 1) Search for "JuggleableProjectiles"
 * 2) Below there you should see projectile names.
 * 3) Now replace one of the projectiles with the one you want.

Note: You can only replace and remove, not add, so you have to make him vulnerable to a projectile he originally can deflect and make him immune to projectiles he can't deflect.

Random Sun Falling
This hack is hard to explain, but it makes sun fall from the sky more frequently. It's quite erratic; you can have 3 suns fall at the same time! This makes some levels not even need sun producing plants. This hack was found by


 * 1) Search for "SunCountdownMax". You will see a $, followed by a dot.
 * 2) Nullify the dot.

Switcheroo
NOTE: This is more game specific to me than plant specific.

Switch the places of plants or zombies in the almanac and the seed selection screen. Not really a beneficial hack, but you can do it anyway.
 * 1) Search for "TypeOrder."
 * 2) You should see a list of plants first. (zombies are in the bottom)
 * 3) Edit the names. You can only edit plants or zombies with the same number of letters. So for example, switch Torchwood with Chili Bean.

Note:  Never in under any circumstances  edit a plant to be a plant that is already there. For example, there's already a Chili Bean, and you replace Torchwood with Chili Bean, there cannot be 2 same plants, or else it crashes.

Extra Endless Zone Card costs nothing

 * 1) Search for "ExtraCardCost$"
 * 2) Delete the "$"

Editing the Game's text
Edit the game text, that includes, almanac entries, plant names, zombie names, trophy names, but  not  achievement names.
 * 1) Search for the  exact  name of the game text. That means, "Ctrl + F", and remember to  check the Unicode box in the search box before searching. Editing game text is different than editing others, this time, you don't search code names. Example: Don't search "holonut", search "Infi-nut" instead.
 * 2) Now edit it, but  keep the dots. One small mistake and all game text goes "<MISSING>"
 * 3) Now this is the hard-to-explain part: If your edited text is shorter than the original,  nullify  the remaining, but in nullifying, the other hex codes are  not  00, but is  0A . Try to find the pattern starting from the end of the originally nullified code. For example, the original nullifying pattern is (starting backwards) is 00 0A 00 0A, just keep that pattern going until you get to the edited text. For almanac entries, for the ending letter, the code next to the nullified "00", next to the letter,  must be 2E .

New credits
Edit the credits.
 * 1) Search for names or stuff in the credits. No need to "codify" it. Just for the pure word, it means it has spaces with the right capital letters if needed.
 * 2) Press the case sensitive option (only if you type the  exact thing in the credits.)
 * 3) Replace the names with yours, no need to type in code, just type normal. (it means with space)

Restore Power Pinch

 * 1) Search for "Make new powerups"
 * 2) Scroll down a bit until you find the  exact  words "PowerupFlickzombie" (must include the capital F and P)
 * 3) Replace the "Flick" part with "Pinch"

Useless hacks
There's no point to these, but they're possible!


 * To remove all costumes, search "CostumeList" and nullify it. This method removes all costumes, there's no way to choose which costumes to keep or to remove. Also, since the 2.9 update, you may not want to do this.