Split/Second ButtonNames: Xbox button names in the game's prompts

Play Split/Second (PC, 2010) with a controller and its hints read like a DirectInput debug screen:

STEER Axis X Neg AND TAP Axis Z Pos TO DRIFT AND EARN POWER PRESS Button 1 TO TRIGGER LEVEL 1 POWER PLAYS

With this mod they read the way they did on the Xbox:

STEER LS LEFT AND TAP LT TO DRIFT AND EARN POWER PRESS A TO TRIGGER LEVEL 1 POWER PLAYS

On the Steam release, or don't want to edit game files? SplitSecond-PadFix 1.1+ does the same rename in memory while the game runs (on by default), which works on both the Steam release and the DLC build. This script is the file-based alternative for the DLC build.

It renames the controller entries in the game's English text table. Keyboard prompts already use normal key names ("LCtrl", "Enter", "PageUp") and stay as they are, apart from the one odd name, "RMenu", which becomes "RAlt".

What gets renamed

The game showed	Now shows	Controller input
Button 1 / 2 / 3 / 4	A / B / X / Y	face buttons
Button 5 / 6	LB / RB	bumpers
Button 7 / 8	VIEW / MENU	Back / Start on a 360 pad
Button 9 / 10	LS CLICK / RS CLICK	stick clicks
Axis Z Pos / Axis Z Neg	LT / RT	triggers (one shared axis)
Axis X Neg / Pos, Axis Y Neg / Pos	LS LEFT / RIGHT, LS UP / DOWN	left stick
Right Axis X Neg / Pos, Right Axis Y Neg / Pos	RS LEFT / RIGHT, RS UP / DOWN	right stick
Pov Button 1	D-PAD	D-pad
RMenu (keyboard)	RAlt	Right Alt

The names follow the wired Xbox 360 DirectInput layout, which is what the game expects from a controller. That is what you get from a wired 360 pad, or from any Xbox controller with SplitSecond-PadFix (needed for Bluetooth controllers). The names are in capitals because every hint in the game is.

Status

Early, tested on one install only. Please read this before relying on it.

Tested: on the DLC-port data, all 22 names are found and renamed, --apply refuses to run twice, and --restore gives back a byte-identical file (checked against a copy of the original).

Not tested yet:

• How it looks in game. The names are in the file, but nobody has confirmed every hint, menu and the Options → Controls screen shows them as intended.
• Windows 10 and Python versions other than 3.13 (3.8 or newer should work).
• Steam libraries in unusual places. If the script doesn't find the game, pass --game.

Known limitations:

• Doesn't work on the plain Steam release. Its text table is compressed, so the script finds none of the names and refuses to change anything. It needs the community DLC port's data (see Requirements). On Steam, use PadFix 1.1+ instead (tested there: the names were in the game's text table 2 seconds after start).
• English only.
• Text, not button icons.
• The names assume the wired Xbox 360 layout (a wired 360 pad, or SplitSecond-PadFix). With PadFix's SwapTriggers=1, the game's LT and RT labels will be the wrong way round, and other controllers or remapped layouts will get Xbox names that don't match their buttons.

It doesn't work for me

Please open an issue with the script's output, the size of your data\Resident.ark, and where you got the game (Steam, Steam + DLC port, other). A screenshot helps if a name shows up wrong in game.

Requirements

• Python 3.8 or newer, on Windows.
• The game data from the community DLC port (the build that adds the console DLC tracks and cars). Its data\Resident.ark keeps the text table uncompressed. The plain Steam release stores it compressed, so there the script finds none of the names and leaves the file alone. PadFix 1.1+ covers the Steam release in memory.

Use

Close the game first, then from a terminal:

python splitsecond-button-names.py            # show the current state
python splitsecond-button-names.py --apply    # rename
python splitsecond-button-names.py --restore  # put the original names back

The game folder is found through Steam's library list; add --game "D:\path\to\SplitSecond" to point at it yourself. Run --apply again after Steam re-downloads Resident.ark (an update or "Verify integrity of game files").

How it works

The game builds its hints from templates in its text table, such as STEER *ACTION_TURN_L* AND TAP *ACTION_BREAK* TO DRIFT AND EARN POWER. Each *ACTION_…* token is replaced by the display name of the input bound to that action, taken from the same table. For a controller those names are "Button 1", "Axis Z Pos" and so on.

The table addresses each string by its offset and ends it with a NUL byte. So the script:

1. scans Resident.ark for each original name as a complete NUL-terminated string, and refuses unless every name is found exactly once;
2. writes the new name over it, padded with NULs to the original length. Nothing is inserted or moved, the file size doesn't change, and no other string is touched;
3. records the offsets and original names in splitsecond-button-names.json next to the script, which --restore uses to write the originals back byte for byte (and only where it finds its own replacement).

It never edits while SplitSecond.exe is running.

Why these limits

• Icons inside the hint text would mean rebuilding the game's Scaleform UI, so the names are text.
• The renames live in the English table; other languages have their own.
• New names can't be longer than the originals, which is why the sticks are "LS LEFT" rather than "LEFT STICK LEFT".

License

GNU General Public License v3.0, see LICENSE. Not affiliated with Disney Interactive or Black Rock Studio. Split/Second and Xbox are trademarks of their respective owners. No game files or data are included.