Do you want to explore maps in Free Match but get annoyed by the timer? Well you're in luck! Because in version 1.08 there is actually a bug that will help you stop the timer completely, allowing you to play Free Match to your heart's content.

I also decided to bring up CPUs in this guide, since PBS is missing features for fine tuning their behaviour.

I believe that knowledge of the time bug and disabling CPUs can:

• help practice map knowledge of different levels without time pressure / interruptions
  
• allow CPUs to be used as training dummies to test card effects, melee interactions, among other things that can help improve game knowledge

I have listed the instructions below. If in doubt, you are more than welcome to watch the embedded video going over the same steps.


1. Create a free match lobby. Pick whatever settings you like. At this stage of making the lobby, the time limit will be forced into 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 min. Select whichever.

2. Once the lobby is up, press Tab (or whatever you bind is) to bring back the lobby settings.

3. Set the time limit to Random, then apply it by clicking Battle Rules

4. Time limit should now display -1 at the top center.

5. At this point, if you start the game, the countdown will be set to 0, and stay this way indefinitely. You can now play for as long as you want!

It's easy to disable one of the characters in the game, then have them placed in the opposite team whenever you create matches. In this guide we'll focus on disabling Asuka's AI.

Fortunately it's relatively simple:

1. Detect the folder where PBS is located. You can navigate to it through your Steam library by going to Properties -> Installed Files -> Browse...

(Can also find the files by going to "Manage" instead of "Properties", then clicking "Browse local files")

2. Navigate to GameData/Binary/Action. This folder contains binaries responsible for CPU behaviour

3. Find pl00_ai.bin, then make a backup of it and call it something else (e.g., pl00_ai__BACKUP.bin). The reason for this is so that we can easily switch back to a functional CPU with ease by renaming the file back to its original name.

You can keep the backup in the same folder or move it elsewhere, since PBS isn't going to read it.

4. Open pl00_ai.bin in notepad and erase its contents (Ctrl-A then delete).

5. If you leave it as is, the game will crash when you start a match. The reason is because PBS gets confused upon reading an empty file.

Because of this, we need to add some characters to the file. In the video I simply added a single space character, and it worked.

After making the change, check the size of the file. It should at least be 1 KB.

6. In PBS, add Asuka CPU to your Free Match lobby, then start the game.

7. Asuka should not move, shoot, or do anything else.

If you feel like you broke something during these steps and the backup didn't work, be sure to verify game integrity. However, do note that it will remove any mods that you have previously installed.

The -1 timer bug method has the following limitations:

• cannot perform squirmy finishes, because the timer is less than 15 seconds
  
• cannot play with other people (they will get kicked from the match)

The reason Asuka is the simplest to modify is because her character code starts at 0 (hence the AI file name starting with pl00).

To access other characters, you need to find out what their character code is in PBS.

Characters are laid out based on how they have been chronologically introduced throughout the Senran Kagura franchise, so you can intuitively predict where the character you want might sit:

• Hanzo
  
• Crimson Squad
  
• Gessen
  
• Hebijo
  
• Other factions...

To briefly summarize:


The game mode (or rule) has the same bug as the time limit. Setting it to Random in an existing lobby will yield a "*" symbol. Starting the game will begin this game mode, with the only description for it being "Shinobi". It will play out nearly the same as team battle.

I haven't found uses for it, but nonetheless I felt it was worth mentioning it.

I've yet to find out! So far I have no clue. I can only imagine that something like this would be defined in a different binary file or hard-coded into the game itself. I will update this guide when I find the solution.