The Chao Editor lets you view and edit Chao in various VMU files in Sonic Adventure.

Supported Files

Filename	Data Type	Notes
SONICADV__VM	Chao Download Data or Chao Adventure	Chao Download Data is generated by a script on the official website when you download Chao from Chao Daycare. Chao Adventure is a minigame that is installed on the VMU when you put a Chao in the VMU Transporter. In Chao Adventure, Chao data is written directly into the minigame's executable.
SONICADV_ALF	Chao Garden Save	Main garden save file with all Chao data. Saved on the VMU when the player leaves the Chao Garden or goes to Chao Race Entry.
SONICADV_H00	Chao Upload Data (JP)	Created in the Japanese version of SA1 when you press Y+A when the Chao goes into the VMU transporter. At the moment this file can only be imported, not edited.
SONICADV_H07	Chao Upload Data (US)	Created in the US, EU and International versions of SA1 when you press Y+A when the Chao goes into the VMU transporter. At the moment this file can only be imported, not edited.

Chao Data Location

In the files listed above, Chao data is stored at different locations and in different ways.

• In the Garden Save file, Chao data starts at 0x800. There can be up to 24 data entries.
• In Chao Adventure and Download Data, two Chao data pointers (2 bytes) are located after the CHAO ACCEPT string. There can be two data entries: a Chao and an Egg. The first entry in Download Data is located at 0xC00.
• In Chao Upload Data, Chao data is encrypted and stored as a Base64 string in the chaodata field of the HTML page embedded in the VMS file. The tool extracts and decrypts this data automatically. There can be only one data entry.

Using the Editor

The panel on the left lists all Chao data entries in the file currently opened. The tab control on the right allows you to edit Chao data for the selected entry. When you click around in the UI to edit Chao data values, a description of the value is shown in the status bar for all data that is currently known.

• The General tab contains general information on the Chao such as its name, type, age and happiness.
• The Appearance tab contains the information on how the Chao should look, such as color, animal parts, personality traits used for face textures etc.
• The Evolution tab contains the Chao's stats and lets you customize its development to evolve towards a certain Chao type, such as Swim, Fly etc.
• The Personality tab lets you edit the Chao's emotions that influence its behavior in the gardens and in Chao Race.
• The Inventory and Abilities tab contains information on fruits the Chao has and its skills learned from animals.
• The Bonds tab lets you change how much the Chao likes a particular character.
• The Memories tab shows data on the Chao's interaction with other Chao. It doesn't seem to be functional ingame.
• The Chao Race tab lets you edit a Chao's personal race records and jewels won in the races, as well as garden race records.

You can save the edited data as a regular Garden Save, Chao Download Data or as a Chao Adventure file.

• Garden Save: Save the file as SONICADV_ALF.VMS and place it on the memory card.
• Chao Adventure or Chao Download: Save the file as SONICADV_VM.VMS and place it on the memory card to make the Chao visible to the VMU Transporter in SA1. Only one Chao and one Egg can be exported per file. If you exported Chao Adventure data, you can also play Chao Adventure on the VMU.

Notes

• A Chao's name can contain up to 8 characters. Latin letters, katakana and the following characters can be used: 。, ♥, ～, ♀, ♂, ♪, …, ＼, 〇. Only uppercase Latin letters can be used. The editor will automatically convert lowercase characters to uppercase.

Credits

• Tyro’s notes - the first source on SA1 Chao data
• Exant - help in various areas
• UltimaNumber - information and advice on reading SA1 Chao data