Bendit's Beginner's Guide to modding PES for PC (2009/08)

Does your stomach heave at the mere thought of Konami's music? Do you think a ten-year old could make menus more pleasing to the eye? Does it grate your nerves to see KONAMI adboards in your favorite stadium?  Would you like to give Konami's balls the boot?

You can do it all with modding on the PC!

The PES modding scene on PC is deservedly legendary. Every year there are thousands of small mods released, and a number of epic Supermods. Each one adds something interesting to the game, together they multiply the value of vanilla PES many times over.

When I began my modding career (?), I was frustrated by the lack of clear instructions of where to find mods and what to do with them. This guide attempts to give beginners a bit of a head-start. Experts of course need not read on.

This guide covers just one feature of the PES modding scene: the AFS2FS Module of Kitserver. In my opinion it's one of the single most important developments in the PES modding scene in years. Why? Because it makes modding accessible to the masses. It is very user friendly; installing mods is easy and if you make a mistake installing then the mod just won't load. You don't have to make huge backups and reinstall PES like you might have to with other modding methods. It also allows mods to stay a small download size. In short, the AFS2FS Module of Kitserver is a fantastic tool for making all sorts of cosmetic changes to PES without sweat. Finally PES modding is as easy as 1-2-3.

Balls, chants, music, stadium turf, adboards, menu screens, music : almost everything can be modded for PES this way. And except for music, chants, and turf the downloads tend to be fairly small.
Step 1. Download and install kitserver on your PC as per the instructions here.
Kitserver is a very small download and the install is a five minute procedure. Kitserver install and usage instructions are also included in the download itself. You can find them in \kitserver\docs\manual
Step 2. Find some mods you would like to try.
Good places to look for PES PC mods include:

PES Next Gen Editing Blog - Great site for mod downloads with convenient picture previews. Not the best place for getting help from others though. There is no forum.
Evo-Web PES2009 PC Editing Forum - Very good forum for finding mods and for getting help.
GamingAccess Pes2009 PC download area - A very good site for downloads. Editing forum is good too.

Two other sites that have been good in the past (but at the week of PES2009 release are slow to get going..)
PesFan - Usually first out of the gate with a quality PC Option File. Have to register to read the forums.
Soccergaming Forum - has been a very good forum for downloads and help in the past. 
Step 3. Install your new mod.
Apart from kits and option files, most mods for PC come as downloads in folders of '.bin' files. They are normally compressed into single RAR or ZIP file to save bandwidth and time. Here I shall assume readers are PC savvy enough know how to unpack them. Generally it's as simple as a right-click to unpack if you have WINRAR installed.

Most of the best mod makers include a README text file with install instructions. However, modmakers are often busy people and sometimes they forget to include instructions. And many great modders are not native English speakers either. Fortunately for us beginners, these days with Kitserver all you need to know is_where_to copy the files you downloaded.

Here is what you have to do to install your downloaded mod...



Sometimes you might simply be told "The mod goes in cv5", which for our purposes means it goes in the \kitserver\img\cv05.img folder. If such a folder does not yet exist in your installation, just create it yourself. If the mod you downloaded gives no indication of where to copy the files, you will have to go back to where you got it and try to find out...

NB. If you have PES running in the background when you install a mod like this, you will normally have to restart it to see the changes.


Tip 1 : It can be a good idea to keep a folder on your PC for downloaded mods. Occasionally larger mods may overwrite aspects of others, so it helps to have them backed up if you wish to reinstall a favorite one back over the top. If you don't like a particular mod it can also help you remember which files need deleting from the \Pro Evolution Soccer 2009\kitserver\img\ folders. It's quite rare, but if a mod doesn't work for some reason on your PC you can simply delete the files you last added to the \Pro Evolution Soccer 2009\kitserver\img\ folders.

Tip 2 : Keep your eye out for 'Super Patches'. They might take weeks and months to surface after a new PES release, but they include hundreds of small mods in one easy to install package. Often (and with a bit of help from the creators of kitserver), you can have concurrent installs of several super-mods. Each one can feel like an expansion pack for PES, adding many times to the value of the original.

Having read this, what is next?

- You are still going to want a good option file for up-to-date squads, team names etc.
- Stay tuned for new releases of kitserver. Check the kitserver link for latest version and documentation. Later versions (hopefully coming soon) might allow unlimited numbers of kits and balls, selectable in game, as has been achieved with Kitserver in previous years. Kitserver also some other great features. Be sure to read the manual to find out what it can do.

Hope this helps some of you. Have fun and I'll see you on the pitch!

October 2008

Coming soon in Bendit PES Modding Guides :
Teaching your Girlfriend to Hexedit like a Pro.