Ib: How to Enalbe Mod Support with Python

Most RPGMaker MV games are released as loose files in a www folder that contains all of the game’s assets and code. This makes the game trivially easy to mod – all you need to do is encrypt your modded assets and replace the associated file in the www folder.

When the English-language patch for Ib (2022) was released, the game was repacked with Enigma Virtual Box, turning the loose files and folders into a single executable. Why the developers chose to do this is unknown.

This doesn’t spell the end for modding, however – it’s easy to unpack the game back into its original loose files.

• I can only provide support for Windows 11 and Windows 10 at the moment.
• This is NOT a guide for pirating Ib, and unpacking the game does not remove its DRM.
  You will still need to own Ib on Steam and have Steam running to launch the game.
• You will need to unpack the game again if it receives an update.

• Head over to https://www.python.org/downloads/ and download the latest release of Python.

  

Install Python

• Run the installer to open the setup window.
• Check the box Add Python 3.x to PATH at the bottom. This will allow you to run Python in any window, without having to specify the path to python.exe every time.
• Click Install Now (we need pip) when you’re ready.

  

We will be using the open-source script Enigma Virtual Box Unpacker (evbunpack)[github.com] to unpack the game executable back into loose files.

• Open a Terminal or Command Prompt window.
• Enter the following command:

pip install evbunpack

This will call pip, the Python package installer, to download and install evbunpack from GitHub.
You will now be able to run evbunpack commands in your Terminal window.

Before you continue, make sure you know the path to your Ib game folder.

• In your Terminal window, enter the following commands.
  Replace “path\to\Ib” with your path to the Ib game folder, keeping it in quotation marks.

cd "path\to\Ib"
python -m evbunpack "Game.exe" extract