Item.bin
This BIN file with the ITEM identifier stores the item probability of different item sets uniquely for human or AI players at a specific distance to the lead racer, and the distances themselves.
It should be noted that the game applies several additional hardcoded rules on top of the probabilities, like a (powerful) item not appearing in the first seconds after the race start or after it has been collected before. If it cannot find a valid item, the driver collects a Coin as a fallback value. It is unclear whether the new sections in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe files contain the required data for these rules in the file rather than in code.
Sections
The file is organized into the following sections which describe the item sets or distances available for a specific game mode:
- ITST - Title Screen Race
- ITS2 - Race
- ITDS - Race Distances
- ITS3 - Title Screen Battle
- ITS4 - Battle
- ITRT - Battle Distances
- ITDR - Unknown (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe only)
- ITRG - Unknown (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe only)
- ITGF - Unknown (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe only)
- ITDP - Unknown (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe only)
| Section ID | Internal Usage | Rows | Tables | Size | Usage/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ITST | unknown | 12 | 20 | unknown | Title Screen Race. Only used on Wii U. |
| ITS2 | unknown | 10 | 20 | unknown | Race. Only used on Wii U. |
| ITDS | unknown | 10 | 20 | unknown | Race Distances. Only used on Wii U. |
| ITS3 | unknown | 5 | 1 | unknown | Title Screen Battle. Only used on Wii U. |
| ITS4 | unknown | 10 | 22 | unknown | Battle. Only used on Wii U. |
| ITRT | Reaction | 10 | 1 | 0x28 | Battle Distances. Used in both. |
| ITDR | Dist Prob | 25 | 1 | 0x170 | Only present in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe |
| ITRG | Rank to Group | 23 | 1 | 0xC | Only present in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe |
| ITGF | Group Factor | 9 | 25 | 0x5C | Only present in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe |
| ITDP | Double Permission | 23 | 1 | 0x4 | Only present in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe |
Item Sets
For each game mode, different item sets exist. Several item sets are unused or cannot be used directly. The accessible ones are split into a set used for human-controlled drivers and a set for AI drivers, possibly to prevent AI players from getting specific items (though they can handle all "correctly").
Race
Each Race game mode (ITST and ITS2) contains item sets in the following order:
- Grand Prix
- Grand Prix (AI driver)
- All Items
- All Items (AI driver)
- Mushrooms Only
- Mushrooms Only (AI driver)
- Shells Only
- Shells Only (AI driver)
- Bananas Only
- Bananas Only (AI driver)
- Bob-ombs Only
- Bob-ombs Only (AI driver)
- Mushrooms 1 (unused)
- Mushrooms 1 (unused, AI driver)
- Shells (unused)
- Bananas (unused)
- Bob-ombs (unused)
- Mushrooms 2 (unused)
- Frantic Mode
- Frantic Mode (AI driver)
Battle
Each Battle game mode (ITS3 and ITS4) contains item sets in the following order:
- All Items
- All Items (AI driver)
- Mushrooms Only
- Mushrooms Only (AI driver)
- Shells Only
- Shells Only (AI driver)
- Bananas Only
- Bananas Only (AI driver)
- Bob-ombs Only
- Bob-ombs Only (AI driver)
- Shells and Bananas 1 (unused)
- Mushrooms (unused)
- Shells (unused)
- Bananas (unused)
- Bob-ombs (unused)
- Shells and Bananas 2 (unused)
- Frantic Mode
- Frantic Mode (AI player)
Items
In each item set, the item probabilities (the "columns" of an item probability table) are available in the following order:
- Banana
- Green Shell
- Red Shell
- Mushroom
- Bob-omb
- Blooper
- Spiny Shell
- Triple Mushrooms
- Star
- Bullet Bill
- Lightning Bolt
- Gold Mushroom
- Fire Flower
- Piranha Plant
- Super Horn
- Boomerang
- Coin
- Triple Bananas
- Triple Green Shells
- Triple Red Shells
- Crazy Eight
- Boo (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe only)
- Feather (Mario Kart 8 Deluxe only)
Distances
Mario Kart 8 uses a distance-based algorithm relative to the first player to determine the item a player receives. The distance determines the "row" of an item probability table from which the probability will be chosen. To map a distance to a row index, 10 limits are configured separately for human or AI drivers.
In Battle mode, there is of course no such distance measurement possible, so the "rows" of the item probability table map to the following game states:
| Row Index | Minute | Balloons left |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 2+ | 2+ |
| 1 | 2+ | 2 |
| 2 | 2+ | 1 |
| 3 | 1 | 2+ |
| 4 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | 1 | 1+ |
| 6 | 0 | 2+ |
| 7 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Any | 0 |
Tools
The following tools can handle Item.bin files:
- BIN Editor, by Ray Koopa