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[Leif]

I am having immense trouble with hacking, and I am slightly annoyed. I would like some assistance for organizing my hack. I have no idea how to categorize and organize the images/sprites/maps I insert into my rom since I have to start from the DD0000 free space offset and figure out how to go from there. Would someone help me out? I want to make a successful prologue chapter, but I am in a rut. How does one go about making the first chapter to his or her hack?

[zahlman]

Start by identifying the things you want to change, and how you want to change them.

Be detailed and make a plan.

[Leif]

Could you be more specific? When you hack something, what are the first things one should input? Maps? Sprites? etc.

[Crimson Red]

I like to play the game and change things as I see them. If you're making a new chapter you probably want custom maps, then custom events, followed by everything else as necessary--stats, sprites, text, graphics, miscellaneous hacking and patches, miscellaneous data (I.e. nightmare or hex editor stuff). Maps and events are the basis to a chapter, the rest can pretty much be done whenever as you can still get the gist of your chapter payed out for your hack without it.

This is just one method--experiment and do what YOU find best.

[Celice]

Could you be more specific? When you hack something, what are the first things one should input? Maps? Sprites? etc.

This all depends on you. When I used to really be into hacking, I always went for the graphics first, because I was in love with level design. Graphics came first because those were what I was going to be working with--so I'd identify how the graphics are stored (which on the NES, also involves finding their tilemaps), and then create my own tileset from scratch, making full use of the 64 or 128 tiles available to me. Then, I'd start working on levels.

Maybe you don't need new graphics. You could jump straight to levels. Maybe you just want to edit the text around and some stats, or maybe shake up the enemy arrangement and surprise players with challenging their memory of a level.

You need to identify what it is you're wanting to do, and then start. It's really that simple.

But, that's not what you're asking. You're asking, basically, how do you edit a game and not break it (concerning using unused space). Well, the easiest way to do this is to understand what you're doing. It's really unfortunate that at niche sites like this, people aren't told how to do things on their own--they're told how to depend on tools and facilitated edits to get their projects finished. Do you have a basic understanding on what it is you're trying to do? Are you familiar with the fundamentals of organizing data? You seem to be unsure of how a chapter and all its data is actually organized in the game in a way that makes it function, and not bust.

Edited November 21, 2011 by Celice

[Leif]

You hit it on the head, that's exactly what I am struggling with. I really don't know what I am doing. :(

The game will crash when I insert more than one map sprite. Lyn's prologue chapter will reset when I import Eirikia's moving map sprite. So I have to start over again. I use HxD to look for free space, and I find offsets that have many "FF" values, but when I use that offset, like DD0100, the game will glitch up...

[Crimson Red]

Try reading the Ultimate Tutorial. It seems that you don't understand enough about how the system works in general and that's why this is hard. By gaining some familiarity with basic terms, formats, and processes, it should help make more sense of what you're doing so that you aren't just blindly crashing your game--because the way it sounds now, it seems like anything you touch might explode. No offense. XD

EDIT: Oh and I'd definitely work your way up the scale of things. Knowledge is cumulative in hacking; to do more advanced hacking you need to be able to do simpler hacking. With exceptions.

Edited November 21, 2011 by Strawhat Luffy

[Leif]

Well, I have read most of your ultimate tutorial, but you only briefly talk about the pointers and offsets and in chapter 4, which is the problem I'm having. Is there a chapter where you go into more detail on organizing data in HxD (the hex editor I'm using)?

[Crimson Red]

I just did that in one of your other topics...

[Leif]

I tried it again with the method you used in the other topic when I inserted my map sprites, but that's when I ran into the error. I'll tell you what. I will post pictures a little later of the exact method I use to insert maps/graphics into the rom, and you can critique my process.

Edited November 22, 2011 by Leif

[Celice]

That'd be ideal. You can also consult many of the individual documents from more experienced individuals over at romhacking dot net, and also the datacrystal wiki.

[Leif]

I managed to successfully change the prologue map, and change Lyn's overworld idle and moving sprites. Here's my process.

v See Spoiler v

[spoiler=Many images in here!]

I successfully added the first map to the DD0000 offset.

Works and looks great after making some changes in Nightmare.

Now I go to HxD and find an offset for the idle overworld and DD0080 is the first one with all of the "FF FF" values.

Now I upload the idle overworld sheet to the DD0080 offset and make the changes in Nightmare.

Looks great!

Now I look for another offset, and find that the single map sprite took up SO much space. DD0230 was the next available one.

Upload and make the changes in nightmare.

holy crap it works!

Now what do I do? Do I just keep adding stuff to free space? I feel like I am going to run out!

Are there ways I can refine my technique??

Adding those two sets of sprites took up SO much space!! The next "FF FF FF FF" line is all the way down at DD0A70!

Edited November 24, 2011 by Leif

[zahlman]

Adding those two sets of sprites took up SO much space!! The next "FF FF FF FF" line is all the way down at DD0A70!

That is not much space. You have a LOT more.

[Crimson Red]

The data in that area HAPPENS to be garbage data. Just because you see an "FFFFFFFF" line doesn't always mean it's free space. There is a list of free space somewhere but my memory is losing its quality so I can't tell you, try searching the forum. Furthermore you can always expand the ROM to add free-space. The ROM's maximum size is 32MB though, so keep that in mind. You can use a hex editor like HxD to "insert bytes" at the end of the ROM, increasing the size of the ROM. The bytes you add are of course unused until you make them used by inserting some data there or something. I'm pretty tired ATM so hopefully someone else can elaborate and help you out.

EDIT: Had to fix some typos.

Edited November 24, 2011 by Strawhat Luffy

[CT075]

Everything between D00000 and E000000 is free.

[Celice]

You can use a hex editor like HxD to "insert bytes" at the end of the ROM, increasing the size of the ROM. The bytes you add are of course unused until you make them used by inserting some data there or something. I'm pretty tired ATM so hopefully someone else can elaborate and help you out.

To amend this, it's really... awkward to have a hex editor that is only capable of extending data one byte at a time. Or perhaps the user just isn't aware of a better method.

Any normal hex editor will have the ability for you to expand the ROM to a certain size, and have it automatically filled with (usually) $00. Hex editors which for one reason or another support inserting data, rather than overwriting data, risk the problem of accidentally shifting a bunch of data unknowingly when you think you're overwriting. And shifting every singly piece of data X amount of bytes higher, without accommodating pointers or other such factors, is a real fuck-up.