FE7 vs. FE8 for base ROM questions

[Topaz Light]

So, I was thinking of starting my own Fire Emblem hack (when my own computer gets fixed...) and about what I was wanting to include, I ran into a few potential issues I'd like to address:

Do FE7 and FE8 have the same soundfont? I doubt it, but if they do, in fact, share a soundfont, that would spare me a little bit of trouble if I were to use an FE8 ROM for the base of my hack.

Would it be more feasible to hack the FE7's soundfont and Tactician into FE8 or FE8's map navigation and branching promotions into FE7? I ask because I would like to have all four of these elements in one game, and I'm sure it is possible to do, but I'm just wondering how hard it would be to do. I am aware that it would almost certainly require ASM hacking either way.

How hard would it be to implement My Unit/Avatar creation? Certainly, this would require ASM hacking as well. For My Unit creation, would it be easier to use the Tactician creation as a base or to start fresh?

How many chapter slots are there? I recall reading somewhere that there were around 50~60 of them, but I can't fully remember.

[CT075]

Do FE7 and FE8 have the same soundfont? I doubt it, but if they do, in fact, share a soundfont, that would spare me a little bit of trouble if I were to use an FE8 ROM for the base of my hack.

nope

Would it be more feasible to hack the FE7's soundfont and Tactician into FE8 or FE8's map navigation and branching promotions into FE7? I ask because I would like to have all four of these elements in one game, and I'm sure it is possible to do, but I'm just wondering how hard it would be to do. I am aware that it would almost certainly require ASM hacking either way.

soundfonts are easy enough to transfer (although it's super time-consuming in the absence of automation)

it's a ridiculously tall order to suggest having all of the other three in the same game

i'd proooobably say it's easier to hack the tactician into fe8 since it's only one moderately complex thing (although making the [Tact] command work in text would be anything but simple) but nothing like this has ever actually been accomplished as far as i know of

(i say it's one thing to hack in as opposed to trying to hack in two extremely complex things, both of which require MASSIVE amounts of code reworking)

it's definitely possible if you know a fair amount of asm yourself i guess.

How hard would it be to implement My Unit/Avatar creation? Certainly, this would require ASM hacking as well. For My Unit creation, would it be easier to use the Tactician creation as a base or to start fresh?

i'd say start with the tactician screen so you don't have to screw around with making an entirely new menu but having it then correspond to an actual unit in memory would be massively difficult since you'd have to completely rework the routines that handle unit stat loading

How many chapter slots are there? I recall reading somewhere that there were around 50~60 of them, but I can't fully remember.

0x43 = 67 chapter slots

there are probably less in practice since some of them are hardcoded to do shit

EDIT

the fact that you have to ask about this makes me wonder if you're capable of doing this

i've been attempting to handle asm for a solid year now and i can still only handle moderately difficult tasks ;/

that being said if you have a hundred bucks or two to burn, i'd be willing to learn faster

Edited November 26, 2012 by CT075

[Agro]

They use the same sound samples but the order is different. So what's 40 for FE7 is 48 for FE8, for instance (along with a bunch of other things). Meaning that songs are cross-compatible but you'd have to compile your own instrument map.

[Topaz Light]

nope

soundfonts are easy enough to transfer (although it's super time-consuming in the absence of automation)

it's a ridiculously tall order to suggest having all of the other three in the same game

i'd proooobably say it's easier to hack the tactician into fe8 since it's only one moderately complex thing (although making the [Tact] command work in text would be anything but simple) but nothing like this has ever actually been accomplished as far as i know of

(i say it's one thing to hack in as opposed to trying to hack in two extremely complex things, both of which require MASSIVE amounts of code reworking)

it's definitely possible if you know a fair amount of asm yourself i guess.

i'd say start with the tactician screen so you don't have to screw around with making an entirely new menu but having it then correspond to an actual unit in memory would be massively difficult since you'd have to completely rework the routines that handle unit stat loading

0x43 = 67 chapter slots

there are probably less in practice since some of them are hardcoded to do shit

EDIT

the fact that you have to ask about this makes me wonder if you're capable of doing this

i've been attempting to handle asm for a solid year now and i can still only handle moderately difficult tasks ;/

that being said if you have a hundred bucks or two to burn, i'd be willing to learn faster

Thanks for the info. Heh, thinking about it, a lot of this stuff was just curiousity. I often make it a point to learn the limitations of a system before attempting to screw with it, even if I don't really know how to work with it yet. Also, being able to get answers to questions helps me to learn, too. I don't actually know ASM, but if My Unit requires recoding things on that sort of level then I think I'd better just leave that alone. As for the hardcoded chapter slots, I know at least one is used for the link arena, and that unplayable maps used for events take up slots, too, though my memory of that one is a little foggy. On the subject of maps, what are the maximum dimensions, in tiles, for a single map? Don't worry, I'm not planning on just stuffing it up with empty space.

I am not capable of doing this right now, but gathering information is a factor in me becoming capable, isn't it?

And also I'm kind of humbled that the amazing ASM hacker person of the site was the one to respond to this. Thanks muchly.

Also, gratitude to Agro for his more detailed answer to the soundfont question. That actually makes a lot of sense; I knew I recognized some instruments from Blazing Sword in Sacred Stones.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Starlight36

[CT075]

Thanks for the info. Heh, thinking about it, a lot of this stuff was just curiousity. I often make it a point to learn the limitations of a system before attempting to screw with it, even if I don't really know how to work with it yet. Also, being able to get answers to questions helps me to learn, too. I don't actually know ASM, but if My Unit requires recoding things on that sort of level then I think I'd better just leave that alone.

probably a good plan

As for the hardcoded chapter slots, I know at least one is used for the link arena, and that unplayable maps used for events take up slots, too, though my memory of that one is a little foggy. On the subject of maps, what are the maximum dimensions, in tiles, for a single map? Don't worry, I'm not planning on just stuffing it up with empty space.

i know you can't go higher than 43x36 but i'm like 80% sure that you can have more rows/columns if you decrease the other dimention

And also I'm kind of humbled that the amazing ASM hacker person of the site was the one to respond to this. Thanks muchly.

i'm flattered but i'm really nothing special

if nothing else the fact that i can do it should prove that it's doable with enough time invested

[Topaz Light]

Ah. So, if I wanted I could make a map that's really annoyingly needlessly tall/long? I was thinking of trying to see if FE4-sized maps would be possible, but I guess not.

And hey, you're the only guy on this site I've seen people come to for their ASM hacking needs. To someone like me who is pretty much incompetent at coding, even a moderate level of skill is fairly cool.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Starlight36