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11-02-05 12:59 PM
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Acmlm's Board - I2 Archive - Rom Hacking - Introducing Nightmare: dynamic all-purpose table editor | |
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GuyInSummers
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Posted on 09-02-05 05:53 AM Link | Quote
Hey, everybody. I'd like to present you all with this nifty new software. It's a convenient program that can edit any fixed-length table with text/numerical data. The user writes out the table specifics in a simple module file, and this is read by Nightmare to present an instant editor. This essentially allows hackers to make an editor for any data table in about ten minutes. The software's available here:

http://starmen.net/pkhack/misc/nightmare.zip

And you can see some of the modules that have already been created here:
http://starmen.net/pkhack/misc/modules/

A number of bugs have already been weeded out of it, but it's entirely possible that there are still some lingering, so if you see one, let me know. This program was written by me, and the idea and module specifications were the brainchild of fellow acmlm newcomer Alchemic. And here's a screenshot for those of you who prefer show to tell.

Gideon Zhi

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Posted on 09-02-05 06:30 AM Link | Quote
What, exactly, does this do? Specifically, I mean. You call it a "table editor", but when I think table, I generally think of a .tbl file.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but... What I sort of grasped from your description was that I could, say, feed it a .tbl, the address of a text block and/or its corresponding pointer table, and bam! instant dialogue editor? That would be... most intriguing.
JeffMan
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Posted on 09-02-05 06:42 AM Link | Quote
...Not really. It hacks tables of raw data inside a ROM file. Like, for say, a table of enemy data, or a table of item data. The term "table" in this isn't a .tbl file, but rather a block of organized, structured data in a ROM.
Gideon Zhi

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Posted on 09-02-05 06:55 AM Link | Quote
Ah.

Oh well, I was hoping for a magic bullet of sort, but I can always do it the old-fashioned way with Romjuice and Atlas Atlas takes all of six seconds to insert the 750K Rudra dialogue file, heh.
HyperLamer
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Posted on 09-02-05 08:52 AM Link | Quote
Nice! I can see this being quite useful for those insignificant things I don't feel like writing an editor for.

Say, what's that leftmost button on the titlebar?


(edited by HyperHacker on 09-01-05 11:52 PM)
Gideon Zhi

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Posted on 09-02-05 10:41 AM Link | Quote
Unless I miss my guess, that extra button is generated by a multi-monitor program like UltraMon or similar, and is a shortcut for "Move to Other Monitor." I'm pretty sure I had those on my laptop before I disabled most of UltraMon's extra features.
Kyoufu Kawa
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Posted on 09-02-05 01:40 PM Link | Quote
Hohohooooh... this be interesting...
MathOnNapkins

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Posted on 09-02-05 03:44 PM Link | Quote
Cool program... I might have a use for such thing. In fact, I was thinking of something like this a while ago, but didn't have the initiative.

UltraMON

Hey that could be my new nick!
spoondiddly

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Posted on 09-02-05 10:34 PM Link | Quote
Excellent idea! The best part is that it can edit any file really, not just roms. Savestates, eeproms, you name it. This could be extraodinarily fun.
GuyInSummers
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Posted on 09-03-05 12:22 AM Link | Quote
Hey, glad everybody's enjoying Nightmare. If anybody writes an Nightmare modules, feel free to post them here or something; Alchemic or I could post them in that modules folder. We should probably divide that into one folder per game at some point. Oh, and though the help file does says to email me bugs, I'll probably see them sooner if you post them here, so I request that you use this forum as the means of bug reporting so long as this topic is alive.

And yeah, that fourth button is UltraMon's move-to-other-monitor button.
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Posted on 09-03-05 12:42 PM Link | Quote
Hey, spiffy! So, I could create a module to quickly enable or disable Super Mario World's various debugging features (amongst other things)?

Ooooh, or maybe a module that contains all sorts of settings for enemy projectiles, jump heights, sound effects, and the like. It would be much easier to update with new data than an ordinary executable...
Celice

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Posted on 09-03-05 10:29 PM Link | Quote
So this is kinda like Excel where in one setting you could be adding up stocks and in another count the days left till christmas? If so, this can REALLY help me in changing the small things with out having to search out things over and over for small modifications.

In other words, say this address is Health, then in another say this one is map coordinates.
Kyoufu Kawa
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Posted on 09-03-05 10:44 PM Link | Quote
Hmmm... a Pokemon Base Stat Editor, maybe?

Edit: Got one. I'll plop it into the Commons...


(edited by Kawa-oneechan on 09-04-05 09:52 AM)
GuyInSummers
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Posted on 09-04-05 10:03 PM Link | Quote
Nifty, I never noticed the commons before. It's a shame there aren't a few hundred more files there. Documentation and whatnot.

If anybody has suggestions for a second version, let me know. One idea is a dialog of checkboxes to individually set bits of binary values, which might be nice. But I dunno' if I'd bump the spec up to version 2 just for that.
Kyoufu Kawa
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Posted on 09-04-05 10:12 PM Link | Quote
Originally posted by GuyInSummers

One idea is a dialog of checkboxes to individually set bits of binary values, which might be nice. But I dunno' if I'd bump the spec up to version 2 just for that.
I would.
Cat Lover

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Posted on 09-04-05 10:48 PM Link | Quote
How about an editor for your table file type? I don't know how to make one.
dan

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Posted on 09-04-05 11:05 PM Link | Quote
Originally posted by Cat Lover
How about an editor for your table file type? I don't know how to make one.


It comes with a text file explaining the format of the files. Just use notepad, and follow the format described.
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Posted on 09-05-05 02:17 PM Link | Quote
An editor for a table file used by an editor...

I'm sorry, I just had to point out how silly that sounds.

As for the binary editing idea, VERY YES.
Xenesis Xenon

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Posted on 09-05-05 03:01 PM Link | Quote
Whoa....

Once I figure out how to make my own modules and stuff I can basically build myself an Advance Wars 2 CO editor...

This is awesome. You deserve a medal. Seriously.
spoondiddly

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Posted on 09-05-05 11:27 PM Link | Quote
This only comes up in later consoles, but there must be an easier way to handle actual text strings stored in tables.

The key-and-table method will work for that, but something like "string value" + max size would be more convienent. Then, if a game (esspecially a forien one) uses a table seperate from ANSII, a .char table can be associated with it or something as well. Well, that might be a bit of a hassle come to think of it, but just a thought.
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