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11-02-05 12:59 PM
1 user currently in Super Mario World hacking: labmaster | 3 guests
Acmlm's Board - I2 Archive - Super Mario World hacking - I don't wanna do this do I? | |
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Less Ashamed Of Self
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Posted on 08-25-04 03:38 PM Link | Quote
This probably belongs in a newbie thread, but since my desire is only to hack SMW I think it belongs here more.

I don't wanna get into this rom hacking thing do I? I mean I lead a pretty busy life... audio projects, ddr stepfiles, a site to maintain, a webcomic (of sorts) work, schools about to start... I'm all for determination and I'm sure I do have pretty good level design ideas... but yeah...

This isn't easy is it? Should I really invest my time into it? It would be pretty cool... but I just discovered DW:TLC yesterday so the shock of it all hasn't hit the wall of coding realism yet. I read the Lunar Magic Help file and the Q&A for newbies sticky. I know I COULD do this, I COULD figure this out... but to me, hexadecimal is a reboot villain.

Your thoughts?
Kyoufu Kawa
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Posted on 08-25-04 04:02 PM Link | Quote
Don't do it. The reboot comment says all.
Koroc

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Posted on 08-25-04 09:51 PM Link | Quote
Originally posted by Less Ashamed Of Self
This probably belongs in a newbie thread, but since my desire is only to hack SMW I think it belongs here more.

I don't wanna get into this rom hacking thing do I? I mean I lead a pretty busy life... audio projects, ddr stepfiles, a site to maintain, a webcomic (of sorts) work, schools about to start... I'm all for determination and I'm sure I do have pretty good level design ideas... but yeah...

This isn't easy is it? Should I really invest my time into it? It would be pretty cool... but I just discovered DW:TLC yesterday so the shock of it all hasn't hit the wall of coding realism yet. I read the Lunar Magic Help file and the Q&A for newbies sticky. I know I COULD do this, I COULD figure this out... but to me, hexadecimal is a reboot villain.

Your thoughts?


It sounds to me like you're setting yourself up to either fail or give up. Why are you asking us if you don't want to do it? You either do or you don't - wanting to do something is in the attitude, and your attitude says you're lacking confidence in your ability to stay dedicated to romhacking.

Me, I really do want to rom hack. I don't do it, however, because I lack the determination to stay dedicated to it. I know that if I start learning SNES asm, I'm going to give up on it and find something else to do.

You really don't sound like you want to do it. Maybe you can, maybe you can't. It's all a question of what you want to do more: rom hacking, or miscellanious unmentioned hobby?
Keikonium
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Posted on 08-26-04 12:24 AM Link | Quote
You dont need to know ASM to rom hack. I can get around many things such as OW (overworld) ExGFX by replacing other non-used graphics. You also dont need Hex Editing unless you want to add ASM. I use neither of these things and I do fine. I am getting close to being 25% done. Maby another year or so...and I may be done. With school just coming up I will probably not be working on it so much so I would start maby next summer...that way you have time to learn stuff.

Oh and you should probably hack YI because SMW is IMO getting slightly old...not many people relize a hack unless its got amazing new ideas or tons of asm...or if its completed. So just wait and learn stuff before rushing into it
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Posted on 08-26-04 12:37 AM Link | Quote
You don't need to master everything there is to master to dabble in rom hacking. Finding any data at all about your favorite game, finding out what makes it tick, or possibly find secrets that never were meant to see the light of day....it can be a small thing, but bring such joy. It doesn't have to be a time consuming hobby, just dabble here and there, when you have time, learn a few things when it's convenient for you. But when you accidently stumble upon level data, or find out something in the game that was left out in the final release, and only you and the developers know about it..... you will probably come back for more. Your choice of games to hack is slightly unlimited, as there are more ROMS out there that havent been hacked as there are grains of sand at your local beach (depends on your beach really... ).

Less Ashamed Of Self
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Posted on 08-26-04 01:00 AM Link | Quote
Thanks for the responses so far guys; I have a couple of questions/comments though:

-SMW hacking getting old? Just cause there's an excellent utility for it? Oh I'll show you a fresh SMW... unless I don't. I could totally come up with genius level design though.

-I sort of am determined but not really... like I said before, I know I could do it, but on the whole I want to know if it's worthwhile to get into. At first FL Studio was very intimidating, it has a lengthy learning curve too, but now that I know it I don't regret learning it for a second. I got into stepfiles too and the way I do it is purely numbers... but you see they make sense, ie: a pause of 50 ms is 50... hex is sick. This FAQ for newbies question scares the crap out of me:

Q) Some levels cannot be accessed from the overworld. What should I do?
A) Only levels 0h-24h and 101h-13Bh are accessable from the overworld. You should use these levels carefully and put the sub-levels between 25h and 100h / 13Ch and 1FFh...

-I don't need to know ASM? I do if I want it to be any good:

Q) How do I replace the existing animations?
A) You can't. Don't try.

Q) But I saw a hack where some of the enemies was changed!
A) Don't look! Don't ask! Forget all about it. It never happened. OK?

Q) How do I add the pipes from DW:TLC to my hack?
A) Learn ASM and program them yourself.

Such answers leave me un-enthused.

-Can someone link me to a good ASM tutorial... or rather, if you've got some advice for getting started outside of the newbie thread I'd love to hear it.
||bass
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Posted on 08-26-04 01:05 AM Link | Quote
Try this: http://www.zophar.net/tech/files/65816info.txt
This is by far the best tutorial for SNES ASM.
FuSoYa
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Posted on 08-26-04 02:36 AM Link | Quote
SMW hacking getting old? Just cause there's an excellent utility for it?

Well, the easier the utility, the more people that are able to create a hack for it. Since LM has been around for a while, there's quite a few SMW hacks by now.

hex is sick.

Hex is just an alternate method of counting, which is the preferred system to use when representing byte values. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 1A, 1B, etc. It's not really a big deal. Most calculators (even the one in windows) can convert between decimal and hex... but you usually don't have to do that when using LM, since there isn't much value in knowing what level #10A would be in decimal.

Q) Some levels cannot be accessed from the overworld. What should I do?

It just means only a certain range of levels can be on the overworld, and the rest can be used by exiting from another level to them (typically using a door or pipe).

Q) How do I replace the existing animations?

It can be done actually, but there's likely no reason you'd want to, as LM can create new tile animations.

Q) But I saw a hack where some of the enemies was changed!

Changing enemy graphics to make them look like another enemy is easy. Altering their behavior requires ASM. However, I don't believe I modified any enemies in DWTLC with ASM. The one exception is the Yoshi fireballs, but those aren't really enemies.

Q) How do I add the pipes from DW:TLC to my hack?

Yes, that one really requires ASM. But that's just if you want the new screen-scrolling pipes I made... the original pipes in SMW are easily modified in the editor.

Can someone link me to a good ASM tutorial

If you haven't done ASM for any other processor before (or at least a low-level language like C), there will be a steep learning curve. I wouldn't recommend looking into that when you're trying to decide whether or not to create a hack, since it's possible to create pretty goods hack in LM without it.

Creating a quality hack does take time, but it's more a matter of discipline. The bulk of the work in DWTLC was done by 2 people in about 2 months. A very, very frantic 2 months, but 2 months nonetheless. Multiply it by 2 if you're working alone, and by 4 if you want to take your time. That's a little less than a year and a half, unless you take extended breaks.

I'd suggest just playing around with the editor for a couple weeks, until you get a feel for whether this is something you'd want to do a major project with. Even if you end up not wanting to, it can still be fun to do level-only hacks to try out your own level design and playing abilities.
Less Ashamed Of Self
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Posted on 08-26-04 10:02 AM Link | Quote
Thanks FuSoYa,
(You can disregard the ignorant 'are-you-gonna-make-this' part of my e-mail now...)
I think I will do as you suggested for the next few weeks and just fiddle around and try and see if I in fact DO want to do this. Since the concept of SMW level hacks was introduced to me I've been tossing some GREAT ideas around in my head but we'll have to see what happens.

One more thing I can think of to ask, the bg's you imported in to DW:TLC, is that all covered in the GFX and/or ExGFX importing/exporting? It would be truely awesome to be able to bring in my own multilayer animated backgrounds.
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Lava Lotus
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Posted on 08-26-04 10:07 AM Link | Quote
Originally posted by Less Ashamed Of Self
Since the concept of SMW level hacks was introduced to me I've been tossing some GREAT ideas around in my head but we'll have to see what happens.
Write any and all ideas you have on paper (or at least a text document ).

Ideas that you have in your head will most likely be forgotten, and never will see the light of day
hhallahh

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Posted on 08-26-04 10:22 AM Link | Quote
Oh, hi there LAOS. You should know me.

I guess I'll give my advice, though... although I've fooled around with LM, I never really put any serious effort into a hack, largely because I don't want to get started on another huge project that I'll never finish. The learning curve on LM really isn't bad, though, so if you've already experimented with it, you should have a good idea on whether you have the energy to achieve your goals.

You don't really know how to do ASM hacking to make a good hack. Sure, it doesn't hurt, but if you take all the time you'd spend learning to do neat stuff and devoted it to making awesome levels, you've invested your time in a much wiser manner. Granted, there are some ASM wizards who may make you jealous by doing some fucking awesome stuff, but... well, none of their hacks may ever be completed. *looks mournfully at BMF*

If you really wanted to, you could probably recruit someone to do your ASM for you. The people here are really generous in offering assisstance, especially if your work looks worthwhile.
BMF98567
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Posted on 08-26-04 03:04 PM Link | Quote
Originally posted by hhallahh
well, none of their hacks may ever be completed. *looks mournfully at BMF*
Dude. It WILL be finished. Maybe not anytime soon, but eventually. If you could experience what I've been going through the past few months, both physically and mentally, you would understand. I'm simply not well enough to focus on Super Mario Odyssey--or much of anything--at the moment.
hhallahh

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Posted on 08-26-04 05:58 PM Link | Quote
Originally posted by Neko54123
Originally posted by hhallahh
well, none of their hacks may ever be completed. *looks mournfully at BMF*
Dude. It WILL be finished. Maybe not anytime soon, but eventually. If you could experience what I've been going through the past few months, both physically and mentally, you would understand. I'm simply not well enough to focus on Super Mario Odyssey--or much of anything--at the moment.


Okay.. good to hear. I've just been genuinely put off by the lack of news from the hacks I've really liked... you need to post some screens to show that you're alive, even if you haven't made any progress in a while. And Sendy too! And FPI.
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