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HOW TO - Change Graphics and Text in a NGPC Rom - Printable Version

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HOW TO - Change Graphics and Text in a NGPC Rom - NiN^_^NiN - 02-22-2012

Hi All

I've just recently started a project and have had to learn how to change a NGPC rom for my own use.

Project: http://forum.freeplaytech.com/showthread.php?tid=14

Now as there wasn't any instructions or information that I could find I am writing this simple and quick guide in case you need to do this yourself.

Below are the tools I used:

Graphics/Tile/Sprite Editor
TilEd 2000 0.64 Build 2600
http://www.zophar.net/utilities/graphutil/tiled2002.html

Emulator
NeoPop v0.71
http://www.zophar.net/ngpocket/neopop.html

Text Editor
XVI32
http://www.chmaas.handshake.de/delphi/freeware/xvi32/xvi32.htm#download


As an example I will use the game I have modified.
The original game was Magical Drop Pocket.

Graphics Editing

So first you need to open up TilEd

[Image: TilEd2002.gif]

As you can see I have already loaded the rom into the program.

To load the rom you need to the Browser control window
[Image: browsercontrol.gif]

And click the first icon under File (Hard drive icon with arrow pointing up)

Once you have loaded your rom the browser window will popup.

Now the hard part is trying to find what you need to modify the tiles don't match up as you can see.

I have found that under the Browser Control window if I change the size of the browser some of the tiles will start to kind of match up which makes it easier to find what you need.

To change the size use the first slider under Browser Size

Now the question is what do you do with the graphic you want to change?

Well if you go to your Editor window
[Image: editor-1.gif]

you can highlight any box you want (I tend to be one or two blocks from the edge but that's a personal preference)

Now in the Browser window
[Image: browser.gif]

If you double click on a square it will copy it to the editor window.
Now if you are putting the tiles next to each other then it will move to the next blank tile once you have added it to the editor.

If you need to put the tile somewhere else like below a tile you have already copied to the editor then click into the editor window and highlight the tile you want to copy to then go back to the browser window and double click.

Once you have the graphic you need to change into the editor you need to change to edit mode in the Editor Control Window.
[Image: editor.gif]

Now the top three icons are as follows
1) Arrow
2) Paint Brush
3) Fill

Now the arrow mode is to select the tile you want to edit you must make sure you click on this to change tiles otherwise you will be painting onto the tile your trying to click on.

Paint Brush will allow you to editor the pixels

Fill will fill the whole box with a single colour so don't try to use it to fill in a colour on your drawing or you will lose it.

Now click on the Paint Brush icon to go into edit mode.

Now in editor control you will see a magnifying glass with a + and - this will increase and decrease the pixel size which is very handy when editing.

Change it to the right size you need.

Now the issue with NGPC games is they can only allow 4 colours per tile which creates a problem cause you can't tell what colour is what.

[Image: colours.gif]
Now in the Colour Palette window only the first 4 colours (Orange to Red) can be used when editing a tile.

I recommend you open the rom up in the NeoPop emulator and go to the part of the game the graphic you are editing is in and hit pause.

Now you will see what colours are used in the game you can see what colour in the palette is used for that colour and draw.

Once you have drawn your new graphic you need to save the tile back into the file.

In the Editor Control window you need to click on the Arrow to get out of edit mode. Also it's a good idea to change the pixel size down to a smaller size to make it easy to copy.

Now this is where we use the Tile Tool window.
[Image: tiletool.gif]

The top three icons are:
1) Arrow pointing Down will save the tile you have selected back to the file.
2) Arrow pointing up will reload the tile from the file so if you made a mistake and need the original tile use this.
3) Arrow pointing down into recycling bin will delete the selected tile.

So click the first icon to transfer the edited tile to the file once you do a warning will say that the file will be permanently modified. Click yes to save the tile. Once all tiles have been saved you need to view your work and make sure it's correct.

In the NeoPop emulator unload the rom you have and reload it and then go to where you made the changes. If everything looks right you have done well if everything hasn't the you need to re-edit.

Please note that once you have re-edited a tile and saved into the file you need to unload and reload the rom in NeoPop to see the change.

You have now learned how to change Graphics in a NGPC Rom.

Example:
[Image: hax-title.gif]

Notes: It can be hard or even impossible to find certain graphics you want to change. Keep in mind that each tile uses four colours so if you count more than four colours in the graphic you are trying to find then they have most likely layered the graphics on top of each other to get more than four colours (That's why the sprites for game characters don't usually have many colours) so you will have to see if you can find which piece belongs to what. Same goes for character sprites it's hard to tell which tile goes with which animation so you have to do trial and error and only change a few tiles for the sprite and see if they match up in-game on the emulator.

Text Editing

So in most roms they create an alphabet of images to correspond to the letters you will use in-game.

This makes it very simple to find and edit what we need using plain text.

Open up XVI32

Click File > Open and select the rom.

Now that the rom is open you will see something like this:
[Image: XVI32.gif]

Now you will need to open the rom in NeoPop and find the text you want and search for one of the more unique words in the sentence show on the screen.

Now to find the word you need to press Ctrl F or Search > Find.

Now you only want to find a text string and make sure Case Sensitive isn't selected in the options.

Please Note: There is an option to search up or down from your current position so remember that when you are searching for text

Press ok and it will find a match.

If it is the correct match then start changing the text.

Please Note: You can only change the same text size if it only has 10 characters then you only have 10 characters to work with.

Don't hit backspace as it will move the whole file out of place. If you do highlight the letter just before the deletion and click Edit > Insert and select text string and put a letter or space in and click ok.

Also note that some spaces will have a different code on the right side of the editor make a note of this as well.

Now I personally have two files open the original rom and my own hacked rom so if i have any issues with the changes i've made I can check the original version.

Now once you have made you change you need to save it by pressing File > Save or the Disk icon up the top left.

Now load up the rom into NeoPop and see if the text has changed and is displayed correctly.


Issues
[Image: error.gif]

If you come across something like this where the text is overlapping the top text then you need to check the original file and check if any of the spaces you may have typed text over has a different hex code on the right side of the window (In general if the hex code says 20 that's a normal space)

Also note that if you have a long word the program might not be able to wrap the text around to the next line. In most of the games I have seen when they have a word that needs to go to the next line they split the text up and add a - to mean the word continues onto the next line then they will usually have a space with a different hex code of 20 to mean new line then add the rest of the word after that.

General Tips
Always save a copy of your file one you have done a successful Tile edit or text change. I personally have a Zip file that i just drag the file i'm working in on top of the zip to be a backup in case the change wrecks the file


RE: HOW TO - Change Graphics and Text in a NGPC Rom - Flavor - 02-23-2012

This is awesome information! Thanks for posting, NiN^_^NiN!!!

I did some similar things when working with CFC2English. I'm not good about documenting my findings, though. I looked back through the blog updates. There wasn't much technical info there, but here's a few links.
http://cfc2english.blogspot.com/2007/10/first-status-update.html
http://cfc2english.blogspot.com/2007/11/tiles-flash-carts-emulators.html
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2008/05/quiz_me_qwik_card_fighting_with_flavor.php

I'm really happy to have your info log here. I really do appreciate you posting it.


RE: HOW TO - Change Graphics and Text in a NGPC Rom - NiN^_^NiN - 02-23-2012

No problems I hope this helps people who might need to modify a game or might want to do something similar to my project.

I'll do my best to answer any questions people might have.

This is the perfect place to house the information after all if I couldn't get a flash cart and support from you I probably would of dismissed the idea.

Just reading up on the Card fighters clash translation and I must say very impressive and now with a flash cart available it's a great game finally more than 90% playable


RE: HOW TO - Change Graphics and Text in a NGPC Rom - Wiisel - 02-24-2012

Awesome stuff NiN^_^NiN I couldn't resist giving this a go and after having a taste I have to take my hat off to anyone who takes on a project that involves tile editing.
This is a minor change that took me forever to do Blush
[Image: WiiselBlade.jpg]


RE: HOW TO - Change Graphics and Text in a NGPC Rom - Morden - 02-24-2012

(02-24-2012, 07:19 AM)Wiisel Wrote: This is a minor change that took me forever to do

I'm not surprised. Sometimes, without the correct palette assigned, it's almost impossible to tell what's what. Tile editing is a tedious task, and I'd like to have a fraction of the patience of people who do this. Same goes for game translation, which is directly connected to hex editing and tile hacking, not to mention decompression and what have you.


RE: HOW TO - Change Graphics and Text in a NGPC Rom - NiN^_^NiN - 02-24-2012

(02-24-2012, 07:19 AM)Wiisel Wrote: Awesome stuff NiN^_^NiN I couldn't resist giving this a go and after having a taste I have to take my hat off to anyone who takes on a project that involves tile editing.
This is a minor change that took me forever to do Blush
[Image: WiiselBlade.jpg]

Great work glad to see someone having fun with it Big Grin

It can take a while but once you mod a few you get real quick my progress on the project is only a few hours worth editing wise.

There are a few tiles I wanted to edit originally but it would be a challenge to modify them and there is a small tile i've been wanting to modify but I have been unable to find it for the life of me but cause it has so many colours it would be split up so that's why it's tough to find but still it can be a tough job and I have much respect for the translations as I now know how much work is involved in it.


RE: HOW TO - Change Graphics and Text in a NGPC Rom - wyndcrosser - 12-14-2012

This is great.

Can we do character profiles as well?

I'd love to turn King of Fighters R2 and make it Real Bout 2 or something


RE: HOW TO - Change Graphics and Text in a NGPC Rom - KeiDash - 12-21-2012

Hello all,

Recently, I spoke with "Flavor" about make Tiles for NGPC dev. He say me that it's posible to edit sprites with graphics editos software like this.

I'm begining in the world of ngpc dev and I make Tiles with NeoTile, by Steve Robb.

Flavor say me that, I can use this softwares for edit graphics and that, I can speak with Thor and Sebastian about, how to they make Tiles etc.

Now, to see how I can explain to me that I understand and later, you can understand them Tongue (Sorry for my english)

I'm trying to make my sprites from 0, for then go inserting them in the game. This means that I putting game code and performing an editing tool sprites as Photoshop. Later, I go back to edit in 8x8 tiles, the images created in NeoTile, gender file support development of NGP, and insert sprites in code. It's the only way I know.

Do not assume that this tool is to edit existing sprites in a game?

My question comes in the wake of Flavor and Thor that I have referred to this, and the truth is I do not understand what I can do with a sprite editor.

Do not misunderstand please do not speak sarcastically or criticize your help, but actually I find the utility for a game with this tool, and I would like to explain how I could serve

The real question is how I can make a game for NGP, from 0 to a sprite editor, when the game does not have any sprite?

thanks


RE: HOW TO - Change Graphics and Text in a NGPC Rom - NiN^_^NiN - 02-02-2013

I had a PM asking for a link to the TileD software as the user couldn't find it so I have updated the original post with links to all software used.


(12-21-2012, 09:49 PM)KeiDash Wrote: Hello all,

Recently, I spoke with "Flavor" about make Tiles for NGPC dev. He say me that it's posible to edit sprites with graphics editos software like this.

I'm begining in the world of ngpc dev and I make Tiles with NeoTile, by Steve Robb.

Flavor say me that, I can use this softwares for edit graphics and that, I can speak with Thor and Sebastian about, how to they make Tiles etc.

Now, to see how I can explain to me that I understand and later, you can understand them Tongue (Sorry for my english)

I'm trying to make my sprites from 0, for then go inserting them in the game. This means that I putting game code and performing an editing tool sprites as Photoshop. Later, I go back to edit in 8x8 tiles, the images created in NeoTile, gender file support development of NGP, and insert sprites in code. It's the only way I know.

Do not assume that this tool is to edit existing sprites in a game?

My question comes in the wake of Flavor and Thor that I have referred to this, and the truth is I do not understand what I can do with a sprite editor.

Do not misunderstand please do not speak sarcastically or criticize your help, but actually I find the utility for a game with this tool, and I would like to explain how I could serve

The real question is how I can make a game for NGP, from 0 to a sprite editor, when the game does not have any sprite?

thanks
I am sorry but I am having a hard time understanding what you are asking so I will try my best to answer.

The program TileD will let you modify existing tiles used in a ngpc rom. It also will allow you to create new ones too set to the NGPC size.

I don't understand what you mean by how to make a game for NGP for 0 to sprite editor.

If you want to edit a ngpc game to change it's sprites to how you want to use it then by all means give it a whirl but if your creating a game from scratch then you will have to check in the dev section for more help.

Sorry if i'm not being very helpful


RE: HOW TO - Change Graphics and Text in a NGPC Rom - wyndcrosser - 02-02-2013

hey thanks, I found the site that had it. My issue was that the name you had in the post was a little different than the actual software name (the number, etc.) So I used the name off the picture you attached.