#4566 - haliway - Thu Apr 03, 2003 4:30 pm
Hello I'm new and I search the best tools.
I have installed Ham 2.71 but is it complete to code a good game like "golden sun" coz I want to make one RPG with 3 designers so the only problem is the possibility and power of tools
THX for answers
#4637 - Unciaa - Sat Apr 05, 2003 8:32 pm
Hm, you might want to lower your sights a bit; full-blown RPGs are quite a complex thing, why not try something easier to get the hang of the tools and limitations?
Go to the GBADev's Docs section, pick up a tutorial and scan through it to get the info on tools. Good enough to start with and it usually gives you instructions on how to use them. If you're feeling experimental though just go to the Tools part and try them out yourself.
As far as tools go I'd have a question also- what is a recommended map editor, as far as usability versus ease of use goes? I'm writing a simple tile engine that uses a 32x32 tile [256x256 pixel] Mode1 screen area and reads the map data from other smaller maps row by row [column by column]. It would make my work a lot easier if I could create one large map and cut it up into smaller pieces for export, but the one I use currently doesn't support that [or much anything really; time to get something better]. Any suggestions? I am fiddling with other programs, but I don't want to waste a few days battling some program's interface to realize the one feature I need is missing [or ignore it having missed the feature at first glance].
#4638 - sgeos - Sat Apr 05, 2003 9:22 pm
I'm working on it... my sgeditor for gba (thats right, make you gfx and maps on the gba) already has a working palette editor and tile editor.
I'm working on the map editor right now. The ncurses mock up is going along well. Once thats done I can port the code to the gba. =)
After that I'll be looking for suggestions to improve it.
-Brendan
#4643 - Unciaa - Sat Apr 05, 2003 11:38 pm
A graphics editor on the GBA? All that's missing is a C compiler and we're set, no need to put the thing down ever again. ;)
*AAABRAARBBLAAAR START*
Yay, 'int i;'! *g*
Last edited by Unciaa on Sat Apr 05, 2003 11:49 pm; edited 1 time in total
#4644 - sgeos - Sat Apr 05, 2003 11:43 pm
It saves too. =) Perfect for the bus. If only they'd post my demo...
-Brendan
#4668 - Unciaa - Sun Apr 06, 2003 6:44 pm
| sgeos wrote: |
It saves too. =) Perfect for the bus. If only they'd post my demo...
-Brendan |
Can't you at least put some screenshots up? Or host it yourself for those of us on the forums? ;)
BTW, how the heck do you get the saved image data out of the thing? As one of the save slots?
#4671 - peebrain - Sun Apr 06, 2003 7:43 pm
How would you export the map data to a file on your computer?
~Sean
_________________
http://www.pbwhere.com
#4675 - sgeos - Sun Apr 06, 2003 9:03 pm
[quote="Unciaa"]BTW, how the heck do you get the saved image data out of the thing?[/quote]
The same way you got the progam on. I use a flash linker, it lets me copy save game data back to the PC. The alternative is to emulate it, but somehow that just seems really twisted...
-Brendan
#4676 - Unciaa - Sun Apr 06, 2003 9:21 pm
Yeah, but dump it as what? Certainly not the ROM bin file, I doubt you could extract much from a compiled binary. The save file then?
#4678 - sgeos - Sun Apr 06, 2003 9:44 pm
Of course the save. Did you read about the ascii save feature in the readme? If you don't want to wirte you own extractor (or wait for me to write one) you can use that to convert your data into some source friendly.
-Brendan
#4691 - Unciaa - Mon Apr 07, 2003 3:49 am
[edit] Snip. Didn't see it got posted on the dev page. Silly me. :)
*goes fetch*
#4693 - sgeos - Mon Apr 07, 2003 4:12 am
[quote="Unciaa"][edit] Snip. Didn't see it got posted on the dev page. Silly me. :)
*goes fetch*[/quote]
So, uh.... how do you like it? If you are drooling over it, after you stop and realize that it's horrible please tell me *what* you think is horrible. I'm working on the map editor, as well as some fill and line drawing algorithms that will be in the next release.
-Brendan
#4723 - Unciaa - Mon Apr 07, 2003 11:08 pm
Oooh, neato... Heh, needed to consult the readme heavily though, especially once the entire tileset become SCREAMING YELLOW AND PINK. *grin*
Looks very cool so far, though I've yet to try the save function. :)
Hm, how exactly do you get the data out of the save file? Looks binary, not ASCII to me... Also, any way to load a non-sgedit made data back into it? So you can tweak existing tiles and not have to start from scratch each time?
#4725 - sgeos - Mon Apr 07, 2003 11:32 pm
[quote="Unciaa"]Oooh, neato... Heh, needed to consult the readme heavily though, especially once the entire tileset become SCREAMING YELLOW AND PINK. *grin*
[/quote]
lol! Did I put that palette in, or was that something you did?
[quote="Unciaa"]
Looks very cool so far, though I've yet to try the save function. :)
[/quote]
Try turning it off and back on again. =P
[quote="Unciaa"]
Hm, how exactly do you get the data out of the save file? Looks binary, not ASCII to me...
[/quote]
Hold select until the screen blanks. Ascii data will be written to the second 32k of SRAM. Shut off GBA. Open the file and scroll down until you find it the ascii stuff. Copy it out and past it into something else. This will be palette data if you hold select in the palette editor, or tile data if you hold select in tile editor. The tile data is commented so you can search for a particular tile. The palette data isn't commented.
[quote="Unciaa"]
Also, any way to load a non-sgedit made data back into it? So you can tweak existing tiles and not have to start from scratch each time?[/quote]
[/quote]
You'll have to write a program of your own for that. Have your program save the gfx to SRAM and then use that save file with sgedit. This will kill you palette though, so you'll want to save those as well. This is the tile editor save function, followed by the one for the palette editor:
void tedit_save(void)
{
unsigned long data[8];
int ctr;
int sctr;
for (ctr = 0; ctr < 256; ctr++)
{
for (sctr = 0; sctr < 8; sctr++)
data[sctr] = *(unsigned long *)(0x06004000 + 0x20 * ctr + 4 * sctr);
save((unsigned char *)&data[0], 8 * 4, SAVE_TILE + 0x20 * ctr);
}
}
void palette_save(void)
{
unsigned short data[256];
int ctr;
for (ctr = 0; ctr < 256; ctr++)
data[ctr] = *(unsigned short *)(0x05000000 + 2 * ctr);
save((unsigned char *)&data[0], 256 * 2, SAVE_PAL);
}
It rips the first half of screen base block 1 (not 0!) out of SRAM and puts it where sgedit wants it. The values of SAVE_TILE and SAVE_PAL are in the readme. Note that sgedit uses 16 color tiles. You'll need this function too:
void save(unsigned char *data, int length, int offset)
{
int ctr;
for (ctr = 0; ctr < length; ctr++)
*(unsigned char *)(0x0E000000 + offset + ctr) = data[ctr];
}
If you want to load functions, I can post those.
-Brendan
#4755 - Unciaa - Tue Apr 08, 2003 4:36 pm
*runs hand over head*
Whoooosh!
*scrolls back up to the short replies with small words* ;)
#4775 - haliway - Wed Apr 09, 2003 9:46 am
But It doesn't answer to my question : Ham is good to make something hard or not?