Category: hacking

  • New Discord Roles

    Hacker Role Split

    For clymax’s projects, click here. You can also follow him on YouTube or Twitter.

    The Hacker Discord role has been split into eight more specific roles as described below.

    They are ordered from most technical to least technical on a relative level, generally speaking.

    For the kind of work of the first two roles, we have an academy pilot available to players.

    Your body of work is primarily characterized as having been done via...

    1. Binary Editor – binary editing. Example: clymax.
    2. Assembly Hacker – assembly hacking using an assembler; may use disasms. Example: Cubear.
    3. C Hacker – C hacking based on decomps, or toolmaking using C or another HLL. Example: Vesly.
    4. Data Hacker – hacking ROM data without changing or adding ROM instructions. Example: xJ4cks.
    5. Scripter – writing emulator scripts to create enhancements such as custom achievements, 16:9 aspect ratio, Mesen HD graphics packs, Mesen NES Enhanced Audio, Lua indicators, etc. Example: solidification.
    6. Project Lead – conceptualizes a hack design, recruits team members, directs them to make exclusive patches for the hack, and combines and tests the exclusive patches. Example: Lightning Hunter.
    7. Compilation Producer – curates and tests custom combinations of publicly available loose patches. Example: Nintenja.
    8. Modmaker – game-specific editing tools made by others. Example: YeOldeLoremonger.

    Subject Matter

    1. Maps. Example: YeOldeLoremonger.
    2. Sprites. Example: Cubear.
    3. Audio. Example: Cubear.
    4. Text. Example: xJ4cks.
    5. Mechanics. Example: clymax.
    6. Bugfixes. Example: clymax.
    7. Integration. Example: clymax.
    8. UI. Example: Vesly.
    9. Compression. Example: Vesly.

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  • Coding Retro Achievements—LIVE with solidification*

    Super Shell Monster Story (SFC)

    *Contingent on Discord poll results.

    solidification is a prolific creator of fan-made achievements across different game genres and especially in the world of Final Fantasy mods. You can follow solidification’s set-making journey here.

    Writes solidification:

    Come watch me make an idiot of myself as I don’t stream and never have and it took me like an hour just to figure out how to set anything up and get it working in a way I was SORT of comfortable with.

    I’ll be playing a game I have never even seen before (except the 3 seconds to confirm that I had the right hash after patching it)!

    I’ll discuss how to find “very typical addresses needed for a minimal RPG set and exceptional RPG set” and break it down so much you’ll be bored to tears.

    Because my motto is: “If I can do it, you sure as hell can!”

    …And I’ll probably make a few mistakes on the way because that’s what it’s like opening a brand new game you’re unfamiliar with!

    You can catch the action on Twitch:

    https://www.twitch.tv/solidification_bigoof

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  • Spotlight: Machinima

    POV: UMK3 but you’re a wizard – Ninja Edition

    For clymax’s projects, click here. You can also follow him on YouTube.

    So, what do you think? Which style of character would you like to see covered next? Comment below, or check out our sister Discord clymax’s magical arcade here.

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  • Hacking Academy

    Pilot Program Launched

    For clymax’s projects, click here. You can also follow him on YouTube or Twitter.

    The academy is for players wanting to become hackers of the first two hacker roles explained here.

    Are you a beginner interested in learning how to hack roms of your favorite games? Having trouble grasping assembly coding on your own? Read on!

    Hall of Graduates

    New Graduate epigonone

    Registration

    1. To join the hacking academy, the player warrants that he or she is new to romhacking. Coding experience in another discipline, e.g., web development, is OK.
    2. The player must not have had any publicly released hacks in the player’s name, in a way that credits the player as a hacker of the first two hacker roles.
    3. The player must have passion for or fondness for the Final Fantasy franchise.
    4. Sign-ups are taken via a dedicated thread in the Discord. Please note, a player may be denied entry for any reason or for no reason.
    5. Especially for the pilot, enrollment may be limited and subject to availability.
    6. The Crystal Warrior role may be required unless an exception is granted.

    Making Your Hack

    1. If a player is accepted into the academy, the player will be given one calendar year to make a new romhack.
    2. The romhack should be of one of the following games: Final Fantasy I-VI.
    3. The romhack should be for one of the following systems: NES, SNES, and GBA. To be clear, Pixel Remaster (Steam/PC) versions are not accepted.
    4. The romhack can be any type of hack. Examples include comprehensive, improvement, levels, graphics, sound, bugfix, etc.
    5. The player is required to submit a hack description and seek approval by one or more mentors before commencing work on the hack.
    6. Please note, hack descriptions that correspond closely to a feature in one of clymax’s private hacks will likely not be approved.
    7. Important: for the Assembly Hacker route, assembly coding MUST be used in making the hack. Using an assembler and using binary editing are both OK. To be clear, only using game-specific tools is not acceptable for purposes of this program. Using such tools in conjunction with assembly coding is OK. Using game-neutral tools is always OK. For the Data Hacker route (if it is offered in the future), assembly coding is not necessarily required, but proficiency with a debugger is required to be shown.
    8. Choice of debugger must be approved by one or more mentors. This is to ensure availability of a mentor well-versed in the debugger chosen by the player.

    Evaluation and Awards

    Certified Hacker
    1. The player is required to submit the hack by the one-year deadline for evaluation by one or more mentors. The player may be required to explain how the hack was made.
    2. Hacks will be graded on a pass/fail basis. Please note, the decision is final and cannot be appealed.
    3. If the hack passes evaluation, the player will receive the “Certified Hacker” title from FFV Central’s Hacking Academy. Title recipients will be memorialized on the website. The title will also have a corresponding website badge and a Discord role. The hack that passes evaluation will also be commemorated in a Hacking Academy Hall of Hacks on the website. This will also constitute the player’s graduation from the Hacking Academy.
    4. The player retains any and all rights related to his or her work on the hack. We kindly ask that FFV Central be given credit alongside the player in the hack, but this by no means a requirement and is up to the player.
    5. Terms of the program are subject to change from time to time to suit the needs of program.

    So, what do you think? Comment below, or come check us out on Discord.

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