Topic: Developing FF4kster: a comprehensive editor for FF4

[chillyfeez]

Hi Pinkpuff...
I'm having a bit of a problem. I'm not sure if you'll be able to help, but here goes...
I just DLed the latest version of FF4kster, and it won't load my hack.
It still loads other FF4 ROMs fine.  Not only that, but other FF4 hacking programs still load my hack fine, including the previous version of FF4kster that I had (which was originally DLed on 9/24, if that helps create a frame of reference).  It's very bizarre... Any ideas what might be going on here?

[Pinkpuff]

I updated the file on the timecave. Menus now feature a Page Up / Page Down funciton, as well as an "index toggle". Pressing the slash key "/" in any menu will add indexes to the front of the options (or remove them). This will help for things with index references, but it may not be as useful in some menus than in others. For example, the item menus in the actor starting equipment will not have the actual index of the item, since it is only a partial list. This functionality has not been fully tested yet so there may be a few strange things but it will not affect the roms in any way, as it only affects the display and not anything in the underlying data.

Hi Pinkpuff...
I'm having a bit of a problem. I'm not sure if you'll be able to help, but here goes...
I just DLed the latest version of FF4kster, and it won't load my hack.
It still loads other FF4 ROMs fine.  Not only that, but other FF4 hacking programs still load my hack fine, including the previous version of FF4kster that I had (which was originally DLed on 9/24, if that helps create a frame of reference).  It's very bizarre... Any ideas what might be going on here?

So... it's loading a clean FF2US v1.1 fine? But not your hack? What happens when you try to load your hack; does it ask for a filename (be sure you're spelling it correctly and giving the correct path, also correctly spelled)? Does it go to a black screen and hang? Does it load the rom but all the data is messed up?

Did you apply any patches, or make any changes to the rom with another tool besides FF4kster?

[vivify93]

Hello again everyone! I have yet one more question.


I noticed that the editor will eventually have the capability to edit monster stats. Does this include the item drops?

Thank you all for your time and have a nice day! :)

[Grimoire LD]

I updated the file on the timecave. Menus now feature a Page Up / Page Down funciton, as well as an "index toggle". Pressing the slash key "/" in any menu will add indexes to the front of the options (or remove them). This will help for things with index references, but it may not be as useful in some menus than in others. For example, the item menus in the actor starting equipment will not have the actual index of the item, since it is only a partial list. This functionality has not been fully tested yet so there may be a few strange things but it will not affect the roms in any way, as it only affects the display and not anything in the underlying data.

Oh man... you have no idea how nice PgUp/PgDown working is! Everything becomes so much more fluid, no more time holding down, getting lag, missing your target, scrolling back up, etc. A great addition!

Looks like Indexes work great! Very helpful for items/commands and event editing (since you know what each command is numbered)

I got very excited when I clicked on Map Info and saw a list of maps, but alas clicking on it took me back to the menu, too cruel PinkPuff! Haha!

Great work, neat little additions which increase user-friendlyness. Looking forward to the next update.

[Pinkpuff]

I noticed that the editor will eventually have the capability to edit monster stats. Does this include the item drops?

Yes it does.

Oh man... you have no idea how nice PgUp/PgDown working is! Everything becomes so much more fluid, no more time holding down, getting lag, missing your target, scrolling back up, etc. A great addition!

No sweat! I'm hoping to somehow come up with a clever trick for eliminating the lag in the first place, but this should help things run a little more smoothly in the meantime.

I got very excited when I clicked on Map Info and saw a list of maps, but alas clicking on it took me back to the menu, too cruel PinkPuff! Haha!

Haha I didn't mean to tease people like that. I usually remember to disable whatever component I'm currently working on but occasionally I forget. It's actually more developed than it appears, I was using that as a test sandbox for my page up / page down key and index functions.

Great work, neat little additions which increase user-friendlyness. Looking forward to the next update.

Thanks! Your guys' feedback always helps keep me motivated to keep working on it!

[chillyfeez]

It does absolutely nothing (hangs) when I enter the (properly spelled) filename and hit enter. Which, I believe, is the same thing that happens with a misspelled filename.
I'm pretty sure I've also edited the file with at least one of jce3000gt's tools, and yousei's map editor, but this wasn't a problem for previous editions of ff4kster (like I said, my older ff4kster version still works for this hack).

Anyway, it doesn'treally matter. I've decided to start fresh with a clean ROM for other reasons anyway. Figuring out why this is happening would really only serve to satisfy my curiosity, and I'm sure you have higher priorities than that.

[Pinkpuff]

I would assume it has something to do with the loading of some kind of data that wasn't being loaded in the older version. The loading routine for said data could be taking something for granted that's true in an unmodified rom, and true in roms that are saved with FF4kster, but not necessarily true when saved with other editors. There's no realistic way for me to verify how other programs save the data they edit so... I'm afraid you're on your own for this one.

[Dragonsbrethren]

I think Yousei's editor expands the ROM and saves world map edits in the expanded space, but it's been forever since I used it.

[chillyfeez]

I would assume it has something to do with the loading of some kind of data that wasn't being loaded in the older version. The loading routine for said data could be taking something for granted that's true in an unmodified rom, and true in roms that are saved with FF4kster, but not necessarily true when saved with other editors.

That's probably it. There were a lot of aspects of the game I had edited by other means, such as npcs and maps, that the older version of ff4kster was completely ignoring but the newer version is not.

I think Yousei's editor expands the ROM and saves world map edits in the expanded space, but it's been forever since I used it.

If you mean it increases the ROM size, it doesn't. Or at least it doesn't necessarily. I only made minor changes and the file size was unaffected.

[Dragonsbrethren]

I'm probably just misremembering, then.

[vivify93]

I hate to be "that guy" who knows nothing yet is always suggesting new things, but I have another question!

Will place labels eventually be in ff4kster? I admit that I know nothing about how they're stored in hex, so I don't know if it's an issue or not, but I was just wondering.

[Pinkpuff]

I hate to be "that guy" who knows nothing yet is always suggesting new things, but I have another question!

Will place labels eventually be in ff4kster? I admit that I know nothing about how they're stored in hex, so I don't know if it's an issue or not, but I was just wondering.

Er... what's a "place label"?

[Grimoire LD]

I believe he means Location Labels like "Town of Baron", "Baron Castle", etc.

[Pinkpuff]

If you mean the map names that appear at the top when you enter, then those are coming in the map properties editor. On that note actually I'm finding the overworld map names are working perfectly but the underworld ones are completely messed up... no matter how I realign them it doesn't seem to do the trick. I'm considering uploading a version with the editor accessible (though it will only be displaying the data) so that maybe you guys can help brainstorm?

[Grimoire LD]

Certainly, It would be interesting to see what could be the issue in that regards. (Not to mention to have that available as well, hehe.)