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magicpants29

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Relatively simple hacking question
« on: October 16, 2011, 08:26:54 PM »
--This relates to my FFV Advance portrait hacking, but I figure it's broad enough a hacking question that a lot of people might be able to answer.

While hacking the portraits for FFVA, I've noticed there's a decent amount of space between where the portrait is stored and where its palette is stored. This space is full of values, yet so far from changing them, I've yet to see any changes (which is good, I need this extra space for the custom portrait hacking).

Is it common for ROMs to have unused space in the middle that, while having values, isn't used? Should I assume this space was originally used for something but in the final version wasn't? Am I making a big deal out of nothing?

Ultimately I think I'll have to test the space (or at least what I need of it) and play through the whole game, but I just want some kind of reassurance that I'm probably not breaking anything.
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Dragonsbrethren

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Re: Relatively simple hacking question
« Reply #1 on: October 30, 2011, 01:38:16 PM »
How much space are we talking, and how are the portraits stored? Do they go portrait, unknown data, palette or portraits, unknown data, palettes? In the former case I'd be more willing to trust it as unused data (maybe something left over from the conversion from whatever image format to GBA) than in the latter, if nothing appears to have changed with the portraits themselves.

Keep in mind that the GBA can address up to 32MB and FF5 is only 8MB. You could easily expand the ROM and use that space for your portraits if there's not enough room for them in the ROM without overwriting other data. Unless I was absolutely certain that the data was never used that's what I would do.
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magicpants29

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Re: Relatively simple hacking question
« Reply #2 on: November 20, 2011, 11:11:50 AM »
Whoops, didn't see you respond til just now

The format is, Single Portrait > Unknown Data > Single Palette. I've since experimented by using that space and I haven't found any issues, I feel confident at this point that the unknown data is just some kind of buffer space. It seems unlikely, especially considering what you said about FFV being only 8MB, that they'd cram some other important information in there with the portraits.

The project is going along even more smoothly ever since I was able to test that area so if I have time (ie: Thanksgiving weekend) I should be able to make huge strides.
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