Library of the Ancients => Final Fantasy IV Research & Development => Topic started by: Phoenix on September 01, 2009, 08:43:00 AM
Title: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Phoenix on September 01, 2009, 08:43:00 AM
UPDATED (9/29/09): Version 1.1 released. Download here (http://sites.google.com/site/phoenixhacks/downloads/FF4Tools%28v1.1%29.7z). There aren't any major changes, but the release notes are as follows:
- Replaced main page image hover resizing with quicker swap transitions - Event Editor's hex guide is now shown by default, and has its own scrolling - Made height of elements more consistent across the tools - Fixed Phoenix Hacks logo not hiding behind other images - Fixed favicon links - Bug list and release notes are now included
----------------------------------------------------------------- Finally, after weeks of work, I'm pleased to announce the first release of FF4Tools, a revamp of my three javascript tools for FF4 (formerly a text converter, an event scripter, and a location map creator). The new ones are much improved over the old ones, featuring the following changes:
- Tools updated to Dialogue/Name Editor, Event Editor, and Location Map Editor - Tools integrated together with an opening web page - All tools now load their default data from text files (which can be edited) - All tools display the hex data length, which turns red when the edited version exceed the space allotted for that item - All tools have instructions, found by clicking the "?" in the top-left corner - Dialogue/Name Editor and Event Editor are now a bit more stable for editing within the text boxes - Dialogue/Name Editor now has a special characters panel that uses control codes (square brackets) rather than unicode character buttons - Event Editor contains a hex guide to show the hex values - Location Map Editor has been given a major overhaul, with resizeable tiles and maps now editable by point-and-click I'm most proud of the Location Map Editor, which I think is now much more useful. I've been using it a bunch over the last few weeks to edit maps for my hack, and I find it pretty easy to use. Some tips on using it: - Tiles can be selected from the grid or by right-clicking a tile already in the map - Click and hold to change multiple tiles at once - Undo works via the Undo button, Command-Z for Macs (i.e. Meta-Z), or Control-Z - Current (x,y) location in the map is displayed in the browser's status bar
I've tested all the tools on Safari, Firefox, Opera, and IE. Most of the tools work in all of the browsers except IE (which has problems with all of them). As of now, there are the following bugs:
FF4TOOLS MAIN PAGE Firefox - Javascript image scaling can be a little jumpy sometimes
DIALOGUE/NAME EDITOR All Browsers - A window canāt be two blank lines
Firefox - Editing after loading an entire dialogue bank is very slow - Inserting a special character doesnāt put the cursor back where itās supposed to go - Hitting return when thereās lots of text will return the view (but not the cursor) to the top of the text
Opera - Editing after loading an entire dialogue bank is very slow - Inserting a special character doesnāt put the cursor back where itās supposed to go - Asterisks donāt stick, and hitting return removes all asterisks from the text
EVENT EDITOR Opera - The text data box is a little narrower than other browsers
LOCATION MAP EDITOR Opera - Right click doesnāt work (at least for me) As you can see, Safari has the least amount of errors, while Opera has the most. The Dialogue/Name Editor is pretty unusable for Opera, and not very friendly for Firefox. So, sorry about that, but I've tried and haven't found a solution. I'm probably not going to rewrite it just to support those browsers. Since it's "open source" (in other words, HTML) if people really want the Dialogue/Name Editor to work in their browser they can fix it themself.
I'll be submitting it to RHDN once people here test it out and let me know if there's any major errors. I'll tried to test it extensively in the different browsers, but since I don't usually use them, I'm sure I've missed something. There is a download on my web page, but I haven't gotten to fixing the page itself (it's getting late, but I wanted to get this out tonight) so use the download link above. And now, for those that don't want to both downloading it, some pics:
(You can view full resolution versions here: http://picasaweb.google.com/phoenix.hacks/FF4Tools (http://picasaweb.google.com/phoenix.hacks/FF4Tools))
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Dragonsbrethren on September 01, 2009, 10:01:32 AM
I love you. :omg:
(I played around with the map editor a bit, unfortunately I can't really make use of it on this laptop, and will need to wait until I get my PC up and running again. But still, it's completely awesome. The other editors display fine at this resolution; the text editor is painfully slow here, though.)
:edit:
Yes, I missed the tile size option... :blush:
:edit:
Found a bug in Firefox: If you hold down the mouse button when drawing on a map, and exit the map boundary, the mouse will continue to draw if you reenter the map, even if you've released the button. You need to click again in the map to stop it. The undo button fixes any damage, at least.
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: JCE3000GT on September 01, 2009, 01:06:15 PM
Too bad I use Opera. :wtf:
Program looks good.
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Dragonsbrethren on September 01, 2009, 03:05:08 PM
This is worth installing another browser for, trust me. It doesn't sound like the event/map editor issues with Opera are that bad, anyway.
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: JCE3000GT on September 01, 2009, 03:12:51 PM
It's only really unusable on Opera for the Dialogue/Name Editor, the other two should work pretty well. However, as Dragonsbrethren recommends, installing another browser (namely, Safari) is a good idea. I use Safari only with these tools, because it works so well. The javascript is much quicker in Safari (which really only affects large blocks of text in the Dialogue/Name Editor), you can keep it at a specific window size rather than be resizing your main browser windows, and there's only one or two bugs with it in all of the tools. (One of them is the same drawing-beyond-boundaries bug Dragonsbrethren found.) That's the Mac version of Safari, though -- I'm just assuming the Windows version will work the same.
So how does the event editor actually work. :laugh:
All of the tools are cut and paste, unfortunately -- I would make it otherwise, but Javascript can only read files, not write to them. (If someone knows otherwise, please share! I spent hours looking online for a way to do it.) Basically you just type the hex codes and it translates it for you, but you can load the events from the game and edit them, then paste them back in at the offset it tells you to. This is how all the tools work, in essence.
By the way, I am planning on making it possible to read data from a ROM. I have it working on something else, I just need to create the code that references the right location within the ROM. I decided to save something for the next version, though, rather than spend time doing it before I released it. :lungs:
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: I.S.T. on September 01, 2009, 10:48:32 PM
How's it work on Chrome? It might have a better javascript engine, given it's webkit based...
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Phoenix on September 02, 2009, 01:05:14 AM
I would have tested it on Chrome, but there's no good version for Mac. :lame: If someone would like it to test it out for me, I'd be most appreciative.
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Dragonsbrethren on September 02, 2009, 10:22:44 AM
After using the map editor for a large part of yesterday, and not finding any more bugs, I have one feature suggestion: A way to quickly shift the map. Let's say I started drawing at the top left corner, but later realized I needed an extra tile or two on that side. I would need to redraw the entire map to get those two tiles available (or edit the data manually in hex, which is actually easier in this case). This is the only feature the editor is really missing, outside of maybe a way to quickly erase the existing map (which is just as easily done by blanking out the hex data box).
:edit:
Also, have you considered adding sprite/event position editing to this? I'm not sure how hard it would be, but that's about the only thing (and header editing, which is already handled by JCE's ME) keeping this from being a fully-featured map editor.
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Phoenix on September 02, 2009, 04:53:05 PM
By shift the map, do you mean just add in blank tiles in the top left corner? Or you mean adding columns? (Row would be easy, columns...not as easy.) Since erasing the map can be done by deleting the hex data, I probably won't add a button for it -- I'm trying to keep the interface uncluttered. You can also start with a blank one by selecting the "----Select a map-----" first option in the list.
I have considered adding sprite/event position editing; I'm impressed with what Zyrthofar's map viewer can do, and eventually I'd like it to be like that (minus the bugs), with editing capabilities. However, the way it is now (with tile images), I'm not sure how easy it would be to add. I'd have to overlay sprite/trigger images on the tile images, which is doable, but then having two (or three) layers to edit would make the interface quite a bit more complicated. (Not to mention, I'd have to figure out how to code it all in javascript.) I 'd like to keep it as simple as possible, at least for the time being, until I come up with a better way to display the options and such. Perhaps once I finish my FF4 hack, I'll spend some more time adding new features.
Also, what do you mean by header editing? Do you mean just adding headers to or subtracting from the whole ROM? I could add a checkbox that subtracts 0x200 if unchecked. (I'll probably do that anyway once I add the feature of loading from ROM data.)
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Dragonsbrethren on September 02, 2009, 05:29:49 PM
No, not that header, this header (http://slickproductions.org/forum/index.php?topic=382.msg3032#msg3032). :yabin:
For shifting the map, I do mean adding/remove columns and rows, essentially. Say, move it one column right and three rows down, to make space to add a new area. It can be pretty annoying when you think you've left yourself enough room for everything, only to find you haven't and you don't have enough space to cram it in.
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Phoenix on September 03, 2009, 03:04:55 AM
Ah, gotcha. I have those labeled as "location map properties", which is why I was confused.
I'll think on how to add/remove columns and rows. If the implementation won't take too much time I'll add it in, if not I might leave it for a later version.
Thanks for all the testing and suggestions.
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Pinkpuff on September 03, 2009, 11:08:27 AM
It looks messed up on mine... (see attached screenshot)
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Dragonsbrethren on September 03, 2009, 11:33:06 AM
That's the same problem I was having; the tiles are too big for your resolution. See the 20x20 pulldown menu? Switch that to 16x16 and you should be able to make use of it.
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Phoenix on September 03, 2009, 06:06:34 PM
If you want to change the default size to something different, you can do it by changing the "selected" option in the list in the HTML. Search for:
to whatever size you want (='16' for example). There should only be four instances (height and width for the tileset tiles, and height and width for the map tiles).
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Phoenix on September 07, 2009, 07:47:50 AM
I've made two minor updates to the tools:
1. Changed the Dialogue/Name Editor txt file to include all 6-digit offsets. This helps line up the cursor properly when hitting return in the middle of a piece of text.
2. I added in the tile number under the "Selected Tile" for the Location Map Editor.
Since they're very minor edits, I didn't change the version number at all. I would recommend re-downloading if you're using it. Also, I've submitted it to RHDN, so it should appear there soon along with a news announcement.
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Dragonsbrethren on September 21, 2009, 03:32:20 PM
I haven't used the event editor extensively until today, and I'm having a bit of a problem with it. It works fine for me as long as I'm adding to the end of an event. If I go to, say, the third line down and try to insert a new line by hitting enter there (or just typing), it does not work as I'd expect it to. A blank space is made briefly, and the cursor drops down to the next line, but no area is created that I can type into without messing up one of the existing commands. Basically, there doesn't seem to be any way to add a new command in the middle of an event, except for cutting everything that comes after where you want it, typing it in, and then pasting all of that back it.
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Phoenix on September 21, 2009, 05:54:50 PM
What browser are you using? At least in my tests with Safari and Firefox (and I think Opera) you can insert a line by hitting return after typing the hex data in the textarea. (Basically, by hitting return in between the hex data and its text description.) I made it this way so you could type in hex data and then hit return, without having to move the cursor all the way to the end of the line.
If you look in the instructions, I put in a line saying, "In the 'Text' box, you only need to hit return after typing in just the hex data. This will move you to the next line." Give that a try, and let me know if it doesn't work. However, there is one caveat: you have to hit return at least two spaces before the text description. Also, here's a tip I used before hitting return worked: if you triple-click a line to select it you can cut and paste it wherever, then edit the hex in that line. Sometimes that's quicker.
Sorry it's a little buggy, that's the only way I could get the translate-as-you-type working. Would it be better to have a button that you need to hit before it's translated? I'm planning on doing this in my ASM interpreter when I get that ported over to Javascript, because it's just too much of a hassle to get it working the other way.
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Dragonsbrethren on September 21, 2009, 07:25:54 PM
Oh, I didn't realize you had to hit enter when between the hex and text. I was trying at the start of a line (I was going to the line I wanted the new command on and hitting enter, expecting it to push the existing command down to the next line and making a blank line where I wanted the next command). The way it works now is fine, I just didn't realize it had to be done that way.
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Dragonsbrethren on October 03, 2009, 03:18:53 PM
I have another little suggestion: Use a dark color for the background of the map editor (or make it selectable). It's almost impossible to see some of the tiles in the cave tileset on my monitors unless I turn the contrast down really low and make everything look faded. I edited my copy to have a black background, and it made drawing caves so much easier.
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Phoenix on October 03, 2009, 06:29:32 PM
Sure, that should be pretty easy. I'll make that happen for the next release.
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: JCE3000GT on April 21, 2010, 12:14:35 AM
Suggestions: Make the text box larger so we can see more of the hex bytes listed. It would be easier to edit by hand if we needed to and plus it makes it easier to see the raw map data. I'd also like to see the default size to be 16x16 as it is faster to load the graphics in the native resolution.
I've been using this in Opera with really good results and so far I like it. Since you are not editing the ROM directly there is almost a zero chance or corrupting the ROM. :happy: That makes me happy.
Also, is it possible to add a feature that can possibly preview palette changes?
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Paladin on November 12, 2010, 02:38:53 PM
I know I haven't posted here in a long time but just wanted to drop in and say this;
THANK YOU Phoenix!
This tool kit is really wonderful. I've been slowly working on a hack over the last year and a half and have been using the tools to do some really incredible stuff I'm not sure I would have considered doing before, mainly the map edits. The GUI map editor makes that very easy.
So far I've replaced or tweaked all the over world towns and many internal places, re-mapped triggers to locations in coordination with edits, and all sorts of other fun stuff. I'm considering re-doing some dungeons but that would take (many more) months to do correctly...
I'm also dumping and re-inserting dialogue and using the dialogue editor has been very helpful. I think I can bring FF-II to be pretty much on par with the FF4A script without expanding the ROM... The original Squaresoft team just did the dialogue way too fast to get the product out...but I digress.
One thing I will say is I kind of like the cut and paste methodology since it forces you to know exactly what you're doing to the ROM and where and makes it easy (IMHO) to not jank the ROM. Sometimes even the best tools that hack on the ROM file itself can often blow the ROM apart because of a bug here or there in the editor's code. Doing it all directly in a hex editor, I've never destroyed a hack (at least not in any way I couldn't repair)...
Anyway...
Thanks again to you Phoenix and every one else around here that's contributed data. I've been able to put together such a good map of the ROM thanks to all your help. One of these days I'll finish a damn hack but until then just Thanks!
...And I suppose this old topic gets the :bump: but if anyone hasn't tried this toolkit yet, DO! :omghax:
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Phoenix on November 15, 2010, 07:33:18 AM
Hey, thanks for the compliments! I've been swamped with work lately, so I haven't been able to work on my hack much, but you make me want to get back to it. Here's hoping that I'll get some time soon!
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: JCE3000GT on November 25, 2010, 01:03:20 AM
Anything new done to the FF4Tools?
I'm also waiting for people to submit their custom maps so I can archive them on my site. http://www.jce3000gt.com/ff4_maps.php
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Phoenix on November 25, 2010, 09:00:15 AM
No, I've been too busy with work for the last few months to even touch anything to do with hacking. Someday I might revamp it, but it'll be a long way off.
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Paladin on November 29, 2010, 10:14:58 AM
I'm also waiting for people to submit their custom maps so I can archive them on my site. http://www.jce3000gt.com/ff4_maps.php
I'm actually pretty actively working on my current hack, and I went pretty nuts with the map editor, I even completely remapped an entire dungeon (Tower of Zot) and a number of other places.
I'll be happy to share all the map mods once I release the hack (hopefully by the end of the year). By then it would probably be easier to just apply the IPS and see what maps you like and rip them from the ROM, given that I moved events (doors/room triggers) and sprites around on the maps and other things (tile set changes, palette changes) besides just the tile layout of the maps.
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: JCE3000GT on November 29, 2010, 10:33:05 PM
That sounds good. You could take screenshots of the maps while in FF4Tools too as well to show what they look like. :cycle:
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Paladin on December 08, 2010, 08:30:55 PM
That sounds good. You could take screenshots of the maps while in FF4Tools too as well to show what they look like. :cycle:
Aight here you be: http://slickproductions.org/forum/index.php?topic=1290.msg15075#msg15075 (http://slickproductions.org/forum/index.php?topic=1290.msg15075#msg15075)
I'll post some more when I have more time in that topic in there...
Title: Re: Announcing: FF4Tools
Post by: Zozma on December 24, 2010, 06:52:59 PM
just a quick thing that happened to me. When I was messing with the names in this program, it produced the wrong hex values when i used the character names part of the text editing section... I ended up having to look up the values and put them in one by one myself