Thrace said:

Rom Hacking Newsletter

Issue 5 - Sunday, 29 September 2008

Introduction

Opening words

Argh, damn it! I was hoping to get it in before Monday but its 12:33 PM as I'm typing this. Lol, I just realized daylight savings started today, I made it! I've decided to keep the rating descriptions in all issues from now on for easy reference. For the time being they will be in the Hack News section. We've got our first ever actual report courtesy of Visual this issue so make sure you check that out.

This weeks interview turned into a sort of one sided debate which gave me an idea. How about having a debate via IM on things in the hacking community? I think it would be quite interesting. For example we could discuss the pros and cons of making teams/rom bases/tools etc. It'll be quite difficult to pull of I think. Please post your comments.

Article by dshayabusa​

Hacking News

Staying current with the rom hacking scene

Production of Pokémon: Tree of Peace Slowed
Due to school being too hectic during the week, production has been slowed to weekends only on Tree of Peace. Kawaii, Inc. assures that he will continue to work on the hack at every available opportunity on such days.

Pokemon: The Dragon Lineage makes a comeback
Most people won't remember since the thread was closed a couple of days after making it but I have another hack in the works. The Dragon Lineage will be based around Lance and Claire. It is no longer set in Johto. It is completely different to the ideas I had before. If you want to see the first town take a look in the Map Rating Thread. I'll open the thread sometime this week.

Hack Rating System
RHN will follow a standardised rating system similar to that of IGN, ratings and their meanings are described below.

Spoiler:

10.0 to 9.0 - Masterful
Its almost impossible to make a hack that is perfect, but ratings in this range get pretty close. These hacks are flawless in all aspects of hacking, they are innovative and engaging.

8.9 to 8.0 - Impressive
Hacks that we feel are outstanding and are exceptional in at least one aspect will receive ratings in this range. Hacks that we feel are worthwhile and that everyone will find enjoyable. You'd need to put in a lot of effort to get this rating.

7.9 to 7.0 - Good
An excellent hack that is let down by a one or two major problems. Above average in all aspects but just missing a few things it needs to be great. Not amazing but has potential.

6.9 to 6.0 - Passable
Hacks that are just above average. Nothing to really get excited about. Nothing particularly horrible about the hack but nothing all that great either.

5.9 to 5.0 - Mediocre
A hack that provokes no emotion, standard, run-of-the-mill whatever you want to call it, these hacks are as average as they come.

4.9 to 4.0 - Lackluster
Hacks that do not have enough effort put into them. Probably not worth the attention for the time being. Has some potential to be better, but not enough to become something spectacular.

3.9 to 3.0 - Poor
Hacks that are flawed in all areas, most likely caused by inexperience by the author rather than effort. Not worth checking out regularly, will probably be cancelled the next week.

2.9 to 2.0 - Bad
Hacks that we recommend you avoid, not worth playing. Might have a few interesting ideas but ultimately is just very poorly executed. Major flaws in all aspects.

1.9 to 1.0 - Terrible
A hack we believe should not have had its thread accepted. These hacks are not even worth browsing over. These hacks are usually made by people trying to achieve internet stardom.

0.9 to 0.0 - Abysmal
Hacks that are not even truly hacks, more like edits. A few small changes to the original game, achievable in mere minutes.

HOTW Winner

Spotlight on the Hack of the Week

Pokémon Distant [Link]
Hack Author: Disturbed
Reviewed By: dshayabusa

Pokemon Distant is a hack by Disturbed aka Maraudah from the Map Rating Thread. This hacks main appeal is by far the mapping. Marudah is a great mapper but his maps seem to be hindered by his choice of tiles. Don't get me wrong, Don Patch's tiles look great but if you're going to use his tiles you have to adapt to them. It doesn't just mean new palletes you'd also need to develop a different style of mapping. If you look at the maps made my Don Patch his mapping is very unique, not even close to what Nintendos looks like yet very professional.

According to the credits, Megiddo has done the scripts so far. Megiddo is a great scripter but it would be nice to see Disturbed making his own scripts. The story is quite interesting, the start certainly is unique and executing it will be easy yet very effective. There are also going to be 3 starters instead of one, its an interesting idea and I'll reserve judgement until the first beta. Most of the other features are pretty standard. It still needs some work but I can tell it'll be quite interesting hack to watch.

Article by dshayabusa​

Hack Review

Hacks in review

Pokémon Black and White [Link]
Hack Author: ҳ̸ҲRichie
Reviewed By: thethethethe
Reviewer's Rating: 9.1/10

I'm usually a bit uneasy when looking at Spanish hacks. They usually have amazing graphics, average scripts, fail in the English Translation and have a bland storyline. Never Black and White shattered almost all of my previous perceptions on Spanish Hacks.

Graphics is Spanish hacks seem to always be impressive. I don't know how, but they seem to always have the most amazing sprites with near perfect palettes to get a highly visually appealing hack. I'd rate this hack as one of the most beautiful hacks I've ever seen.

The storyline is somewhat reminiscent of the Final Fantasy games. The player is searching for his lost identity and many plot twists only make this more difficult. Working together with the storyline, the scripting is consistent. When I look at hacks, the scripting is what I tend to enjoy looking upon the most. From what I saw the scripts don't show anything totally outstanding. They only do just enough to compliment the storyline. I'd be much happier, even if it's pointless, is just to see one script that blows me away. Just something that stands out from the rest, and is an unforgettable event.

The thing I was overjoyed to see was that the text was not lost in translation. Many translated hacks seem to lose their point in their translation to English, and the storyline therefore becomes hard to follow. This hack did not fall into that category. In fact the translation was near perfect. I'm not sure how it appeared in Spanish, but in English, the text appeared almost of a Shakespearian dialect, which is the perfect fit for the storyline. We have text in the style of the cryptic language of Shakespeare working together with the search for the unknown identity found in the storyline. It just shows how well thought out this hack really was.

This is a remarkable hack which is truly worth playing. This is one hack you can't afford not to play.

Article by thethethethe​

CSS Cool?

An insider's report by Visual

CSS Designs, we all love them, we all have them, but whats the point behind them? Most of us just want a fancy presentation that looks nice and simple, some just want to copy others. First, lets get to know what CSS is a bit. CSS is a type of code, just like HTML but it is allowed in threads and signatures because theres no danger behind it. It's nice and easy to understand, basically you create layers on top of layers, first off you would start with a background, add a border and some text and you have a CSS box. Which is where the rest is developed from. But it does look quite appealing.

Modern day hacking has made a sudden jump into CSS, requesting it from other people or just taking it from their threads. I do find it funny though, hackers have spent so much time learning how to script and change tiles but cannot be bothered to learn some simple CSS. But it doesn't matter that much, it still all appeals to us, we still find it nice, but it does seem to be becomming more un interesting.

CSS is evolving like our whole civilization, months ago you wouldn't find it anywhere, whenever you did you thought someone had hacked into their signatures and added those boxes, now they're in everyones signatures and threads and still dramatically increasing. But pretty soon something new will be discovered and people will start using that instead, and while that new discovery increases CSS will slowly fade away, but i'd pay to see that happen.

Article by Visual​

Tips and Tricks

A cool new trick that you may not have known about

This weeks tips come from HackMew. This time its all about msgboxes. Below is a description, script example and in-game shot of the different msgbox types.

0x2

Spoiler:

Description:
This is the msgbox used for normal people. Using this type means that you don't need to use the lock, faceplayer or release commands.

Script:

#org @start
msgbox @hello
boxset 0x2
end

#org @hello
= Hello my name is dshayabusa.

In-Game:

0x3

Spoiler:

Description:
Used for signs etc. No Lock or faceplayer effect. Only shows the sign textbox when used on an actual sign.

Script:

#org @start
msgbox @sign
boxset 0x3
end

#org @hello
= You are here

In-Game:

0x4

Spoiler:

Description:
A normal msgbox except for the fact that it does not close. Command 68 must be used to close it. No lock or faceplayer effect.

Script:

#org @start
msgbox @hello
boxset 0x4
end

#org @hello
= Hello, my name is dshayabusa.

In-Game:

0x5

Spoiler:

Description:
Used for Yes/No questions. No Lock or Faceplayer effect.

Script:

#org @start
msgbox @question
boxset 0x5
end

#org @hello
= Is this statement false?

In-game:

0x6

Spoiler:

Description:
Normal textbox. Has no Lock or Faceplayer effect.

Script:

#org @start
msgbox @Hello
boxset 0x6
end

#org @hello
= Hello, my name is dshayabusa.

In-game:

Tip donated by HackMew​

Interview

An in-depth chat with... Megiddo

Spoiler:

(3:11:48 PM) Malin: So what first attracted you to hacking?
(3:12:20 PM) Adam: The commonly heard shiny gold. I think I first saw it on youtube.
(3:13:22 PM) Malin: And did you immediately think, I want to do that too?
(3:14:14 PM) Adam: Yep and my love of video games also influenced me.
(3:14:51 PM) Malin: Interesting.
(3:15:01 PM) Malin: What aspect of hacking do you find most enjoyable?
(3:15:17 PM) Adam: Scripting.
(3:15:38 PM) Malin: I see, and what do you find most challenging?
(3:16:09 PM) Adam: Getting the perfect graphics.
(3:16:38 PM) Malin: Ah yes thats always a challenge.
(3:17:51 PM) Malin: You've been in many hacking teams before, what in your opinoin is most effective? Hacking in a team or individually?
(3:19:00 PM) Adam: I believe hacking individually is most effective. There's not the issue of waiting on someone else. You also learn much more and gain experience.
(3:20:39 PM) Malin: Good point, its always frustrating when you have to wait for someone to finish something before you can start.
(3:23:34 PM) Malin: What are your opinions on the rom hacking community today?
(3:25:31 PM) Adam: I think that there are a lot of original hacks out there. Whether they be on pc or elsewhere. The community is large and diverse. Although, I think some people should wait to post their hacks until they have done a substantial amount of things.
(3:26:42 PM) Adam: The programmers do a great job with their tools, which really helps everyone.
(3:27:13 PM) Malin: But aren't tools sometimes the cause of problems in the community?
(3:27:51 PM) Adam: Only in parts, though perhaps we should create a new system to control the flames.
(3:29:12 PM) Adam: I know this is an issue in pokemon hacking.
(3:30:25 PM) Adam: It would take awhile to make a map in hex.
(3:30:43 PM) Adam: or manually create a sprite
(3:31:57 PM) Malin: True, what about rom bases though?
(3:33:56 PM) Adam: Rom bases dock off originality, but provide newbies a good start. I don't find them that bad. It's a personal choice and not something that speeds things up exponentially.
(3:34:19 PM) Adam: They're less usefull than tools.
(3:38:30 PM) Malin: What do you think about the vast amount of tutorials that are available now? Doesn't it prevent creative thinking if everything its already written out for you?
(3:40:34 PM) Adam: I agree it does do that. A scripting tutorial is needed as it's not the easiest to learn without any sort of explanation on usage and what not
(3:41:03 PM) Adam: Once you learn some scripting it's easier to figure out unknown things without a tutorial.
(3:41:14 PM) Adam: But in the beginning
(3:46:06 PM) Malin: What attracts you most to a hack when you're browsing PC?
(3:47:03 PM) Adam: At first glance there is only the name and posts. Out of the two the name usually catches me most.
(3:47:50 PM) Malin: By posts do you mean the number of posts or the people who have posted?
(3:51:02 PM) Adam: The last poster and the number.
(3:51:23 PM) Malin: Interesting.
(3:51:41 PM) Malin: Is there a hack you'd like to recommend for our readers?
(3:52:20 PM) Adam: I enjoyed playing Liquid Ocean.
(3:54:01 PM) Malin: Who wouldn't?
(3:54:05 PM) Malin: Any last words?
(3:54:27 PM) Adam: Good luck to all.

The guest recommendation this week goes to Liquid Ocean:

Interview by dshayabusa​

Closing Notes

Some house keeping

This segment is starting to become redundant. I actually have nothing to say. If you have anything you would like the rest of the community to know about PM me and I'll put it in the Hack News segment. I think having 1 or 2 reviews per issue is best, anymore will cheapen the concept of it. Uhh, yeah, so thats it. Oh, also thanks to whoever changed the name of the thread, if you could just do that whenever you have the time that'd be great. It would save me having to PM you and you having to read it each time.

Article by dshayabusa​

CSS design and graphics by dshayabusa. Ask for permission if you want to use it!

Click to expand...

sonsebbe said:

The 0x20 and 0x4 is the offset we're writing, The offset we're doing is
0x 3A0420
Then we plus 0x8000000, For telling it points to the rom.
We reverse it, Which gives us 0x20043A08
We'll have to replace the
A0 00 3A 08 with
20 04 3A 08
As you can see the 3A and 08 is the same, which is why we only edit 20 and 4.
writebytetooffset <New Byte we want to set> <Offset we want to set it too>

So we could also write:
writebytetooffset 0x20 0x2020648
writebytetooffset 0x04 0x2020649
writebytetooffset 0x3A 0x202064A
writebytetooffset 0x08 0x202064B
The last two lines wouldn't change any thing though...

For the Palette thing, I'll do a bit research now...
By the way, Merlin edited out that this was for fire red, Please keep that in mind too!
Happy X-Mas...
Sebbe

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.Pichu-kun said:

I enjoyed the interview, and I love the tip of the week! ^^

Disturbed, you really made me laugh about the interview, because everything you said is obviously true! XD

Anyways, great job, Darcy~

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Disturbed said:

Damn. One of the few times I actually tried to be serious... I make someone laugh.. at my honesty!?
And everything I said was true? I fail as a hacker than, I state the obvious =D

Well, I can't remember if the post above said I was going to be the official interviewer... but, yeah. I am the interviewer for RHN now =O

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<Disturbed> I can't hate a person unless I know them personally.

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