[ARCHIVE] Simple Questions (SEARCH BEFORE ASKING A QUESTION)

Wobbu · Aug 2, 2013

destinedjagold said:
Question: are there any scripting tutorials for DS PKMN games? Preferably for HG/SS or B/W. :3
I've been searching for hours yesterday, but I only found one, which was to make simple text speeches. :/

Since I know nothing about DS scripting, I'll suggest two things: study the scripts that are in the games using Spiky's DS Map Editor, or asking one of the community's DS hackers for help.

dd409 · Aug 2, 2013

karatekid552 said:
Do you know ASM? Cause it isn't just byte editing. It is an actual routine. Changing it will be much harder than finding it, so if you can't find it by yourself, good luck man.

I'm in the process of trying to learn asm. One cannot learn without some level of instruction first, and "good luck man" is kinda unhelpful :/ The only asm tutorials I've found are very basic syntax and inserting; nowhere have I seen how you go about locating an existing routine in the game. I can't seem to find any scripts that call its address, so now I'm asking for a little help finding it.

I swear the "if you have to ask, you'll never know" attitude of a lot of programming communities really gets to me.

Gigal1 · Aug 2, 2013

Could someone please tell me or direct me to where i can learn to create new move actions for moves in pokemon rom hacks? (ex Dark bomb in Pokemon Flora Sky) I'm currently working on a hack and i'd love to learn how to do this,thanks.

Kawaii Shoujo Duskull · Aug 2, 2013

Hi, I have a few questions.

1. Does anybody have a list of the overworld sprites used when setting events in advanced map?

2. Is there some tool out there to not just edit types, but maybe create types without replacing old ones?

3. Does anybody know of a method to use prime-dialga's (I think I put that right) DNS tool for GBA ROMs to cause, for example, time or season-exclusive pokemon or events? Or would that rely entirely on scripts that refer to the DNS?

Thanks in advance!

destinedjagold · Aug 2, 2013

Gigal1 said:
Could someone please tell me or direct me to where i can learn to create new move actions for moves in pokemon rom hacks? (ex Dark bomb in Pokemon Flora Sky) I'm currently working on a hack and i'd love to learn how to do this,thanks.

There are tutorials on how to make new attacks in the Tutorials Section.

Wobbu · Aug 3, 2013

Merak said:
Hi, I have a few questions.

1. Does anybody have a list of the overworld sprites used when setting events in advanced map?

2. Is there some tool out there to not just edit types, but maybe create types without replacing old ones?

3. Does anybody know of a method to use prime-dialga's (I think I put that right) DNS tool for GBA ROMs to cause, for example, time or season-exclusive pokemon or events? Or would that rely entirely on scripts that refer to the DNS?

Thanks in advance!

1. You can quickly view all of the overworlds using Advance Map. There are only ~200 overworlds in each game (which may seem like a lot) that can be viewed quickly.

2. I remember seeing a tutorial on changing the ??? type (which is irrelevant in the current Generation) in the R&D Sub-Forum, but I can't remember if it goes over adding new types. You may need to do some hex editing in order to add new types.
EDIT: I found a few posts that you may find helpful.

Spoiler:

Jambo51 said:
So, last night, I worked out how type effectiveness is done in FireRed. You'll be pleased to know that it's relatively simple. Firstly, the method of storage:

Code:

[Attack type - 1 byte][Target Type - 1 Byte][Effectiveness value - 1 Byte]

This data is stored at 0x24F050.

There are several of these, kept in an array which ends with a 0xFE value. The game loops over each entry in the array, checking if the attack type matches the used attack's type, and if it does, then checks the Target Type against the 2 types of the targeted Pokémon.

If either type matches, it loads the effectiveness byte and branches off to another routine which takes care of physically making the attack super effective/not effective. The type effectiveness values are as follows:

Code:

[B]Note, these are in hex[/B] 00 - Has No effect (Eg, Ghost on Normal) 05 - 50% effectiveness 14 - 200% Effectiveness

These values are used as they represent 0%, 50% and 200% respectively of 0xA (10). The gamd multiplies the calculated damage by whatever value is present after working out type effectiveness, and multiplies the current damage value by it. It then divides by 10, this giving us a satisfactory answer.

In essence:

Code:

private short TypeEffectiveness (short existingDamage, byte attackType) { byte value = rom[0x24F050]; int counter = 0; while (value != 0xFE) { if (value == attackType) { for (int i = 0; i < 2; i++) { byte targetType = ram[0x2023C05 + (ram[0x2023D6C] * 0x58) + i]; if (targetType == rom[0x24F050 + counter + 1]) { byte effectivenessValue = rom[0x24F050 + counter + 2]; ChangeEffectiveness(effectivenessValue, existingDamage); } } } counter += 3; value = rom[0x24F050 + counter]; } return existingDamage; }

Hopefully, that high level language recreation will help explain what it does.

What you may gleam from these values, however, is that, unless explicitly told otherwise, the game treats all moves as normal effectiveness on any type.

If neither type matches, it jumps to the loop counter, increments it and continues checking until it hits that magical 0xFE value.

However, the way it is implemented leaves something to be desired as it is very slow (looping over several entries), and taking up more space than needed, both in terms of code and data. It's obviously wasteful in so far as it continues to check even after having already found both effectiveness values, as well as the wasteful nature of the loop in and of itself.

Spoiler:

You can find the whole thread here.

3. Somewhere in the Tutorials Sub-Forum you can find a tutorial that explains how to make time-exclusive events.
EDIT: Found it :P Also, read the comments

SpadeEdge16 · Aug 3, 2013

would someone please be able to link me to/tell me where the post is with the patch to have more OWs in your FR hack? I've been looking for it in the toolbox and resources and stuff but I can find it...
Also, is it okay to apply that patch over my JPAN patched version of FR? Will I still keep the JPAN patch?

Jambo51 · Aug 3, 2013

dd409 said:
I'm in the process of trying to learn asm. One cannot learn without some level of instruction first, and "good luck man" is kinda unhelpful :/ The only asm tutorials I've found are very basic syntax and inserting; nowhere have I seen how you go about locating an existing routine in the game. I can't seem to find any scripts that call its address, so now I'm asking for a little help finding it.

I swear the "if you have to ask, you'll never know" attitude of a lot of programming communities really gets to me.

He's got a point though. You can ask for the location of a routine until you go blue from deoxygenisation, simply knowing where the game calculates something does you no good.

How most ASM hackers operate is to work backwards from some known point to find what we're looking for. What I mean by this is that we find some piece of data we know is involved in the calculation we're looking for, put a break on read of the data, and then run the game looking for the break.

So, in a more specific case for what you want, you're looking for some piece of data you know is involved in the experience calculation routine. There is such a value in the Pokémon data.

So, put a break on read of that and you should find yourself in, or very near at worst, the code you're looking for.

ASM hacking requires independent thought and analysis, so karatekid552 has a valid point when he says that "if you need to ask, you won't know".

As a result, this is why I'm not telling you what data you need to put a break on to find what you're looking for. However, a little coherent and intelligent thinking will take you to the data you want, and by extension, to the code you want.

I hope this little post will be of use to you, now and in the future.

dd409 · Aug 3, 2013

Jambo51 said:
He's got a point though. You can ask for the location of a routine until you go blue from deoxygenisation, simply knowing where the game calculates something does you no good.

How most ASM hackers operate is to work backwards from some known point to find what we're looking for. What I mean by this is that we find some piece of data we know is involved in the calculation we're looking for, put a break on read of the data, and then run the game looking for the break.

So, in a more specific case for what you want, you're looking for some piece of data you know is involved in the experience calculation routine. There is such a value in the Pokémon data.

So, put a break on read of that and you should find yourself in, or very near at worst, the code you're looking for.

ASM hacking requires independent thought and analysis, so karatekid552 has a valid point when he says that "if you need to ask, you won't know".

As a result, this is why I'm not telling you what data you need to put a break on to find what you're looking for. However, a little coherent and intelligent thinking will take you to the data you want, and by extension, to the code you want.

I hope this little post will be of use to you, now and in the future.

Let me ask you guys this: are you both 100% self-taught, or did someone get you started somewhere along the way? Did you ever read tutorials, or have questions answered by others? If the "if you have to ask, you'll never know" attitude truly has merit then how does anyone go about learning anything, if no one else is willing to teach? That would mean everyone is constantly starting from nothing and having to reinvent the wheel to get anything done. Stuff like this is supposed to be a fun collaborative effort, not a competitive one. Intentionally keeping people in the dark is the fastest way to stagnate progress.

I'm not some helpless noob asking for a premade ips, I'm someone who's trying to learn. Condescending though your post was, yes it will be helpful. I have an idea where to start now, and it was infinitely more helpful than karatekid552's "good luck man."

pokefreake · Aug 3, 2013

Merak said:
2. Is there some tool out there to not just edit types, but maybe create types without replacing old ones?

You can use type resistance editor to change what types are effective against other.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/685yxv

Kawaii Shoujo Duskull · Aug 3, 2013

Thanks for answering my questions. The links should help alot.

pokefreake · Aug 3, 2013

Does anyone know a good tile map editor besides ntme? Ntme doesn't work well for me.

karatekid552 · Aug 3, 2013

dd409 said:
Let me ask you guys this: are you both 100% self-taught, or did someone get you started somewhere along the way? Did you ever read tutorials, or have questions answered by others? If the "if you have to ask, you'll never know" attitude truly has merit then how does anyone go about learning anything, if no one else is willing to teach? That would mean everyone is constantly starting from nothing and having to reinvent the wheel to get anything done. Stuff like this is supposed to be a fun collaborative effort, not a competitive one. Intentionally keeping people in the dark is the fastest way to stagnate progress.

I'm not some helpless noob asking for a premade ips, I'm someone who's trying to learn. Condescending though your post was, yes it will be helpful. I have an idea where to start now, and it was infinitely more helpful than karatekid552's "good luck man."

I'm not being a jerk, I was away, so I didn't get to respond. Thankfully , Jambo did step in and give a similar answer to mine.
--------

I have read many tutorials and scoured the internet, but in the end, it came down to a lot of very small questions asked to Jambo and Darthatron. However, it almost never included "where". It was always "how".

Darthatron guided me through a few things, but he really didn't do much more that confirming what I was doing as the right way, or giving me ideas on how to attack a problem. He gave me some strategies, like using the logging feature in VBA-M or finding RAM offsets using the cheat searcher.

The first, and last time, I asked Jambo "where" some thing was (when we weren't working together) he wouldn't tell me. Then, I asked him how I could find it, and go about finding things in the future. His response was, "You work backwards from what you already know. I can tell you how to write ASM, but I can't teach you how to think like a hacker. That is something you have to learn." Alright, that isn't exactly a quote, but that was the gist of our conversation.

The point is, if I tell you where it is (first off, I would have to go out and find it, which means me doing work that if you don't do, you will never learn) you won't learn how to find things. Finding things is the absolute hardest part. Writing routines and branching old ones is easy once you know where the thing is that you are looking for. That requires knowing how the game works. I have spent hours looking for a single routine. You need to attack it from every angle. From setting breakpoints on ram that is affected, to seeing when the game reads from a specific table, or using an IDE to trace functions and see how they interconnect.

I can't tell you how to find this routine, you need to find that yourself. If you can't, then you just need to keep trying and working until you can.

pokefreake said:
Does anyone know a good tile map editor besides ntme? Ntme doesn't work well for me.

NTME 1.1 is the best, however I hear rumors that a new tilemap editor is coming out soon that is 100X better. I know that NTME requires the .net framework 4.0. Another good one is Darth TME.

jsziede said:
2. I remember seeing a tutorial on changing the ??? type (which is irrelevant in the current Generation) in the R&D Sub-Forum, but I can't remember if it goes over adding new types. You may need to do some hex editing in order to add new types.
EDIT: I found a few posts that you may find helpful.

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

You can find the whole thread here.

NOOOOOOOOOOOO, the ??? type is for eggs. Do you really want to mess with it.?!?!?!?!

pokefreake · Aug 3, 2013

Isn't the ??? the move curse?
Do you have a download link for darth tme?

regidudeam · Aug 3, 2013

I want to make my HGSS rom only allow the RNG to create perfect ivs spreads for every wild encounter. Does anyone know the HEX address, for which the formula for iv generation can be tweaked. I don't want to hex edit a .sav file, I want to hex edit the rom. I don't want to use pokeSAV. My apologies if this question was already asked. I couldn't find this topic in the HGSS rom hacking thread.

karatekid552 · Aug 3, 2013

pokefreake said:
Isn't the ??? the move curse?
Do you have a download link for darth tme?

No, the ??? type. That is the type placed on eggs before they hatch.

There is a thread. Googling it brings it up.-__-

Marohak · Aug 3, 2013

Hey hackers and fellow up and comers.

Is there anyone who created a patch for Fire Red/Leaf Green to make it look like R/S/E?

Also, the tutorial I saw about Creating a move isn't quite what I need, is there a way to edit the actual animation/colour of a move?

pokefreake · Aug 3, 2013

I googled the wrong this :P. Thanks.

Marohak: Maybe this thread will help. http://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=281520

karatekid552 · Aug 3, 2013

Marohak said:
Hey hackers and fellow up and comers.

Is there anyone who created a patch for Fire Red/Leaf Green to make it look like R/S/E?

What?:P Why would you want that?

Wobbu · Aug 4, 2013

karatekid552 said:
NOOOOOOOOOOOO, the ??? type is for eggs. Do you really want to mess with it.?!?!?!?!

But what if I want Fairy type eggs? Lol completely forgot about that. Thanks for pointing that out.

[ARCHIVE] Simple Questions (SEARCH BEFORE ASKING A QUESTION)

More options

Wobbu

bunger bunger bunger bunger

dd409

For the Swarm!

Gigal1

Kawaii Shoujo Duskull

The Cutest Duskull

destinedjagold

You can contact me in PC's discord server...

Wobbu

bunger bunger bunger bunger

SpadeEdge16

Jambo51

Glory To Arstotzka

dd409

For the Swarm!

pokefreake

Kawaii Shoujo Duskull

The Cutest Duskull

pokefreake

karatekid552

What happens if I push it?....

pokefreake

regidudeam

karatekid552

What happens if I push it?....

Marohak

Asker of Dumb Questions

pokefreake

karatekid552

What happens if I push it?....

Wobbu

bunger bunger bunger bunger