The ROM Hacking Documentation Project

[daniilS]

Another thing to mention, this project will come with mobile support baked in, so it will be more accessible to everyone.

Amazing! Now if we get an assembler and a disassembler/debugger for Android, life will be complete ^-^.

 

[Akiba]

Progress Report:

It's been a few days since the last report. I've been pretty busy with school, so expect fewer updates during weekdays.

Editing functionality is, for the most part, implemented, and all that's left is to propagate edits to the server. I would like to note that editing is very smooth and aesthetically pleasing.

Before moving on to the database, I would like to spend some time finalizing client side article and tree models.

Again, changes made can be viewed at the incremental release.

 

[Sisyphean]

Hello Happy (belated) Thanksgiving

I would classify this as Information about Music Hacking

Inserting Midi Files into Firered:

Spoiler:

Hello my friends, I'm Magnius and I'm going to teach you today how to insert ANY song you like, into the GBA Pokemon games. For this particular tutorial we will be using Pokemon Fire Red, but it can be done on almost any Pokemon GBA game. However, before we start you're going to need a few things...

- 2 Pokemon Fire Red Roms(Don't ask me where to get the roms).
- An emulator to play the rom on(I use VisualBoyAdvance myself).
- Sappy and mid2agb which you can both get here.
- A midi that you want to insert into the game.
- A backup of the Pokemon Fire Red rom incase anything goes wrong.

Got all that stuff downloaded? Good. Once everything is downloaded make sure to extract everything into the same folder, trust me, it'll make things much easier later on. Now let's move on to the tutorial.

Step 1 - Convert your midi to a ".s" file
In this first step we're going to use Mid2Agb to convert our midi file that we want to insert into the game, to an ".s" file. Before we move on, make sure your midi is in the same folder as Mid2Agb. Once you've made sure of that, open up the folder that Mid2Agb is in and click on your midi. After you've clicked on your midi drag it over to the Mid2Agb file and Mid2Agb will automatically convert the midi into a ".s" file. There is another way to convert the midi using the command prompt, but that just makes the whole process harder than it has to be.

Step 2 - Assemble the song using Sappy
Alright, now that you've got your ".s" file, we're going to put it to use in Sappy. So first, open up Sappy. After you've opened up Sappy, go to file and then click on "Open". Now find your first Pokemon Fire Red rom and open it. Now once you've opened your rom in Sappy you'll notice that in the upper left corner of the program a dropdown box will appear with a song name in it. Click that dropdown box and you'll see a list that you can scroll, of songs from the game. The song you click will be the song you'll be modifying in game. You can change any song, but for this tutorial find a song on the list called "Pokemon Theme", since it's one of the first songs you hear when you turn on the game. After you find that, click on "Assemble song" which is in the left part of the program. After that a box will pop up that says "Assemble .S file" at the top. Click the button next to the first box and then to open your ".S" file. The second box, is where you'll write your base offset, but don't worry about that too much now. For now just type the offset "0xEB0B20" in the base offset box. Third is the Voicegroup offset box which will already be filled in. Now click on "Assemble that ugly thing!" and wait for the program to finish assembling the song. Congrats, you've assembled the file. If the song plays already in the game by now, then congratulations, you're done, but if it doesn't, don't fret, move on to Step 3.

Step 3 - Getting the file to work in game
So now you've assembled the file and it plays in Sappy, but you see that it doesn't play in game. Well slow down there guy, there's still a ways to go before we can get the file playing in game. Now that you've assembled the file we're going to export the tracks. In order to do this, go to "Export Tracks". You'll then see a bunch of unchecked boxes which are basically the offsets of the tracks, check all of them. In the 2nd box, you can either put $T or $P, don't know worry too much about what they mean, for this tutorials sake just type in "$T". After that click on "Ok". The songs tracks will now be dumped to your folder and since you picked "$T" the tracks will be numbers like one tracks file name will be 0, the next tracks file name will 1, it's pretty simple. So after that close out Sappy and reopen it. Now that you've reopened Sappy, open the unmodified Pokemon Fire Red rom and find the song you modified in other rom, which should be "Pokemon Theme" in the case of this tutorial. Now go to "import tracks" and check all the "numbered" files, which are basically the tracks we dumped earlier. Next to the "First track" box basically type in an offset where there's a lot of free space, for the sake of this tutorial just put "0xEB0B20" there. Then press OK. Now open up your emulator, open up the rom you just modified and you'll see that the song works in game. Congratulations, you've done your first successful music hack.

And yep, that's how you insert music into the GBA Pokemon games. But I know some of you are asking, what if I want to import music from one Pokemon GBA game to another? Well, I'll explain that in this extra step.

Importing Music from one Pokemon GBA game to another
Importing music from one Pokemon GBA game to another is easy. First open the Pokemon GBAgame you want music from like for instance, if I wanted to take music from Ruby and put it in Fire Red, I would open Ruby. Then I'd simply select the song I want to put into the other game and go to export tracks. Once you're in the export tracks window, check all the tracks, type "$T" in the second box and all your tracks will be exported to numbered files(1, 2, 3, 4, 5 you get the point). After that, open the game you want to insert the music into and find the track you want to replace. After that choose import tracks and import the numbered tracks you dumped and press okay. Congrats, you've successfully taken music from one GBA Pokemon and inserted it into another.

And that concludes this tutorial. Hope it helped you guys out.

Credit:
Magnius

Ensuring High Quality Audio for Firered:

Spoiler:

Hello, this is Magnius here with another document on GBA Music Insertion. In my previous documents, I covered how to insert a midi into a GBA game. But the problem is, when inserting just any regular midi without modification, it might not sound the best on the GBA. In this tutorial, I'm going to basically give you guys some info on the GBA's music limits and how to make your music sound the best it can in your Pokemon hack. Before you read this document though, it is REALLY recommended you read and understand the first before you read this one.

1. Some information on the GBA's Music Limits

I'll start this document off with some information on the GBA's Music Limits that Clonex25 informed me of. Here's a direct quote on the limits from a PM that he sent me which best explains them...
Quote:
- You can use up to 10 tracks per song: 5 for DirectSound (D/S), and 5 for GB Waveform (GB).
- You can use any instrument in the D/S tracks, provided that you must limit the playing instruments to 6 (including the drums).
- You may reserve a D/S track for the drums.
- You can use the GB tracks for the following: 1) Square1, 2) Square2, 3) Wave, 4) and 5) Noise.
- Two GB tracks are used for the Noise part because Applause (126) has a "smoother" effect than Gunshot (127).
- You may maximize the 5 D/S tracks for town/city/route/cave music.
- You must limit the battle music D/S tracks to 4. This gives a track that the GBA uses for the attack SFX. Maximizing 5 D/S tracks may sacrifice the drums upon execution of attacks like Surf, or when there's a stat change (+ATK, -DEF).
So those are mostly the limits of the GBA, music wise and if you surpass those limits, the song might not sound as good as it could on the GBA. Now, I know some of you might be confused now by all the DirectSound and GB Waveform business, so I'll explain it. DirectSound instruments are basically any instruments that aren't GB Synth. So a trumpet would be a DirectSound instrument, a flute would be a Direct Sound instrument and so on. GB Synth is basically any instrument that uses the GB's internal Waveform. The original Game Boy and Game Boy Color only used Waveform and Direct Sound was added to the GBA.

2. Voicegroups

Every different song in each of the Pokemon GBA games uses a certain voicegroup and this can effect how good or bad the song might sound on the GBA. For instance, in Sappy you could assemble your .s file to "Encounter 1" and it might sound great, but then you assemble it to say... "Pallet Town" and it sounds horrible. This is because those songs use different voicegroups. Now, I know it's possible to change voicegroups through Hex Editing, but seeing as I've not tried that yet, I won't cover it here. So basically, what'd I reccomend is toying around with assembling your song to different songs and seeing which one sounds the best.

3. Balance

Sometimes the midi you've inserted into your GBA Pokemon hack, won't sound good if it's unbalanced. You know, if one instruments playing too loud and all the others are playing too soft or overall, the whole midi is just too loud. Balancing your midi can really help it sound better on the actual GBA. How I like to do this is I go into Anvil Studio(A program that let's you edit midi tracks) and just toy around with the volume of different instruments. You know, turning certain instruments up and turning certain instruments down and seeing what happens. But yeah, balancing the volume of your midi tracks can really help your midi sound better on the actual GBA.

4. Commonly used instruments in GBA Pokemon games

Here I will cover instruments that are commonly used in the GBA Pokemon games. Now, if you want to use an instrument not on the list, you can try to, but most of the time instruments that aren't common result in the instrument being converted to GB Synth. Overall, don't look at this as the definite list as you can try and use other instruments if you like and see if they work.

Commonly used DirectSound Instruments:
1 - Bright Acoustic Piano
2 - Electric Grand
5 - Electric Piano 1
13 - Xylophone
14 - Tubular Bells
17 - Percussive Organ
21 - Accordian
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
25 - Acoustic Guitar Steel
29 - Overdriven Guitar
36 - Slap Bass 1
38 - Synth Bass 1
45 - Pizzicato Strings
46 - Harp
47 - Timpani
48 - Strings
53 - Voice Oohs
56 - Trumpet
59 - Tuba
60 - French Horn
73 - Flute
78 - Whistle

Direct Sound also has a drum track, but I'm not sure which one it is.

Commonly used GB Synth Instruments:
4, 6 and 7 = Not necessarily Square instruments, but are used as Sqaure's.
80 - Square(As Melody or Bass)
81 - Sawtooth(Mostly used as Bass)
82 - Calliope
83 - Chiff
84 - Charang
85 - Voice
87 - Bass + Lead
88 - Pad 1 (New Age)
91 - Pad 4 (Choir)
92 - Pad 5 (Bowed), mostly used as a Wave instrument
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

So yeah, those are the commonly used instruments in the GBA games. Now the numbers are the instrument numbers as they appear in Sappy. To get these instruments in most common midi programs, just add 1 to the instrument number. For instance 56 = Trumpet in Sappy, but to get a trumpet in a midi program, you'd look for track 57. I know this is all very confusing but bear with me here.

Read all that? Good because the last portion of this document is going to get a bit complicated and is really only recommended if you REALLY want your midi to sound great on the GBA. Basically, in the last document I'll be covering the Program Change. It's not really that hard to do, just hard to explain.

5. Program Change

Open Sappy and then open a rom of Pokemon Fire Red or Leaf Green. Then scroll down the songs list in Sappy and find "Route Theme 4". Click the box with the check beside it next to Location, to turn all of the tracks off. Now that you've done that, select the click on the second track. Now press play. If you watch closely, you'll immediately notice that within in the first 2 seconds, the track starts as strings(48), then the SAME TRACK changes into a French Horn(60) and then changes to a Trumpet(56). This is something I like to call Program Changing, which is when ONE track changes into another instrument on the fly. Learning how to do a Program Change will really help you compress the number of instruments a midi uses.

First, download and install Anvil Studio. Once you've done that, open Anvil Studio, find your midi and open it. Now turn off all but one track(Prefferably the Melody Track). Now go up to View and click on it and then click on "Piano Roll Editor". Then go to the part of the song where you want to change the instrument. But wait, before that, I have to tell you something very important. In order for a program change to work on the actual GBA there must be 4 blank notes before it. Once you've found a spot with 4 blank notes before it though, click on the beggining of the blank notes and go up to "Edit". Once you've clicked on that go down to "Insert Midi Controller Event...". The picture below shows you what I mean by "4 blank notes".



After that first make sure the "Show all controller events" box is selected and then go up to the "Kind of Event" box and find "Program Change". Once you've done that, it will probably already be on the correct channel number and all you have to do is change the control value(The value of the instrument you want to change to). So say for instance, you had strings and you wanted to switch to a trumpet, you'd put "57" as the control value.

And that's the end of a long tutorial guys. I know a lot of things in here are confusing, but it's really advanced stuff and is hard to explain.

Credit:
Magnius

Firered VoiceGroups and Corresponding Instruments:

Spoiler:

Hey this is Magnius here and in this document, I'm gonna list all the voicegroups in Fire Red as well as the instruments each voicegroup can play. But first, what are voicegroups? My definition would be a group of instruments stored in a particular value in a rom. Voicegroups are one of the biggest deciding factors in whether the midi you insert sounds good or not. For instance, if you insert a midi, but you notice one of the DirectSound tracks gets turned to GBSynth, this is probably because the instrument isn't in the particular voicegroup of the song you assembled. This could also be though, because of the GBA's music limits, which are explained in Part 2 of my Music Hacking document. Luckily for you you can change the voicegroup before assembling, but what instruments can each particular voicegroup play? That's what I'm mostly gonna cover in this document. After much research I've produced an accurate list of instruments that each voicegroup can play and if an instrument isn't in that particular voicegroup, it probably won't play correctly.

However, before we move onto that, a little information on how some tracks are used on the GBA. First off, know that every track after 80 is mostly going to transfer into GBSynth, when assembled into Sappy. Channel 81, the sawtooth, is commonly used as the bass instrument in most GBA tracks, although sometimes DirectSound basses can be used if the voicegroup supports it. GBSynth tracks can be used in any track, so if I forget to list them in one voicegroup, that doesn't mean you can't use them. Second of all, I won't be covering what particular drums each voicegroup supports. Also a note to add about track 62 "SynthBrass1" though it says SynthBrass, this track is generally used to make a heavy low guitar sound.

0x48ABB0

2 - Electric Grand
13 - Xylophone
46 - Harp
47 - Timpani
48 - Strings
56 - Trumpet
60 - French Horn
73 - Flute
82 - Calliope
83 - Chiff
84 - Charang
85 - Voice
88 - Pad 1 (New Age)
100 - Brightness
101 - Goblin

0x48B078

47 - Timpani
60 - French Horn
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
82 - Calliope
83 - Chiff
84 - Charang

0x48B474

01 - Acoustic Grand
4, 5, 6 and 7 - Not Square instruments, but used as Square instruments in GBA Pokemon games.
47 - Timpani
48 - Strings
56 - Trumpet
60 - French Horn
80 - Square
90 - Pad 3 (Polysynth)

0x48B8B8 (Used for the second RSE battle theme)

01 - Bright Acoustic
4, 5, 6 and 7 - Not Square instruments, but used as Square instruments in GBA Pokemon games.
17 - Percussive Organ
33 - Electric Bass (Fingered)
47 - Timpani
48 - Strings
56 - Trumpet
60 - French Horn
81 - Sawtooth
82 - Calliope
83 - Chiff
90 - Pad 3 (Polysynth)

0x48F974

1 - Bright Acoustic
2 - Electric Grand
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x48FF74

14 - Tubular Bells
17 - Percussive Organ
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
47 - Timpani
56 - Trumpet
73 - Flute
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
87 - Bass + Lead
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x490574

17 - Percussive Organ
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
29 - Overdriven Guitar
30 - Distortion Guitar
38 - Synth Bass 1
48 - Strings
56 - Trumpet
78 - Whistle
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
83 - Chiff
120 - Guitar Fret Noise
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x490B74

47 - Timpani
48 - Strings
56 - Trumpet
60 - French Horn
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
84 - Charang
85 - Voice
87 - Bass + Lead
88 - Pad 1 (New Age)

0x490FAC

21 - Accordian
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth

0x491390

29 - Overdriven Guitar
30 - Distortion Guitar
38 - Synth Bass 1
62 - SynthBrass 1
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
83 - Chiff
84 - Charang
85 - Voice
86 - Lead Fifths
87 - Bass + Lead
88 - Pad 1 (New Age)
89 - Pad 2 (Warm)
125 - Helicopter
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x491990

14 - Tubular Bells
47 - Timpani
48 - Strings
56 - Trumpet
58 - Trombone
60 - French Horn
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
125 - Helicopter

0x491F90

17 - Percussive Organ
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
48 - Strings
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x492590

10 - Music Box
17 - Percussive Organ
21 - Accordian
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
48 - Strings
58 - Trombone
78 - Whistle
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth

0x492B90

02 - Not really a square instrument, but used as such in the game.

0x492BC0

01 - Bright Acoustic
13 - Xylophone
17 - Percussive Organ
21 - Accordian
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
56 - Trumpet
73 - Flute
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
83 - Chiff(Used here as Wave)
84 - Charang
85 - Voice(Used here as Wave)

0x4931C0

17 - Percussive Organ
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
38 - Synth Bass 1
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
83 - Chiff

0x4935B0

01 - Bright Acoustic
17 - Percussive Organ
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
48 - Strings
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x493BB0

01 - Bright Acoustic
17 - Percussive Organ
38 - Synth Bass 1
48 - Strings
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)

0x4941B0

17 - Percussive Organ
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x4947B0
01 - Bright Acoustic
13 - Xylophone
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
48 - Strings
78 - Whistle
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
83 - Chiff
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x494DB0

01 - Bright Acoustic
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
48 - Strings
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth

0x4951A0
13 - Xylophone
39 - Synth Bass 2
48 - Strings
58 - Trombone
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x4957A0

1 - Bright Acoustic
2 - Used as a Square in GBA Pokemon games
9 - Glockenspiel
13 - Xylophone
46 - Harp
47 - Timpani
48 - Strings
56 - Trumpet
58 - Trombone
60 - French Horn
68 - Oboe
73 - Flute
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
82 - Calliope

0x495BFC

78 - Whistle
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
83 - Chiff
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)

0x4961FC

47 - Timpani
48 - Strings
56 - Trumpet
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
84 - Charang

0x49661C

14 - Tubular Bells
17 - Percussive Organ
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
47 - Timpani
48 - Strings
60 - French Horn
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
92 - Pad 5 (Bowed)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x496C1C

14 - Tubular Bells
46 - Harp
47 - Timpani
48 - Strings
56 - Trumpet
60 - French Horn
73 - Flute
81 - Sawtooth
83 - Chiff
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x49721C

14 - Tubular Bells
47 - Timpani
48 - Strings
58 - Trombone
60 - French Horn
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth

0x497678

4 and 5 - Not Squares, but interpreted by the GBA Pokemon games as such.
14 - Tubular Bells
17 - Percussive Organ
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
29 - Overdriven Guitar
30 - Distortion Guitar
47 - Timpani
48 - Strings
60 - French Horn
62 - SynthBrass 1
83 - Chiff
89 - Pad 2 (Warm)
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x497C78

17 - Percussive Organ
21 - Accordian
29 - Overdriven Guitar
30 - Distortion Guitar
33 - Electric Bass (Fingered)
56 - Trumpet
62 - SynthBrass 1
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x498278

17 - Percussive Organ
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
33 - Electric Bass (Fingered)
48 - Strings
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
87 - Bass + Lead
92 - Pad 5 (Bowed)
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x498878

4 - Used as synth by the game.
14 - Tubular Bells
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
29 - Overdriven Guitar
30 - Distortion Guitar
31 - Guitar Harmonics
48 - Strings
53 - Voice Oohs
56 - Trumpet
60 - French Horn
62 - SynthBrass 1
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x498E78

4 - Used as synth.
5 - Used as synth by the game.
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
48 - Strings
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
83 - Chiff

0x499478

14 - Tubular Bells
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
48 - Strings
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth

0x499898

01 - Bright Acoustic
21 - Accordian
48 - Strings
58 - Trombone
73 - Flute
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
83 - Chiff
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x499E98
4 - Used as synth
14 - Tubular Bells
17 - Percussive Organ
48 - Strings
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth

0x49A2F4

01 - Bright Acoustic
05 - Used as synth.
46 - Harp
56 - Trumpet
58 - Trombone
73 - Flute
81 - Sawtooth
92 - Pad 5 (Bowed)
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x49A8F4

04 - Used as synth.
05 - Used as synth.
12 - Marimba(Used as synth here).
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
46 - Harp
48 - Strings
73 - Flute
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth

0x49AEF4

01 - Bright Acoustic
14 - Tubular Bells
17 - Percussive Organ
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
58 - Trombone
73 - Flute
75 - Pan Flute
78 - Whistle

0x49B4F4

17 - Percussive Organ
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
31 - Guitar Harmonics
48 - Strings
62 - SynthBrass 1
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x49BAF4

17 - Percussive Organ
21 - Accordian
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
56 - Trumpet
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x49C0F4

17 - Percussive Organ
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
45 - Pizzicato Strings
48 - Strings
60 - French Horn
73 - Flute
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth

0x49C6F4

17 - Percussive Organ
75 - Pan Flute
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x49CCF4

47 - Timpani
56 - Trumpet
58 - Trombone
73 - Flute
81 - Sawtooth
82 - Calliope
83 - Chiff

0x49D0E4

45 - Pizzicato Strings
47 - Timpani
48 - Strings
56 - Trumpet
60 - French Horn
73 - Flute
81 - Sawtooth
82 - Calliope
83 - Chiff
85 - Voice
86 - Lead 7 fifths
89 - Pad 2 (Warm)

0x49D528

4 - Electric Piano 1
17 - Percussive Organ
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
48 - Strings
73 - Flute
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
92 - Pad 5 (Bowed)
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x49DB28

1 - Bright Acoustic
4 - Electric Piano 1
17 - Percussive Organ
25 - Acoustic Guitar Steel
48 - Strings
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
83 - Chiff
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x49E128

1 - Bright Acoustic
30 - Distortion Guitar
38 - Synth Bass 1
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
82 - Calliope
83 - Chiff
92 - Pad 5 (Bowed)

0x49E884

13 - Xylophone
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
87 - Bass + Lead

0x49F16C
13 - Xylophone
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth

0x49F58C

1 - Bright Acoustic
2 - Electric Grand
56 - Trumpet
60 - French Horn
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
83 - Chiff

0x4A01E0

47 - Timpani
48 - Strings
56 - Trumpet
58 - Trombone
60 - French Horn
81 - Sawtooth

0x4A0600

24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
35 - Fretless Bass
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x4A1008

14 - Tubular Bells
29 - Overdriven Guitar
30 - Distortion Guitar
33 - Electric Bass (Fingered)
48 - Strings
53 - Voice Oohs
60 - French Horn
62 - SynthBrass 1
78 - Whistle
81 - Sawtooth
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x4A1C08

01 - Bright Acoustic
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
48 - Strings
56 - Trumpet
60 - French Horn
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x4A2208

17 - Percussive Organ
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
48 - Strings
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x4A2808

17 - Percussive Organ
24 - Acoustic Guitar Nylon
48 - Strings
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
82 - Calliope
126 - Applause(Used as Drum Noise)
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

0x4A0C00

14 - Tubular Bells
31 - Guitar Harmonics
38 - Synth Bass 1
80 - Square
81 - Sawtooth
85 - Voice(For once, it's actually not used as Synth)

0x4A1608
01 - Bright Acoustic
81 - Sawtooth
127 - Gunshot(Used as Drum Noise)

So yeah, that was the list. Next I'm gonna cover choosing the right voicegroup for your song.

Choosing the Right Voicegroup

When the choosing the voicegroup you want to use, you should generally pick a voicegroup that has a lot of the same instruments that are in your midi. For instance, if your midi uses strings, trumpets, but also guitars, you want to find a voicegroup that has all of those. If you find a voicegroup with most of the same instruments, you can either try your luck or change some of the instruments in that midi, so that they're all in that particular voicegroup. If a particular instrument isn't in any voicegroup, it will probably have to be substituted for some other instrument.

But I'm confused, my tracks have different numbers than the ones used on the GBA...

If you have standard midi software, the track numbers are probably going to be different than what's used on the GBA. I don't know if this'll work for your particular midi program but to get the GBA track number, I take the general midi track number and subtract it by one. So say my general midi program has 57 for the track number of the trumpet, it would be track number 56 in the Pokemon games. Your midi program might also have different names for instruments than mine, but it's generally gonna be in the same order. Hopes this helps you guys gain an understanding.

And yeah, that's the tutorial guys... Hoped it help you out.

Credit:
Magnius

Fire Red Music Values in Hex:

Spoiler:

Are you like me and wanted to change Fire Red's map music in AdvanceMap, but had no idea what the values where? Well, worry no more. In this documentation, you will find a list of Hex Values for EVERY song in Pokemon Fire Red. These Hex Values have been tested in game, so I know that each and every last one of them is the right music value. So yeah, if you ever wanted to change the games music, but didn't know the correct hex values, here they are. All the names are taken from Sappy, with minor add ons and corrections.

Quote:
0105 = Healing (RS)
0106 = Level Up
0107 = Evolution Start
0108 = Evolution/Safari
0109 = Battle 1
010A = Battle 2
010B = Unknown/Not listed in Sappy
010C = Fanfare 1
010D = Fanfare 2
010E = You Fail It!
010F = You Fail It Again!
0110 = Follow Me
0111 = Game Corner
0112 = Evil Lurks
0113 = Gym
0114 = Jigglypuff's Song
0115 = Introduction
0116 = Pokemon Theme
0117 = Cinnabar Island
0118 = Lavender Town
0119 = Healing
011A = Bicycle
011B = Encounter 1
011C = Encounter 2
011D = Encounter 3
011E = You're In The Hall of Fame!
011F = Viridian Forest
0120 = Mount Moon
0121 = Abandoned Place
0122 = End Credits
0123 = Route Theme 1
0124 = Route Theme 2/Intro
0125 = Route Theme 3
0126 = Route Theme 4
0127 = Indigo Plateau
0128 = Battle 3
0129 = Battle 4
012A = Battle 5
012B = Battle 6
012C = Pallet Town
012D = Oak's Lab
012E = Oak's Theme
012F = Pokemon Center
0130 = SS Anne
0131 = Surf's Up
0132 = Pokemon Tower
0133 = Silph Co.
0134 = Cerulean City
0135 = Celadon City
0136 = Victory 1
0137 = Victory 2
0138 = Victory 3
0139 = Vermillion City
013A = Viridian City and Pewter City
013B = Gary's Theme
013C = Gary's Theme (bis)
013D = Fanfare 3
013E = Fanfare 4
013F = You caught a Pokemon!
0140 = Trainer Card Photo
0141 = Gamefreak
0142 = Victory 2 (bis)
0143 = Intro Message 1
0144 = Intro Message 2
0145 = Intro Message 3
0146 = Game Corner (+1)
0147 = Game Corner (+2)
0148 = Net Corner
0149 = Mystery Connection
014A = Game Corner (+3)
014B = Mount Ember
014C = Follow Me (alt)
014D = Water Labyrinth
014E = Tanoby Ruins
014F = Islands 1-3
0150 = Islands 4-5
0151 = Islands 6-7(AKA Violet City Theme from GSC)
0152 = PokeFlute
0153 = Battle - Deoxys
0154 = Battle 5 (+1)
0155 = Battle 5 (+2)
0156 = Encounter 4
0157 = Deoxys Encounter
0158 = Trainer Tower
0159 = Pallet Town (fame mix)
015A = Teachy TV
So there you go, that's the list. Hope this helps people out.
Credit:
Magnius

Inserting High Quality Cries with Sappy:

Spoiler:

All of the other tutorials I've seen on cry inserting tell you to lower the quality of the cry to 11050Hz or 11025Hz. That is completely unnecessary, and simply serves do severely downgrade the quality of the cry. The Game Boy Advance can handle more than that.

While inserting new instrument samples with Sappy, I realized that if I can insert these samples at 13379Hz without any problems, then surely I can insert cries the same way. And so, my theory turned out to be true.

Yes, I am going to show you how to insert new Pokémon cries using Sappy, a program that was designed for a completely different purpose XD

Here's what you'll need:
*Sappy Mod 15 (get it here)
*Free Space Finder
*any random hex editor
*.wav files of your cries (All 649 cries download, credit to Pokerealm.com)
*Pokémon Game Editor (optional if you know what you're doing)

IMPORTANT: If you don't know how to use a hex editor, or if you don't know what a pointer is, then I'm afraid this tutorial is too advanced for you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Open your ROM in Free Space Finder, find a really huge amount of free space (under the "Needed Bytes" label, I just type in 9999 even though I don't actually need 9999 bytes of free space)

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2. Make sure your free space offset ends in 0, or 4, or 8, or C. If it doesn't, just go forward 1 byte until it does. KEEP TRACK OF THE OFFSET.

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3. Open your ROM in Sappy

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4. Go to Tasks ---> Import Sample


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5. Select the cry you're going to insert, and insert at the free space offset you found earlier. You don't have to change any settings, just click "Import" right away.


Even though you just inserted the cry, still keep track of the offset.

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6. READ: This step if for having a Pokémon's cry offset change to the new offset you just inserted a new cry at. If you know where the offset is by a method other than Pokémon Game Editor, then simply change the offset and skip this step. This step covers how to do it with Pokémon Game Editor.

Now open up Pokémon Game Editor, and go to the Pokémon that you're going to change its cry. Change the cry offset to the offset of the cry you inserted earlier.


However, there's a minor issue: This method will only work correctly if you're editing a Pokémon that's from Generation I or Generation II.

If you want to change the cry of a Generation III Pokémon, read this:
Spoiler:


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7. Now that we've changed the cry offset, there's one last thing we need to do. Open up your ROM in a hex editor, and search for the pointer to your new cry. I inserted my cry at 0x7BC664, so the pointer I'm searching for is 64 C6 7B 08.


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8. The search for the pointer should now take you to exactly where the offset is in the first cry table. Now go four bytes before that offset, and you should see the bytes "20 3C 00 00"


Change "20 3C 00 00" to "00 3C 00 00".

Congratulations, you just inserted a high-quality cry. Now test your cry in-game, and it should be in unbelievably high-quality, much higher than Pokecry will ever let you. You'll never have to use Pokecry again!

Credit:
Chaos Rush

 

[Akiba]

Thanks for the work again. I've been busy with homework, but expect good progress in the next few weeks.

 

[Akiba]

Um, lol. I need to work on this.

I've been terribly sick in the past few weeks, and missed a lot of school. I'm behind on a lot of other work, too.

I'll try my best to find time for this during the break.

Sorry for the delay again.