Jason777 Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Due to the realization that I'll be attending a university that is nationally recognized for its studies in computer science next year, I feel as if I should really put my current knowledge to the test in order to prepare for the rigor that may come. I have become aware that I've never actually released a program for N64 zelda modding besides z64-tex-ext injector (which no one really took an interest in due to only being compatible with Obj2Area and some in-game maps, limitations caused by the design and coding of the z64-tex-ext hack, and the community overall having no interest in advanced hacking). The point is that I would really like to develop a tool in order to ease the difficulty of modding, but... I have no idea what I should make because so many other tools already address most of the issues modders face today (I'm looking at you, xdaniel ). Anyways, this is where you play part: what tools do you feel the community is lacking and will make a difference in the creation of future mods? Please, throw me a bone here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanguinettiMods Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Maybe make something to port actors from MM to OoT? I'm pretty confident that you have more than enough knowledge to do something like that. Otherwise you could make a file inserter of sorts. The user would define the file to be inserted and where it would be placed. The program would add it to the necessary table and add an entry to the filename table as well. I don't know; This is just an idea I came up with on the spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason777 Posted February 7, 2013 Author Share Posted February 7, 2013 Maybe make something to port actors from MM to OoT? I'm pretty confident that you have more than enough knowledge to do something like that. Otherwise you could make a file inserter of sorts. The user would define the file to be inserted and where it would be placed. The program would add it to the necessary table and add an entry to the filename table as well. I don't know; This is just an idea I came up with on the spot.I don't think an actor porter will ever be possible unless we have some sort of hacking-deity; external function calls, usage of MM-specific RAM addresses outside of the actor, and the entry point of the actor are the reason why actor porting isn't possible today. The entry point issue could be fixed by taking the disassembled MM actor from zOVLDis and creating an identical overlay with a different entry point with nOVL. However, the parts of the actor which deal with functions and data outside of the actor is the real problem here. You would basically need to port over all of MM's functions and then fix those functions to work with OoT-specific RAM addresses to even begin to consider porting actors So yeah, I think that will be out of the question for a -very- long time.A file inserter like you described would definitely be feasible though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanguinettiMods Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 A file inserter like you described would definitely be feasible though. A file inserter it is, then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zue-Guy-Zen Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 I'm no moder but perhaps a new 3D modeler like Maya just for N64 roms or Zelda. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason777 Posted February 7, 2013 Author Share Posted February 7, 2013 With the tools we have now, there wouldn't be any need to develop a tool for creating N64 compatible models. If anything, maybe a Google SketchUp plugin that allows you to directly export your models as an N64 display list... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Netsrac Posted February 7, 2013 Share Posted February 7, 2013 Well there you go, then we wouldn´t have to convert them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason777 Posted February 8, 2013 Author Share Posted February 8, 2013 What do you guys think of an automatic actor/object adding program? I would be utilizing the file inserter's code that I'm currently writing, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinout Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 IMHO the Z64 filesystem was not designed with editing in mind. Compressed, removed, and re-sized files require immense changes to the filetable, ROM layout, and therefore every ROM offset of a file within each file (think code, scene map pointers, map skybox JPEG pointers...). The linker script that Nintendo put together when they built the Z64 binary must have been at least 5KB - if you're not familiar (I know you are, Jason), a linker is a *usually* small text file that is optionally used in the final stages of building a binary which dictates how the binary should be put together. So...? How about a filesystem rewrite; a patch which changes the file loading routines so the ROM uses a filesystem that does have editing in mind. I tried with z64-fs-new (or whatever I called it lol), but I got that hack wrong; I didn't create utilities to work with the filesystem. This is the most vital part, accessory utilities. Brainstorm this idea openly in this thread if you're interested, I might be able to help you a bit in one way or another if there's interest. I could write a library or something. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason777 Posted February 11, 2013 Author Share Posted February 11, 2013 Something like that sounds like it'll save a lot of people from headache. You pretty much already have the hack already written, spinout, so I guess all that would be left to do is write a program which takes advantage of the hack (like the z64-tex-ext injector)... I'll definitely give the hack you're talking about a look at. The only problem I see with that idea is that I don't think many people would appreciate or be interested in it. Personally, I'm all for it but it sucks to write something and get absolutely no feedback for your hard work. The reason why I think that only a few would be interested in it is because it deals with advanced hacking (engine-rewrites, C and ASM hacks in general, actor modding, etc) and everybody here shies away from topics like that, with the exception of sakura, DeathBasket, and SanguinettiMods. This could probably be avoided by making the utility beginner-friendly in everyway possible though... I know that was one of the problems with the z64-tex-ext injector-- too much detailed shit flying everywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arceny Posted February 14, 2013 Share Posted February 14, 2013 Maybe asking for the moon, but... Why not make a program where you can insert custom animations and models in OoT? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shotgun Blues Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 A program that would let you imort custom music in OOT and MM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three_Pendants Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Actually how difficult would a "Warp editor" be to make? Things that allow you to line up say... Kokiri Forest with Death Mountain for instance. As far as I'm aware warp locations are all in the scene files so making a simple editor out of them *in theory* does not appear to be too difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason777 Posted February 15, 2013 Author Share Posted February 15, 2013 Maybe asking for the moon, but...Why not make a program where you can insert custom animations and models in OoT?That's definitely possible and you can find "editors" for animations (both Link's and regular models). You should check out spinout's z64Anim and Flotonic's/Twili's LACE. If you can't find them, don't hesitate to ask me for them. As for custom models, see xdaniel's Model2N64. The only problem where I can see you having trouble is getting the custom model inside an object and creating a heirarchy.A program that would let you imort custom music in OOT and MM?Many programs exist for that. You should check out DeathBasket's InstEd, Sanguinetti's MM to OoT music porter, or Frauber's mml2m64 (works for both SM64 and Zelda OoT). I would recommend DeathBasket's tool though for completely custom music.Actually how difficult would a "Warp editor" be to make? Things that allow you to line up say... Kokiri Forest with Death Mountain for instance. As far as I'm aware warp locations are all in the scene files so making a simple editor out of them *in theory* does not appear to be too difficult.Are you talking about exits? Exits are whenever you leave a level and loads up a new level. If so, a program like that is definitely feasible. At the moment I'm writing an object and actor adder with automatic injection if the user doesn't specify an offset though. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arceny Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 That's definitely possible and you can find "editors" for animations (both Link's and regular models). You should check out spinout's z64Anim and Flotonic's/Twili's LACE. If you can't find them, don't hesitate to ask me for them. As for custom models, see xdaniel's Model2N64. The only problem where I can see you having trouble is getting the custom model inside an object and creating a heirarchy. Hmmm... thanks, Jason! These tools look interesting. I can't find LACE, though. Or Model2N64. But nevertheless... I'll take you up on that offer. XD Well, that leaves room for you to focus on something that's desperately needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xdaniel Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Hmmm... thanks, Jason! These tools look interesting. I can't find LACE, though. Or Model2N64. But nevertheless... I'll take you up on that offer. XD Well, that leaves room for you to focus on something that's desperately needed. Model2N64: http://www.the-gcn.com/topic/1815-n64zelda-hacking-tools-dlist-conversion-etc/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Three_Pendants Posted February 15, 2013 Share Posted February 15, 2013 Don't know why I kept calling them warps... yes I meant Exits, hehe. I'd see that being a highly usable and a tool that would help even an amateur change the game to a great extent (also might allow for some of those unused exits like all of those weird Forest Temple ones and the secondary Ice Cavern one) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KamAlsh Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Nothing really related to N64, really, but how about a file converter that allows you to convert back and forth between .tmd/.tml files and whatever model type you want to edit, like .obj. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rinku Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 Hello, I know the topic is a bit old but at the moment I would need a program which works with CUSTOM maps (made with SharpOcarina). The program should be able to give the number/ID of the polygon/vertex you have selected. The reason is that SharpOcarina didn't assign the polygon types to the polygons. I'm fixing that manually with an hex editor but it's terrible guess work as I don't know which polygon in my map is which polygon in the ROM, so I basically have to try out all the polygons... Thank you for reading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason777 Posted July 3, 2013 Author Share Posted July 3, 2013 A custom map viewer/editor that is specifically for assigning polygon type definitions to collision triangles? I could see something like that being useful. I'll highly consider it. I need to start trying to write programs that use OpenGL and display 3D objects anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanguinettiMods Posted July 3, 2013 Share Posted July 3, 2013 A custom map viewer/editor that is specifically for assigning polygon type definitions to collision triangles? I could see something like that being useful. I'll highly consider it. I need to start trying to write programs that use OpenGL and display 3D objects anyways. Jason, Hylian Toolbox 1.7.1 does this. You shan't need to worry about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason777 Posted July 4, 2013 Author Share Posted July 4, 2013 Well, you heard the man, Rinku! You should check out Hylian Toolbox! You can find it on Maco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rinku Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 Yes, I could use Hylian Toolbox, but this would require me to reimport my map and reposition all the actors and things (which seriously took hours). Why I have to reimport my map? Because Hylian Toolbox can open .zobj in ROM, but .zmap only as individual files. And Utility of Time doesn't seem able to extract custom maps made with SharpOcarina. So I don't have my custom map as an invidual .zmap file. I would have to reimport my map and reposition everything, I seem not able to select collision triangles on Hylian Toolbox (I just tried it in spot00) and I don't even know if Hylian Toolbox can move scene/transition actors (but I hope so!). But I don't complain (even if it seems like I complain); I thank both of you for you help! I think I'm simply too lazy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason777 Posted July 4, 2013 Author Share Posted July 4, 2013 I'll try doing it myself and get back to you about it, Rinku. If everything goes well (I can't see why it wouldn't) then I'll write a simple tutorial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rinku Posted July 4, 2013 Share Posted July 4, 2013 That's really nice of you, thank you very much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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