lazzeri Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 Gentlemen ! I've been working for a while now on a new hacking tool for the Atari 2600. And it's on first public beta right now... It's called AHD - Atari Hacking for Dummies. It's actually a frontend / GUI for Dan Boris' suberb and well-known 2600gfx utilities. What it does is to use an "index file" (with all major sprites location) to decode / compile ROMfiles. It easily (really) allows any user to edit any sprite (pre-defined) by using the arrow keys and spacebar... Man you should try it... The portuguese version is being distributed for the Brazilian atari community. I'll translate it to english on the following week and will post it on... It currently have 2 modules: Edit-a-sprite (for editing - duh!) and anim-a-sprite (it allows you to tag a few sprites and ANIMATE them - to see if there's a synchro problem or something equal). I'll be working on the next two modules for the following versions: Merge-a-sprite (for merging large sprites, especially texts and horizontally huge graphics, like the girls on Universal Gamex's X-men ) and Stamp-a-sprite, who will allow you to pick one games' sprite and paste onto another... Cool uh? Hope the last two works... Allow me to say: It's currently working like a champ... It is a DOS-based software and it was tested and worked 110% on Win 9x / ME / XP. Also worked great under DOS-in-a-box for Linux. It was NOT tested under DOS emulation on Mac but i guess it will work just as smooth (WILD guess, need some beta-testing on that). It is NOT working under Win 2000 / NT, but i've already "isolated" the bug and will work on it. I've already generated 8 .AHD files (index files), for Berzerk, Freeway, Frostbite, Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Keystone Kapers, Pitfall! and Megamania. Already mapped a few more games (XMan, Pacman, H.E.R.O., Frogger, Smurfs Rescue on Gargamel's Castle) and i'll start generating .AHD files (and teaching how for the interested) right away... Check the screenshots above to see what's the program all about... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazzeri Posted June 13, 2003 Author Share Posted June 13, 2003 Just one example of how fun can it be... The attached file is a modified version of Megamania, made by one of my beta-testers: Ricardo Contieri. It's called (duh! Contieri) Hackmania. Made in one afternoon or so... Fun to made, funnier to play - everyone can hack games now... I've attached the ZIP file 'cause the forum doesn't support binaries... Regards, Lazzeri hakmania.zip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contieri Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 Hi there folks. Go on and try Lazzeri's AHD. It works quite fine and is pretty muche easy tto use, even while in portuguese. Ah!! And play Hackmania!! Lazzeri, keep up the good work! Cheers, Contieri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 WOW! Is this the first hacking tool to display the sprites in color? Man, can't wait to give the program a shot! Looks great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 Something puzzles me. In the editing/animating screens, it shows proper color data for the sprites of DK, MM, etc. How was the program able to identify these? A database? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 Go on and try Lazzeri's AHD. It works quite fine and is pretty muche easy tto use, even while in portuguese. Where would this preliminary version be? How do we try it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazzeri Posted June 13, 2003 Author Share Posted June 13, 2003 WOW! Is this the first hacking tool to display the sprites in color? Man, can't wait to give the program a shot! Looks great! AFAIK, yes... For now you can only VIEW the color of each line - i mean, you can tag / untag pixels anywere, but not change the line color. But there's a little inside info for you: I'm starting to figure out how to change it - already made a white smurf and a blue policeman on Keystone Kapers... Maybe v. 0.3 or 0.4 might allow some color changing... It would really be nice... Anyway, still lots to do... Thanks for the kind words, and don't forget to D/L this beauty when the english version became available (maybe on monday)! Regards, Lazzeri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazzeri Posted June 13, 2003 Author Share Posted June 13, 2003 Something puzzles me. In the editing/animating screens, it shows proper color data for the sprites of DK, MM, etc. How was the program able to identify these? A database? For now, yes. For now all the sprites colors are passed manually (via the .AHD file). But some games (actually almost all i've peeked) have the color info for most sprites (specially colorful ones) pretty clear on the "decoded" (showgfx.exe) file. I mean, for the following version my idea is that the program might itself "seek" for the sprite's color info on the ROM itself. And also will be able to change it and to generate the re-colored ROM. Still lots to do on that, but that seems to be really "accomplisheable". Now imagine the fun: Stamp-a-sprite the Mario on DK (including color info) and paste it instead of the Smurf character on Rescue on Gargamel's Castle. What do you got? Super Mario Pangea! (actually i'm already working on it ) Just hope i can keep my focus in one thing at a time... I've got literally dozens of ideas and i fear i get lost... Regards, Lazzeri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 I dunno...it being able to "intelligently" pick out a color table belonging to the sprites might be a pretty difficult chore for it to accomplish without using a database (since the color info could be anywhere in the rom). There is no set location for this table to be at in memory. Good luck though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazzeri Posted June 13, 2003 Author Share Posted June 13, 2003 Where would this preliminary version be? How do we try it? Where? Dunno. I've offered it to AtariAge folks some time ago but my guess is that they're still waiting for something more "plausible", like a public beta version . I can hold it on my personal page until i solve that - and also keep that page as an "depository" for .AHD files and hacked ROMs. Still wondering. If people like the program and wish to became it's "official distribution site" i'll be truly more than glad. After all i've been woking on that babe for some time and now i want people to use it! The english version (the same as the portuguese - v.0.1b) will be available on monday. I'll finish translation this friday and will start working on a readme.txt or any sort of a manual ASAP, hope can finish it on time. Following versions are supposed to have a help key (F1)... Another feature standing in line... When it became publicly available i'll send the link to this forum. Regards, Lazzeri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazzeri Posted June 13, 2003 Author Share Posted June 13, 2003 It being able to "intelligently" pick out a color table belonging to the sprites might be a pretty difficult chore for it to accomplish without using a database Nah, i guess i couldn't make myself clear... Sorry! What i meant was that for now i'm having to say manually (on the .AHD file) to the program: "Sprite one: line 1, blue; line 2, blue; line 3, red" and so. Next versions will be simpler: They might keep saying the above OR say "Sprite one, color info are on the following address: " on the .AHD file. It a bitch for whom generates the .AHD, but will be great when ready... And if every atari fan who knows what he's doing decided to generate one .AHD file per month or so, we'll cover the entire library on 6 months tops... :wink: I'm getting so used to it that it took me (literally!) half an hour to generate Pitfall!... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 Then again, Pitfall! is one of the "easier" ones...since a labelled disassembly already exists that points out the location of the tables And the question of trying it out was partially directed at Contieri...since his post was worded in a way that suggested that he had already tried using the program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazzeri Posted June 13, 2003 Author Share Posted June 13, 2003 Then again, Pitfall! is one of the "easier" ones...since a labelled disassembly already exists that points out the location of the tables I do not used any disassembler... Do you know why? I can't program on ASM - it's just plain greek to me... Once again: For now i'm manually passing color info for it. Line one: Pitfall's hair. It's brown, isn't? So it's color x. That's the only table i'm using... About finding color info: I'm using Dan Boris' 2600gfx - and THAT'S IT. As i told early my program is just a GUI / Frontend / Shell to it and that's all... Unfortunately i am NOT a ASM programmer - i'm just a very curious guy who decided to try something different. For finding color info just look for some "giant cottonsticks" on the TXTfile generated - they are the color info... E.G.: Smurf (on ROG'sC) color can be found @ 1100 on the .txtfile ... And if you find that boring or useless you can always leave the color fields empy - then you'll have a lovely white sprite, just like in all the other hacking tools... :wink: You should try the program and peek at the .AHD file structure. I'll be more than glad to show you how it works and how can you generate your own's... Actually i'm trying to figure out how in hell the "interlaced" sprites (A.K.A. bloody River Raid! ) works so i can put that feature on the following versions... If you could help me on that i'll swear i'll be grateful for everafter... I guess that the help of someone that "talks" assembly could be extraordinarily handy... Gee i know that might sound disappointing but i'm really not more than a .TXT decoder... Regards, Lazzeri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 Nono...I meant that with a labelled disassembly, you don't really need to know much about asm in order to hack the game's colors. Look near the bottom of this page for example. That shows where the colors are in plain English. River Raid is there as well...http://www.neonghost.com/the-dig/rev_eng.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 Gentlemen ! I've been working for a while now on a <i>new hacking tool</i> for the Atari 2600. And it's on first public beta right now... Check the screenshots above to see what's the program all about... Programs like these should be banned! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 Programs like these should be banned! Well, not the program but the "me too!" results. :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazzeri Posted June 13, 2003 Author Share Posted June 13, 2003 Nono...I meant that with a labelled disassembly (...) Look near the bottom of this page for example. That shows where the colors are in plain English. River Raid is there as well...http://www.neonghost.com/the-dig/rev_eng.html Wow, GREAT site Nukey! I'll start browsing it trying to learn something... That's really handy... Regards, Lazzeri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazzeri Posted June 13, 2003 Author Share Posted June 13, 2003 Gentlemen ! I've been working for a while now on a new hacking tool for the Atari 2600. And it's on first public beta right now... Programs like these should be banned! Hi Andrew... How's everything? Well that's not a nice thing to say, is it? :wink: Just kidding... The fact is that my program is just a frontend for a pretty well known software (2600gfx) that already do the magic of allowing easy sprite editing for the a2600... Actually i can almost assure that 90% of the graphic hacks made for the a2600 were made with it or its similars (like hack-o-matic). So sprite editing is already old news, and any dumass like me can easily use Hack-o-matic for changing whatever i want. My purpose was only to allow even simpler editing for the final user - but don't fool yourself, generating .AHD files is still a hard matter. So if no one is interested on creating them, my program became pretty useless... So for the "not-so-dummy" user, hack-o-matic or 2600gfx are WAAAAY better... Anyway, i guess you're a little pissed because your are a *real* author of a2600 software. So please allow me to assure that i do guarantee to you that - if you wish so - i will not generate .AHD files for your games, respecting your intellectual property. Also if you wish so i can add a "lock" feature on it so it will NOT open your ROMs. Just ask, and i'll gladly do it - i don't want to disrespect your rights as an author. But what i would like you to think about (please take only 2 seconds on it) is that my goal here was to allow "Dummies" like myself, who know shoot of ASM, to "create it's own" atari 2600 games - basically for domestic use. I mean, i've just received an e-mail from a Brazilian fellow called Pablo Rozados who said, and i quote, "What a wonderful software! I was talking to Edu that thanks to your program i was going to accomplish a child's dream" I mean, isn't the best thing a programmer could wish - bringing joy for other people? I can bet that Pablo is going to play around a little with it, generate a few ROMs and play it at home - and maybe send it to 2 or 3 friends - and that's it. Harmless, and it can bring the joy of accomplishing a child's dream. And no ASM knowledge needed! I mean, i'm proud of it. Please feel free to disagree with me on any of the above, and please share your opinion - it's really important to me. Regards, Lazzeri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 Don't worry too much. It's probably only that strange Australian humor Andrew is presenting here once again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATARI TROLL Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 Where is the link to download this program. You say it works with macs, I would love to give it a test run! Doubt it though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazzeri Posted June 13, 2003 Author Share Posted June 13, 2003 Where is the link to download this program. You say it works with macs, I would love to give it a test run! Doubt it though! Hi Troll... How's everything? You can download it from here. I took the liberty of creating a new forum for it... BTW, i said i guessed it would work under DOS emulation in Mac... Don't hold great expectations! I'll truly appreciate any testing and feedback... Regards, Lazzeri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Iacovelli Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 how big of file can you use to your hack program? is it jusk for bin files that are 2 k and 4k? I tried using it on tempest 2600 but it won't load it give me invalide file. Dan Iacovelli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 The 2600gfx programs are the core of this...which means that filesize should not be a problem. What is a problem is that you can't use this with a rom that has no accompanying .ahd file to grab the sprite locations from...I think (at least I couldn't see it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Iacovelli Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 so you can only hack bins that have AHD files. is there a way to make AHD files. Dan Iacovelli (at least I still have hackomatic that works pretty well) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazzeri Posted June 13, 2003 Author Share Posted June 13, 2003 The 2600gfx programs are the core of this...which means that filesize should not be a problem. What is a problem is that you can't use this with a rom that has no accompanying .ahd file to grab the sprite locations from...I think (at least I couldn't see it). Exactly... Actually if you peek .AHD file (on any text editor) you'll realize that it has a pretty simple structure. And in that it is included the romsize (the line immediately under EOF). Here's a summary of what's on it: Every sprite has 2 lines: 1st line: starting address + how the sprite is stored (N for normal, I for Inverted - i mean upside down) + color for each sprite line (0-F) 2nd line: Sprite name. It will only pick the first 18 characters The EOF line marks the end of the sprites description; Then there's the ROM size (2048, 4096, 8192 and so on); Then i've just copy-and-paste the 10 first lines generated by SHOWGFX (just for a raw comparison for compatibility) - nothing 100% errorproof, but helps... ; Then, if you want to, you can add up to 10 lines of comments who will be displayed during the decoding process. Simple. And with the AHD Generator (suggested by a guy calle Nukey something ) you will be able to generate it even more easily... Regards, Lazzeri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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