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PlaneEd - Genesis plane mappings editor

Discussion in 'Engineering & Reverse Engineering' started by qiuu, Apr 26, 2009.

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  1. qiuu

    qiuu

    Tech Member
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    EDIT 11-02-19: Info on latest version: http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?s=&...st&p=560421
    EDIT 09-10-24: Release information on the additions of the latest version can be found here: http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?s=&...st&p=365219

    Wiki Link: http://info.sonicretro.org/PlaneED
    Download site: http://geoo.digibase.ca/PlaneEd/

    After having this editor lie about for a couple of months in a half-finished state, I finally got around to finish it:
    It is a graphical application for editing plane mappings, like e.g. the Sonic 2 level select. More applications can be seen reading the notes in the readme on the example project files in the 'samples' folder, essentially though most things using plane mappings.

    For those who prefer to ignore the readme file, it shall be noted that the program will terminate instantly if you just execute it.
    For actually working, the name of a project file has to be passed to it as commandline parameter. The precise specifications of these files are denoted in the readme.

    Windows binary: http://geoo.digibase.ca/PlaneEd/PlaneEd_win32.7z

    Source code: http://info.sonicretro.org/images/4/48/PlaneEd1.2_src.tar.gz
    Due to the use of SDL for graphics and a modification of the KENS library for compression handling, it should actually be platform compatible. However apparently the application doesn't run on Mac OS (thanks Puto for trying it out).
    The code might be somewhat sloppy, being a mix of C and C++ style and some object oriented programming, it is the first real program using SDL for me though.

    The sample project files can also be found in this directory: http://geoo.digibase.ca/PlaneEd/PrjFiles/

    (I likely forgot some notes on various stuff here and in the readme.)

    Screenshot courtesy of snkenjoi:
    [​IMG]
     
  2. Spanner

    Spanner

    The Tool Member
    This is seriously a good tool. You'll notice files for editing the Sonic 2 Level Select and this is my result:
    [​IMG]
    What's good is that some letters won't fuck up palette wise while something is being selected, which if you've edited the screen before it can be annoying.
    Also, for the record I don't have any of those Act 3s selectable, I'd have to do something with the code.
     
  3. Thorn

    Thorn

    Tech Member
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    Sonic 2 Retro Remix
    [​IMG]
    Truly a useful tool. Can't thank qiuu and his editor enough for helping me get this done, or my mission-based idea would've been shot.
    (I'll space those lines out tommorow, right now I'm just ecstatic that I got those checkmarks to load :P)
     
  4. Hanoch

    Hanoch

    Also known as TheKnock, Birashot Member
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    So its a screen mappings editor? It can edit enigma mappings and tiles as I can see, great work I am using this to create a splash screen or something!
     
  5. Hitaxas

    Hitaxas

    Retro 80's themed Twitch streamer ( on hiatus) Member
    EDIT: Got it working... Awesome program
     
  6. SMTP

    SMTP

    Tech Member
    Oh thank god. Hexediting screen mappings is a HUGE pain in the ass....
     
  7. PsychoSk8r

    PsychoSk8r

    PsychedelAnt | Tone Turner Oldbie
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    30 Day Project: Revisited.A New Release!
    qiuu for Techie. Oh wait. =P
    This tool will be VERY useful. <3
     
  8. Hitaxas

    Hitaxas

    Retro 80's themed Twitch streamer ( on hiatus) Member
    Maybe someone could take the time and make some project files for this, like the title screen emblem and background, and the like? I tried to write my own, but the program just crashes on me.
     
  9. qiuu

    qiuu

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    I uploaded some additional project files, they can be found here: PlaneEd/PrjFiles/
    (or all in one archive: PlaneEd/PrjFiles/PrjFiles.7z )

    Overall now the 10 title cards for Kid Chameleon and 7 files for Sonic 2, including the title screen.
    If anyone wants to add some more, they can be sent to me so I can upload them.

    The reason you might have trouble setting up project files is that art is loaded into a different location in VRAM, and doesn't include an empty tile. The very first tile in VRAM is usually empty, and in order not to have duplicates of it, the mappings frequently refer to this one, while the art you load into the editor is in a different position in VRAM. That's what the 'Tile Offset' parameter in the project files is for: essentially, it specifies how many tiles the empty tile is offset (in front) in VRAM compared the first tile which the art file you specified contains. For example, a possible strategy might be looking in the disassembly where the art is decompressed to into VRAM, take that offset, divide it by $20 and use it as value for 'Tile Offset', because the empty tile is that many tiles in front of the address the art gets decompressed to.
    (Though for the title screen, the 'Tile Offset' is 0, actually, which shouldn't have caused trouble.)
     
  10. GT Koopa

    GT Koopa

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    Flicky Turncoat DX, T.L.W.S. Vs M.G.W.
    Has this program been added to the wiki yet?
     
  11. Hitaxas

    Hitaxas

    Retro 80's themed Twitch streamer ( on hiatus) Member
    Thanks for the additional files and the offset explanation, this program is now a valuable asset to my hack. :)

    Only one issue. The title BG files, why do the islands not show up?
     
  12. Ayla

    Ayla

    I shat on your desk ^^ Oldbie
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    Hacking Contest, StH Overlooked, Personal Indie game
    Extremely useful and a must-have for any would-be hacker from this day forward. You are truly knowledgeable, qiuu. Excellent work and open source =)
     
  13. qiuu

    qiuu

    Tech Member
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    Uh, actually, they do show up (unless there's some obscure islands that I missed).

    Did you use TitleBg.txt as project? TitleBg2.txt only contains the water (uses a different mapping file). The latter is used to fill the rest of the plane which is not on-screen at the beginning (so both mappings together take up 64 tiles horizontally, the horizontal size of plane B on the title screen). Don't ask me why the data is split onto two mapping files, but that's the way it is.
     
  14. Hitaxas

    Hitaxas

    Retro 80's themed Twitch streamer ( on hiatus) Member
    Yeah, I must have done something to the txt file, I re-saved the one you have hosted, and it works.
     
  15. Hitaxas

    Hitaxas

    Retro 80's themed Twitch streamer ( on hiatus) Member
    I hate to double post, but I've been having issues with the program yet again, but this time it's a legit issue.

    I've been editing the Title screen emblem, only to find out that I cannot select a small selection of tiles:
    [​IMG]

    How could I go about fixing this issue? Am I doing something wrong, or is it just an error in the program?

    Edit: Problem fixed, new version of the program soon to be released, I guess. =P
     
  16. qiuu

    qiuu

    Tech Member
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    Problem has been fixed now, the fixed files are uploaded, link is the same as previously.

    It was caused by the routine selecting a tile from the selector taking an 8bit integer thus causing an overflow for tiles above 255.
     
  17. Hitaxas

    Hitaxas

    Retro 80's themed Twitch streamer ( on hiatus) Member
    Also, He updated the program a bit more after his last post, making the tile selector wider, to prevent tiles from going outside the program.

    qiuu, this is a great program. Thanks for making it and thanks for taking the time to talk to me on IRC. :psyduck:
     
  18. GT Koopa

    GT Koopa

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    Flicky Turncoat DX, T.L.W.S. Vs M.G.W.
    I like this program alot, once I got it to work. When I was trying to learn how to use it I made these:

    Palette File: art/palettes/Special Stage Main.bin
    Mapping File: mappings/misc/Main background mappings for special stage.bin
    Art File: art/nemesis/Background art for special stage.bin
    Mapping Compression: Enigma
    Art Compression: Nemesis
    x-Size: 32
    y-Size: 16

    Palette File: art/palettes/Special Stage Main.bin
    Mapping File: mappings/misc/Lower background mappings for special stage.bin
    Art File: art/nemesis/Background art for special stage.bin
    Mapping Compression: Enigma
    Art Compression: Nemesis
    x-Size: 32
    y-Size: 16

    Just copy and paste each one into a txt file and let the program do the rest. Here's what I was working on, via the helper pngs I made.

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    I also understand SonMapEd a bit better, mainly thanks to the one SonMapEd tutorial that wasn't on the wiki under the how tos. Speaking of which, this program isn't ON the wiki, is it?
     
  19. Selbi

    Selbi

    The Euphonic Mess Member
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    It isn't. I could make one, but it says it's a "secret hacking tool", so aren't I allowed to post it on the Wiki?
     
  20. Spanner

    Spanner

    The Tool Member
    If the program is public you can. I was going to make one but I forgot about it.
     
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