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Random Sonic Advance hackings

Discussion in 'Engineering & Reverse Engineering' started by Techokami, Jul 5, 2009.

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  1. Jul 5, 2009 #1
    Techokami

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    To get to the point, I wanted to extract the metatiles that make up the levels in Sonic Advance 2. I already wrote a Sonic Advance metatile ripper, I just needed the addresses to plug in.
    Here's a list of addresses in the Sonic Advance 2 (U) ROM I've mapped out. Feel free to put it on the wiki or something.

    Also, if you want, here's the Sonic Advance level ripper source and here's the Advance 2 level ripper source. Just put it in its own directory with a copy of the ROM named sadv.gba or sadv2.gba, respectively. The list of levels starts in the source at line 39; the addresses for Sonic Advance were taken from JoseTB's Sonic Advance Editor. Enjoy.
     
  2. Jul 5, 2009 #2
    Shibunoa

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    Awesome. I also saw you write them in PHP scripts :P
     
  3. Jul 5, 2009 #3
    Techokami

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    Yeah, I like PHP a lot. GD is made of win for rendering graphics. =)
    Speaking of, I just finished with Sonic Advance 3! Here's an address list and here's the source to the ripper. Enjoy.
     
  4. Jul 6, 2009 #4
    nineko

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    So wait, is it possible to make actual level maps of the aforementioned games now? Because, I can't really download and try things atm, but if it can be done I'll just outright create maps for all the levels and upload them on the wiki as soon as I get my connection (thus my main computer) back. What kind of output do your programs return? Sorry for the stupid questions which could probably be avoided by trying it, but as I said it's not an option atm. Also because I don't have the roms on my dad's laptop and I don't feel like going on rom websites with an IE6-based computer without a firewall :\
     
  5. Jul 6, 2009 #5
    Azu

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    Hell, I'd be happy if you can rip the tiles from the actually game.
     
  6. Jul 6, 2009 #6
    Maxd

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    All we need now is an object editor, and we have a basic suite for making Sonic Advance 2 fun. For once.
     
  7. Jul 6, 2009 #7
    Overlord

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    Oh, that's quite simple - remove Sky Canyon's boss from the code entirely, and make Sky Canyon have a FLOOR =P
     
  8. Jul 7, 2009 #8
    Shadow Hog

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    I'm also tempted to say re-implement the speed cap unless you're spinning (since it was in the earlier titles for a damn good reason), and force acceleration to a constant speed (instead of this "more rings = faster acceleration" motif it has going for it)... basically, make it play more like the Genesis games than a proto-Sonic Rush. Dunno how well it'd work with the level design, though.
     
  9. Jul 7, 2009 #9
    Techokami

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    Yeah, it should be possible to do so. JoseTB was planning on adding Advance 2 and 3 support to Sonic Advance Editor, but I guess he forgot about it? Regardless, all three games use the exact same format - all you need is the addresses for where the map data starts, and just follow along with the information provided on the wiki.
    Oh, and the scripts I posted generate a set of numbered PNGs of the 96x96 metatiles as output.

    Also, someone on the IRC last night told me he was making a C++ port of these scripts. Wonder how far along he is on it?
     
  10. Jul 11, 2009 #10
    JoseTB

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    Haven't had much time lately to code, even though I lurk around here often, but it's definitively not a forgotten project. SAdv2 (partial) support and a palette editor were added a few months ago, but it's not all that worth for another release yet.

    And yes, the three games use nearly the same level format for everything. Heck, even the music is portable without too much trouble between the three. In fact a while ago Erik JS ported Leaf Forest from SAdv2 into SAdv3, music and all.
     
  11. Jul 12, 2009 #11
    Stairmaster

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    I'd like to see that and I am sure others would too. Could you provide a link?
     
  12. Jul 12, 2009 #12
    JoseTB

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    Here, if you mean the port ("Hacks" section)
     
  13. Jul 13, 2009 #13
    Azu

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    That hack doesn't seem to work.
     
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