Editing Spells/Animation! Colors/Variations/Oddities

[Mando]

This topic serves to have guides placed, direct questions, load videos, and place .bin files of spell edits of colors and complete custom ones. I strongly suggest that if you make a worth while Spell Effect edit you go to upload it to the site submission post, no rush only when your ready!

I will update this more as more guides come along, any suggestions on editing the topic please send PM so this can remain a bit less cluttered.

Celdia or myself will make an updated guide that build's upon Vanya's and involves hex manipulation as well


*Tips*
For those who do not know the file size aka byte size = Decimal  use the programmer function in your Windows calculator type the byte size EX: 23333 then switch it to hex via the radio button and you will get the HEX.

If you go here download them as .bmp load into Graphics Gale go to load palette,file,import from file choose another spell effect .bmp, uncheck match pixels with colors that will be a preview what the spell would look like using another spell's palette


Vanya's Spell effect Guide
Tutorial:
here's a step-by-step explanation of how to do this.

1) Open your effect file in TileMolester. (it can be downloaded from Romhacking.net or Zophar's Domain.)

2) Click on the view menu. Go to the Codec option and click on "8bpp linear".

3) Next click on the view menu again and go to the mode option. Now click on "2-Dimensional". Now if you scroll down the image you'll be able to make out the form of the raw image in the effect file.

4) This is the most complicated part. now you have to figure out where the palette is located for the file that you opened.

First let me explain the rules for locating the palette as read from the Final Fantasy Tactics Investigative Project.

http://web.archive.org/web/20070124055559/http://www.m-l.org/~greerga/fft/

If the effect file is larger than 70KB (71,680B)...
-the last 64KB (65,536B) of the file is a raw image 256x256 pixels.
-the palette is 1028B before the start of the raw image.
-the offset for the palette = the size of the file in bytes minus 66,564 bytes.
-NOTE to view the image correctly for files of this size you have to expand the width of the canvas to 32 instead of 16.

If the effect file is larger than 34KB (34816B) but smaller than 70KB...
-the last 32KB (32,768B) of the file is a raw image 128x256 pixels.
-the palette is 1028B before the start of the raw image.
-the offset for the palette = the size of the file in bytes minus 33,796 bytes.

If the effect file is smaller than 34KB (34816B)...
-the last 15,872B of the file is a raw image 128 pixels wide.
-the palette is 512B before the start of the raw image.
-the offset for the palette = the size of the file in bytes minus 16KB (16384B).

As an example take E161 - Wish.BIN
I'm editing it to make it look less like Esuna.

Size: 51,336B
Palette offset: 51,336B - 33,796B = 17,540B

5) Import the palette from the file. Click on the Palette menu and go to the "Import From..." option. Click on "This File...". This will open the "Import internal Palette" dialogue. In the box marked "Offset" type in the location we got for the palette. In this cast it's '17540'. Where it says "Size" always type 512 because it always used a 256-color palette with 2 bytes for each entry. then click OK and you're ready to edit!! =)

6) Make your changes. Save or Save As... You now have a brand spankin' new effect!! Woohoo!!!!!!! =)

Be warned the program is kinda finicky when undoing stuff so be careful and save often. Also, you can open multiple files to copy over stuff! =)


Mando's Animation effect guide

This is my mini-guide to making your own jump and having event animations work for you.
First and for-most. This jump 'fix' does not keep you in the air while you wait on your CT to go off.
Also please refer to using the skill animations used in my video, which I will list.

For event animations... *NOTE* please try and use only zodiacNAME's Death and stone glows. Those are the least glitchy and most likely will not crash your game.

Also if you do use the jump fix; I do ask that you do not try and pass it off as YOUR jump fix simply by putting a new animation to it.

Lets get started.

For Jumps:
1. First go into your patcher, choose any ability you want to change, and flag it how you want it to function like ct, mp, both, and ect...

2. Go into your animation Tab settings. Change the animation tab value to. 00 76 00

3. Try and use these spell effects they sync up the best.
Circle, Braver, Hurricane, Mimic Titan, Look of Freight, Climhazzard, Holy Explosion, or any of the other ones you might like within my videos.

4. Do not try a different animation tab setting... will not work.

How to display damage using Event Animations:
1. Use one of these three slots. Leg Aim, Arm Aim, and Seal Evil. There MAYBE other slots this might work, if your willing to test... I'd first try any Use Hand skill or any Special Enemy Unit Skill.

2. Set the animation tab value to = 07 00 00 NOTHING ELSE WORKS DON'T BOTHER TRYING.

3. If you test out more please share if they work or not, like the Use Hand skills, it because I shared this with you.

Making your Character do a Vanish Attack, kneel, or underhand throw:
1. For Vanishing before an attack set your animation tab setting to 00 3B 00
2. For kneeling the entire time during the animation effect set your animation tab to. 00 16 00
3. For underhanded throwing set the animation tab to 12 4B 00

Thats all there is to it. Got any comments feel free to post, have any questions, besides what else have I tested, please post.

Thanks~ Mando

[Mando]

THIS IS FOR VIDEOS!
If you want a video of your spell effect please PM with the information below and I will post it on here.

Please provide this information:

EXXX.bin
Video Title
Creator (if not you)
Youtube link. Thanks!

Mando's Videos:

Jumps:1-6

spoiler: Jumps

Jumps:7-11

spoiler: Jumps 2

Unique Attacks[/b]

spoiler: Unique Attacks

Spell Effects 1

spoiler: New Spell effects

Spell Effects 2

spoiler: Spell Effects 2

Dino's Animations & Videos:
His Topic

[Mando]

Messing with e308
here is what it looks like on my side TM wise

[Xifanie]

Why are you using that crap of a program?

I listed and ripped every single effect so you shouldn't have to do this.
http://ffhacktics.com/effects.php?page=8&effectsperpage=30

Like it says on the page, just click the image to download the bmp version.

This is a multi-paletted effect image... meaning it has a set height (under 128 pixels high), 256 width, 16 palettes of 16 colours each.

http://ffhacktics.com/effects/E308.BMP
It's currently 8bit, and leave it as is to edit.
To import it back... you have to import it as a 4bit (16 colours) TIM; the image itself.
Then import the palette, which is like 0x200 bytes off the 8bit palette location, and paste the palette there; just copy/paste the palette data for the 8bit (256 colours) version of the TIM.

You can easily find the location of each graphic (x, y) which should be 2 bytes IIRC: XXYY. And their width which is always a multiple of 8 which should be right next to that.

Anyway, have fun.

Really, editing that bmp and aapplying a brown colour filter, import the iamge + palette back would take me about 5 minutes since I haven't done it in a while.

[dinosaur]

TIM does not work on Windows7, Xif.  (Says Lijj)

Also that forum link does not work.

[Pride]

TIM works for me.

[GeneralStrife]

Try running it in administrator mode.
This is the reason I haven't upgraded XP.

[Mando]

TIM didn't work for me either in WIN7 no matter what I did that's why I use HxD and tile molester. I also use graphics gale to preview palettes but sone won't change well actually. Like, wave around appears gray and no matter if you change the palette the color doesn't stick. So there is coding in there that makes it call forth specific colors.

[Kokojo]

This is amazing, Mando. I wish I had the time!

[dinosaur]

Could someone help me find Xifs forum link?

[Mando]

Once I finish out the last few animations I want to edit. I will throw together a zip file containing all the edited effect files. Granted, not all are mine but I think right now I am at like 24 or so...

[Lijj]

Pride you got TIMutil working on Win7?  I tried many things and failed to get it to open. it suggests win xp mode but no matter what version i tried it would not open on my system.. I really enjoyed using it so any help or advice would be appreciated.

[dinosaur]

Pride you got TIMutil working on Win7?  I tried many things and failed to get it to open. it suggests win xp mode but no matter what version i tried it would not open on my system.. I really enjoyed using it so any help or advice would be appreciated.

Yes! Me too!

I forget, someone suggested a virtual box but if there is away around it that would be amazing!

[Eternal]

Pride you got TIMutil working on Win7?  I tried many things and failed to get it to open. it suggests win xp mode but no matter what version i tried it would not open on my system.. I really enjoyed using it so any help or advice would be appreciated.

Did you try running it as an Admin? Some programs on Windows 7 seem to need that.

[RavenOfRazgriz]

I just saw this thread from being linked in from that other dude's thread.  Just thought I'd let you know:

Power Break, Mind Break, Speed Break, Magic Break, Weapon Break, Shield Break, Head Break, Armor Break, Steal Weapon, Steal Shield, Steal Helmet, Steal Armor, Steal Accessory, Power Ruin, Mind Ruin, Speed Ruin, and Magic Ruin all also SHOULD share that forced hard-coding that Engineer skills also have.  R999 had all this stuff documented somewhere, and I have his notes, so I MIGHT be able to dig it up and find it sometime.  Accumulate is also hardcoded to play any information set in its slot at 3x the speed according to R999 as well, but I've never seen any information to verify or deny that.

[Mando]

Ya, thanks for the info RoR. I had already figured out all those slots worked as well. The accumulate thing was something new to me though. (I have been lazy and have not felt like updating it.)