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Ganesha file exports

Started by ArmoredKori, February 11, 2021, 11:38:49 am

ArmoredKori

Greetings,

I just started looking into Custom Maps for FFT and I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to edit maps outside of Ganesha.

I'm a freelance 3D artist and use Maya in my work. Was looking for a way to possibly import a map into Maya if possible!

Thanks in advance!
  • Modding version: PSX
I make FFT maps!
twitch.tv/armoredkori
  • Discord username: ArmoredKori

3lric

Quote from: ArmoredKori on February 11, 2021, 11:38:49 amGreetings,

I just started looking into Custom Maps for FFT and I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to edit maps outside of Ganesha.

I'm a freelance 3D artist and use Maya in my work. Was looking for a way to possibly import a map into Maya if possible!

Thanks in advance!

Ganesha is the only method of map editing that we currently have. There is no blender or maya plugin
  • Modding version: PSX

nitwit

February 13, 2021, 09:51:34 pm #2 Last Edit: February 25, 2021, 12:59:29 pm by nitwit
Here are all the relevant links on maps from the FFHacktics wiki.
https://ffhacktics.com/wiki/Maps/GNS
https://ffhacktics.com/wiki/MAP/
https://ffhacktics.com/wiki/Maps/Texture
https://ffhacktics.com/wiki/Maps/Mesh
https://ffhacktics.com/wiki/Maps/Sectors

General tools download area, links to the latest versions of Ganesha (including source code and what looks like a local copy of Python 2.7) and it's color plugin/update are here. Also of interest is a tool called Map2gl, whose instructions are in the second link.
https://ffhacktics.com/wiki/Tools
https://ffhacktics.com/wiki/Map2gl

Note that there are limits on the filesize of each map, as determined by the number of free bytes available in the last CD sector of each map.
https://ffhacktics.com/wiki/Maps/Sectors

You may be able to get around that by rebuilding a disc image from the game files using Cebix's psxbuild tool:
https://github.com/cebix/psximager

If you can and it works, then the game uses the directory and subdirectory sectors to navigate to and load files. If it doesn't work, it uses custom LBA tables and you'll need to consult with your nearest ASM hacker. Looking for the text "load" at the Routines page of the FFHacktics wiki, there are subroutines for both loading files and loading data, so it could use both... maybe one for navigating within files, and another for loading files or parts of files.
https://ffhacktics.com/wiki/Routine_Locations
https://ffhacktics.com/wiki/Load_File_(0x13bc14)
https://ffhacktics.com/wiki/Load_Data_From_Disc_(0x11bd0)
https://ffhacktics.com/wiki/Load_Data_From_Disc_(0x11bf4)
https://ffhacktics.com/wiki/Load_Data_From_Disc_(0x44694)

Some of those routines have comments which say they accept an LBA as a parameter, so it's used somewhere. Importing modified maps and updating sub/directory sectors and LBA tables is best done programmatically, consult with the FFTPatcher maintainer once your team figures this out.

I don't know anything about Maya or Blender, but you could repost this and any new information that pops up on a their respective message boards and see if it resembles something that already exists. It's very likely that FFTs maps were made using 3D modeling software from back in the day, on a workstation that is roughly equivalent to a low end cell phone today.

edit

Apparently Satchmo III did some work on this, might be a good idea to coordinate with him on it.
https://ffhacktics.com/smf/index.php?topic=11942

Doing a stream on your work process or showcasing your results on social media is a good idea, as it might attract a reverse engineer and python coder who can make such a plugin.