Patch Merging [Solved]

[Isilud]

Hello,

I am sorry if this has been posted before, but I just had a couple of questions regarding a patch I am working on.
The patch is for the War of the Lions version.

1. Is it possible to merge the slowdown patch with mine? If so, how does one do this?
2. Is it possible to merge my .ffttext file into my patch? I have never altered the text before and I am not sure of the proper order to apply my changes.

I was hoping to put the three alterations (my patch, my text changes, and the slowdown patch) in one complete package if at all possible. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Isilud

(This is my first time properly using these tools. I have played this game for over 20 years and it got me my start in computers in general thanks to gameshark hacking back in the day lol.)

[nitwit]

If you're talking about distribution, it's best to patch your rom with someone else's patch first, then build your stuff on that. When you want to distribute your mod, make a patch from your final version against the 100% unpatched vanilla version.

For bug reporting, make sure you credit other people whose patches you used, and if possible the version of their patch you used. It's also a very good idea to include hashes of your vanilla rom, your final patched rom, and all the patches you used.

HxD hex editor lets you make hashes of files.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HxD
https://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd/

[Isilud]

Ah I can't believe I overlooked that!

- So I took a fresh ISO
- Then made my text edits with FFTactText (Wow is that tricky with the WotL Version)
- Applied the Slowdown Removal Patch
- Loaded my custom .ppf into FFT Patcher
- Patched my altered ISO with my .ppf

*So I imagine now I can just load up my finished ISO in FFT Patcher and then create a brand new .ppf which will include all of my desired changes.

Thanks for the help! Sorry I completely missed this and did not think to do it on my own. I will write up some notes and of course give credit to those that paved the way for me.

Out of curiosity, where is the best place to upload a patch for others here?

Otherwise this can be closed out if the mods want to clear it out.

[nitwit]

Ah I can't believe I overlooked that!

- So I took a fresh ISO
- Then made my text edits with FFTactText (Wow is that tricky with the WotL Version)
- Applied the Slowdown Removal Patch
- Loaded my custom .ppf into FFT Patcher
- Patched my altered ISO with my .ppf

I'm sure it's possible, but the slowdown was probably caused by code somewhere; the text of the game is data and wouldn't be executed as code. And you could just look at the addresses changed by each (assuming there's a way to see that for FFTactText) and verify that they don't overlap. If nothing is overwriting anything else, you can usually do them in any order.

*So I imagine now I can just load up my finished ISO in FFT Patcher and then create a brand new .ppf which will include all of my desired changes.

Yep. Apply all the patches you want, then make a new ppf (which stands for PlayStation Patch Format) of your final version against the vanilla rom.

Thanks for the help! Sorry I completely missed this and did not think to do it on my own. I will write up some notes and of course give credit to those that paved the way for me.

If you don't mind people stealing building off your work, you could upload your resources (*.fftpatch files, whatever else) in a separate zip file with a list of the other patches you used included. Then if anyone wants to see your changes they can load it up in an editor.

Maybe someone will make a changefile generator that reads the data in the base rom and the final version and creates a changelist and a listing of all the different data, in GameFAQs guide format.

Out of curiosity, where is the best place to upload a patch for others here?

If this is an alpha or beta, Works in Progress board under the Projects section. Once you're done, make a new thread or have your old one moved to Completed Mods.

Otherwise this can be closed out if the mods want to clear it out.

Usually best to keep things like this in place so people can find it with a quick search. This is also why descriptive titles and keywords are very important. Puttting a [Solved] In the front of your thread title is always a good idea though, provided of course you posted your solution somewhere in that thread.

[Isilud]

If you don't mind people stealing building off your work, you could upload your resources (*.fftpatch files, whatever else) in a separate zip file with a list of the other patches you used included. Then if anyone wants to see your changes they can load it up in an editor.

I have no problem with people wanting to use my work. Share the wealth right? Though I cannot imagine it is as useful as what many others have put up here. I am really just making convenience edits, QoL edits, and just some custom tweaks that I have always wanted to make. My first version caused one crash so far, but I still have a lot more work to do. Plus I decided to take the hard route for some dumb reason and alter the WotL version instead of the original PSX one. I guess I like a challenge.

I find the hardest thing for me to work with at the moment is FFTacText and WotL. I had to use several different versions and made a compromise in a name, but I intend to revisit it at a later date to see if I can get it to work the way I want. Lastly, I will want to try some ASM stuff, but I need to watch/read up on the tutorials here so I do not end up overlooking something silly again. This is a lot of fun when you have the time to sit down and tweak it and FFTPatcher is miraculous.

[nitwit]

I thought there was an update to TactText recently, but I was mistaken.

https://ffhacktics.com/smf/index.php?topic=12781.msg230434#msg230434

Text editing isn't a priority for me but there's apparently a spreadsheet to assist with it. No clue about the workflow for using this with TactText.