Various issues I need help with.

[toast]

I figured that, instead of making a bunch of different topics for the problems I run into, I should just compile it all into a single topic.



Here's what I need help with. Please list the programs needed, and try to explain the process as simply as possible.

==Changing spellcasting animations (colored lines rushing toward the caster, or green orbs that spin away from the caster)

  ==Preventing skills from being unusable even if they are learned. (Sometimes when I edit a skillset, some of the skills are unusable even if they are learned. I have fixed this in the past, but I have no idea how.)

  ==Editing text in cutscenes. (I tried using the event compiler/decompiler, but I have no idea how it works.

  ==Changing the music that plays in specific battles. (Kinda self explanatory. Trisection is too awesome a song to only play five times in the entire game.)

  ==Changing two specific cutscenes. SPOILER:

spoiler

Making it so that Dycedarg doesn't zap Zalbag away during the Igros Castle battle, as I wish to make Zalbag playable.

And also making it so that Zombie Zalbag's appearance animation doesn't play in the prebattle cutscene before you fight him. I wish to replace Zombie Zalbag with a different enemy who is present during the entire scene.

  ==Making enemies; specifically Zalmo (both fights), Balk (first fight), and "ZZ"; teleport away after being defeated or reduced to critical HP.

  ==Changing what you have to do to win a fight, and changing the "Conditions for Winning" text.

  ==Making all remaining enemies evaporate into blue dust after winning a fight.

  ==Changing the maximum number of units you can have in your army.

  ==Reserving slots in your formation screen for unique characters. (I.E. that specific slot can only be taken by a specific unit.) This isn't particularly vital to my hack however.

  ==Making it impossible for unique characters to be dismissed.

  ==Making it imposible for any unit to crystallize or drop a chest. (When K.O.ed, he/she will have stars over their head instead of a timer, and will remain that way until revived or the battle ends.)

  ==Fixing glitchy sprites in cutscenes. (Whenever a unit whose sprite I replaced appears in a cutscene, sometimes their sprite temporarily reverts to their old one, but with glitchy-looking colors.)

  ==Making it so that this stupid forum post text entry thingy stops scrolling up whenever I type.[/list]






Also, I have some request for custom sprites. I already asked this in the spriting section, but I figured I may as well ask again here so that more people can know about the request.

Code Select Expand

I would like to request sprites of Laharl and Adell from Disgaea. I would be very grateful if someone made them for me.



Here are some reference pictures for those who are not familiar with Disgaea.

Laharl:
Front
http://i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg94/darkesthope/Laharl.jpg

Back (only picture of his back I could find)
http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad82/Reicher/makai-senki-disgaea111.gif


Adell:
Front
http://i1238.photobucket.com/albums/ff500/rocklee-zach57/adell.jpg

Back
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e135/ShadowBankotsu/Disgaea/Adell.jpg



Their sprites from Disgaea, just for reference.
Laharl:
http://www.spriters-resource.com/psx_ps2/disgaea2/sheet/9349

Adell:
http://www.spriters-resource.com/psx_ps2/disgaea2/sheet/9284

Portraits (Laharl and Adell are on the far left, second and third row from the top):
http://www.spriters-resource.com/other_systems/disgaea3/sheet/34329





If making brand new sprites is too much work, I would be willing to accept the above sprites in FFT format, as long as they are shrunk down to the size of the FFT sprites, and their "walking-in-place" and "attacking" poses don't look awkward.

However, at the very least, I would like to have noseless portraits that match the FFT portraits.






And that's all the issues I have at the moment. I apoloigize if I seem demanding. It is not my intention.






Thank you very much for reading this post, and thanks in advance to anyone who decides to take the time to assist me.

[Archael]

I feel like half of these questions you could have answered for yourself using the search function or just browsing our forums. The ones that are like this I will just post "SEARCH" instead of actually answering them. Sorry if I seem like an asshole, it is not my intention.

==Changing spellcasting animations (colored lines rushing toward the caster, or green orbs that spin away from the caster)

SEARCH.

==Preventing skills from being unusable even if they are learned. (Sometimes when I edit a skillset, some of the skills are unusable even if they are learned. I have fixed this in the past, but I have no idea how.)

Some skillsets require ASM hacking to work properly and won't act normally right off the bat, no matter how you edit them.

==Editing text in cutscenes. (I tried using the event compiler/decompiler, but I have no idea how it works.

There's a tutorial here on how to use it. SEARCH.

==Changing the music that plays in specific battles. (Kinda self explanatory. Trisection is too awesome a song to only play five times in the entire game.)

SEARCH.

==Changing two specific cutscenes. SPOILER:
      Making it so that Dycedarg doesn't zap Zalbag away during the Igros Castle battle, as I wish to make Zalbag playable.

There's a tutorial on here on how to edit events, and two event editing programs as well. SEARCH. You're going to have to learn to use them through trial and error, btw, all by yourself.

And also making it so that Zombie Zalbag's appearance animation doesn't play in the prebattle cutscene before you fight him. I wish to replace Zombie Zalbag with a different enemy who is present during the entire scene.

SEARCH.

==Making enemies; specifically Zalmo (both fights), Balk (first fight), and "ZZ"; teleport away after being defeated or reduced to critical HP.

Event editor.

==Changing what you have to do to win a fight, and changing the "Conditions for Winning" text.

This one is a little harder. I suggest going on chat and asking Zodiac on how to edit winning conditions.

==Making all remaining enemies evaporate into blue dust after winning a fight.

This would also be an event hack, mainly an instruction using event editor. SEARCH.

==Changing the maximum number of units you can have in your army.

Impossible currently.

==Reserving slots in your formation screen for unique characters. (I.E. that specific slot can only be taken by a specific unit.) This isn't particularly vital to my hack however.

Impossible currently.

==Making it impossible for unique characters to be dismissed.

No hack exists for this currently that I'm aware of.

==Making it imposible for any unit to crystallize or drop a chest. (When K.O.ed, he/she will have stars over their head instead of a timer, and will remain that way until revived or the battle ends.)

Flag them as "Immortal" in FFTPatcher.

==Fixing glitchy sprites in cutscenes. (Whenever a unit whose sprite I replaced appears in a cutscene, sometimes their sprite temporarily reverts to their old one, but with glitchy-looking colors.)

Because the game is playing event animations from the sprites that were used there originally. Fixing this requires event editing. SEARCH.

All that said, I strongly suggest you read this post:
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6125
 and develop tons of patience. You have a shit ton to learn, and it's going to take a long time before you are capable of doing things on your own.

And it's going to take an even longer time before you are truly capable of finishing your own hack on your own, especially if you're planning to include so many elaborate things.

And finally:

I would like to request sprites of Laharl and Adell from Disgaea. I would be very grateful if someone made them for me.

Learn how to make them yourself. Unless one of the site's few spriters suddenly develops a deep interest in making these sprites for you, it is almost always better to do it yourself. That way, you won't rely on anyone else, and you won't have to spend weeks and months waiting on spriters who may or may not uphold interest in working on your "requests".

[DonyaDarko]

I would suggest using event decompiler for editing cutscene text and the attack.out editor for changing the music.
Some things you mention can be done in FFPatcher i think.

[toast]

In hindsight, I probably should have searched first.


Oh well.







What is ASM hacking? I've seen that term used on this board, but I don't actually know what it means.




And. correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the "immortal" flag only effective for that specific fight? And it also can't be used on your own units.




Which program do I need to make my own sprites?

[philsov]

ASM hacking is assembly language hacking -- "hard" hacking if you will - where you modify/expand part of the game code.

Yes, the immortal flag lasts for only a single battle/unit.  Try making all job classes immune to box and crystal?  The game might hang when they're at zero, idk, but its worth a test for you.

Graphics Gale is a popular option, some use just straight Paint and there's plenty of others discussed in the spiriting forum.  Note, that you are SO much better off by taking an existing sprite and modifying it rather than starting from pure scratch.

[toast]

I tested it. Here's the results I got.

Once the timer reaches zero, nothing happens, and the timer will stay on zero forever until the unit is revived or the battle ends.

You can Raise/Arise/Phoenix Down after the timer reaches zero with no problems.

If the unit is still dead with the timer at zero when the battle ends, he/she will NOT be deleted from the game.

The casualty count in the Brave Story will increase by 1 for every turn the unit stays dead after the timer reaches zero.

Thinking of using the Marche sprite here on the site as the base for Adell, but I'm not sure what a good base for Laharl would be.

Are there any limitations or other such details I should be aware of before I attempt this?

[philsov]

palette.  

You're limited to 16 colors, so don't use like 6 different shades to get the legs just right at the expense of using a single shade for the chest and having it look strangely flat.