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Jul - General Game/ROM Hacking - Bionic Commando editor: "Groen" New poll - New thread - New reply
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Matrixz
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Posted on 11-30-11 01:10:28 PM Link | Quote
Hello. Okay.. i don't know if i should introduce myself or not but since its my first post here.. im a Norwegian guy who has been in the romhacking hobby for what is now many years. I spend most days now gaming or working on creative projects of some sort. They can be coding projects like the editor im working on now or trying to compose in FL Studio, or something random. Anyone want to PM and talk, feel free too. If i am in the mood, i may post in other forums here, not just romhacking. This seems like a nice forum. Now onto the topic.

Groen is a editor im working on for the game Bionic Commando once made my Capcom. Its programmed in Visual C++ 6.0. That is old, but i happen to own it.

This is the 2nd release. Currently, you may fully edit the physical structure of a room by using the "Map Allocation", "Map Structure" and "Map" modes of the editor. The editor uses a system intended to make it easy to edit maps. You can edit entrance doors. You can change the palette of a room, and also which background tiles are loaded into VRAM. A Unit mode for placing enemies and items is in progress.

Download here: http://matrixz127.comoj.com/share/Groen_V2.zip

It has the source code of the editor included.

Screenshots, V2:
Map Structure mode
Door mode
Tile allocation mode

Screenshots, V1:
Screenshot 1
Screenshot 2
Screenshot 3
Screenshot 4
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Posted on 12-02-11 03:50:55 AM Link | Quote
Post #4417 ยท 12-01-11 10:50:55 PM
That UI needs some serious work... it's much bigger than necessary and has some spelling errors. Good job though.

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Matrixz
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Posted on 12-03-11 12:42:27 PM Link | Quote
Thanks for pointing out the spelling. Is it too big in general, is the main window too big, or is it some parts of the editor that is too big?
AlexAR
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Posted on 12-18-11 12:03:39 AM (last edited by AlexAR at 12-17-11 09:08 PM) Link | Quote
I made this real quick just to check out your editor.

<object width="420" height="315"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/P119QjpP4_c?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

Your editor is great! The UI is fine and overall the editor's functionality makes it a great tool to use.
To be completely honest, I have never liked this game at ALL. The lack of jump just frustrated the hell outta me as a kid and I still haven't gotten over that. That is why I highly doubt I will really continue working on this hack.

I found it interesting that it was actually kinda hard to come up with a smooth-flowing level. I guess I'm so much more used to designing levels where the hero can jump at will and not have to grapple everywhere.

Still, great job on the editor and I hope more people use it.

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Matrixz
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Posted on 12-19-11 10:29:42 PM (last edited by Matrixz at 12-19-11 07:41 PM) Link | Quote
oh, very cool! And thanks for your comments!
To be completely honest, I have never liked this game at ALL. The lack of jump just frustrated the hell outta me as a kid and I still haven't gotten over that. That is why I highly doubt I will really continue working on this hack.
That is understandable. When i first borrowed it, i remember i was overwhelmed with awe, did not think about the restriction from jumping. The game is not as well known as Mega Man obviously.

For a status update, the enemy (unit) editor is in works. The other parts of the editor are being improved as well.

>>Progress<<
AlexAR
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Posted on 12-20-11 11:14:43 PM Link | Quote
Oh cool. Nice to see you are continuing to work on this. Most often when a functional, yet incomplete editor gets released , the author rarely goes back to it to fully complete it. Kudos to you. I will say this, if you do release an update and it has unit editing, I see no reason not to go back and add to my demo.

While I'm here, I'll just throw this out there. You know what would be super useful to have in the map tab where you actually build the level? A kid of measuring stick that lets you know how high/long the hero can jump/grapple.

It could be like a simple red rectangle of a specific length, or maybe an L shape figure, that can simply be moved and placed on screen to judge how far/high away to place blocks from each other. Its just a convenience thing of course. Also, being able to construct a tile from 16x16 sections instead of whole 32x32 blocks in the Tile Allocation tab would be awesome, again, a convenience thing.

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Posted on 01-22-12 07:25:34 PM Link | Quote
May I nudge and ask if there has been progression on the editor? It seems quite interesting, since I'm a Bionic Commando fan myself.

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Matrixz
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Posted on 01-23-12 07:15:07 PM Link | Quote
Yes, its being worked on little by little. im not hurrying.

Progress 1 <- I added previewing of the level in the Palette editor
Progress 2 <- Plus, you can change the music that plays in a Room
Progress 3 <- and this will be useful, if i complete it.
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Posted on 01-27-12 08:45:40 PM Link | Quote
Originally posted by AlexAR
I made this real quick just to check out your editor.

<object width="420" height="315"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/P119QjpP4_c?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

Your editor is great! The UI is fine and overall the editor's functionality makes it a great tool to use.
To be completely honest, I have never liked this game at ALL. The lack of jump just frustrated the hell outta me as a kid and I still haven't gotten over that. That is why I highly doubt I will really continue working on this hack.

I found it interesting that it was actually kinda hard to come up with a smooth-flowing level. I guess I'm so much more used to designing levels where the hero can jump at will and not have to grapple everywhere.

Still, great job on the editor and I hope more people use it.


Looking sweet man, I really never paid attention to that games music engine much, but why do I hear the atomic fire sound from mm2 in this as well as some mm1 and mm2 feeling in this game ?
Just me being curious and observerving thats all, I dont know why I can easily pick up on sound chip tunes from a few known good systems.

-Too much nes days is starting to take me over again-

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Posted on 02-07-12 07:28:54 PM Link | Quote
Well..Mega Man 2 and Bionic Commando (NES version) did both release in 1988 (Japan). Both by Capcom, not same composer though. Not trying to be an ass or anything..but a lot of NES games' sounds/music sound very similar to me. Its just a limitation of the hardware really. There's only so many ways you can modify a boop, beep sound.

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Posted on 02-07-12 08:11:15 PM Link | Quote
Originally posted by AlexAR
Well..Mega Man 2 and Bionic Commando (NES version) did both release in 1988 (Japan). Both by Capcom, not same composer though. Not trying to be an ass or anything..but a lot of NES games' sounds/music sound very similar to me. Its just a limitation of the hardware really. There's only so many ways you can modify a boop, beep sound.



Not a problem, but not every composer has the same style as another, meaning they have different feel and rythem then the other competition or co-partner.

Maybe if you were so use to hearing alot of game music by different companies back in those old school times, you would see where I am coming from with this.

Its all good to me none the less.

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Matrixz
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Posted on 03-08-12 03:03:00 PM (last edited by Matrixz at 03-13-12 08:46 PM) Link | Quote
Update. Version 3 is done. The most important addition is that the editor has a working Unit (Enemy) editor. There should be enough features now for those who would want to make a facelifting hack. What is missing about editing levels is support for special events data (its used for example when soldiers parachute into the screen continuously). I plan to continue improving the editor.. i would want to add a main map editor, editing for what items you get when you clear a level, and what items you can get in Neutral areas.

Download: http://matrixz127.comoj.com/share/Groen_V3.zip

edit: The V3 zip was updated March 14, fixing a bug when opening ROMs in a remote folder.

There are two binaries, one for Bionic Commando and another one for Top Secret (Japanese version).

Various screenshots:
Unit editor screenshot 1
Unit editor screenshot 2
Unit editor screenshot 3
Updated Palette view
Data management view
Music tuner.
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Posted on 03-23-12 06:25:01 PM Link | Quote
Yeah, something's not right. After I make some edits to the map, save, then move on to the enemy editor or any other tab, some of the edits I made to the map get destroyed. Destroyed, not just reverted I may add. As in I get garbage tiles all over the screen. I'll try to get some screens of it.

Make some edits to a screen.. (Rightmost + Bottom Screen in this instance, but it happens on other screens as well)


Save and change tabs..


I've tried different Bionic Commando roms, same deal. I haven't tried Top secret version however.


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Posted on 03-25-12 04:47:25 PM Link | Quote
You run into the Structure limit i see. There is a limit to how big and complex the screens of one Room can be because of a limit with the game. In the Work Map frame on the lower-left, it says "Used Structures:". The bigger and complex the created map is, the more Structures are used. The limit is 146. Currently it only says the value and doesn't report when it runs out of space. (this reminds me to fix that). In the conversion progress, when the editor runs out of those things, it tries to find the most fitting match. Thats why parts of the map will look half-corrupted and so on..

You either need to make the room smaller or make the design of the room more repetitive. For example, remove tiles that are only used once or twice (like the statues), that should help. The less amount of unique tiles that are used in the room, the better it will convert.
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Jul - General Game/ROM Hacking - Bionic Commando editor: "Groen" New poll - New thread - New reply


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