Mega Man X1-X3 and 7th saga Hacks and Docs (SNES)

Here you will find completed hacks that I created for Mega Man X1-X3 and 7th saga.  I am also writing documents for each one of
these games. These documents will have offsets for data, assembly, and ram. Since there is a lot of information to document these
documents will be updated periodically with new information.



(Mega Man X1-X3)
Hacks
 


Docs
 



(7th saga)
Hacks
 


Docs
 




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I have been working on a bunch of hacks and docs for mega man x1-x3 and 7th saga so I figured I will start posting some of my stuff here.

(Mega Man X3)
Here is a improvement hack that I made for mega man x3. I made the life bar smaller and instead of it being on the sides of the screen
it is on the bottom of the screen. I was going to put the life bars on top of the screen but after some play testing the bottom of the screen
seemed to be the best spot for it.



I would like to hear what other people think about it.
Do you think this is a improvement?
Do you think it could be better? How so?
If you think some of the altered icons for the life bars don't look good then let me which one(s) and I can try to fix them.

Here is the patch: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=SUROORGD

Not bad at all. The only things I'd change is swap the positions of the life & weapon bars. And put in instructions for changing the exact position so user can adjust it to their preference.

I too think this is a neat idea. But I personally would keep the icons as the way they were before.

~DS

(Mega Man X3)

@Vanya
I did have the life bar on top but after play testing I liked the life bar on the bottom better because most of the time (at least for me) you will
only have your life bar on the screen and not your life bar and weapon's energy bar. I think on average it just gives me a better view of the
level with the life bar on the bottom. But I do like both ways of positioning them and I am sure other people will like one more than the other
so I will create another patch with the life bar on top so everyone can use the patch they like better. I will also add a doc to the file so everyone
will have instructions for changing the exact position of the life/energy bars so the user can adjust it to their preference.

@DarknessSavior
Yes, it is a good idea but I did not come up with the idea, justin3009 did. He first talked about it in his project page, page 6, 2nd post.
You can see it here:  http://www.romhacking.net/forum/index.php/topic,11130.75.html
The main reason I created this patch was to give a better viewing area of the levels. Moving the life/energy bars to the bottom of the screen
alone I think definitely gives a better view of the level but making the life/energy bars a little smaller and putting them close together I think
gives a little better viewing area. I had to alter the icons when I made the life/energy bars smaller or they wouldn't fit in the new smaller size.
I wish I could have kept the same icons with the smaller size but I couldn't. I will create another patch that has the same icons but the
life/energy bars will be the same size as the original as well. Do you think I should leave the same amount of space that is between the
original life/energy bars or keep them close together like how I have them now? And what about the life bar. Should I put it on the top or bottom?


I will be updating my file with the new patches and a hacking doc for it within the next few days. If anyone else has any ideas just let me know.
There is a lot of hacks and docs that I have been working on for the mega man x's on the snes. I almost have all of the level structure data
mapped out for mmx3. As soon as I figure out this one last thing then I can start designing totally new levels. Levels can be on average 3 times
the size they are now.
Imagine how awesome that would be.

I think it looks fine the way it is, with the life bar on the bottom (as you said, that'll be the main one out anyway, so it makes sense, screen-space wise, to have it on the bottom). I just wish you could split the icon thing in half and keep it like it was before, with the "X" by the life bar.

Taking the space out between the two bars is fine, it looks good.

~DS

I don't think moving the lifebar somewhere else can be considered an improvement. Technically it's not any better or worse - just different.
But if you make a complete hack anyways it's nice to make as much changes as possible to the game, so moving the liftebar and changing its still can be cool.

It can be labeled as an improvement as it takes less screen view and it makes things more easily seen.  If not, it can just be considered an alternate patch.

I do agree a bit on maybe separating the X/weapon icon again if that's even possible.  I think it'll probably be hard to even fit any of the icons into such a tiny little space.

Actually, I think it works. Putting it at the bottom actually does make a difference, as it's more out of the way.

Also, I know it's kind of off topic, but john, I'm working on my own hack of Megaman X (Mostly a sprite and story hack) and I was wondering if you know anything about graphic decompressors. I read the tutorials here, but they don't give me a good lead on where to start.

Having the life bar at the bottom of the screen is different  I'm curious as to what you have for X1 -X2. The lack of Megaman X hacks is surprising considering what the level editor is capable of doing and  how many hacks there are for the NES titles. Looking forwars to seeing more! Keep it up.

(Mega Man X1-X3)

@DarknessSavior
I tried to keep it how it was with the "X" by the life bar but it wasn't working out to good with
the smaller life bars. Check out the pics I have posted below. The smaller sub weapon icon
graphics that I made were not good enough so I got rid of the life bar icon when you equip a
sub weapon to give enough space for the original graphics for the sub weapon icons.

@Bregalad
There are a lot of times when enemies, projectiles, and other objects get hidden behind the life
bars. Just look at the first picture in my first post and you will see the enemy hidden behind the
life bar but in the second picture it shows that with the new size and location of the life bars it
is a lot less chance for that to happen. Therefore I think it can be considered a small improvement
hack. Ether way, it is a small, but cool hack.

@justin3009
Yea, the space was just too small to have both icons out. I have some pics below that shows I tried
to fit them in but it didn't work out to good.

@Plint Michigan
The game itself decompresses the graphics. Now for compressors there is lunar compress for X1 and
for X3 there is http://www.romhacking.net/utilities/552/.

@riffman81
There are only a few mega man x hacks. Hopefully soon we will have a lot more. I almost have all of
the level structure data figured out so maybe soon I can start creating some level hacks with new
enemies and weapons.

Here are some pics showing the different possible positions that we can have the life bars.


Original size life bars with both icons    Smaller life bars with sub weapon icon the
                                                     only one out. Currently used in the patch.


                  Life bar above sub weapon bar instead of below it.

               
This is mega man x1 life and sub weapon bars that I tried to make smaller but they didn't come out to good.
I wanted the icons to be smaller while still looking good and this shows side by side pics of how and why I
came up with the current size and design.


This is what I want the life and sub weapon bar to look like but I need to free up
three 16x16 tiles in vram to make it. The only way I see being able to do that is by
removing the graphics for the blue shield when you get hit. I don't care about the
blue shield but some of you might so I will have another patch for that.

There are a lot of times when enemies, projectiles, and other objects get hidden behind the life
bars. Just look at the first picture in my first post and you will see the enemy hidden behind the
life bar but in the second picture it shows that with the new size and location of the life bars it
is a lot less chance for that to happen. Therefore I think it can be considered a small improvement
hack.

Yeah, but then there will probably be other enemies or power up that will be on the bottom that will also be hidden by the new lifebar. That being said I agree it looks cooler to have one bar with 2 gauges than 2 different bars, probably takes less screen place.

Yeah, but then there will probably be other enemies or power up that will be on the bottom that will also be hidden by the new lifebar.

True. No matter where I put the life bars a enemy can still get behind it but how I have
it now makes the odds of a enemy being hidden behind the life bars is a lot less likely
to happen.

The version in the first pic you posted looks best. Weaponicons are still clearly visible and recognizable and you made space for the action which definitely takes place in the middle and right/left from the middle of the screen and not a the bottom.

You can try to please everybody but... u know.
Good work.

you made space for the action which definitely takes place in the middle and right/left from the middle of the screen and not a the bottom.

Definitely not as much going on at the bottom of the screen when compared to the sides.

Now that I think about it, having the bar as it originally was could be annoying if you were climbing a wall from the left side, as the bars hide the action.
With the new location of the bar it would get annoying only if there is some enemies below you which is only the case when your scroll down, but then the bar won't be a bother as it's shaped horizontally.
So after all this could be called an improvement, even if it's nor a major one.