Messages

1

ROM Hacking Discussion / Re: Need some help editing Saturn TOC to expand files...

« on: March 10, 2012, 01:49:20 pm »

CUE, did you get my PMs? I sent 2 but they're not showing up in my sent box.

2

ROM Hacking Discussion / Re: Need some help editing Saturn TOC to expand files...

« on: March 09, 2012, 06:41:58 pm »

Thank you for the explanations. I think I understand it now, but there's still something funny going on.

From what I understand, if (file size) / 2048 = a whole number, then the file can't be expanded. This is unfortunately the case for all of the .MDT files (where the game contains most of its dialogue), but not for FIELD\TEXT2.BIN:

- for TEXT2.BIN -> 26192 bytes (6650 hex)/ 2048 = 12.789
   LBA 193339    -> rounded = 13 sectors
                      -> 13 * 2048 = 26624 bytes (6800 hex)

So I padded my copy of this file to 26624 bytes in Translhextion, and edited the reverse/normal hex referring to the file size in the ISO. Then I tried mounting the ISO and seeing if the game would start like this. Nothing. At this point I opened it in CDmage and imported the file I'd expanded earlier, then saved the change. Mounted again, back to the emulator, still not loading.

Assuming I'd done something wrong, I made a new copy of the ISO and tried using Sephiroth 1311/Phoenix's program again (being sure the LBA matched because the game has 2 files called TEXT2.BIN in separate folders), and it reported that everything was successful and it had chaged the TOC and ECC/EDC (I'm not sure what ECC/EDC is). The game still wouldn't load. I can replace the files after editing them, but as soon as I increase the size of a file, the game stops working. What could be causing this?

How do you do?
All others files are in the same position (LBA)? Check the file "CDDA1" in the root, a CD DA file pointing to the music track. The game can crash if this LBA is modified.

I'm just doing what I wrote above. I'm not changing any LBAs as far as I know. Yeah, the LBA for CDDA1 is 193,769 on both the original and modified ISOs, it hasn't been touched.

Can you convert your MODE1 ISO in a MODE0 ISO with the music track in another file (MP3/WAV format)? I have a tool to modify a MODE0 image with modified files, even changing the number of sectors occupied.

I wouldn't know where to start with that, and doesn't Grandia use a special kind of compression for its audio? Digital Museum is based on the original game's code.

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ROM Hacking Discussion / Re: Need some help editing Saturn TOC to expand files...

« on: March 08, 2012, 09:08:28 pm »

How do you conclude that KERNEL.BIN is the next file? Is it because it has the next biggest LBA in the folder, or because it was the one that came before the one you wanted to expand in the TOC? And why would the ISO stop booting in the emulator if I was only making the file 1 byte bigger? You do have to change the hexadecimal values in both forwards and backwards formats, right?

Edit: Eh, it looks like there's some kind of checksum going on somewhere. As soon as I change one byte that represents the file size, regardless of whether or not I import a file in CDmage, the entire ISO will no longer start up in the emulator.

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ROM Hacking Discussion / Need some help editing Saturn TOC to expand files...

« on: March 08, 2012, 07:15:10 pm »

I've been looking at Grandia: Digital Museum recently and one of the first major problems I've (expectedly) ran into is that there isn't enough room within each file to edit in a decent translation. After having no joy with Sephiroth1311's PSX TOC modifying program, I went hunting for his Italian guide to doing it with a hex editor, and opened my ISO and followed along with the help of Google Translate. It all seemed to go smoothly:


(highlights added as reference notes for myself)

and CDmage was reporting the random new filesize I decided to give to this file (505,000 bytes). After saving, recompiling and mounting the ISO, Windows was happy with it but the SSF emulator wouldn't start the game (it was able to load from a save state and then work as normal, however). When I tried this last night, I tried a new file size of 508,000 and after mounting the image, Windows was giving me an error message whenever I tried to open the FIELD/ folder containing the file I'm trying to expand. I guess this is possibly because I was overwriting part of another file by overexpanding the one I was working with.

The game doesn't seem to have any "index" (though it does have IDX files if that's what that refers to) or "second TOC" (E800.MDT only matched once in an ISO search). The TOC changing guide mentions a formula for calculating the maximum file size, but I can't make sense of it:

LBA = 1 file to expand
LBA = 2 to the next file to be expanded
(LBA 2 - LBA 1) * 2048 = maximum result

...Well, the LBA of the file I'm trying to expand is 31,115 but how do I know what is "the next file to be expanded"? From the example I understood that it means the file listed previously in the TOC. This leaves me with -237568 bytes as my maximum file size, which obviously isn't right.

Does anyone know how to calculate the maximum filesize like this for Saturn games (Mode 1/2352 ISOs), or am I approaching this in the wrong way?

Edit: Yeah, the ISO stops working if I import a file that's even 1 byte bigger than the original. Also, when I mount the ISO after making my changes, Windows reports that the edited file is still the original size. There must be a check going on somewhere, right?

5

ROM Hacking Discussion / Ganbare Goemon Gaiden 1 (NES) text compression

« on: March 04, 2012, 06:50:38 pm »

Does anyone know how the text in this game is handled? I tried using the FCEUXD SP emulator along with RedComet's Text Routines guide but didn't really get anywhere with it. I told debug mode to break when PPU address 0x2282 was written to, with the condition A == #ee, and it broke when expected and pointed to this line:

$D6AB:B9 00 02  LDA $0200,Y @ $0206 = #$EE

So I created a CPU Write Breakpoint for 0x0206 (condition: A == #ee), and it broke in the expected place again, but this time at this line:

$CDA5:9D 00 02  STA $0200,X @ $0206 = #$17

I don't understand why it broke when the accumulator value was 17, and looked around for LDA commands or the #$EE value and came up with nothing. Has anyone had any luck in manipulating the text in this game?

6

Front Page News / Re: Translations: Grandia: Parallel Trippers (GBC) English Patch Complete!

« on: September 29, 2011, 04:57:45 pm »

Having played Grandia Online, I'd rather forget it ever existed it all...

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Front Page News / Re: Translations: Grandia: Parallel Trippers (GBC) English Patch Complete!

« on: September 27, 2011, 09:28:36 am »

I tried! I installed another browser.Downloaded the file without any problems.The issue is only with IE.This is the first time it has ever happened to me.

If anyone else is having trouble with this link, there's also a mirror at http://goo.gl/fqMtK.

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Front Page News / Re: Translations: Grandia: Parallel Trippers (GBC) English Patch Complete!

« on: September 26, 2011, 08:03:40 pm »

This game plays somewhat like a Zelda game with Dragon Quest-style battles.