Hello all.

[TheWhipperSnapper]

         Greetings and salumatations. I am a fan of hacking and I am here to try to learn how to fully write a new rom for the NES. The game I am looking to re-write is Castlevania II. With that said I am well aware of the current hack that is displayed on YouTube as well as here done by Spectdev and Optomon. My hopes are with them that they will be able to change a lifeless and difficulty-challenged game into something rivaling Zelda II and Battle of Olympus in scope and magnitude. However, best of luck to them no matter how the final project looks and right now it looks tits.
          Now I am using the Cursed editor and the Redaction patch and I have done some re-position of backgrounds and characters to make the game more platform-esque. Simon's Quest is very much the neglected bastard child of Konami and fortunately now it got some attention. For me I am in need of some literature as well as ongoing advice as to how to read the debugger, the hex editor (I understand the address panel and the hex panel somewhat). What I am really having trouble with is understanding what some of this jargon is that the debugger spews out all over my laptop. It's disturbing.

00:C043:4C 3C C0  JMP $C03C
00:C046:48        PHA
00:C047:8A        TXA
00:C048:48        PHA
00:C049:98        TYA
00:C04A:48        PHA
00:C04B:AD 02 20  LDA $2002 = #$08
00:C04E:A9 00     LDA #$00
00:C050:8D 03 20  STA $2003 = #$00
00:C053:A0 02     LDY #$02
00:C055:8C 14 40  STY $4014 = #$FF
00:C058:A4 1A     LDY $001A = #$00
00:C05A:D0 3B     BNE $C097
00:C05C:E6 1A     INC $001A = #$00
00:C05E:20 D8 C0  JSR $C0D8
00:C061:20 69 CB  JSR $CB69
00:C064:A5 FE     LDA $00FE = #$1E
00:C066:A6 21     LDX $0021 = #$00
00:C068:F0 06     BEQ $C070
00:C06A:C6 21     DEC $0021 = #$00
00:C06C:F0 02     BEQ $C070
00:C06E:A9 00     LDA #$00
00:C070:8D 01 20  STA $2001 = #$1E
00:C073:20 40 C1  JSR $C140
00:C076:20 B8 C0  JSR $C0B8
00:C079:20 FB C0  JSR $C0FB
00:C07C:20 53 C4  JSR $C453
00:C07F:A9 00     LDA #$00
00:C081:20 83 C1  JSR $C183
00:C084:20 C5 AB  JSR $ABC5
00:C087:20 A7 C1  JSR $C1A7
00:C08A:20 8A C8  JSR $C88A
00:C08D:A9 00     LDA #$00
00:C08F:85 1A     STA $001A = #$00

What..... is....this???....uhhhh. Where do I find out what LDA#$00 and JSR $C0FB and STA and all those crazy terms mean. I need to know how to read and use this stuff. I really want to do this and I am at the point mentally where I can dedicate time and commit effort, but I need to progress or else I am just spinning wheels and losing heart  . Please help this old man bring his vision to life.  thanky. gotta go I need 

PS. I will check out the newbies area to check the tech docs that you have. I hope they will be sufficient to tell me how to read all this stuff.

[Lenophis]

Code Select Expand

00:C043:4C 3C C0  JMP $C03C
00:C046:48        PHA
00:C047:8A        TXA
00:C048:48        PHA
00:C049:98        TYA
00:C04A:48        PHA
00:C04B:AD 02 20  LDA $2002 = #$08
00:C04E:A9 00     LDA #$00
00:C050:8D 03 20  STA $2003 = #$00
00:C053:A0 02     LDY #$02
00:C055:8C 14 40  STY $4014 = #$FF
00:C058:A4 1A     LDY $001A = #$00
00:C05A:D0 3B     BNE $C097
00:C05C:E6 1A     INC $001A = #$00
00:C05E:20 D8 C0  JSR $C0D8
00:C061:20 69 CB  JSR $CB69
00:C064:A5 FE     LDA $00FE = #$1E
00:C066:A6 21     LDX $0021 = #$00
00:C068:F0 06     BEQ $C070
00:C06A:C6 21     DEC $0021 = #$00
00:C06C:F0 02     BEQ $C070
00:C06E:A9 00     LDA #$00
00:C070:8D 01 20  STA $2001 = #$1E
00:C073:20 40 C1  JSR $C140
00:C076:20 B8 C0  JSR $C0B8
00:C079:20 FB C0  JSR $C0FB
00:C07C:20 53 C4  JSR $C453
00:C07F:A9 00     LDA #$00
00:C081:20 83 C1  JSR $C183
00:C084:20 C5 AB  JSR $ABC5
00:C087:20 A7 C1  JSR $C1A7
00:C08A:20 8A C8  JSR $C88A
00:C08D:A9 00     LDA #$00
00:C08F:85 1A     STA $001A = #$00

What..... is....this???

This is the heart of the NES, the 6502 processor. What you see here is the instructions the processor uses, and these instructions are your game, in a nutshell.

....uhhhh. Where do I find out what LDA#$00 and JSR $C0FB and STA and all those crazy terms mean.

First, read through this:
The Newbie Package of REQUIRED Material

ROMHacking.net FAQ: You ask, we answer!
ROMHacking.net Getting Started Section: Newbies Go HERE!
ROMHacking.net Documents Section!
How to ask questions the smart way.
On the Essence of ROM Hacking
Talk with experienced people in our IRC chat and ask specific questions there.

Afterwards, give this search a go, but check this, this, and this a thorough reading. Beware that some of the more technical documents (about timing and such) have errors, but all of them combined should be accurate enough for what you need right now.

Please help this old man bring his vision to life.

Ok, Strago. :angel:

[TheWhipperSnapper]

Thank you for that. One other thing. I have CursEd the CVII editor but there is no readme file on how to use the program and all of its features even though there is a readme file in the zip package with that utility. I need to know how to use stair and pointers on it. Does anyone have something like that?l

PS. To Lenophis

Ok, Strago.
Ah so that is where my line came from. The FF reference was unintentional and unbeknownst.