Metroid Construction
Black Falcon, you are the MAN

Index--Hacks--Docs--Tools--Hex--Patches--Videos--Forum

-> Patches -> I don't know what I'm doing.

I'm assuming you already know how to patch IPS files, so I won't be elaborating on any of that here. I will instead be assuming that you're interested in hacking Super Metroid yourself, but aren't quite sure what all of these different file types do, or how to use them. It might seem kinda overwhelming at first, but it's all very simple once you grasp the basic idea of how these files each play their role. Here goes:

[uh]
Short for "UnHeadered" - these are IPS files that only work properly for unheadered ROMs.

[h]
Short for "Headered" - exactly the same as [uh], except for headered ROMs.

[txt]
Short for "Text" (lol). These are TXT files that describe the patch, or give instructions on how to use it.

[asm]
Short for "Assembly." ASM is the language in which ROMs are programmed. If you can learn ASM, your only limit will be the capabilities of the console itself that you're hacking games for. Aside from the .ASM extension after the filename, these are actually no different from any other TXT file. Experienced hackers sometimes prefer this method for distributing their code over making an IPS out of it.

IPS files are more arbitrary because their contents have already been assembled for you. This takes away some freedom in how the patch is used if you're not code-savvy. On the other hand, ASM files show you the author's disassembled code as-is, and allow you to make edits before assembling (applying) it to the ROM like you would an IPS. This is where the xkas assembler comes in. There are other assemblers out there besides this one, but it's the only one I'm familiar with, so we'll use it for this example. I'd reccomend v0.06.

Compiling with xkas works similiarely to soft patching, if you know how to do that (I explained it in my "how to patch IPS files" write-up). After you've downloaded and extracted xkas, place a copy of the SMC and ASM files inside the xkas directory. Give them both the same exact filename, for instance SuperMetroid.SMC and SuperMetroid.ASM. After you've done this, click on the .ASM file, hold the click button down, then "drag" the ASM file on top of the "xkas.exe" file, then release the click button.

This should ask you if you'd like to run xkas.exe. Yes, of course we want to run it. If your set-up is anything like mine, a black window will appear briefly, then disappear like nothing happened. This is normal. Congratulations, you've just compiled an .ASM file. Load the SMC in your emulator of choice, and the ASM should have taken effect. Unlike soft patching, this does edit the ROM file itself, so be sure to use back-up copies in case something goes wrong.

[gfx]
Short for "Graphics" - .GFX files, as the name implies, contain portions of a ROM's graphics. If there's a TTB with the same filename as a GFX file, this means that it is an area tileset. In SMILE's graphics editor, click "GFX > SCENERY > Import" and load the GFX file. After that, click "Tile Table > Import SCENERY Tile Table" to make the new GFX display correctly.

Most commonly, these are opened and modified using Tile Layer Pro (TLP), then are imported back into the ROM. It's important to note that after you open a GFX file in TLP, you'll need to click "View > Format > SNES" for the graphics to appear normally. However, this still confuses a lot of beginning hackers, because the colors are usually messed up. This is because a proper color palette for the GFX file hasn't been loaded yet...

[tpl]
Short for... well, I don't know what "TPL" means. What I do know is that TPL files almost always accompany GFX files, and are the answer to the common question of "Why are the colors in Tile Layer Pro all messed up?" After you've loaded a GFX file, click "Palette > Load" and select the appropriate TPL file to go with the GFX file. They'll usually have similiar filenames, like NewArea.GFX and NewArea.TPL. Oh, and after you've loaded the TPL, you might have to click the up arrow that's inside of the rectangular box with 16 colors until the right colors for your GFX show up.

[ttb]
Short for "Tile Table." This file format is a somewhat recent addition to SMILE. It determines the arrangement of graphics in an area's tileset. Using these is a snap. In SMILE's graphics editor, click "Tile Table > Import SCENERY Tile Table" after you're imported the corresponding GFX file.

[zip]
Use WinZip to open and extract these if you're unfamiliar. No fancy explanation needed for this format, just that ZIPs usually contain multiple files.

[rar]
Use WinRar to open and extract these if you're unfamiliar. These are just like ZIP files, only RAR.

[1], [2]
Links to pictures or YouTube videos of the patch in use.

(GFX)
Marker for patches that only involve adding new graphics to the game, or modifying existing ones.

Site design by begrimed