Posts by janklorde

So I've been having trouble getting this block to load the correct ExGFX into my map16. I have the block behaviour working correctly, and when I load up the included test level the blocks graphics display and function correctly, which would suggest to me I had inserted it correctly. However when I try to load the included .map16 file into my rom, it displays as a blank tile.

Any suggestions? I'm relatively new to this but haven't been having much trouble with custom stuff thus far until this. Hopefully I'm just missing something simple.

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Thanks for the reply, thats got me half way there which is great progress. So now the graphics are there in the 8x8 tile selector, but because its an animated block the 4 frames are split across 2 rows and 4 columns. Strangely, in the demo level the block is inserted correctly as an animated 16x16 block in the 8x8 editor.
img link: https://ibb.co/HGH97zm

Ive even tried saving the demo level to the rom in the hope that would get it but as soon as I change level number it goes back to blank, and when I reinsert the ExGFX in the GFX bybass it doesn't insert correctly.
Whereas in the test level which is now saved to rom it displays as:
img link: https://ibb.co/rZH2q9F

I now think it may be something to do with ExAnimation, I've tried copying the settings from but still no luck.

Again, big thanks for the help!

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Managed to solve it myself
Turns out it was to do with the ExAnimation.

If anyone else has a similar issue, what I did was change the ExAnimation type to Type 4 8x8s: 16x16. Then changed the frames to the same as in the demo level (00-07: 780,790,7A0,7B0). Changed the frame count to 4 and the destination to match its the tile address in the 8x8 tile selector, which for me was 200.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, don't think I'd have solved it without the nudge.

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So I've been having trouble with getting multiple .asm in the same level. I'm trying to use the library method as it seems more versatile than creating one huge patch with multiple asm in one file.

However when I add my patches to the init: and main: lists uberasm throws an error at me saying

Processing binary file '108.asm':
108.asm:6: error: (E5060): Label 'VASlow_init' wasn't found. [JSL VASlow_init]
108.asm:11: error: (E5060): Label 'VASlow_main' wasn't found. [JSL VASlow_main]

my asm in the level folder looks like this:



and is calling 2 instances of the vertical autoscroll asm saved inside the library folder titled 'VASlow.asm' and 'VAFast.asm'

Inside the respective patches there is both init: and main: labels, so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.

Any help would be greatly appriciated!

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Wow quick reply, thanks!

The labels are all lower-case unfortunately, or that would have been a super quick and easy fix. So I'm still at a impasse with this.

Thanks for the reply though

Edit: was just thinking about making one large asm with both patches but then realised this isn't an option because both patches are actually the same with different values assigned to variables, so they would attempt to reference variables that are assigned twice, which I'm sure wouldn't work.

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Thanks Kevin, help from the man himself! First I'd like to say this patch is awesome, and I have a few cool ideas I'm excited to put into action with it. Big up brother!

Solved, I had indeed accidentally put capital L in VASlow. Stupid mistake. Huge thanks for the help as I was looking solely at the code and not my file names.

Thanks again!

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Ah I've just discovered that first-hand! It did indeed stop at the first patches stop screen, I was thinking the second one would immediately take over but to no avail. I do want the fast scroll to start immediately on the same screen the slower one stops though, do I need to overlap them so the slow one stops at screen X and the fast one starts at say X-1? Or would I need to have them both stop at the same screen (end of stage)? I can happily play around testing it myself but was thinking if you knew it could save me a lot of troubleshooting!

Will be sure to check out that multi-scroll patch too if I can't get this one to do what I want, might also just make it so you enter a subworld between scroll speeds. So many options!

Again huge thanks for the help, I'll be sure to triple-check my typing in future, and I'll play around with this for the rest of the night to see if I can get it to do what I want it to.

EDIT: Got it to do exactly what I was wanting, you just have them both stop on the end screen and it seems to work fine, the faster one takes over right away. Perfect!

Huge thank you to you guys!

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I was struggling with this too at first. Don't know if you've already solved this but...

Using the library is the best way without making one large .asm that has multiple codes inside; which works, but isn't very efficient. This approach allows you to reference the same file in multiple levels if you so choose. Anyways:

Put the .asm you want to use inside the library folder. In your level folder, make a new .asm and title it something easy like the level number (e.g. 105.asm). Then use the following:



Replace the "LevelCodeA/B" with your .asm file names. Make sure to include the _init and _main, and do not include the .asm extension.
Also make sure to check the .asm files you want in the level have a init: and main: tag in them or you'll get errors. If they only have a main: tag then only insert them in main: list. This isn't applicable too often but is worth bearing in mind.

Hope this helps!

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So I've been using the multi-midway patch for setting checkpoints in subworlds; which works great, however I was wondering how to just use a pipe for the midway enterance. I'm sure I've seen this in a few hacks already and was wondering what they used to achieve this.

A secondary option could be to make the midway tape object invisible, if thats something you can do.

Any help would be greatly appriciated!

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Excellent. Thanks very much Thomas!

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Was wondering if there is a way to make sure a player starts each level with no powerups?

I believe this is a feature included in newer versions of retry patch however I'm unable to use a recent version of it with the feature as I'm using the LX5 powerup pack which is incompatible with any version besides retry_v2.045 as far as I'm aware. I've done a good bit of testing and I can only get this particular version to work with the pack. Unfortunately this version lacks many features, which is a bit of a shame.

If its a no-go I'll go back to using my other baserom, the powerup pack seems super cool but comes with some serious caveats as far as I can tell from my small amount of experience with it. Worth asking though!

Thanks

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Awesome thanks guys, didnt know there was a new version of the retry patch. Problem solved.

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So I decided to use LX5's powerup pack, which is super cool, however after importing all of my previously complete levels to the new baserom (you have to patch the powerup pack to a clean rom I believe) there is some heavy lag where there was none before. These levels 100% did not lag at all before doing this, so I'm wondering if its inherent to the patch (which seems unlikely) or if I've done something wrong? The levels in question do use a few custom sprites and custom tiles I made with ExAnimation, but were fine previously.

I've tried to do some testing to determine if the custom sprites/tiles were to blame by inserting a handful of koopas into a test level (using all vanilla assets) in both my previous build and the new one with the powerup pack. It lags hard when they koopas on screen and when mario is jumping in the version with the powerup pack but is totally fine in the previous build.

I've also tried applying the fastrom patch in LM to the newer build but it has had no discernable effect.

Any advice?

Thanks

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There is 5 koopas on-screen in the test level I made to try and rule out the custom sprites. The actual level had vertical fireballs, only 2-3 on-screen at a time. There is also 2 custom thwomps on-screen in question where it lags (the ones that can be paused with on/off switches). I was thinking it might be due to sprite limitations which is why I made the test level. However even with just these 5 sprites with no custom assets whatsoever it lags badly during mario's jump animation. Again, both the levels in question and the test level in the build without the powerup pack is totally fine, which is what lead me to believe it might be something to do with that. That was the only major change I'd made which is what has lead me in that direction.

Would it be difficult to convert the ROM to SA-1? I feel that might solve the issue, but may cause more problems than it solves. I was of the opinion that because I have done a lot of patching and other custom stuff that this would break them and probably break a whole host of other things. If it would require a lot of re-doing stuff I may just have to change the level a bit to work around it, which would be a shame I was finished with and quite happy the levels in question. Needless to say I'd like to avoid having to do this!

Thanks for the reply

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I’ve tried fastrom but it has had no discernible effect. Not a problem I’ll just have to change some stuff Around. I’m sure it’ll be worth it in the long run because I’ve already made a few levels with the power up pack that I don’t want going to waste.

Thanks for the help

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So I'm using the disassembly of the urchin sprite to control its speed and turn around time. While this does work as intended, I'm finding myself having to add multiple versions of the same sprite with different timings and constantly having to re-patch the ROM in PIXI to test, which is laborious.

I was wondering if it would be possible to make some changes to the .asm to use the extra byte data to control both of these variables? I feel like this shouldn't be impossible however it is outside of my knowledge base at the moment.

Thanks for any help!

EDIT: I've realised what I'm asking for is basically a brand new custom block based on an existing one which is probably too much to ask. I've decided to abandon this idea and just use the clunky method previously mentioned.

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The error probably due to YY-CHR expanding your GFX file, causing an overflow. To fix this, open up an existing 4KB GFX file in YY-CHR and copy your tiles over to that. Then save it as whatever number GFX file you copied from. You may require a newer version of YY-CHR. You should get a prompt when saving that says:

"Opened file too small. Expand file?
YES: Expand and save
NO: Save in original size. Overflowing data is lost."

Selecting NO will ensure no overflow data is saved, which is where your problem lies.

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You still need to insert graphics over these tiles in map16. GPS only adds functionality to the tiles, not graphics. If you hover over the tile number which corresponds with what tile you have added in GPS it should still have a description of that they are doing.

If you are using a block downloaded from here that includes graphics it will have came with a .map16 file. Insert that in your map16 editor. If it doesn't insert the graphics over the correct tile (which can happen as you have to specify in the GPS list what tile to modify) simply move the graphic to the correct tile. If it doesn't come with graphics you'll have to either make a new one or repurpose an existing graphic.

Hope this helps!

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