Golden Sun Hacking Community

Hello everyone! Today, I am going to post some links to topics that may help you understand a few aspects of Atrius' editor, or Golden Sun hacking in general. Some of these are a bit old (at least one or two of them were posted back in 2008), so it is only fair that we shine a bit of light on these treasures again, right? I will try to organize them by category, but this is more of a general selection than one aimed for specific purposes. I will credit/mention both the original topic creator and the one who supplies information in each little description.


Golden Sun Save State Encyclopedia (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=566.0)

Golden Sun TLA Save State Encyclopedia  (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=565.0)

Notice: Most of the saves give max status require VisualBoyAdvanceM[956] to be opened. 1.7 or 1.8 will not be able to open them.

Ever wanted to be able to go absolutely anywhere in the game, but didn't want to have to play through the game just so you could test? Thanks to Styx, we have compilations of savestates for both games, allowing you to go pretty much wherever you want.


Newly Discovered Debug Menus (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=178.msg21772#msg21772)

Notice: For GS1, the cheat that you use is 03001F54:01.

A little while ago, Atrius figured out how to swap existing menus with debug menus! That later brought the ability to use a simple cheat to activate them. This is quite useful for accessing every room in the game, playing around with story flags, or even walking through walls!


GS:TLA save game editor (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=823.0)

Thankfully for powered_by_tux, we have access to a save game editor that can be used in combination with the debug warp menu to test almost every section of the game quickly and easily, with exactly the equipment, djinn, and summons that you want to test or use.


Hidden Data (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=126.0)

A topic from back in 2008, it documents the majority of the unused stuff that can be found in Golden Sun; The Lost Age. This should help as a reference to what made it into the game and what is unused, in case you want to use it.


Remove Camera Boundaries (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=1442.0)

A topic made shortly after this one's creation, there is a code here that allows the camera to stay on Felix (or whoever else is the leader) at all times!


Golden Sun Music editing; The Elf Method (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=250.msg416#msg416)

Notice: This is a bit more advanced than some of this other stuff; requires Hex editing.

If you want to learn how to change the sound effects/music in the games, you can use this guide that has been provided to us by Charon. This guide works for several other GBA games too, but it is explained with the use of a tile viewer like Tile Molester. There is more useful stuff in this topic, so why not browse to see what you can find?


Midi instruments in GS:TLA  (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=490.0)

Another topic posted by Charon, this is a list of most of the instruments available in Golden Sun: The Lost Age (if not all). This does not include instruments that are added to the game, just instruments that can be found in an unmodified version of the ROM.


Image Palettes (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=297.0)

Have you ever wanted to make some GS sprites, but were not sure if they would work? Atrius posted the main palette(s) that are used in the game. It would be best to use this for any new sprites that you may create!


Animation Index/Arguments List (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=286.0)

Have you ever tried to find a special animation, but never felt like testing different values for hours to find it? This lovely list compiled by Sajin should give the animation value + argument, allowing you to use pretty much every animation in the game!


Class System Hacking Topic (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=475.msg11653#msg11653)

This topic was originally created by Role for research into the class system, and then Atrius posted this useful tidbit on how the elements work in the game. This is something that you should think about when creating classes.


Separation Patch Guide (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=956.0)

Originally posted by yours truly, this should help you better understand how the class separation patch should be used and how it works.


Party member adding/removing (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=972.0)

Notice: This is a bit more advanced than some of this other stuff; requires Hex editing.

This was posted by Atrius shortly after the release of v0.3. Thanks to him, we are able to better understand the functions that add/remove PCs from the party! It would seem that this guide/topic is incomplete, but it is still quite useful for those who want a starting point on party member stuff.


Exit editing, a Map Code Hex tutorial (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=1014.0)

Notice: This is a bit more advanced than some of this other stuff; requires Hex editing.

Like the link above, this was also posted shortly after the release of v0.3. This should help with altering some of the warp data used by some of the rooms. Not all of the warp data can be found this way, unfortunately. Still, this is useful if you want to have a shot at exit editing.


Treasure Guide (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=2002.msg36441#msg36441)

Notice: This is a bit more advanced than some of this other stuff; requires Hex editing.

Have you ever wanted to change the treasures that you can find in the game, or add a new Mimic battle? Thanks to the research done by Teawater, now you can!


Storybook Flags Guide (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=2000)

A topic created by Teawater. It helps explain what the game's flags do!


Djinn Editing (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=1421.0)

Notice: This is a bit more advanced than some of this other stuff; requires Hex editing.

Ever wanted to edit the djinn that some of the PCs come with, but had no idea how to start? Then this topic is for you! Created by Teawater/charleysdrpepper, you can edit the thumb assembly to change the djinn that your PCs start with.


Golden Sun Monster ID + Locations (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=125.0)

A useful list posted by MaxiPower, it documents the location of every used monster and enemy while also listing where they can be located in the game.


Which Djinni Are Which (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=200.0)

A useful reference guide posted by Role, you can use this to figure out which of the djinn are which in the enemy data.


Ability Type Values (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=1416.0)

Notice: Requires Hex editing, but not too advanced if you have access to a calculator.

A useful guide to changing ability types, originally posted by charleysdrpepper at YL. You can edit and create moves like EPAs and summons more easily with this.


Battle Effect + Text Stuff (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=1632.0)

Notice: This is a bit more advanced than some of this other stuff; requires Hex editing.

A helpful topic for those who want to do research on the various ailments/effects, etc. You can change the lines of text that are used, an effect's default duration, and so on.


Text commands (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=37.0)

This topic was created a long time ago, back in 2008. It does have some useful information though, so you may want to look into it when playing around with text editing.


Helpful and Unique Patches (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=1413.0)

A topic recently created by myself to help others locate fun or useful patches that they can use for their hacks! Why not visit this topic if you are interested in using patches?


Well, that is about it for now. If you feel that there are any topics that I should add, please post a link and I will evaluate their usefulness before adding them to this topic. Oh, and don't forget to check out the Downloads section! There are several useful things in there, some of them might help you out with your hacking goals!

Have a nice day.

http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=823.0 - Savegame editor. Use in combination with the debug warp menu to test just about any section of the game quickly and easily, with exactly the equipment, djinn, and summons that you want to be testing with at that time.

http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=1401.0 - Charon's extra instruments patch.

Also, please remove the spoilers. They make this thread a pain to read through, especially when each section only has one or two links. You can just separate sections with enter and a few dashes. Also, using the url tags to have the topic title be the link would make it easier to read, as well. So it'd be like...



Savestate Encyclopedias

Golden Sun The Lost Age Save State Encyclopedia (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=565.0)
Golden Sun Save State Encyclopedia (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=566.0)
Ever wanted to be able to go absolutely anywhere in the game, but didn't want to have to play through the game just so you could test? Thanks to Styx, we have compilations of savestates for both games, allowing you to go pretty much wherever you want.

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Debug stuff

How to use the Debug Menu (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=178.msg21772#msg21772)
A little while ago, Atrius figured out how to swap existing menus with debug menus! That later brought the ability to use a simple cheat to activate them. This is quite useful for accessing every room in the game, playing around with story flags, or even walking through walls!

Savegame Editor (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=823.0)
Use in combination with the debug menu to test just about any section of the game quickly and easily, with exactly the equipment, djinn, and summons that you want to be testing with at that time.

---

Music Editing

Golden Sun Music editing; The Elf Method (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=250.msg416#msg416)
Notice: This is a bit more advanced than some of this other stuff; requires Hex editing.
If you want to learn how to change the sound effects/music in the games, you can use this guide that has been provided to us by Charon. This guide works for several other GBA games too, but it is explained with the use of a tile viewer like Tile Molester. There is more useful stuff in this topic, so why not browse to see what you can find?

Midi instruments in GS:TLA (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=490.0)
Another thing that has been posted by Charon, this is a list of most of the instruments available in Golden Sun: The Lost Age (if not all). This does not include instruments that are added to the game.

Charon's Extra Instruments patch (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=1401.0)
Expands the number of usable instruments for music hacking, adding bells, piano, and a host of other sounds.

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etc

Great, thanks for the input! You make a good point, so I will work on doing that right now.

Great topic idea - requesting sticky.

QuoteAlso, please remove the spoilers. They make this thread a pain to read through, especially when each section only has one or two links. You can just separate sections with enter and a few dashes. Also, using the url tags to have the topic title be the link would make it easier to read, as well. So it'd be like...

[heightmax=50]We could replace it with the heightmax BBCode as well.[/heightmax]

Yeah, this is a great topic idea. Originally thought of by me earlier in the cbox. I'm glad Salanewt had the motivation to do it. Thank you!

I agree this should be a sticky >_<

Something you might want to add, regarding the save state encyclopedia, is that most of the saves give max status and that they require VisualBoyAdvanceM[956] to be opened ... 1.7 or 1.8 will not be able to open them.

Okay, I have added the two things that leaf suggested. On top of this, I shall add what Griever is suggesting to add (I had not know about that, thanks).

A note about evaluating topics; this only really takes a second or two for each post. Chances are, the hyperlinks that I post will go straight to the most important posts in their topics; this can be seen in the Elf Method hyperlink.

Edit: Any more ideas for topics to add?


Oh, you are welcome charleysdrpepper. Thanks for the idea!

You have four [/spoiler] tags you forgot to delete.

Also, you could put a note about GS1: 03001F54:01 for the Newly Discovered Debug Menus. (I don't see why not.)

Oh yeah, I forgot that there was a cheat for this for GS1, I shall add it right away. Thanks again!

Edit: I am going to use [ quote] tags for the Notices, so I shall go ahead and change that.

Cool, this was pinned! Anyway, I have an idea that I want to run by everyone. Considering that there will be many more useful/unique patches in the future, should I create a topic for useful patches and add a single link to it in this list?

Sounds helpful. I don't see why not.

Alright then, done! Oh, and this also means that the patches that are on this topic have been moved to the other one.

Edit: I also did a bit of reorganizing to help with finding topics even easier. Any input on this?

http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=178.msg21772#msg21772

Use that link for the debug thread and remove the notice. Also, put the notices in italics or something instead of quoting so they aren't so distracting.

Cool, thanks for giving the link to that post. Fixed!
Also, all of the notices are now in bold. This will make them stand out without being distracting.

Well, I suggested italics because I find bold draws attention more than underlined, but that isn't as big of a problem with italics.

That is true, but I chose bold to help ensure that the notices and warnings are noticeable for those who are a bit newer to GS hacking. I usually have to reread something to notice that it is in italics myself, at least in fonts like Verdana or Arial. I can switch to italics if you think that it will look better, but I am worried about whether they might not stand out enough or not.

The problem is putting them in bold makes them stick out more than the links themselves. Which is... annoying. No one looks through the list to find notes. They look through the list to find links.

Ah, good point; they are now italicized. I might search for topics again tomorrow to make sure that I found more of the important ones.

Oh, and I did add another topic to this list: Hidden Data.

Quote from: leafgreen386 on 14, July, 2011, 10:58:31 PM
The problem is putting them in bold makes them stick out more than the links themselves. Which is... annoying. No one looks through the list to find notes. They look through the list to find links.

No one? I'm sure I would probably look for notes. That is, as long as the notes contain a summary of the most important information found there. (So I don't have to keep shuffling through pages.)

For example, if I wanted the code for GS2 Debug. I wouldn't have to click an extra link.. Apparently I would right now, though. But not really, since I already have it memorized anyway.

What the hell are you even arguing? None of the "notices" given have anything to do with that. There are links provided with the title of the threads, a summary of what is there, and in some cases, an additional note about the content in the link being for advanced hackers. Now if you care to start making sense sometime in the near future, please do so.

?? Arguing? I'm sorry if it came across that way. I do think italics is the most preferred. I was just stating how I don't fit the "no one"in looking for notes.

QuoteNewly Discovered Debug Menus

Notice: For GS1, the cheat that you use is 03001F54:01.

Also, I was referring to that note.

Okay, I have posted a new topic that relates to abilities in TLA. It will probably become obsolete after one or two versions of the editor, but it is useful if anyone wants to create new EPAs and stuff. When topics become obsolete, I will either use Strikethrough tags or just remove them from this list.

Oh, and now you can also apply Mold and Eddy's effects to any spell that you want... Among other things.

Figure I'll drop this off here. The rooms you need to go to in order to collect your entire party when starting a fresh game, using the debug menus.

Two options here:
The first is to just go to each of these rooms, in order, and complete the task or event in each of them - 264:3, 264:4, 263:3, 263:5, 265:2, 237:4. This method is probably more straightforward, but takes a little longer.
The second option is to set the flags A0A, A0B, A1F, and A24, then warp to 263:5, and continue from there. This actually saves quite a bit of time, since the 263:3 cutscene makes you wait a long time afterward before regaining control.

You can do this as soon as you're able to move with jenna. Don't forget you can hold down the B button and whatever your fastforward button is on your emulator to get through cutscenes faster. After collecting your party, save your game and use the save game editor to adjust your djinn, then reload and debug warp to wherever.

Note: Avoid exiting south of daila (location 2:2) unless you already have echo (flag 037, set automatically with savegame editor), and avoid collecting piers or completing the moapa battle, as each of them will mess with your party. There are probably flags you can set to avoid this for the latter two as well, but I haven't checked them out yet.
Note2: By setting the flags A21 and A23, you can trigger the contigo event in 237:4 to get isaac's team without acquiring all of the GS2 crew (and keeping jenna overworld sprite!). If you unset flags 004-007 beforehand, you can have a party with only isaac's team. If you do this without felix as your overworld sprite, you'll need to use the warp menu to get out.

Other random flags I found:
022: Toggles overworld music. 0 for default, 1 for joined party music.
01E: Toggles hard mode. 0 is default.

edit: GLORIOUS! It seems that the event at warp 4:99 (the starting event of the game) actually removes felix from your party. It does not reset the party. I only tested this when I had felix, jenna, and sheba, but presumably it works for the others, too. Not that useful, really, but cool nonetheless.

Here's another useful thread that doesn't seem to be here yet, the palette the game uses - http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=297.0

Great, thanks for the find! I will go ahead and add this to the first post.

I have another idea. Should I create a topic that links to custom work? Like icons, sprites, songs, etc.? Not sure if it would be very useful right now, which is why I am asking about it.

Hey. Sorry for the double post, but I have a request if anyone can find the time. I updated these two topics recently, but would some of you be so kind as to search for more topics (or patches for the other topic) that I could add? Between the two, there have only been a total of four new additions since July.

Thanks for reading!


Edit: And it won't come without a reward either, haha. I have an idea for two new topics, and might get around to posting them in a bit.

Quote from: Salanewt on 09, February, 2012, 02:43:22 PM
Hey. Sorry for the double post, but I have a request if anyone can find the time. I updated these two topics recently, but would some of you be so kind as to search for more topics (or patches for the other topic) that I could add? Between the two, there have only been a total of four new additions since July.

Thanks for reading!


Edit: And it won't come without a reward either, haha. I have an idea for two new topics, and might get around to posting them in a bit.

Well, you didn't add the Death Curse turn modifier patch and the Jupiter Healing animation patch, that you did not.

Oh, and before I forget, you also didn't add the voice acting patch for GS1.

Ah, thanks for reminding me about those three, they have just been added!

Anything else that I might have missed? Hm... Hard to say, isn't it?

Would Treasure Guide (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=2002) and Storybook Flags Guide (http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=2000) be feasible?

I'm actually planning on making the Storybook Flags Guide a little more detailed than this, but anyway. (Like perhaps if the story flags are organized by area, I might list which flags go to which area, maybe. And then from there, I might list what each individual flag does.)

All right, those have been added to the first post! Do you have any other suggestions for topics that could be added?

Oh, actually... I've got an idea for something that might be added later. I'll make a post and/or edit once it is ready.

Yes, as I matter of fact, I do. http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=1424.0

I wonder if when the function list is made, if I should post it in this topic, or make a new one? Hm?

Probably a new one, since it requires ASM knowledge? Not 100% sure though, being as this topic has barely any posts anyway.