Golden Sun Hacking Community

Despite how closely they resemble the GS characters, they do look quite interesting. Nice work!

Zelda = Jenna
Gerudo Guard = Karst


Thinking if this belongs in the GS Hacking forum or should it go in Creative Works? (Like some other GS sprite-making topics?)

Quote from: Teawater on 11, February, 2013, 09:46:35 AM
Despite how closely they resemble the GS characters, they do look quite interesting.

You appear indifferent - do you find that particularly displeasing or something

It could use some work to make them look like their namesakes I think is what they're saying.  But it's on the right track, though.

I'm sure he's capable of speaking for himself; not to impugn the value of your input, dear, which is of course equally-appreciated

That is true, but I am glad that Role is doing the talking for me. :) (Even if it isn't exactly what I would have said.)

Don't have to explain yourself lmao, only having a laugh with you
Think your word choice was the main instigator there, with the 'despite' statement & all that.  Clearly wasn't intended to come across as condescending or anything of that nature, I'm sure

Completely understand your recommendations as well. 
The main idea with reworking these images here wasn't to completely defect from Golden Sun's general style in favour of the Legend Of Zelda series', but rather to integrate the characters from the latter into the aforementioned without betraying the overall tone of either game, in such a manner that still works well within the stylistic structure Golden Sun has going on. 
Felt as though reworking the original images was the best M.O. to go about achieving such results, as opposed to working from scratch & potentially losing the many artistic intricacies that make Golden Sun such a rad series

People still use "rad"?

Nice images, I think you're doing well for your goal.  And yes, people still use "rad".  Just like people still use "burn" and other things.  Slang is slang.  It may go out of use, but it doesn't go away.

So boss

Quote from: Teawater on 12, February, 2013, 01:45:28 AM
That is true, but I am glad that Role is doing the talking for me. :) (Even if it isn't exactly what I would have said.)

I'm sorry... "talking for you?"

It was suppose to be a compliment.

(Not sure why you ask, but by "talking for me"... I meant that you responded to a question Majora was asking me. Saving me the time of day to figure out how I wanted to answer it.)

QuoteI'm sorry... "talking for you?"

Only joking around love, all in good humour

Updated January, 2014

sweet.  I can't say they look like any Zelda or Link we know from existing games, but they definitely look like versions of Zelda or Link.

Are you mostly just modifying visuals, or are you using these in specific projects?

Yep, all custom, except for the Link model, which is already in the game.  Can imagine it was some kind of early NPC test model.
The idea is to work all the Zelda material into the game in a way that makes it work with Golden Sun's visuals. Glad to hear they seem to be doing pretty well so far.  

I would make a copy of the edited ROM with the new material available here, not sure if there's an anti ROM-sharing thing going on though.  May have to convert it into a patch or something like that.  Can make the new sprite sheets available as well if necessary (with the file names corresponding to the character and numbered sprites they would be replacing).

Will be pretty sweet once it's all together.  Not sure how to go about replacing the in-game character portraits though.  Will have to get Teawater in on it, see if it can be done with the current version of the editor.

Quote from: Majora on 05, January, 2014, 06:47:56 PMnot sure if there's an anti ROM-sharing thing going on though.

What's that all about?

http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=3.0

Should be pretty simple to patch. 
Still working on finishing off the basic sprites for Zelda's model before getting into any of that.  Have about twenty-four done so far. 
Fine-tuning her walking animation sprites as well, getting her to move in as fluid and graceful a manner as possible.  Can make a demonstration patch for it once that's all done.

Quote from: Majora on 05, January, 2014, 06:47:56 PMWill be pretty sweet once it's all together.  Not sure how to go about replacing the in-game character portraits though.  Will have to get Teawater in on it, see if it can be done with the current version of the editor.

Atrius's Golden Sun TLA Editor, version 0.5, is the only editor I know of that supports making custom sprites. This, however, doesn't include portraits.

My new editor plan hasn't even touched on sprites yet.

For hackers who are interested in studying sprites, the bulk of it is at 08300000 in the ROM. (00300000 in a hex editor.) Sadly, portraits are stored elsewhere, so they won't be editable in Atrius's editor.

I think the portraits might be compressed as well? Either way, they can be located easily with SDL-H had their address location been unknown.

-VisualBoyAdvance to check VRAM
-SDL-H to breakpoint on VRAM
-Scan code upwards to find references of where data is coming from.
-If coming from RAM, breakpoint on the RAM data next, which then usually gives you a ROM address.)

Good man, good man.
Yeah, I remember reading something about the portrait data being compressed separately like that before. 
May look into it myself when the chance presents itself, working on a few pieces using a sixty piece orchestra at the moment

By tthe way, I said "had they been unknown"... to imply that its location is, in fact, known.


(Atrius posted some locations in this topic (Which I believe I also put in my Hacking Documentation):  http://forum.goldensunhacking.net/index.php?topic=1424.0 - They don't include character graphics, though.)

Quote
0x0803DB48 - Index of Character Portraits in file table

0x0804EB58 - Item icon graphic table

0x08054A14 - Ability icon graphic table

0x0805EB58 - Character Portrait reference table

And I think I found the character graphic data in the master file system once.. if I remember correctly. Yeah, it's in my Hacking Documentation.

Quote1D6;470;0895BB58 = Character Portraits
1D7;471;0896428C = Menu Icons

O, I did a google image search, and came across the OP's sprites on goldensunrealm.com/. 
Same stuff?  Or something different.
I see "Atrius" in the url.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v698/AtriusV/Random%20Screens/LinkGoldenSun.gif)

Yup, same stuff.  The Link model has always been in the game, it was created by Golden Sun's developers.  Think it was used as a tasteful non-player character test model of some kind.  I simply replaced Felix's default stance front-facing sprite with Link's default stance front-facing sprite for the fun of seeing Link and Zelda doing their thing together in-game. 
Atrius has done similar things with Link's sprites as well, yep.  Created custom areas and cutscenes, text and dialogue, all sorts of cool things.

Quote from: Majora on 06, January, 2014, 09:11:38 PM
The Link model has always been in the game, it was created by Golden Sun's developers. 

O, did not know that.  Cool.

So do you mostly edit sprites to relax as you're doing something else, or is there some grand vision you're trying to achieve?

All for fun.  I'll spend a good amount of the work week at a console with my head buried in the computer, various audio production projects going on at all times.  Like to engage in small-pleasure activities on the laptop once in awhile, which is why I'll produce an occasional sprite or compose a piece of music that utilizes Golden Sun samples in some way, ironically something I already do in other projects, as well. 
One of my most recent practices has involved extracting the audio samples from various video games, such as the Golden Sun and Legend Of Zelda series, and using them in various ways in a variety of productions, such as film soundtracks, albums, sound design, things of that nature.  Can be pleasant, veering away from using samples in such comparatively-standard formats like album and soundtrack productions, taking the time to enjoy activities like these.

I'm a total noob, but where are some good places to check out if I want to know more about composing or using video game music? My current project's using love2d (https://love2d.org/), and while I've only been able to get it to play ogg files using audio recorded with Audacity, apparently it can play mp3, wave, and other formats as well (https://love2d.org/w/index.php?title=Tutorial:Audio&oldid=12360))

All sorts of options available.  
Can do it on the computer if you'd like - look into deciding on a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), which is a program that can be used to produce audio and sequence music.  There's a good amount of them, they all have their own little gimmicks going on in some way, really depends on your work methods and what kind of results you're after.  
I personally use a mix of software and hardware, can recommend different programs, if you'd like.

There's Pro Tools by Avid, great for all-around audio production.  Can achieve just about any kind of sound you can imagine.  Has a solid array of consoles and other hardware units, as well as a hefty price tag and learning curve - takes getting used to.  Audio production, sequencing, mixing, mastering, thing does it all.  Definitely worth the investment.
^{http://www.avid.com/US/products/family/pro-tools (http://www.avid.com/US/products/family/pro-tools)}

There's Ableton Live, a decent intermediate DAW.  Boasts a fairly user-friendly interface, has a distinct overall sound as well.  Have no idea what it is, I can always tell if a track was produced in Ableton somehow.  Can produce some pretty sleek pieces.  Comes with a set of passable software and a few effects for the price, could be a lot worse.  
Reliable for live performances as well, only ever had one or two problems with it in the past five, six years.  Eats a good amount of computer memory though.  Excels at audio processing in particular, from how I've used it in the past.  Very easy to manipulate a large variety of sounds on the fly.  Great for creating your own samples and instruments.
^{https://www.ableton.com/ (https://www.ableton.com/)}

There's FL Studio by Imageline, by far the most popular DAW, from what I've seen.  Think Imageline offers an infinite-use demo version of the program where saving projects as project files is the only limitation, which is a nice feature, in comparison with other program demos.  
Has a bit of a funky way of doing things, and can produce rather amateurish results very easily if used in a passive manner, (anyone you see online who refer to the pieces of music they produce as "beats", for example) but it can be just as powerful as Ableton Live if put to good use.  Good for MIDI sequencing, has a solid low-latency response time as well.  Great for sequencing rhythm parts, percussion riffs, and producing backing tapes for live performances.  Can get things sounding very tight using FL Studio.  Would go with it if sequencing MIDI-based music is what you're going for.
^{http://www.image-line.com/flstudio/ (http://www.image-line.com/flstudio/)}

Then there are a few others, such as Cubase by Steinberg Media Technologies, and Reaper by Cockos.
Can't say all that much for either one, in this market.  Cubase was very intuitive in the nineties, used it on a few albums myself.  It hasn't seen too many improvements in the recent past though, unfortunately.  
Very bare-bones, can be difficult to accomplish simple tasks that are easily dealt with in other programs.  Can say the same for Reaper, it's very cut-rate, in my opinion.  Can be a little limited, as neither seem to enjoy working simultaneously with other DAWs, hardware, or even simple USB-input MIDI instruments very much.  Not to say they don't have value, of course, I'm sure they can produce decent results if put to good use.  

^{http://www.steinberg.net/en/shop/cubase.html (http://www.steinberg.net/en/shop/cubase.html)
http://www.reaper.fm/ (http://www.reaper.fm/)}

much thanks!  I'll give feed back as I try them out.