DKC Atlas Forum

[UncleBazerko]

Hi, this is my first DKC Atlas post. If it's not too late, I'm hoping to contribute (somehow) to the development of Leo Core's fan game "Donkey Kong Country 4: the Kongs Return". Since I was a kid, I've dreamed of creating (or at the very least help create) a true-SNES-styled Donkey Kong Country 4 game.

I've learned a few things about ROM Hacking from SMWCentral.net. So far I've worked with Lunar Magic, YY-CHR, Block Tool Super Deluxe, and I'm currently struggling to learn ASM coding. My only true, applicable talent right now is color paletting (with levels in Lunar Magic), but summer is almost here, and I want to use the free time to expand my knowledge!

So, what tools do you DKC Atlas folks use? Do you have RAM or ROM maps from the DKC games to help with ASM coding? Do you utilize ROM Emulators (such as ZSNES)?

[Simion32]

Well there's the hacking documents section here at: viewforum.php?f=38

I've created the DKC Resource Editor (I plan to expand this program into DKC2 and DKC3 as well, but it's going to take lots more work!) which you can find here: viewforum.php?f=56 and you can use it to hack DKC1 levels. There also exist several tools that were made in Japan, but by now, DKCRE outdoes those editors in usability by a ton. **IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have lag issues with DKCRE, you might want to look out for the upcoming v0.0.6.9 release which fixes those issues.**

My main ongoing project is "DELTA Suite", which will be a 2D engine and editor capable of making the ultimate DKC4 fan game. But that being even close to useable is a loooooooong way off (I'm talking years here).

I don't remember anything else particularly notable - by now we've dug up most of the DKC tools and old fangames that were already out there.

You can find leo_core's topic here: viewtopic.php?f=26&t=1336.

Perhaps you should discuss this with him in the topic? Note that it might take a while for him to reply, he's usually very busy. Much more than I am, anyway.

[UncleBazerko]

Moderator Edit: Please don't quote posts right above yours (and keep quotes short when you do need to use them!)

So then, to get started, I should go find a DKC rom to edit with your Resource Editior, right?

[Simion32]

It could be a good learning experience.

I can't help you find a ROM, since that's against the rules to discuss/post here. All I can say is, "Google is your friend".

Unfortunately, I don't think you'll actually be able to help much with leo_core's engine program. It's made in Multimedia Fusion 2, and that program costs money (more than $200.00). Even I don't have the developer version of MMF2, I've only got the one that's a step below that (I paid for it, yes - a long time ago when my project was still in its infancy and I was looking for a way to do what I wanted).

[UncleBazerko]

Yeah. Multimedia Fusion 2 Developer goes for $369.00 on amazon.com. Not too bad. I can get it in about a month.

Say, on SMWCentral.net, there is a huge, diverse section of free hacking tools. Are there a bunch of DKC hacking tools on DKC Atlas, or is most DKC development done in Multimedia Fusion 2?

[Simion32]

My tools are programmed in raw C++, not MMF2. But I'm not going to open source anything in DELTA until the very end (when 99% of everything is finished).

For DKCRE, I might consider giving up the extraction part of the source early, though!

There aren't really that many DKC Trilogy hacking tools out there, to be honest. Most of them you can already find English versions of here.

[UncleBazerko]

Cool, C++! I took a C++ course in school last semester (and I still have the my textbook and assignments from it). Is that really what you use to build the GUI and interface of DKCRE?

[Simion32]

Yep. C++ and Allegro game library.

But the UI took several months just to get halfway working. It's progressed a lot since then. And by now Allegro only acts as the method of getting things to the screen, rather than being used for everything like I used to be doing.

[UncleBazerko]

How much did you know (or need to know) about C++ when you first started building DKCRE?

[Simion32]

Basically nothing, but I worked with Game Maker which has a very similar scripting language. I was able to pick up C++ very quickly. It just took a long time to get to where I knew all the "tricks" of making 2D games from scratch. (It's not easy.)

We could discuss this on the chat, if you'd like.

[UncleBazerko]

Ok. How do we do that?

[Simion32]

Just get on the chat page and type in what you want to message. simple as that.

[leo_core]

I believe Simion32 answered your questions, but feel free to ask about anything you want on the topic of our DKC4 project