DKC Atlas Forum

[Qyzbud]

...(DKCRE Update Post)...

I'm very excited about the new features and efficiency improvements!

I did find that the program crashed while sitting in the background when I was in chat, but I can't say I have enough info for a proper bug report just yet. I'll see if I can work out what the issue was before posting in the relevant topic.

Fantastic to see such progress, my friend!

[Simion32]

Updated: Last Minute Bug Fixes (Re-Upload)
DKC Resource Editor v0.0.6.9

>>> DOWNLOAD LATEST VERSION HERE <<<

I've fixed some crash issues and the missing inputs (broken AutoLaunch and bonus navigation, etc) described by various users.

No new features were added, of course.

[Cody]

Finally getting back in the DKC hacking mood again, had a question about barrels. I noticed there are dozens upon dozens of different barrel cannons you can use. Even though some of the descriptions help, do you think it would ever be possible to update DKCRE to tell you the absolute amount of tiles associated with every single blast barrel rather than a select few? (ex. "Moves up and down 6 tiles - blasts 8 tiles")

Making a creative Barrel Cannon Canyon layout was definitely one of the biggest trial-and-error-based operations I've ever had in a decade's worth of of ROM hacking - took several hours per segment! I think the only thing that compares is EarthBound hacking, and even then.

[Simion32]

The only way to add in that type of information is to painstakingly place and document every one of them in the GameConfig.INI.

I might in the future want to add a shot target coordinates display, but that'll be for later.

[Simion32]

Spoiler!

MAIN SYSTEM BRICKED!!!!!
DEVELOPMENT AT FULL HALT.

I've been brought to a screeching halt by a very nasty virus infection, which in the aftermath of my attempts to restore caused my main development system to get completely bricked. It has been a very grueling road towards being able to post here, which is why it took so long for me to post this.

I won't bother with all of the details here, but I have to post this message here.

There may be a very significant delay in Delta Project, but planning will continue to happen in the background.

A new machine will obviously be necessary in order to get anything non-planning-related done, but I'm not going to rush this.

<notice posted to all major Delta Project threads>

[edevore]

I am a bit confused what your actually talking about here... I would like to know more information when you get back.. I am actually surprised you don't have more than one computer to post on this thread.
I don't mean any offense if so, I haven't seen much posted here as of late so a reply on this topic was unexpected when reading my emails.

[Simion32]

MAIN COMPUTER BRICKED....
I Seriously Need Donations!

Spoiler!

>>> DONATE TO DELTA PROJECT <<<
(DELTA PROJECT DOES NOT INCLUDE
THIRD PARTY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL)

This is a callout post to notify those who track the other posts.

[spaceman2028]

MAIN COMPUTER BRICKED....

ono

not good news

Spoiler!

...In all seriousness though, what exactly happened?

[Simion32]

Restore effort resulted in system brick. Exact details of brick not known.

[Cody]

I'm sorry to hear, Simion - hope you can get your computer up and running in any possible way you can.

[Simion32]

Massive DELTA Project Update Video!!!

>>> VIDEO HERE <<<

[Cyclone]

Good stuff.

[Simion32]

UNIVERSITY COMPLETE!!!
I've finally passed it all. Every. Last. One.


DELTA Project will resume from scholarly intermission shortly.

But I may take a few weeks to unwind.

[VideoViking]

Congratulations, Simion. Enjoy your break!

[Crammalamma]

I think this should be able to support all SNES emulators in the autolaunch feature, since right now it only works with the worst SNES emulator.

[Slyhawks]

Hey, i'm just here to say Hi.

I didn't post here since a long time, but I just want you to know that I still use DKCRE when I have the time to play to DKC
I only did 2 reals levels with it, but I don't want to recreate the entire game if only 1 or 2 people try it (and also because it's really hard when you can't modify tiles)

This is the first level I made, in 2013/2014


I don't really know why am I telling you my life, I think it's just because you need to be thanked (?, I don't know if my sentence is correct).

Soooo, thanks Simion!

[Raccoon Sam]

Mac user problems...
Are there some dependencies or pre-existing things I must have installed when running DKCRE?
I've tried running the program through WINE in multiple bottles and versions and I even installed a Virtual Machine running Windows 7 in which I tried multiple compatibility options in the Program Properties panel, but the result is always a rapidly flashing intro screen and total unresponsiveness. Clicking anywhere does nothing and while I can open the help file with F1, going back to the editor always results in rapid flashing and the same, total unresponsiveness.

I understand there might be nothing I can do (well, except get a real computer with Windows installed) but just thought it wouldn't hurt to ask.
All I really need to do is understand how the camera focus area stuff works. I feel comfortable with a hex editor but I don't understand Giangurgolo's original documentation well enough.

[L_Sky]

Hello Simion, I'm a new member of DKC Atlas. First of all, I would like to thank you for the job you did with DKCRE, it's an amazing program for DKC fans like us, and it helped me creating a DKC hack which I will show you all on DKC Atlas soon.
I would like to know, do you still work on DKCRE v 0.0.7.0 ? If positive, can we expect a release date soon ?

Thanks again for your job, and for your answer

[Simion32]

I'm working on the rendering engine for DELTA right now. That happens to include interface upgrades that will force me to re-code a whole lot of what I've done to fit the new rendering format. Those upgrades might filter over to DKCRE if I have time.

You could call v0.0.7.0 "on hold" or something.

There may not be any significant updates for quite a long while, so be prepared to wait.


I know that sounds disappointing, but I really have to work on DELTA right now. The renderer is the core component that will be backing a whole lot of functionality in the DELTA editor.

[rainbowsprinklez]

Is there a way to change level sizes in DKCRE? I feel like there was...

[Slyhawks]

So, if I'm not wrong, DKCLB will not be a rom hack, but a "different game" from Donkey Kong Country? And DELTA is the engine to play on those levels?

Anyway, I'll wait the time you need, but i'm kinda impatient

[Simion32]

You're correct!

DKCLB is a toolkit to be used with DELTA. It will extract rom resources into something DELTA can use. All LB objects will be hand-coded.

DELTA is the engine/editor that will play/edit DKCLB levels (the editor is a separate exe file).

There will definitely end up being a few Mario fangames out of this.

Sorry about DELTA taking so long to have some kind of update - I'm working on the graphics part of the engine, which is the most complicated of all the parts I could be working on.

[Super Luigi!]

Take all the time you need, Simion32. I can definitely wait. Since I'm not directly helping you create it, here's a supportive banana. Hopefully, my words improve your motivation as well!

[Cody]

Whenever I feel particularly down in life, one of the things that gets me going again is the fact that this will, indeed, come out in the future, and it will be absolutely beautiful.

[Simion32]

Important Update CLICK HERE

[wuffalo]

Loving the editor so far, but i was wondering (apologies if its been asked before) how do I change the gfx used in a stage? As in, change it from jungle to something else like the caves gfx. I've searched a good bit but can't find any option to do so.

[Simion32]

DKCRE currently isn't capable of modifying the level settings (palette, level archetype/tileset, level size, etc).

So you'll have to either deal with it some other way or just use what level space is available in the existing game data.

This will of course be in a future version, but it's going to be a long wait before I work on DKCRE again.

I'm fully dedicated to working on DELTA right now and there won't be any RE updates for at least a year from now, most likely.

[rainbowsprinklez]

I'd like to apologize profusely... for the past 4+ years, I've been having an issue with dkcre being unresponsive. With no updates in sight, I treated it like there wasn't a DKC editor. However, I would still go back to DKCRE from time to time because it did offer a wealth of information. Simion really crammed a lot into 1 program!

So I've had an unresponsive program for a while, until Hank Hill, the creator of https://www.romhacking.net/forum/index. ... ts;u=88591, pointed out what the issue was. Apparently, the program becomes unresponsive when you boot it up with a gamepad plugged in. Since Hank pointed that out, it has been running beautifully for me.

So, I'm sorry Simion, and thank you for all the beautiful work you have done.

Question though, is it possible for me to unlock vertical levels for tile editing? I am well aware of the glitches and know how to avoid them.

***EDIT***
Still buggy when you plug in a gamepad after boot. Luckily, my usbs are easily accessible. This program is still WAY better for me If only I used keyboard for inputs...

[Simion32]

Thanks for the bug report, rainbowsprinklez.

The input is indeed buggy in the latest release of DKCRE, but I didn't know it was that bad.

There is likely a hidden bug in the input collection routine that was fixed in the latest DELTA release.

I'll put some priority into getting this issue worked out (with you specifically) when I do eventually get around to working on DKCRE again.


EDIT: It's not possible to unlock the vertical levels, as this is a heavy hard-coded thing. There is currently no override method in place.

I could add an override if I had the exact copy of the code for the current DKCRE, but sadly the NitroGUI codebase was transferred over to DELTA and any updates to DKCRE will require me to basically rewrite the entire GUI functionality from scratch, and get everything updated for NitroGUI v2.0.

[rainbowsprinklez]

Well, thanks. And honestly, no worries, dude. II care so much now because I am working on a hack. Who knows if I still will be after Delta is done? I scrolled up and saw your system was bricked, which is enough for me to quit everything lol. So power to you to keep chugging along. And nbd on vertical levels. I just thought I'd ask in case it was a simple flag.

[Simion32]

MASSIVE UPDATE:
DELTA Game Designer GOING LIVE!!! CLICK HERE

[Simion32]

Progress Update:
"Phazon" with "Valkyrie", Program Being Completely Restructured Internally

About a month ago I put together a project file to encompass my old DKCRE code, and the program bugs out if I'm not running it within the debugger.

This is to gather details for a new and improved version of DKCRE that will include DKC2 and DKC3 editing capabilities (again, thanks to Kingizor's compression library).

So what's all this about "Phazon" and "Valkyrie"? The age-old "Phazon" rendering engine is being reworked and updated, with what I call the Valkyrie extension. This new code will allow the interface to arbitrarily resize images (with a maximum downscale of 32x but unlimited upscale) and text in the editor as well as gameplay modes when I copy this update over to DELTA. The Valkyrie code has the capability of rendering images on subpixel offsets and will eventually be used to create smooth motion cameras in DELTA. Valkyrie does take a bit of CPU usage in its current un-optimized form, but there will be additional modes to turn off subpixel offsetting and lock resizes to exact scales, etc.

In addition to the new and improved rendering code, I will be completely restructuring the way NitroGUI works by rebuilding it from scratch so that it no longer uses ANY pointers except where absolutely required. The old DTML parser etc. is being thrown out and the interface will purely be made from C++, eliminating a whole host of bugs that both DKCRE and DELTA have suffered from in the past.

Also among the updates will be the capability of using TTF based fonts, hopefully with full multi-language support (though this will increase the exe size quite a bit).
----------------------------------------------------------

Oh, and I have a proof of concept basic graphics test for a Linux build of the program, but that might not go anywhere for a while since the rest of porting the program is very complex...

Another backburner'd concept possibly for a later version is to implement Perlin Hunter 3 for DKCRE, but that idea is also a-ways off.

[rainbowsprinklez]

Will the newest DKCRE include that tilemap generator too? I know that was looking pretty bleak before, but I don't remember where it stands... is it Perlin Hunter? Thank you for all you do

[Simion32]

Yeah, Perlin Hunter 3 is the tilemap generator (click here)... but adding it to DKCRE will probably not happen in the next version due to complexity issues with making the tilemap editable dynamically. That will be for a later version.

I could possibly add basics-only PH3 as an experimental option (without dynamic layout editing), though generating a whole level at a time is definitely out of the question.

[Simion32]

Oh, expect some delays again guys... real life is starting to intervene again like usual for this time of year.

I'll still probably get some stuff done but it will be much slower than usual.

[Simion32]

Progress Update: Progress on the New GUI

Amidst real life tasks I have managed to keep development rolling, and you're going to love what I've brewed up using the Valkyrie extension!!

Spoiler!

The interface has the ability to arbitrarily upscale the text and controls. It even works on menus (which are currently in-progress).

You can also see the TTF fonts in action here. No more pixelated font issues!!

I haven't gotten much of the actual interface done but I hope this update does things some justice.

[Flurryxvivo]

I'm glad to see that projects like this are still kept alive, it's always great to see. I don't know too much about this resource editor but it seems like I should definitely check it out!

[Simion32]

Progress Update: Innovations and Delays!!!

Development has really slowed down, but that doesn't mean I don't have chances to plan and innovate for the next big thing.

I'm considering a new model of ROM editing that uses a go-between data format where DKCRE and DKCLB are fused with DELTA.

Essentially, the idea will be that DELTA can edit graphics and levels which can then be exported into a ROM, replacing what was in the game before. Additionally it will enable you to import the 3 DKC games as DELTA files and then this becomes the mechanism that will make DKCLB possible.

This will be implemented as DLL import and export plugins, thereby allowing much more than just DKC1/2/3 and may enable us to import for example the GBA levels (just an idea, though it would probably be better to remake the GBA exclusive levels for DKCLB usage).

Since DELTA was taken offline and I never had any sales, I'm considering going back to a free-but-closed-source format for DELTA.

DKCRE will continue development but will be fused into DELTA, so I'll post DKCRE related things here while DELTA remains its own topic.

Cheers!!