DKC Atlas Forum

[Markster]

Special DKCRE update coming really soon. As for what it is... that's a surprise.

I love surprises, i can't wait!

[Simion32]

I did have a quick question on level entrances though. I'm not sure if they are hard-coded into the level or what, but is there a way to change the level entrances? Or at least display an indicator of where they are located on the map?

These cannot be edited (or displayed) in v006x but it is planned for v0070.

[Simion32]

WARNING!!! CORAL CAPERS BUG NEW BUG FOUND THAT IS VERY SEVERE AND MAY AFFECT OTHER LEVELS!
The source of a seemingly unrelated bug that I ran into while discussing with VideoViking might affect ANY level. It is triggered by code that attempts to set values in ROM data to an integer type larger than the destination data size using the HexVL reference type to set said data.
The HexVL type is being widely used, so this bug can affect ALL parts of DKCRE.

Update: Actually, the IPS generation routine is also at fault here, and the bug seems to only randomly affect IPS files. This is a deadly off-by-one error, in which certain strings of changed bytes result in one of those bytes never being written to the IPS file. This bug, if it occurs, can result in, for example, "viral" blanking of tiles in your level that spreads upon each save+reload.

[Markster]

Sounds scary, i never really cared about editing coral capers or any water level anyway.

[Simion32]

Special Features (& BugFix) Update:
DKC Resource Editor v0.0.6.3

>>> DOWNLOAD LATEST VERSION HERE <<<

FEATURE UPDATES:

• VideoViking Special Request! Tile Selection Mode implemented with cut/copy/paste/delete/flip and more!!
• VideoViking Special Request! Import a tiles-only level PNG as your level tile layout using the LoadPNG button.
  • Tiles in the PNG must match EXACTLY for this to work.
• Undocumented DKCRE controls unearthed!
  • These previously "hidden" controls add just that little extra tinge of power to DKCRE.
• Advanced IPS/UPS creation/patching capability!
  • You can now create or apply IPS or UPS patches to external files, or create patches relative to an external ROM.

BUGS KILLED:

• Fixed NitroGUI's CToolTip class so that Tool Tips do not initialize themselves halfway offscreen when the parent Control is to the far right.
• Eliminated the deadly yet silent IPS-RLE off-by-one bug. Caused viral deletion of tiles and other viral data-corruption mayhem.

BUGS THAT ARE PROBABLY FIXED, BUT COULD STILL BE HIDING:

• The so-called Coral Capers bug is not DKCRE's fault and nothing can be done about it at this time.
• None Currently Known.

MINOR UPDATES:

• SaveAs dialog now provides the extension for your filename automatically if it is not explicitly typed in. Assumes current format.
• Some of the previously "hidden" controls were changed to prevent conflicts with ordinary Windows shortcuts (such as the Shift+NUM# acting like NUMLOCK was off).
• IPS patching now uses "5-phase" RLE compression, which creates VERY SMALL IPS files!
• Removed the $8000 lower-bound limit for the Set Digit box on all panels; the limit is now $0001 due to some objects having very low digits.
• Reloading the INI with F8 no longer results in panel navigation being reset; as a bonus, panel locations are remembered across multiple runs!
• Reloading the INI with F8 no longer results in file changes being ignored as if you never made changes.
• The file saving errors now use BFA's last error function, making the errors more informative.
• Added 44 more BETA objects to the GameConfig INI (information found at The Cutting Room Floor).
• Specifying a target ROM when switching to a patch format from ROM format is now required.

[WAZ__Up]

Bug report: If you "Save as" then click cancel after the save window pops up, you get an error box that says "No errors". pretty ironic...

I notcied the Copy/paste/delete for the tiles but do you have them available for the objects and enemies? Could there be a way for you to just double click an object in the list and have it appear in the map without the need to change an already existing object into the new object?

[Scraps69]

Holy crap Simion! This is amazing!

I had my doubts at first as it looked way complicated from the screen shots. But f--- me the simplicity and multi-accessibility of the program is astounding.This is a much more superior product then DKEdit.

Here is a question, have you got all the obj/enemy definitions in the game in this program? (Ah nope heh. C7CF is an unknown object). If I wanted to insert unknown objects is that possible? Does it also re arrange (DKEDIT 'SORT') object appearance order automatically?
The first bonus wall entrance (the one you dont need to break) in orang u tan gang seems to be missing. That's curious!

I managed to add Tree Top Town music for jungle hijinx. That is pimp!

By the way, the banana editor doesn't seem to be working yet. I can see the patterns but no actual bananas. Still a working feature eh?

[Simion32]

Thanks...

Here is a question, have you got all the obj/enemy definitions in the game in this program? (Ah nope heh. C7CF is an unknown object). If I wanted to insert unknown objects is that possible?

Just dig around in the "GameConfig\DKCv10U.INI" and you should be able to figure it out. [ObjectDictionary] for telling DKCRE what stuff actually is and making sprite/pallete display overrrides; and go to [ObjectCategories] or [EnemyCategories] to add digits to the panel. It should be relatively simple except for the Barrel Cannons.

C7CF is likely a "garbage digit": These happen when you skip part of an object's data and the skipped part causes the object to behave differently. Garbage digits may or may not be glitchy. It depends. Also, keep in mind you cannot use (J) object digits in the (U) ROM without bugs.

You can insert unknowns without putting them into the INI by selecting the object and using the Set Digit box & button on the Objects/Enemies panel.

Does it also re arrange (DKEDIT 'SORT') object appearance order automatically?

Hell yes! Objects are automatically "Radix" Sorted upon each change you make, even in the middle of moving an object. Radix Sort is the fastest possible method that could have been used, so don't worry about efficiency.

The first bonus wall entrance (the one you dont need to break) in orang u tan gang seems to be missing. That's curious!

Check your View Menu settings. DKCRE hides some objects from being visible by default.

By the way, the banana editor doesn't seem to be working yet. I can see the patterns but no actual bananas.

You must actually click a formation in the level before you are allowed to edit the formation itself. I know that's weird, but that's how I designed it.

I notcied the Copy/paste/delete for the tiles but do you have them available for the objects and enemies? Could there be a way for you to just double click an object in the list and have it appear in the map without the need to change an already existing object into the new object?

That one requires dynamic allocation and is slated for v0070. There is no easy way to just add it in with the current system, quite unlike the tile editing.

[asmodeus]

Wow, the new version is absolutely awesome!
You did a very great job.
Just a little bad thing, that it uses quite constantly 100% of my CPU, but as long as it hopefully not crashes and will be better in future, I'm completely satisfied with that program.

EDIT: FEATURE REQUEST:
When building up a level, it might sometimes be annoying searching the tiles for building a little path, or DK's house. It would be cool if there would be predefined "objects" build up of tiles you can simply insert, or even define your own one.
Would be nice if you'll implement that in the future ^^

[Simion32]

Thanks yet again!

About the 100% CPU thing; that is due to the program architecture of NitroGUI and it cannot be solved. The reason has to do with it doing all graphics on the CPU, not the GPU. Graphics themselves don't take that long to process, but when you send an image to the GFX Card it takes a huge chunk of time away from the PC (about 25% in fullscreen mode and 60% in windowed). The rest of the engine in DKCRE is typically left with around 35% of the CPU to use for its own deeds. I'll almost guarantee that no matter what your CPU is, fullscreen mode is always going to be faster.

I cannot have NitroGUI do graphics on the GPU because as soon as I try that I would have to preload graphics (this is why big games take so long to start) and then I won't have all of those advanced pixel blenders I coded in assembly (there are no equivalents except to the most common operations — DKCLB will need much more than just the simple operations like ADD, SUB, and MUL).

As for the tile feature you mentioned, I'll try getting that into v0070 but as always there are no guarantees on any features "making it" to a particular release (though what you mention actually sounds easy).

[asmodeus]

As for the tile feature you mentioned, I'll try getting that into v0070 but as always there are no guarantees on any features "making it" to a particular release (though what you mention actually sounds easy).

Cool, you might have added it in the next version? I would think that less important seeming thing will be there much later.. or never ^^
Oh, and another thing would be nice in tile edit mode: Can you add "remove tile" with right click on the map, so that I don't need to select the first "tile" to remove tiles?

[Simion32]

Can you add "remove tile" with right click on the map, so that I don't need to select the first "tile" to remove tiles?

This would only work for single-layer levels. Would not work on Mine Cart Carnage because right-click is reserved there for editing the back layer.

[asmodeus]

This would only work for single-layer levels. Would not work on Mine Cart Carnage because right-click is reserved there for editing the back layer.

Oh, I didn't know DKC uses two layers for some levels ^^

[Simion32]

Some bugs and my responses to them (some found by VideoViking):

Enemies panel needs to be open. If you point to the top pull-down menu and wait for a few seconds, you may see tooltips From the Tiles Panel

BUG STILL BEING FIXED
DEDUCTION: This is a NitroGUI focus bug related to CToolPanel.

In the Tiles Editor (selection mode), you cannot scroll to the left or right automatically. You have to use the Ctrl+Left or Right arrows manually

BUG STILL BEING FIXED
DEDUCTION: A missing feature.
TODO UPDATE: Only scrolls if you move the mouse at least 2 pixels to the left/right after selecting, otherwise no scroll happens

If you have a window over DKCRE, and close using the Alt+F4 key, not only do you close the window, you also close DKCRE (the warning box appears as well)

BUG IS NOW FIXED FOR v0064
DEDUCTION: This is another key state issue in which ALT+F4 and ESC need to be ignored upon return to the application.

If you have the Open dialog box opened and press Esc, you close all of DKCRE. Only if ESC shortcut is enabled.

BUG IS NOW FIXED FOR v0064
DEDUCTION: Forgot to include a key state override after dialogs like this, also applies to ALT+F4 as well.

If you "Save as" then click cancel after the save window pops up, you get an error box that says "No errors". pretty ironic...

BUG IS NOW FIXED FOR v0064
DEDUCTION: BFA is returning 1 incorrectly when it should be 2. The value 2 indicates "No file was selected".

NEW BUG: If you try to "SaveAs..." and are using SMC, and attempt saving to IPS or UPS, DKCRE allows it through without requiring the target ROM. Ooops.

BUG IS NOW FIXED FOR v0064
DEDUCTION: Missing the checking code.

NEW BUG: This requires the ROM or IPS already opened. Whatever icon currently select "Enemies, Tiles, Objects, etc." Close the current ROM or IPS, then reopen or use Open directly. The currently selected icon will still be on, but the panel will be closed.

BUG SOURCE NOT YET FOUND
DEDUCTION: Not yet found.

NEW BUG: There also seems to be a response delay for: selecting menu items (not the menu titles), clicking on icons, opening drop-down menu items. Sometimes, you need to click twice to activate a certain feature

BUG SOURCE NOT YET FOUND
DEDUCTION: This is a NitroGUI related bug.

The bugfixes are to be included in v0064 and will probably be released within the next few days.

Also: Don't worry about the DELTA design document work being delayed, that is still going on, it hasn't stopped just because of a few small DKCRE bugs.

[asmodeus]

Another little feature request for the tile editor:
Would be helpful if the current selected tile (from the tileset) is drawn (maybe 50% transparent) at the cursor's position, so that you can see whether a tile fits somewhere without removing the old tile there yet. Maybe holding down Control or something could make that tile less transparent in case of you can not really see whether it fits.
Do you understand what I mean? ^^

[Simion32]

Yeah, I understand what you mean. Feature added to the "do this at some point" list.

[DKCplayer]

Top notch work! This editor will be marked as the "Essential Tool for Editing and Hacking Donkey Kong Country". (ETEHDKC for short )

[Scraps69]

Yo Simion32. I was thinking of names for Markster's stage and here's two things I want to know about the editor.

This is specifically ideas for Slipside Ride.

Is it possible to reverse the direction of your levels? As in you swap the start the the finish. This ends up in levels going from left to right, to right to left. Or more importantly from the top of a verticle level to the bottom. However I noticed that in the RE for slipside ride (or other levels) that there is no entrance obj so maybe not eh?

Also are we able to change any of the levels into proper dark? And would Squawks torchlight work on any other level with proper dark? I noticed there was no script of anything to do so.. so probably not eh?

Finally, the I like how you organised the list for levels (finally don't have to bum around looking for stages). Are you ever planning on including a level name change feature? Just an idea heh.

Also found any interesting objs or obj bugs?

[Simion32]

Is it possible to reverse the direction of your levels?

Not at present but once DKCRE edits start points it would be halfway possible (DK might still enter rightwards though). DKEdit could change the entrance point but this still only ever worked for (J) ROMs.

Also are we able to change any of the levels into proper dark? And would Squawks torchlight work on any other level with proper dark? I noticed there was no script of anything to do so.. so probably not eh?

This is one of those Level Settings. DKEdit again can change this but only for the (J) ROMs.

Finally, the I like how you organised the list for levels (finally don't have to bum around looking for stages). Are you ever planning on including a level name change feature? Just an idea heh.

This goes into the Level Settings dialog as well. It'll be easier with v0070 being everything will have to be dynamically allocated.

Also found any interesting objs or obj bugs?

You may experience black screens or seemingly random freezes based on Banana layouts. This is a fatal bug within DKC itself! Cause Unknown.

Also, putting too many banana bunches in one screen may lead to a freeze/crash (credit to VideoViking for finding this one).

[Simion32]

Bug Fixes Update:
DKC Resource Editor v0.0.6.4

>>> DOWNLOAD LATEST VERSION HERE <<<

BUGS KILLED:

• If you have a window over DKCRE, and close using the Alt+F4 key, not only do you close the window, you also close DKCRE.
• If you have the Open dialog box opened and press ESC or ALT+F4, you close all of DKCRE (only if ESC shortcut is enabled for the ESC key).
• If you "Save as" then click cancel, you get an error box that says "No errors". BFA was returning an incorrect status code.
• If you try to "SaveAs..." and are using SMC, and attempt saving to IPS or UPS, DKCRE allows it through without requiring the target ROM.
• Banana Map was not sorting itself after a Nuke operation completed, causing bananas to freeze the game if they were out of order after a Nuke.
• If camera boundaries are on, and you try to Select Level, the arrow's cursor will still be the four-way arrow icon due to focus being ignored.
• In the Tiles Editor (selection mode), you cannot scroll to the left or right automatically. You have to use the Ctrl+Left or Right arrows manually.
• You may see tooltips From the Tiles Panel when it is deactivated. This was a NitroGUI focus bug related to CToolPanel.
• Close the current ROM or IPS, then reopen. The currently selected panel icon will still be on, but the panel itself will be closed.
• The Edit menu sticks open if you are in selection mode with the tiles panel open and go to the Extraction/Palette Mode.
• The camera move/size cursor was being displayed and recognized even if it was off the bottom of the picturebox.

BUGS THAT ARE STILL HIDING:

• There seems to be an occasional "missing" response for clicking on some controls in the GUI, mainly Menu Items and Drop Down Boxes. A very tough to find bug!

MINOR UPDATES:

• You can now define manually via the INI what object Nuking and/or Delete key will result in.
• The default Delete/Nuke value is now "$A51F Banana Bunch", due to game issues with using "$FFF9 NULL Object".
• Added extra validation to all editable maps; they are now forced to self-validate (and sort too if applicable) upon Load and Nuke.
• DKCRE only automatically scrolls if you move the mouse at least 2 pixels to the left/right after selecting, otherwise no scroll happens.

EDIT NOTE: Reuploaded the Zip, Tool Tips were not displaying due to a small code typo.

[Simion32]

CORAL CAPERS Poison Pond BUG FOUND!

AND IT CAN AFFECT OTHER LEVELS.

Something in DKCRE is somehow causing all the objects to be pushed off screen in the X direction (seems to happen randomly).

When you catch this bug you'll know, because it causes all your objects to be shoved to the side of the level. The validation checking force-pushes them onscreen. If it weren't for the validation, the objects would remain off screen where they are "permanently gone"!

[Scraps69]

Good to know you found it . Hopefully you can fix it soon!

Fortunately I was still drawing diagrams of challenges for Ice Age Alley.

[Simion32]

Update on the "Coral Capers" "Poison Pond" bug: On my end it effects Poison Pond and a myriad of bonus levels.

I logged each object as it was loaded, BEFORE and AFTER validation. Upon the first time the level is loaded, if you started on Poison Pond, nothing happens.

But when going to another particular level, this causes the objects to be "validated" to some strange offset way past the size of poison pond.

I have therefore verified that validation on other levels IS VIOLATING POISON POND ADDRESS SPACE and that there is no end marking all-zero tag (or, it is different and DKCRE misinterprets it, but this is unlikely) for some other levels.

This means the bug is exactly as I suspected earlier -- the 'lazy' layout of DKC causes DKCRE to malfunction.

The next step in finding the real source of the bug is to log all BFA accesses and see when the Poison Pond address is accessed outside of the level itself.

Also, this has nothing to do with the HexVL type, that class is hardened this time and cannot produce any bugs.

[Simion32]

I made a level objects offset scanner and it came up with one map conflict:

3DBED8, 3DBE78 Level33 "Misty Mine - Bonus 1" violated other level address space!

This conflicts with the DYDDY room layout by not having ending zeroes on the object map. I had mistakenly thought this was the source of the Coral Capers bug (for those of you who read my deleted post), but i guess not.

I'm still looking for why this happens to other levels, but I haven't found it yet. There might be more level conflicts somewhere...

[Simion32]

Final Findings:

I now deem this bug to be the Poison Pond bug, it has nothing to do with Coral Capers at all.

Furthermore: The "Coral Capers bug" is due to a missing DKCRE "feature". It refers to how editing objects in a vertical level can cause them to all disappear permanently in-game. This appears to be due to the camera scripts in vertical levels, which DKCRE cannot interpret. The "Coral Capers bug" happens due to objects being incorrectly sorted - but DKCRE cannot possibly know how to sort them without the camera script data. This would be a v0.0.7.0 (or later) feature, as the magnitude of the fix is too large to just be for a regular "bug fix" update.

What I have found (and fixed) is actually a completely separate bug that was DKCRE's fault, and the "Coral Capers bug" remains, for now, unfixable.

[Simion32]

Bug Fixes Update:
DKC Resource Editor v0.0.6.5

>>> DOWNLOAD LATEST VERSION HERE <<<

BUGS KILLED:

• Coded DKCRE to fix DKC's "Poison Pond" bug, which was due to DUMMY levels using another level's object map offset.
• Coded DKCRE to fix an object layout overflow bug in DKC. The "Misty Mine Bonus #1" level was overflowing into the DYDDY cheat room object map.
• The 2 DUMMY levels have been removed from being selectable by an INI update, to help prevent buggy behavior.
• The beta "1-1 with 1-3 Object Map" is no longer selectable in Extraction Mode due to the Poison Pond bug fix.
• Added the missing confirmation dialog for replacing files when using "Swap Format and Save To" menu options.
• Handling was missing for most of the File menu in Extraction Mode and for a few options in Palette Editor Mode as well.

[Simion32]

I was messing with my screen settings experimenting with DELTA, and decided to run DKCRE for the crap of it.

This is just how robust NitroGUI really is (still running smoothly at 640x480!!):

Spoiler!

The ONLY thing wrong at this tiny resolution, is that you cannot see the upper 1/4 of a level in horizontal levels, causing some click detection bugs in the editing code. You also can't really use extraction mode due to the pages being designed for resolutions of at least 800x600.

Other than the small editor error, the program still runs absolutely flawlessly... and man is it fast at this resolution.

[Simion32]

NOTE: THIS POST IS FALSE INFORMATION. DO NOT ACCEPT IT AS TRUE. I HAVE FOUND OTHERWISE.
Cick here: viewtopic.php?f=56&t=226&p=24308#p24308

Spoiler!

DKC3 Discovery: DOUBLE COMPRESSION.

I was trying to extract some DKC3 snow levels (the hard manual way) for VideoViking and found something unusual about Tearaway Toboggan. I decided to investigate further and...


My research has found that there are not one, but TWO stages of compression in most DKC3 vertical levels!!

This time, DKC3 decompresses the data, and then reads in a type of "compressed" format that is read in dynamically as you play the level. It's like, a script code of some sort that the game reads to plot tiles onscreen.

Which means, in order to extract any tall DKC3 level, I need to do ANOTHER step which interprets this code the way the game does, all the way through the level.

Now this HAS to be why the game is called Dixie Kong's Double Trouble...

DKC3 does not do double-compression, this was just a bout of data confusion. The real solution has been found.

[Markster]

Compression sucks, that's another reason you are making Delta Game Engine.

[Simion32]

Spoiler!

Most definitely.

I can't imagine that DKCRE will be able to edit this crap. I thought it might work if it was like DKC2, but no, the game has another layer of compression stacked on top of the already existing ROM-based compressed data.

Yeah, this is another reason to tack on to the almost endless list of "this is why we need DKCLB so badly instead of ROM hacking" reasons.

LATE EDIT: This post's comment is now irrelevant as there is no such double compression.

[RattleBattle]

So, how is Your Level builder coming along?

[Simion32]

The efforts until a few weeks ago were focused on DKCRE, so it has been very slow.

I'm getting up to speed on DELTA now, though, which I have to make before the DKCLB editor. Check the DELTA topic in the other sub-forum for the details so far: viewtopic.php?f=53&t=1249#p24198

[Markster]

Simion32, i found a really bad bug in DKCRE 0.0.6.5, when you try to nuke partical it just crashes, in the older versions (I tested 0.0.6.2), it works just fine.

[Simion32]

Really? I could take a look but I was certain there were no bug in that.

I might have made a bug trying to fix something else related to the Nuke feature...

If you need other old versions for bug testing, they are still uploaded, just change the digit in the URL for the version you're looking for (how about trying v0064? That way we can narrow it down).

[Markster]

Well it done it on 0.0.6.4 too, but i don't have that problem on 0.0.6.3 or lower.

[Simion32]

Could you screen shot what options you select when you're trying to Nuke Partial?

Is it just ALL? Or is it some specific combination of stuff? Or does it matter?

[Kingizor]

I can confirm the same thing is happening here. It seems to occur when selecting any option that would result in a NitroGUI dialog box being opened.

i.e.
Sounds/Music
Nuke Partial
Nuke This Level
Nuke All Levels
Configure Autolaunch

I can also confirm that 0.0.6.3 is the last version not have this bug.

[Markster]

I got it working on 0.0.6.4 now, but not 0.0.6.5

----------

I posted a screenshot of the error in the .zip file.

[Simion32]

I remember getting AutoLaunch setup to crash once, but thought it was a fluke memory error because it didn't happen again when I tried it a second time.

In that case it's one of two things:
(1) NitroGUI memory bug (or some such) is causing the crash.
(2) The common copy of code specific to each dialog could be incorrectly disposing of the dialog (eg. the DKCRE handler/wrapper around the dialog itself).

I'll investigate this momentarily but I'm in the middle of researching/making a memcpy() routine for DELTA's upgraded CVideo class etc.

[Simion32]

I found the offending line:

if(!vParent) return NULL;
return vParent->GetParentToolPanel();

Is crashing.

This wasn't the AutoLaunch crash that I triggered though, so there may be a second bug hiding there.

*EDITED*

[Markster]

Hey Simion32, i got an idea for a feature in 0.0.7.X, why don't you make an advanced tile editor mode kinda like how Platinum and SDK2 Editor works, you know with the copy and pasting tiles option, and why not have already put together tiles with it so that it can be easy as pie to make professional looking tiles, and in level editing mode you have the original tile editor, good idea eh?

[Simion32]

why not have already put together tiles with it so that it can be easy as pie to make professional looking tiles

Yeah, this is a good idea. Pre-built selectable tile blocks. Can do easily.

[Markster]

why not have already put together tiles with it so that it can be easy as pie to make professional looking tiles

Yeah, this is a good idea. Pre-built selectable tile blocks. Can do easily.

Make sure you give credit when you make that feature, like say that Markster had the idea of that feature.

[Simion32]

Bug Fixes Update:
DKC Resource Editor v0.0.6.6

>>> DOWNLOAD LATEST VERSION HERE <<<

BUGS KILLED:

• NitroGUI dialogs were crashing due to GetParentToolPanel() trying to access the (invalid) parent of a CForm dialog object.
• The camera map was using the wrong drawing coordinate functions for rendering terrain via the RTDraw() function.
• The camera map editing now correctly disables itself upon navigation to a level that is vertical or has no tilemap (DK's Treehouse).

EDIT: Didn't notice your post. Anyway, I'd be glad to give you credit, though others have mentioned this earlier than you, as well (VideoViking in private discussions, I believe).

[Markster]

Quote deleted by Moderator

Finally!

-----------

Don't forget to add it when DKCLB comes out.

[RattleBattle]

I'm Excited for this thing to come out. I can bring my dream levels to life, finally!

[Simion32]

I've been researching the DKCRE v0070 objects data hack, and here's what I've come up with:

DKC original 3055 objects.
Object data hack 4762 objects.
A savings of +1707 objects!!

That's like adding ~50 more objects to each main level!

How this is done is highly technical, but let's just say I got rid of a lot of redundancy.

I was able to pack each object entry into 6 bytes (yeah, it used to be 8 bytes). Also, in the hacked data scheme there are no longer objects taken up just to mark the end of a level - an ASM hack is going to remove the need for that.

Making the data so tightly packed will involve several ASM hacks that will act as a proxy to DKC's original data loader code.

What part of the objects bank can actually store objects, this hack leaves objects absolutely packed to the brim.

-------------------------
EDIT: In case you're wondering, DKCRE v0070 will only limit you to 4762 objects for the entire game. You can use them where ever you like.

[WAZ__Up]

DKCRE v0070 will only limit you to 4762 objects for the entire game. You can use them where ever you like.

Will having too many in a level cause lag?

[Simion32]

As always DKC can't handle tons of stuff being onscreen (and has problems with too many of the same object existing at the same time).

But the overall amount of objects in a level does not matter. I was referring to, you can use whatever amount per level that you want, as long as all levels don't total more than 4762 objects (the entire game).

This hack also places a (reasonable) limit that any level you create can only be up to 32768 pixels wide (longest level in trilogy is Rickety Race maxing out at 24320, tallest is Parrot Chute Panic at a whopping 13056 pixels in height).

You can adjust the level sizes in v0070, which is why I mention this limit.

[WAZ__Up]

A thought just came into my head and I don't know if this is even possible but, can you flip/rotate objects? I know you can't currently, but is that even possible just out of curiosity? What about in DKCLB? An Inverted level would be sick to have.