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Guys I've made some breakthroughs on the portrait front… I have figured out:
– How it takes the portrait index (example: "0C" for Guan Yu") and finds that image in the ROM. Now that I know that I can know how to lay out portraits in any new banks.
– How to double the size of the DoaE ROM from 256k to 512k! I tested it and it works. Future ROM expansion will be almost limitless with this!
– I've also got some ideas on how to add some assembly code to use a 2nd pointer and load portraits from a another (new) bank.
With that said, if I can get all this to work in the next few days…the number of portraits you'll be able to add is…more than what you will know what to do with. Currently the game supports 255/6 (42) unique portraits. With 16 new (empty) banks you'll easily be able to have a unique portrait for every single general in the game with plenty of room to spare!
Challenges ahead:
– The program area of the ROM is stuffed. I'll have to figure out a way to add my new code to use the new banks somehow.
– Have to find a spot for the 2nd pointer. I think there were a couple of unused bytes in each general's profile. I can use one of those.
– Have to write the assembly code for loading portraits from the new bank(s). The good news is I have ideas on how to do this but this will be my first time actually writing assembly so there could be some learning pains.
I should have some more progress in the next few days.
P.S. – so far this has been much harder than figuring out the map stuff or anything else I have figured out. This has been one tough nut to crack!
Guys I've made some breakthroughs on the portrait front… I have figured out:
– How it takes the portrait index (example: "0C" for Guan Yu") and finds that image in the ROM. Now that I know that I can know how to lay out portraits in any new banks.
– How to double the size of the DoaE ROM from 256k to 512k! I tested it and it works. Future ROM expansion will be almost limitless with this!
– I've also got some ideas on how to add some assembly code to use a 2nd pointer and load portraits from another (new) bank.
With that said, if I can get all this to work in the next few days…the number of portraits you'll be able to add is…more than what you will know what to do with. Currently the game supports 255/6 (42) unique portraits. With 16 new (empty) banks you'll easily be able to have a unique portrait for every single general in the game with plenty of room to spare!
Challenges ahead:
– The program area of the ROM is stuffed. I'll have to figure out a way to add my new code to use the new banks somehow.
– Have to find a spot for the 2nd pointer. I think there were a couple of unused bytes in each general's profile. I can use one of those.
– Have to write the assembly code for loading portraits from the new bank(s) (ie…I'm trying to be Meteorstrike Jr but it's tough!). The good news is I have ideas on how to do this but this will be my first time actually writing assembly so there could be some learning pains.
I should have some more progress in the next few days.
P.S. – so far this has been much harder than figuring out the map stuff or anything else I have figured out. This has been one tough nut to crack!
Awesome find, aren't you glad you had such nobs around giving you a million questions on how to change this stuff :D (points to self)
One question I would have would be after an expansion will it effect emulator compatibility.
Another would be to work w/ Niahak to find an easier way to upload portraits to the rom without the use of 2 or 3 programs… <cringes>
Quote:Awesome find, aren't you glad you had such nobs around giving you a million questions on how to change this stuff (points to self)It's fun figuring this stuff out. Some things are easy (like the price of a halberd) and some are VERY hard (like the adding more portrait banks stuff). I'm still nothing compared to Meteorstrike. From what I've seen he's the best DoaE hacker out there but he's also been MIA for 2+ years. Without Meteorstrike around, I've been having to slowly learn assembly stuff (EGAD).
Quote:One question I would have would be after an expansion will it effect emulator compatibility.FCEUX worked fine with my 512k ROM. I haven't tested other emulators.
Quote:Another would be to work w/ Niahak to find an easier way to upload portraits to the rom without the use of 2 or 3 programs… <cringes>We already have like 43243253252 other things for him to do and in the past he's kinda said that graphics weren't his thing. Once you break through the learning curve and get used to Feidian swapping portraits is actually pretty easy!
Assuming I figure out the additional portrait stuff that will certainly require a minor "Destiny of an Editor" update sometime in the future. We would want the ability to select the portrait bank on the "generals" page (ie…the 2nd pointer). Otherwise utilizing the new banks would be very tedious.
One other problem. When I saved my ROM with "Destiny of an Editor" it chopped my 512k ROM back down to 256k. That would also need to be fixed in the future.
which one do I download from here?
http://windows.php.net/download/
And how am I supposed to work with a .tar on windows?
Quote:which one do I download from here?And how am I supposed to work with a .tar on windows?
Use the link in the first post of this thread. I *know* that one works for me (although some other people had issues – I think related to their DOS version).
Winzip can open .tar files.
I had the same problem as zhao yun, tons of errors and no output file. Same version of DOS as you as well. I wish you could link me to the same file you had or send me a link of the .bmp
Link of which bmp? I think it's in the first post.
are those usable? should i save them in bmp format?
Sorry it's not in the first post, look a few posts down on the first page. I posted the bmps there.
Update on this:
Quote:Guys I've made some breakthroughs on the portrait front… I have figured out:– How it takes the portrait index (example: "0C" for Guan Yu") and finds that image in the ROM. Now that I know that I can know how to lay out portraits in any new banks.
– How to double the size of the DoaE ROM from 256k to 512k! I tested it and it works. Future ROM expansion will be almost limitless with this!
– I've also got some ideas on how to add some assembly code to use a 2nd pointer and load portraits from another (new) bank.
With that said, if I can get all this to work in the next few days…the number of portraits you'll be able to add is…more than what you will know what to do with. Currently the game supports 255/6 (42) unique portraits. With 16 new (empty) banks you'll easily be able to have a unique portrait for every single general in the game with plenty of room to spare!
Challenges ahead:
– The program area of the ROM is stuffed. I'll have to figure out a way to add my new code to use the new banks somehow.
– Have to find a spot for the 2nd pointer. I think there were a couple of unused bytes in each general's profile. I can use one of those.
– Have to write the assembly code for loading portraits from the new bank(s) (ie…I'm trying to be Meteorstrike Jr but it's tough!). The good news is I have ideas on how to do this but this will be my first time actually writing assembly so there could be some learning pains.
I should have some more progress in the next few days.
P.S. – so far this has been much harder than figuring out the map stuff or anything else I have figured out. This has been one tough nut to crack!
Regarding the challenges:
Quote:– The program area of the ROM is stuffed. I'll have to figure out a way to add my new code to use the new banks somehow.DONE. Was able to find some space on the currently loaded page.
Quote:– Have to find a spot for the 2nd pointer. I think there were a couple of unused bytes in each general's profile. I can use one of those.DONE. The bit after the officer's portrait background color is not used. I can use that as my 2nd pointer.
Quote:– Have to write the assembly code for loading portraits from the new bank(s) (ie…I'm trying to be Meteorstrike Jr but it's tough!). The good news is I have ideas on how to do this but this will be my first time actually writing assembly so there could be some learning pains.MOSTLY DONE. I've got it working for using the new banks but right now can't get it to play nicely with the previous 2 banks. I'm playing with logical operators to try and get this to work. However, right now if we only used new banks I can store and use over 600 unique portraits. Not that I'll ever need that many.
they seem small, not 48×48
These arent bitmaps, they are saved as .jpg which blurs the pictures as .jpg is a lower quality format and its in 72 dpi. Aren't the doae portraits in 96dpi?
Your link is:
http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q133/mpolaski/doae1_8x8-1.jpg <– GUILTY!
since i cant get stupid feidian to work in my dos, can you upload what this would look like in game MiD?
click on pic and enlarge to get full pic, you might need to crop it slightly, if so, take off some of the bottom once its shrunk to 48×48
Oh noz, Lu Bu has turned into the incredible hulk! q.q
and yeah, it is a little large (read above)
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