Post by Neo on Sept 12, 2005 13:11:58 GMT -5
Important note: ALWAYS, ALWAYS read the help file. The following FAQ is just for those who can't/just wouldn't like to understand it.
Remember. HELP FILE IS GOOD! READ IT FIRST!!!!
Another note: This FAQ is far from finished. Feel free to post your additions/comments to it.
Press CTRL+F if you would like to search. (Works in IE and FireFox, at least)
Getting Started
Level Editing
Overworld Editing
Graphics
Custom Blocks
Easter Eggs
Supported games
IPS
Music
Demo World: The Legend Continues
Misc.
GETTING STARTED
---------------
Q) Where do I get a ROM?
A) Search on www.google.com, www.altavista.com or another search engine. Don't ask about them on these boards unless you want to be banned.
Q) What's an emulator?
A) An emulator reads the program code from the game and allows you to play it on the computer. The two best SNES emulators are ZSNES and SNES9X. You can find them here.
Q) Where can I find Lunar Magic?
A) At FuSoYa's site or in the commons.
Q) The ROM I downloaded have got the extension ".ZIP". I can play it in my emulator, but I can't load it in Lunar Magic What should I do?
A) The file is compressed. You need a decompresser like WinZIP or WinRAR to decompress it. (Later versions of Windows have got this as a built in function.)
Q) The ROM I downloaded have got the extension ".RAR". I can't play it in my emulator nor use it in Lunar Magic. What should I do?
A) The file is compressed. You need a decompresser like WinRAR (not WinZIP) to decompress it.
Q) Lunar Magic says that the author has restricted level access. What's this?
A) You can lock the ROM from editing with Lunar Magic. That way, it's impossible to load it.
Q) Some people say that it's possible to unlock locked ROMs!
A) NO! Schhhh! There is no way... They are... Uhmmm... Yes, they're lying! It's... not... uh... true... Trust me... Please...?
Q) When I try to open Lunar Magic, it says that it has been modified and closes. What should I do?
A) Redownload Lunar Magic.
LEVEL EDITING
-------------
Q) How do I move the enemies?
A) Click on the Koopa shell in the toolbar. When you would like to change the level again, click on the ground in the toolbar.
Q) I made a level with a pipe/door in it, but when I enter it in the game, I'm taken to the bonus room! What should I do?
A) You need to set up a "Screen Exit". First, click on the blue door in the tool bar. Now, the level should be devided into certain parts. These parts are called "screens". Every door and pipe inside the same screen will take you to the same location. Now, click on the yellow door with a + and - sign. Choose the screen where the pipe/door is and enter the number of the level it should lead to. Make sure that the secondary entrance box is UNCHECKED.
Q) How do I change where Mario starts when the level begins?
A) Click on the yellow door with a 1 on it.
Q) What's a secondary entrance?
A) It allows a door/pipe to place Mario in the middle of a level instead of the beginning when entering a door/pipe.
Q) When Mario runs up a hill, the screen won't follow him! What should I do?
A) In Lunar Magic, click on the Mario head in the toolbar. Where it says "Layer 1 (FG) Vertical Scrolling", choose "Vertical scrolling at will".
Q) Nooo! I was editing the MAP16. When I started the game/chose another level, the MAP16 was gone! I saved, but it's gone! What did I do wrong?
A) Saving the level won't save the MAP16. In order to save it, enter the 16x16 editor and press F9.
Q) I'm making a level, but when I go too high in it, the background gets messed up. How do I fix this?
A) Play around with the "BG Initial Position" value until it looks good.
Q) How do I edit the title screen level?
A) Edit level C7. In order to change Mario's movements, look HERE
Q) How do I edit the introduction level?
A) Edit level C5. Note: If you have installed the optional Sprite 19 hack (by pressing Shift+F8) and Mario starts on a submap, level 1C5 will be used instead.
OVERWORLD EDITING
-------------------------
Q: How can I change the events?
A: You can change the events by opening the Overworld window, click on Edit in the bar and then on Layer 2 Event Mode for editing the paths to appear if the level is finished.
You can change the events then by pressing Page Up or Page Down, if you want to delete them, mark them and press the delete button.
To create new ones, you have to open the Layer 2 Event Tile Selector, scroll to page 8 and you will see the tiles for the events.
Just paste them were the path should go, but don't forget to change the layer 1 path, too.
Because this is the way Mario moves, after the level is finished.
To change the layer 1 events, just click on the Layer 1 16x16 Event Mode and press 5, then you will see the green lines, these are the path Mario goes.
If you want to delete them, just mark them and then press delete, to do new one, just open the 16x16 Tile Selector.
Now paste your paths you want to have.
Q) Some levels cannot be accessed from the overworld. What should I do?
A) Only levels 0h-24h and 101h-13Bh are accessable from the overworld. You should use these levels carefully and put the sub-levels between 25h and 100h / 13Ch and 1FFh. If you need to move a level, go to the level you want to move. Click on File>Save level to ROM. (Clicking in the toolbar won't work.) In the 2nd box, enter the new level number. (Don't touch the first one!) Click on OK. Now, you can delete the original and make something else there.
Q) I would like to allow the player save if s/he beats a certain level. How do I do that?
A) Highlight the level and open the "Modify level tile settings" dialog. Check the box that says "Save Prompt" and click on OK.
Q) How do I disable the Save Prompt on castles, ghost houses and such?
A) In the overworld editor, click on Overworld > Extra Options. Uncheck the box that says "Bring up a save prompt..." and click on OK.
Q) How do you change Mario's movements?
A) Click on View>Layer 1 Mario Paths and enter the Layer 1 16x16 editor.
GRAPHICS
------------
Q) How do I edit the graphics?
A) First, export the graphics from the ROM. Do that by opening Lunar Magic and clicking on the red mushroom in the toolbar. Then, open your tile editor. Make the changes there and save. Then, click on the green mushroom in Lunar Magic to save them to the ROM.
Q) What is a tile editor?
A) It's a program to edit the graphics of a ROM. You can get one at www.zophar.com. I recommend YY-CHR.
Q) Help! When I open the ROM in the tile editor, all I see is garbage. What to do?
A) Don't open the SMW rom itself. When you exported the graphics in LM, it saved them to one large file or several small files in ".bin" format in the directory "Graphics". Load that file/those files instead.
Q) I loaded a .bin file, but it still shows up as a garbage! What to do now?
A) You have most likely got the wrong format. Change the format to "SNES 4BPP" (Note that it should NOT be "SNES 3BPP")
Q) Where's the title screen graphics, the font and some other things? And what's that garbage near the end of the file?
A) There are two "garbage parts". The first one is the graphics of the rotating platform in some of the boss battles. Note that that format is unsupported by most tile editors. The second one that looks less like garbage is the Layer 3 graphics (status bar, title and some other stuff). In order to make them look correctly, change the mode to "GB 2BPP".
Q) When I load up the ROM in a tile editor, the palettes are wrong! What do I do?
A) If you are using YY-CHR, open Zsnes (not sure if it works with other emulators), go to a place where you can find the graphics you want to edit and make a save state. Open YY-CHR and click on the button with a console and an arrow pointing down. Load the save state you just made and it's palettes should be loaded into the program. I don't know if there's such a feature for other tile editors.
Q) How do I change the colors?
A) In Lunar Magic, click on the star in the toolbar.
Q) I'm making a level that requires an unique palette. Is it possible to give a level it's very own palette?
A) Yes. Click on Level > Enable Custom Palette
Q) I've got a grass level with Rexes, but I want it to be a dungeon level with Blaarghs! How do I change it?
A) Click on the blue poisonous mushroom (next to Mario's head) and choose whatever you want to.
Q) I want half of the graphics from one set and the other half from another set. How do I do that?
A) A graphics set contains 4 graphics files. In order to make a mix of two (or more) sets, you have to know the number of the 4 graphics files. Once you have your four numbers, click on the red poison mushroom (next to the SMB3 brick). Activate super GFX bypass and choose the four numbers in the four lists at the top. The same for sprites, but they use the bottom four lists instead.
Q) Where can I find the GFX File numbers?
A) Here.
Q) What's ExGFX?
A) ExGFX stands for "Extra Graphics" and are simply extra graphics files (as mentioned above). In order to use them, you have to know their number and input them to the window mentioned above.
Q) Where can I find ExGFX?
A) Try the ExGFX Workshop.
Q) How to insert the ExGFX to the ROM?
A) Make a new folder called "ExGraphics". Put the .bin files there. The rest of the files (if there are any) should be put in the rom folder itself. Then, click on the yellow mushroom in Lunar Magic. (It's recommended that you export and insert the original graphics once before doing this.) Ok. Now you have the extra graphics files in your ROM. Time to make the level use them. You need to use the Super GFX bypass (mentioned above) In order to get the graphics file numbers, look in the ExGraphics folder. The files you added there should be called "ExGFX###.bin" where ### is a number. Those numbers are the ones you seek. Ok. The level uses the graphics now. Now you need to fix some blocks that uses these graphics. If the exgfx came with some Map16 files, you can use them. Otherwise, you have to do the Map16 yourself. To load Map16 files, open the 16x16 editor and go to a free page. Press F3 to load the Map16 files and F9 to save! Congratulations! You added your exgfx to the ROM!
Q) I would like to make an enemy look like this in this level and look like that in that level. How do I do that?
A) Use ExGFX.
Q) I want Luigi to look different, like in SMAS+SMW, but I can't find his graphics. Where are they?
A) In SMW, Mario and Luigi uses the same graphics (but different palettes). Unless you're using ASM, it's impossible to give them separate graphics. If you still want them to look different, hack SMAS+SMW instead.
Q) How do I make my own tile animations?
A) First, you need to choose a graphics file containing the animations. You can use both normal files and ExGFX files. When you have chosen one, open the Super GFX Bypass window (the red poisonous mushroom next to the SMB3 block). Activate the bypass and choose the file you want in the extended animation list (the bottom one). Now, open the 8x8 editor. Press CTRL+Shift+Page Down. Scroll down to the fifth page. The bottom half of the page should be the file you selected. Now, open the "Extended Animation Frames" window. Choose an unused entry. Next, choose what kind of animation you want. If you would just like a normal animation, then choose normal. Now, you need to choose what kind of animation you want. Then, choose the destination tile number (can be found in the 8x8 editor). It has to be within the first four pages. Then, you need to choose the tiles to change the destination tile into during the animation. (Has to be within page 5 or 6.) When you have filled all of the frames, click on OK and save.
Q) How do I make my own palette animations?
A) Open the "Extended Animation Frames" window. Choose an unused entry. Next, choose what kind of animation you want. Now, choose "Palette". Then, choose the destination color number (can be found in palette editor). Then, you need to enter the colors to change the destination color into during the animation. (Has to be SNES RGB values, which can be found in the palette editor.) When you have filled all of the frames, click on OK and save.
Q) How do I replace the existing animations?
A) You can't. Don't try.
CUSTOM BLOCKS
-----------
Q) I've seen people use blocks in their hack that doesn't exist in SMW. How do I add such blocks?
A) There is a program called "Block Tool". It comes with 350 pre-programmed blocks that can be inserted to your ROM. Block Tool can be found HERE.
Q) I want a block that I can't find in Block Tool. How can I make my own?
A) You have to use ASM. (Read more about ASM in the Misc. section)
Q) How do I use Block Tool?
A) A Block Tool tutorial can be found here.
EASTER EGGS
-----------
Q) What's an easter egg?
A) An easter egg could be a hidden text, a hidden function, a hidden movie or something. Something hidden and secret.
Q) How do I edit the title screen?
A) Close Lunar Magic. Open it again and load a ROM. STOP! Don't do anything after that! Now, instead of start editing, type "Chelsea" without the "s. (Note that it's case sensitive.) The status bar should now say "Chelsea is *really* cute". Now, open the Overworld editor. Click on File > Chelsea's Bonus Menu > Load Title Screen. Now, edit it and save.
Q) How do I edit the credits?
A) Same as above, but choose "Load Credits" instead.
Q) How do I edit the title screen demo?
A) First, open level C7. That's the title screen level. Make it look like you want it to. Now, save a copy of the level to a level that can be accessed from the overworld. Open the overworld editor and change the first level in the game to the level you just saved. Save and close down LM. Open it again and enter the Chelsea easter egg mentioned above. Go to the overworld editor and click CTRL+P. An ASM hack should now be installed to the ROM. Open Zsnes (Yes, Zsnes. No other emulator will work) and load your ROM in it. Play the title screen level and move like you want Mario to move in the demo. When you're finished, press ESC and make a save state. Quit Zsnes and go back to LM again. (If you closed it, you have to enter the Chelsea easter egg again.) Go to the overworld editor and click CTRL+R. When you are asked for it, find the save state you made and double click on it. Don't close LM unless you would like to enter the easter egg again later. Load the game and see if the movie looks right. If it doesn't, start the game and record a new one. If it's OK, go back to the overworld editor and press CTRL+U to uninstall the ASM. (This is very important.) There you go! A new demo movie!
Q) How do I lock the ROM?
A) WARNING: Make a backup copy of the ROM before you lock it! Close Lunar Magic. Open it again and load a ROM and open the Overworld Editor. STOP! Don't do anything after that! Now, instead of start editing, type "ChibiMoon" without the "s. (Note that it's case sensitive.) The status bar should now say "ChibiMoon is cute!". Now, go back to the level editor and press CTRL+E. A window should pop up. Enter the name of the game (not more than 21 characters) and press OK.
Q) Where do I enter the Chelsea and ChibiMoon codes?
A) Directly into the window. There won't be any textbox or anything.
SUPPORTED GAMES
-----------------------
Q) What games are supported by Lunar Magic?
A) The american and japanese version 1.0 of SMW and the SMW part of the american version 1.0 of Super Mario Allstars + Super Mario World. Note that certain functions, like text editing, only supports by the american 1.0 SMW rom.
Q) How do I load Super Mario Advance 2 (GameBoy Advance) in Lunar Magic?
A) You can't.
IPS
---
Q) What's an IPS?
A) IPS (International Patching System) is a file that contains the differences between an original and a modified file. If you make an IPS patch of your game, it won't contain the hack, but the DIFFERENCES between your hack and the original. If someone patches it to a ROM, it will be changed into your hack (as long as you have got the same game/version ). When you release a game, you have to release it as an IPS patch unless you would like to break the laws and be banned.
Q) What do I need to patch a ROM or create an IPS patch?
A) You need the unmodified ROM and an IPS patching program. A good patching program is LIPS (Lunar IPS) that can be found here.
MUSIC
-----
Q) I've noticed that some hacks have got SMB3 music. How do I do that?
A) I suggest that you base your hack on Demo World 3. It's Demo World, but with SMB3 music added. You can download it HERE.
Warning: Unless you change it manually through Hex Editing, this hack will make some sounds sound wierd. The Bowser battle's music, for instance, will be completely screwed up.
Q) I've noticed that some hacks have got SMB1 music. How do I do that?
A) Get Demo World 3 (read above) and patch it with Demo World 3 (SMB1 Version).
Warning: Unless you change it manually through Hex Editing, this hack might make some sounds sound wierd.
Q) I want to make my own music. Where can I find a music editor?
A) One is in the works, but there's not any released ones.
DEMO WORLD: THE LEGEND CONTINUES
-----
Q) Where can I find DW:TLC?
A) At FuSoYa's site.
Q) The patch seems to be corrupted.
A) You know, there's a handy thing called "Read Me File".
Q) Where can I find a DW:TLC guide?
A) HERE.
Q) How do I add the pipes from DW:TLC to my hack?
A) Learn ASM and program them yourself.
MISC.
-----
Q) What's ASM?
A) ASM (Assambley) is a low-level programming language that the CPU uses.
Q) Where can I learn ASM?
A) A basic tutorial can be found here.
Q) How do you edit how sprites works? / How do you add new sprites?
A) You can't add new sprites (yet), but you can edit used and unused ones with Mario World Reconfigurator.
Q) How do you edit the bosses' HP?
A) Morton's, Roy's and Ludwig's HP data is known. Those three are at D1CD. (Note: There's currently no known way to edit them individually)
FAQ Credits:
Written by Smallhacker.
Copied by Neo
Thanks to Hidden Mario for the Overworld Event question and answer.
Remember. HELP FILE IS GOOD! READ IT FIRST!!!!
Another note: This FAQ is far from finished. Feel free to post your additions/comments to it.
Press CTRL+F if you would like to search. (Works in IE and FireFox, at least)
Getting Started
Level Editing
Overworld Editing
Graphics
Custom Blocks
Easter Eggs
Supported games
IPS
Music
Demo World: The Legend Continues
Misc.
GETTING STARTED
---------------
Q) Where do I get a ROM?
A) Search on www.google.com, www.altavista.com or another search engine. Don't ask about them on these boards unless you want to be banned.
Q) What's an emulator?
A) An emulator reads the program code from the game and allows you to play it on the computer. The two best SNES emulators are ZSNES and SNES9X. You can find them here.
Q) Where can I find Lunar Magic?
A) At FuSoYa's site or in the commons.
Q) The ROM I downloaded have got the extension ".ZIP". I can play it in my emulator, but I can't load it in Lunar Magic What should I do?
A) The file is compressed. You need a decompresser like WinZIP or WinRAR to decompress it. (Later versions of Windows have got this as a built in function.)
Q) The ROM I downloaded have got the extension ".RAR". I can't play it in my emulator nor use it in Lunar Magic. What should I do?
A) The file is compressed. You need a decompresser like WinRAR (not WinZIP) to decompress it.
Q) Lunar Magic says that the author has restricted level access. What's this?
A) You can lock the ROM from editing with Lunar Magic. That way, it's impossible to load it.
Q) Some people say that it's possible to unlock locked ROMs!
A) NO! Schhhh! There is no way... They are... Uhmmm... Yes, they're lying! It's... not... uh... true... Trust me... Please...?
Q) When I try to open Lunar Magic, it says that it has been modified and closes. What should I do?
A) Redownload Lunar Magic.
LEVEL EDITING
-------------
Q) How do I move the enemies?
A) Click on the Koopa shell in the toolbar. When you would like to change the level again, click on the ground in the toolbar.
Q) I made a level with a pipe/door in it, but when I enter it in the game, I'm taken to the bonus room! What should I do?
A) You need to set up a "Screen Exit". First, click on the blue door in the tool bar. Now, the level should be devided into certain parts. These parts are called "screens". Every door and pipe inside the same screen will take you to the same location. Now, click on the yellow door with a + and - sign. Choose the screen where the pipe/door is and enter the number of the level it should lead to. Make sure that the secondary entrance box is UNCHECKED.
Q) How do I change where Mario starts when the level begins?
A) Click on the yellow door with a 1 on it.
Q) What's a secondary entrance?
A) It allows a door/pipe to place Mario in the middle of a level instead of the beginning when entering a door/pipe.
Q) When Mario runs up a hill, the screen won't follow him! What should I do?
A) In Lunar Magic, click on the Mario head in the toolbar. Where it says "Layer 1 (FG) Vertical Scrolling", choose "Vertical scrolling at will".
Q) Nooo! I was editing the MAP16. When I started the game/chose another level, the MAP16 was gone! I saved, but it's gone! What did I do wrong?
A) Saving the level won't save the MAP16. In order to save it, enter the 16x16 editor and press F9.
Q) I'm making a level, but when I go too high in it, the background gets messed up. How do I fix this?
A) Play around with the "BG Initial Position" value until it looks good.
Q) How do I edit the title screen level?
A) Edit level C7. In order to change Mario's movements, look HERE
Q) How do I edit the introduction level?
A) Edit level C5. Note: If you have installed the optional Sprite 19 hack (by pressing Shift+F8) and Mario starts on a submap, level 1C5 will be used instead.
OVERWORLD EDITING
-------------------------
Q: How can I change the events?
A: You can change the events by opening the Overworld window, click on Edit in the bar and then on Layer 2 Event Mode for editing the paths to appear if the level is finished.
You can change the events then by pressing Page Up or Page Down, if you want to delete them, mark them and press the delete button.
To create new ones, you have to open the Layer 2 Event Tile Selector, scroll to page 8 and you will see the tiles for the events.
Just paste them were the path should go, but don't forget to change the layer 1 path, too.
Because this is the way Mario moves, after the level is finished.
To change the layer 1 events, just click on the Layer 1 16x16 Event Mode and press 5, then you will see the green lines, these are the path Mario goes.
If you want to delete them, just mark them and then press delete, to do new one, just open the 16x16 Tile Selector.
Now paste your paths you want to have.
Q) Some levels cannot be accessed from the overworld. What should I do?
A) Only levels 0h-24h and 101h-13Bh are accessable from the overworld. You should use these levels carefully and put the sub-levels between 25h and 100h / 13Ch and 1FFh. If you need to move a level, go to the level you want to move. Click on File>Save level to ROM. (Clicking in the toolbar won't work.) In the 2nd box, enter the new level number. (Don't touch the first one!) Click on OK. Now, you can delete the original and make something else there.
Q) I would like to allow the player save if s/he beats a certain level. How do I do that?
A) Highlight the level and open the "Modify level tile settings" dialog. Check the box that says "Save Prompt" and click on OK.
Q) How do I disable the Save Prompt on castles, ghost houses and such?
A) In the overworld editor, click on Overworld > Extra Options. Uncheck the box that says "Bring up a save prompt..." and click on OK.
Q) How do you change Mario's movements?
A) Click on View>Layer 1 Mario Paths and enter the Layer 1 16x16 editor.
GRAPHICS
------------
Q) How do I edit the graphics?
A) First, export the graphics from the ROM. Do that by opening Lunar Magic and clicking on the red mushroom in the toolbar. Then, open your tile editor. Make the changes there and save. Then, click on the green mushroom in Lunar Magic to save them to the ROM.
Q) What is a tile editor?
A) It's a program to edit the graphics of a ROM. You can get one at www.zophar.com. I recommend YY-CHR.
Q) Help! When I open the ROM in the tile editor, all I see is garbage. What to do?
A) Don't open the SMW rom itself. When you exported the graphics in LM, it saved them to one large file or several small files in ".bin" format in the directory "Graphics". Load that file/those files instead.
Q) I loaded a .bin file, but it still shows up as a garbage! What to do now?
A) You have most likely got the wrong format. Change the format to "SNES 4BPP" (Note that it should NOT be "SNES 3BPP")
Q) Where's the title screen graphics, the font and some other things? And what's that garbage near the end of the file?
A) There are two "garbage parts". The first one is the graphics of the rotating platform in some of the boss battles. Note that that format is unsupported by most tile editors. The second one that looks less like garbage is the Layer 3 graphics (status bar, title and some other stuff). In order to make them look correctly, change the mode to "GB 2BPP".
Q) When I load up the ROM in a tile editor, the palettes are wrong! What do I do?
A) If you are using YY-CHR, open Zsnes (not sure if it works with other emulators), go to a place where you can find the graphics you want to edit and make a save state. Open YY-CHR and click on the button with a console and an arrow pointing down. Load the save state you just made and it's palettes should be loaded into the program. I don't know if there's such a feature for other tile editors.
Q) How do I change the colors?
A) In Lunar Magic, click on the star in the toolbar.
Q) I'm making a level that requires an unique palette. Is it possible to give a level it's very own palette?
A) Yes. Click on Level > Enable Custom Palette
Q) I've got a grass level with Rexes, but I want it to be a dungeon level with Blaarghs! How do I change it?
A) Click on the blue poisonous mushroom (next to Mario's head) and choose whatever you want to.
Q) I want half of the graphics from one set and the other half from another set. How do I do that?
A) A graphics set contains 4 graphics files. In order to make a mix of two (or more) sets, you have to know the number of the 4 graphics files. Once you have your four numbers, click on the red poison mushroom (next to the SMB3 brick). Activate super GFX bypass and choose the four numbers in the four lists at the top. The same for sprites, but they use the bottom four lists instead.
Q) Where can I find the GFX File numbers?
A) Here.
Q) What's ExGFX?
A) ExGFX stands for "Extra Graphics" and are simply extra graphics files (as mentioned above). In order to use them, you have to know their number and input them to the window mentioned above.
Q) Where can I find ExGFX?
A) Try the ExGFX Workshop.
Q) How to insert the ExGFX to the ROM?
A) Make a new folder called "ExGraphics". Put the .bin files there. The rest of the files (if there are any) should be put in the rom folder itself. Then, click on the yellow mushroom in Lunar Magic. (It's recommended that you export and insert the original graphics once before doing this.) Ok. Now you have the extra graphics files in your ROM. Time to make the level use them. You need to use the Super GFX bypass (mentioned above) In order to get the graphics file numbers, look in the ExGraphics folder. The files you added there should be called "ExGFX###.bin" where ### is a number. Those numbers are the ones you seek. Ok. The level uses the graphics now. Now you need to fix some blocks that uses these graphics. If the exgfx came with some Map16 files, you can use them. Otherwise, you have to do the Map16 yourself. To load Map16 files, open the 16x16 editor and go to a free page. Press F3 to load the Map16 files and F9 to save! Congratulations! You added your exgfx to the ROM!
Q) I would like to make an enemy look like this in this level and look like that in that level. How do I do that?
A) Use ExGFX.
Q) I want Luigi to look different, like in SMAS+SMW, but I can't find his graphics. Where are they?
A) In SMW, Mario and Luigi uses the same graphics (but different palettes). Unless you're using ASM, it's impossible to give them separate graphics. If you still want them to look different, hack SMAS+SMW instead.
Q) How do I make my own tile animations?
A) First, you need to choose a graphics file containing the animations. You can use both normal files and ExGFX files. When you have chosen one, open the Super GFX Bypass window (the red poisonous mushroom next to the SMB3 block). Activate the bypass and choose the file you want in the extended animation list (the bottom one). Now, open the 8x8 editor. Press CTRL+Shift+Page Down. Scroll down to the fifth page. The bottom half of the page should be the file you selected. Now, open the "Extended Animation Frames" window. Choose an unused entry. Next, choose what kind of animation you want. If you would just like a normal animation, then choose normal. Now, you need to choose what kind of animation you want. Then, choose the destination tile number (can be found in the 8x8 editor). It has to be within the first four pages. Then, you need to choose the tiles to change the destination tile into during the animation. (Has to be within page 5 or 6.) When you have filled all of the frames, click on OK and save.
Q) How do I make my own palette animations?
A) Open the "Extended Animation Frames" window. Choose an unused entry. Next, choose what kind of animation you want. Now, choose "Palette". Then, choose the destination color number (can be found in palette editor). Then, you need to enter the colors to change the destination color into during the animation. (Has to be SNES RGB values, which can be found in the palette editor.) When you have filled all of the frames, click on OK and save.
Q) How do I replace the existing animations?
A) You can't. Don't try.
CUSTOM BLOCKS
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Q) I've seen people use blocks in their hack that doesn't exist in SMW. How do I add such blocks?
A) There is a program called "Block Tool". It comes with 350 pre-programmed blocks that can be inserted to your ROM. Block Tool can be found HERE.
Q) I want a block that I can't find in Block Tool. How can I make my own?
A) You have to use ASM. (Read more about ASM in the Misc. section)
Q) How do I use Block Tool?
A) A Block Tool tutorial can be found here.
EASTER EGGS
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Q) What's an easter egg?
A) An easter egg could be a hidden text, a hidden function, a hidden movie or something. Something hidden and secret.
Q) How do I edit the title screen?
A) Close Lunar Magic. Open it again and load a ROM. STOP! Don't do anything after that! Now, instead of start editing, type "Chelsea" without the "s. (Note that it's case sensitive.) The status bar should now say "Chelsea is *really* cute". Now, open the Overworld editor. Click on File > Chelsea's Bonus Menu > Load Title Screen. Now, edit it and save.
Q) How do I edit the credits?
A) Same as above, but choose "Load Credits" instead.
Q) How do I edit the title screen demo?
A) First, open level C7. That's the title screen level. Make it look like you want it to. Now, save a copy of the level to a level that can be accessed from the overworld. Open the overworld editor and change the first level in the game to the level you just saved. Save and close down LM. Open it again and enter the Chelsea easter egg mentioned above. Go to the overworld editor and click CTRL+P. An ASM hack should now be installed to the ROM. Open Zsnes (Yes, Zsnes. No other emulator will work) and load your ROM in it. Play the title screen level and move like you want Mario to move in the demo. When you're finished, press ESC and make a save state. Quit Zsnes and go back to LM again. (If you closed it, you have to enter the Chelsea easter egg again.) Go to the overworld editor and click CTRL+R. When you are asked for it, find the save state you made and double click on it. Don't close LM unless you would like to enter the easter egg again later. Load the game and see if the movie looks right. If it doesn't, start the game and record a new one. If it's OK, go back to the overworld editor and press CTRL+U to uninstall the ASM. (This is very important.) There you go! A new demo movie!
Q) How do I lock the ROM?
A) WARNING: Make a backup copy of the ROM before you lock it! Close Lunar Magic. Open it again and load a ROM and open the Overworld Editor. STOP! Don't do anything after that! Now, instead of start editing, type "ChibiMoon" without the "s. (Note that it's case sensitive.) The status bar should now say "ChibiMoon is cute!". Now, go back to the level editor and press CTRL+E. A window should pop up. Enter the name of the game (not more than 21 characters) and press OK.
Q) Where do I enter the Chelsea and ChibiMoon codes?
A) Directly into the window. There won't be any textbox or anything.
SUPPORTED GAMES
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Q) What games are supported by Lunar Magic?
A) The american and japanese version 1.0 of SMW and the SMW part of the american version 1.0 of Super Mario Allstars + Super Mario World. Note that certain functions, like text editing, only supports by the american 1.0 SMW rom.
Q) How do I load Super Mario Advance 2 (GameBoy Advance) in Lunar Magic?
A) You can't.
IPS
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Q) What's an IPS?
A) IPS (International Patching System) is a file that contains the differences between an original and a modified file. If you make an IPS patch of your game, it won't contain the hack, but the DIFFERENCES between your hack and the original. If someone patches it to a ROM, it will be changed into your hack (as long as you have got the same game/version ). When you release a game, you have to release it as an IPS patch unless you would like to break the laws and be banned.
Q) What do I need to patch a ROM or create an IPS patch?
A) You need the unmodified ROM and an IPS patching program. A good patching program is LIPS (Lunar IPS) that can be found here.
MUSIC
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Q) I've noticed that some hacks have got SMB3 music. How do I do that?
A) I suggest that you base your hack on Demo World 3. It's Demo World, but with SMB3 music added. You can download it HERE.
Warning: Unless you change it manually through Hex Editing, this hack will make some sounds sound wierd. The Bowser battle's music, for instance, will be completely screwed up.
Q) I've noticed that some hacks have got SMB1 music. How do I do that?
A) Get Demo World 3 (read above) and patch it with Demo World 3 (SMB1 Version).
Warning: Unless you change it manually through Hex Editing, this hack might make some sounds sound wierd.
Q) I want to make my own music. Where can I find a music editor?
A) One is in the works, but there's not any released ones.
DEMO WORLD: THE LEGEND CONTINUES
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Q) Where can I find DW:TLC?
A) At FuSoYa's site.
Q) The patch seems to be corrupted.
A) You know, there's a handy thing called "Read Me File".
Q) Where can I find a DW:TLC guide?
A) HERE.
Q) How do I add the pipes from DW:TLC to my hack?
A) Learn ASM and program them yourself.
MISC.
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Q) What's ASM?
A) ASM (Assambley) is a low-level programming language that the CPU uses.
Q) Where can I learn ASM?
A) A basic tutorial can be found here.
Q) How do you edit how sprites works? / How do you add new sprites?
A) You can't add new sprites (yet), but you can edit used and unused ones with Mario World Reconfigurator.
Q) How do you edit the bosses' HP?
A) Morton's, Roy's and Ludwig's HP data is known. Those three are at D1CD. (Note: There's currently no known way to edit them individually)
FAQ Credits:
Written by Smallhacker.
Copied by Neo
Thanks to Hidden Mario for the Overworld Event question and answer.
