Tile Editing - Where to begin?

Tile Editing - Where to begin?
by Tormenter on 2008-06-12 (#34132)

I want to learn how to edit the graphics etc. Where do I begin? I downloaded Tile Molester, I can make out a few sprites here and there, but really no clue where to go after that. Could someone throw me a bone? Thanks!

by Bregalad on 2008-06-13 (#34135)

And what are you excpeting us to answer ? If you have a tile editor and if you can use it I don't know what is your problem.

by Tormenter on 2008-06-13 (#34137)

Bregalad wrote:
And what are you excpeting us to answer ? If you have a tile editor and if you can use it I don't know what is your problem.

Well I heard there is like 8x8, 16x16 etc, not sure what all that really means. And is there a way to make everything line up on the screen? Like when I open a rom on a title screen, say there is a chunk up top, then a chunk down to the left 2 lines, etc

by Bregalad on 2008-06-13 (#34138)

Then you should read doccuments about how the NES graphics works, doccuments are avaliable on the [url=nesdev.com]nesdev[/url] main page or http://www.romhacking.net.

by tokumaru on 2008-06-13 (#34139)

If you just want to draw some graphics and display them on the NES (this is the first thing I did waaaaay back when I was getting started), you can use the tile editor to create the tiles, and then a program to arrange them as in a NES screen. There is an old program that does this called NSA (NES Screen Arranger), and I believe tepples has some tools for that too. I've never used tepples' solution, but I believe that NSA includes some code to display your creations, so that you can assemble a ROM and see the results in an emulator even if you don't know how to code. That should get you started.

You gotta know that the tiles are just these small 8x8 pixel blocks that are used to compose bigger images. Each of them can only use 4 colors (3 + a transparent one), but by using palettes, these 4 colors can be anything you want. Games can arrange the tiles however they like, so there is no reason for you to think about "16x16" or things like that now. I suggest you run a few games in an emulator with good debugging capabilities, such as FCEUXD, and enable the PPU viewer (will show you tiles and palettes) and the name table viewer. Try to understand how the image is formed from those things.

by Tormenter on 2008-06-13 (#34158)

tokumaru wrote:
If you just want to draw some graphics and display them on the NES (this is the first thing I did waaaaay back when I was getting started), you can use the tile editor to create the tiles, and then a program to arrange them as in a NES screen. There is an old program that does this called NSA (NES Screen Arranger), and I believe tepples has some tools for that too. I've never used tepples' solution, but I believe that NSA includes some code to display your creations, so that you can assemble a ROM and see the results in an emulator even if you don't know how to code. That should get you started.

You gotta know that the tiles are just these small 8x8 pixel blocks that are used to compose bigger images. Each of them can only use 4 colors (3 + a transparent one), but by using palettes, these 4 colors can be anything you want. Games can arrange the tiles however they like, so there is no reason for you to think about "16x16" or things like that now. I suggest you run a few games in an emulator with good debugging capabilities, such as FCEUXD, and enable the PPU viewer (will show you tiles and palettes) and the name table viewer. Try to understand how the image is formed from those things.

I went to try that NSA, but I guess it does not work with XP, it gives an error every time i start it =( hehe Also tried it in a dos window

EDIT: Works with DOSbox

by tepples on 2008-06-14 (#34168)

NSA didn't work for me on Windows 2000 either, which is why I wrote 8name.

by Tormenter on 2008-06-14 (#34177)

tepples wrote:
NSA didn't work for me on Windows 2000 either, which is why I wrote 8name.

Heya, is there any wya to make that full screen? It opens up really tiny for me. Thanks!

by tepples on 2008-06-14 (#34180)

Tormenter wrote:
Heya, is there any wya to make [8TED/8name] full screen? It opens up really tiny for me.

Are you using a CRT (old boxy display) or an LCD (flat panel)? How big is it?

by Tormenter on 2008-06-14 (#34189)

tepples wrote:
Tormenter wrote:
Heya, is there any wya to make [8TED/8name] full screen? It opens up really tiny for me.

Are you using a CRT (old boxy display) or an LCD (flat panel)? How big is it?

19" wide screen lcd

by tepples on 2008-06-14 (#34200)

Why would you want an application that runs in full screen when you have a wide screen? The proportions would be even wronger than they are right now (although possibly closer to correct for a PAL NES), and your LCD would probably blur the pixels. I don't even know how many consumer monitors understand the 512x384 mode that 8TED uses.

Or am I horribly misunderstanding something?

EDIT: Try the new version of 8TED. I added a command-line switch to force full screen mode.

by Tormenter on 2008-06-14 (#34205)

tepples wrote:
Why would you want an application that runs in full screen when you have a wide screen? The proportions would be even wronger than they are right now (although possibly closer to correct for a PAL NES), and your LCD would probably blur the pixels. I don't even know how many consumer monitors understand the 512x384 mode that 8TED uses.

Or am I horribly misunderstanding something?

EDIT: Try the new version of 8TED. I added a command-line switch to force full screen mode.

Because it was so small it is hard to see =)

Are there any editors that will display the images as they are shown on screen? Or that will display the screen the way it is actually shown on the tv and edit them that way?

by tokumaru on 2008-06-14 (#34208)

Just a quick note about old DOS programs: You can run them very easily with DOSBox, a great DOS emulator for various platforms, including Windows.

by Bregalad on 2008-06-15 (#34225)

Hey that's great ! I can eventually run the original Tile Layer ! Major nostalgia !! (what drew me into nesdev some time ago)