ZOLE - Interaction Loading and a Boost to the Current Stage

Welcome to the first post on my blog. Obviously, this site is primarily directed to (GB/C) Zelda hacking. My current project is a Zelda Oracles (Current vaguely working for Seasons) level editor.

Anywho, level viewing is perfect. It currently loads dungeons (big rooms) and overworld maps (small rooms). There is no saving, but like every other tool, viewing always comes first!

So I finished interaction loading a bit ago. Some might call them sprites, some events, and others NPCs. Interactions is a word I chose to sum up both. Here's some screenshots of what they look like in the rooms.

View the Screenshot (Big Image)
You can view a screenshot showing only 4/16 types of interactions. You might be wondering why they're simple colors, but the opcodes are actually a partial pointer pointing to code in the same bank ($12), which may be followed furthermore. Because actually recreating a Z80 emulator in C# would be out of the picture, the editor just shows the sprites as blocks to show you they're there (These are the 8x8 blocks). The 16x16 blocks actually draw at the position they would appear in-game, as the sprite data contains a position.

This may all seem complicated at first, but you'll see how wonderful this engine is for hacking. We can add trees anywhere, our own dungeon warp points, enemies wherever we want, portals, bosses, events, switches, and many more without a big hassle. For example, here's a small hack I did placing Twin Rova in a regular overworld map.



Flexible enough? To top things off with of good news, sprite sets are nonexistent! This means we can throw whatever we want on any map.

The only real bad news about this game is the compression. The graphics and tileset assembling data is compressed beyond the ability to edit. The level data compression is compressed, but good enough to edit it. Repointing is rather out of the picture (sadly), as the small room's compression type also effects the pointer, but a future feature I will add will allow you to swap rooms to get what you want in a room where you want it. Editing won't be a dream, but flexible enough to make a good hack.

A long post, but you're informed of the project. I hope you readers visit my blog often and catch up on most-likely daily filler info!