How to Edit 16x16 tiles ver. 1.2, by David Timko
How to Edit 16x16 tiles ver. 1.2, by David Timko (timko@inetport.com)
1. Introducton
2. What editor can edit 16x16 tiles?
3. How to Edit Them
1. Introduction
Tiles that are 10 by 12 pixels (commonly referred to as 16x16 tiles, but are really 10x12 tiles) are commonly used in SNES games. Such examples are the SNES Final Fantasies (FF4, FF5, and FF6), the SNES Dragon Quest/ Dragon Warrior Series (DQ 3 remake, DQ 1 & 2 remake, DQ5, and DQ 6) and others. In reality, 10x12 tiles are not composed together in one tile, as many people believe. Instead, they are actually composed as 3 tiles, but are represented by only one address in the SNES. This makes it possible for the large characters seen in some games. These tiles are usually found in 1 bitplane mode.
2. What Editor can Edit them??
Just about any editor can edit them, but I recommend X-Char (found at: http://www.parodius.com/~bigwierd/) or the SNES Sprite Editor (found at: http://www.public.iastate.edu/~jfries/DQ.htm). These sprite editors are capable of viewing tiles in 1 bitplane mode. This is useful, as the tiles are usually found in 1 bitplane mode.
3. How to Edit Them
Okay, here comes the hard part. How in the blazes do you edit them things?? Well, simple. Here's how the 16x16 tile format works.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
| |This is the end of the | |
| | first half | |
| | | |
| | | |
|This is the beginning |-----------------------|This is the end of the |
| of the first half | This is the beginning | second half |
| | of the second half | |
| | | |
| | | |
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As you can see, the tile is split into 2 12x8 halves. You can do double letters easily by using one letter as the first half, and the second letter as the second half! This makes double letters easily without having to scrunch 'em up in one tile. To edit them, draw one (or two, if you're trying the "double letter method") 12x8 tile on paper (so you know what you're doing) and replace the japanese tile with the english one. If you are making only one letter for that tile, MAKE SURE the second half is completely blank (or else you'll still have japanese remnants in your tile!!) Some japanese chars have part of the tile as the first half, and part as the second half. You can do this too as a method as making wide tiles.
Finding characters of these large tiles are easy. Remember that the entire thing (all 3 parts) count in a hexeditor as ONE TILE, so it's much easier than you think. From where the tile block ends (and the gabbledegook begins), count backward from FF (in hex) to where the 10x12's begin. For example, let's say "z" begins at FE (since FF is space), and after that is all ROM code (junk). You would make like this:
FF = space
FE = z
FD = y
FC = x
FB = w
and so on in that manner. But remember, you have to start at the LAST tile in that bunch (other sprites count, too). Also, FF usually is a space, so you will have to count spaces, too. Let's take an example.. The power bar takes up addresses F6 to FE, and "z" was at F5. You would come up with something like this:
FF = space
FE -|
FD |
FC |
FB |
FA |- Power Bar
F9 |
F8 |
F7 |
F6 -|
F5 = z
F4 = y
and so on. This can get confusing, so if you have no clue as to what this is, e-mail me (timko@inetport.com)and I'll help you out. That's all folks! Now, go out and start messing with them tiles!!
