Help on Hacking

[Uncle Duke]

I was wondering what downloadable tools there are to hack 2600 games, and what functions they include, and where can I get them, and how easy it is to use them.

[Rhindle The Red]

As it states on AtariAge's 2600 Hack Page, the best place for the info you're looking for is Dan Boris' Atari 2600 Tech Page.

 

You'll need showgfx and editgfx for hacking the images in a 2600 game. You might also want distella for disassembling code and DASM for re-assembling it.

[Uncle Duke]

Thanks, are those files very large? I have a pretty weak pc, and very little hard drive space. And, does hacking involve alot of math and other ceartain tech skills?

[Rhindle The Red]

The files are not large at all. I used to do my hacking on my old 386, so don't worry about any of that. You should have a working knowledge of DOS commands, but it's not hard to pick up if you don't.

 

As for actually hacking, it's a tough question. If you want to get into the code, you should have programming skills. By all accounts programming for the 2600 is one of the hardest things you could try to do, so I wouldn't even attempt it if you don't have a good knowledge of Assembly programming. (In fact, I still haven't attempted it, as I don't.)

 

For graphic hacks, it's much more important that you have artistic skill. It's not easy getting good looking images out of 8 pixel wide sprites. You should understand basics of motion as most character sprites will require animation.

 

The best suggestion I can make is to take a close look at some existing hacks on the AtariAge page I gave above. Compare the hacks with the original to see how the various hackers used the original program to their advantage to fit the new "theme."

 

Good luck.

[Uncle Duke]

Thanks, I downloaded the gfx programs but now the only thing is using them, are there any help files for them located anywhere?

[Uncle Duke]

I hate to bug like this, I meant to put this in my last post, but I was just wondering if the programs were supposed to do this; everytime I try to type in the terminal window of the gfx programs it says the program has terminated. Is that normal? Am I doing something wrong, how do I boot up a games graphics with this program.

[Rhindle The Red]

Put them in their own directory with a .bin file for a game you'd like to hack. (I suggest something easy, like Space Invaders.)

 

Go to a DOS prompt and get to the directory where you put the files.

 

Type and enter "showgfx" then "editgfx". Since you won't actually be running the programs on anything, they should spit out the proper command lines to use them.

 

Try them out on the .bin file you put in that directory.

 

If you have more questions, just let me know.

[Uncle Duke]

Thank you very much, Ill try that.

[Uncle Duke]

Ok, I tried it, on pacman.bin since that was what the example was given on the readme files, and it up with many many XXXX's.

 

for example,

 

XXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXX

 

Stuff like that, that up there really doesnt mean anything but that just for you to know what Im talking about atleast, I got it to show me the graphics, but how do I edit them using the editgfx? I tried what the example said, which was editgfx pacman.txt pacman.bin but it said it couldnt input that. How do I edit those X's?

[Atari-Jess]

well first of all when you have to pick a start and a end number use 0000 and FFFF then look through the entire file and look for stuff that looks like pacman the other X's are the code and are not the graphics, fool around with the other X's and you will screw up that game and those programs will not change colours only the shapes

[Atari-Jess]

also when you see pacman or a ghost, just change that part there to hack the graphics, you wont be able to change the mazes that will involve programming, the gfx programs do not allow you to change very much and they cannot change "missile graphics" like the man in adventure as they are not sprites like pac man or mario

[Uncle Duke]

I still dont fully understand, what commands would I use to hack the graphics, and are the spaces in between the X's the graphics?

[Atari-Jess]

since there is a way to turn the bin into a txt file you gotta look through the txt file untill you see the graphic you want to change then change it the way you want to i forget what one is the graphics and what not though

[Uncle Duke]

Also, forgot to mention in the last post, how can you really tell what pacman looks like in the jummble of X's and stuff, what should I be looking for?

[Uncle Duke]

How do I convert the file to a text document?

[Uncle Duke]

How do I convert the file to a text document?

[Rhindle The Red]

Well, I don't have that .bin just now, so here's what Mario from Mario Bros. looks like:

code:

---

08f9 |  XX    |

08fa | XXX |

08fb |XXXXXX |

08fc | XX |

08fd | X X |

08fe | X XXXX |

08ff | X X XXX|

0900 | XXX |

0901 | XXXXXX |

0902 | XXXX X|

0903 | XX X|

0904 | XXXXXXX|

0905 |XXXXXXX |

0906 |XX XXX |

0907 |XX XXX X|

0908 | XXXX X|

0909 | XXX XX|

090a |XXXXXXXX|

090b |XXXX |

090c |X |

090d |X |

090e | |

090f | |

---

 

In Pac-Man (as with a lot of 2600 games) I beleive the graphics are upside down. This will make it harder to find.

 

Try looking for the numbers first. They may be easier to spot and you can practice hacking them as easily as the characters.

 

And the command to make a text file would be something like this:

 

showgfx pacman.bin 0 4096 > pacman.txt