Whitewolf8 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 No, this isn't a question, well, you know. It is, but not in the way of me asking how hacks are done. Kind of a thought experiment out of curiosity. So, how do you personally start on a hack after the planning stage? Do you start with the maps? Events? Characters?... Music? Doubt this'll catch on, but whatever, and if this thread isn't appropriate here then my apologies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alfred Kamon Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 (edited) So, this should serve as some "suggestions topic" for those who want to start hacking? Personally, I just tried to polish my hacking skills by experimenting stuff even if I still didn't know what to do with the project. The very first thing I did was a battle animation for Fa and Shiori! And in less than one month, I had pulled together some chapters like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtsNMJG1qDY As you can see, it's really bad compared to the actual MS, but it was something to begin with. OMG DEM MUGS I WAZ SO GUD AT SPRITING Everything was polished/changed completely later (story included) but if I hadn't even tried, I wouldn't have been able to make MS. So yeah, it was never a linear process like "project the whole game -> make". At least in my case. Just try, and try harder, until your skills get good enough to make something satisfying. But in the meantime, do not discourage yourself and keep trying and loving your work no matter what. Edited March 27, 2015 by Alfred Kamon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitewolf8 Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 Haha, thanks, but I'm not actually looking for suggestions or anything. This is just a curiosity to see how everyone starts their own hacks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klokinator Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I always start out by saying "I'm bored." and then go on from there. I usually try to immediately frame some goal, like "I want to make an open-ended map with multiple ways of beating it" or "I think FE7 is too easy but other hard-mode hacks have too much bullshit. I'll try and do one better." For me, making a hack starts with a simple vision and then expands. I'm a bit haphazard though and I'm a person who will draw up an entire doc and then as I follow the doc, change everything slightly but just enough to where the end-product is completely different from how I envisioned it. It's probably because of ADHD or whatever bullshit the american medical association is labeling me now, but it seems to work out alright. My biggest failing is that I burn out sooooo easily, on everything. And if I take a break, it's almost always permanent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitewolf8 Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 For me, making a hack starts with a simple vision and then expands. I'm a bit haphazard though and I'm a person who will draw up an entire doc and then as I follow the doc, change everything slightly but just enough to where the end-product is completely different from how I envisioned it. It's probably because of ADHD or whatever bullshit the american medical association is labeling me now, but it seems to work out alright. My biggest failing is that I burn out sooooo easily, on everything. And if I take a break, it's almost always permanent. Hah! Never actually thought anyone else was like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Czar_Yoshi Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 (edited) Burnout is the greatest enemy of all projects like these. It's why there's so much stuff that never makes it out of the concept section. Anyway I'm not working on any hacks, but if I were I'd start with the script (dialogue/narration and whatnot, not code script). It's much easier to stay invested in a project when it's got a world behind it. Edited March 27, 2015 by Czar_Yoshi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCProductions Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I always start out by saying "I'm bored." and then go on from there. I usually try to immediately frame some goal, like "I want to make an open-ended map with multiple ways of beating it" or "I think FE7 is too easy but other hard-mode hacks have too much bullshit. I'll try and do one better." For me, making a hack starts with a simple vision and then expands. I'm a bit haphazard though and I'm a person who will draw up an entire doc and then as I follow the doc, change everything slightly but just enough to where the end-product is completely different from how I envisioned it. It's probably because of ADHD or whatever bullshit the american medical association is labeling me now, but it seems to work out alright. My biggest failing is that I burn out sooooo easily, on everything. And if I take a break, it's almost always permanent. Burnout is the greatest enemy of all projects like these. It's why there's so much stuff that never makes it out of the concept section. Anyway I'm not working on any hacks, but if I were I'd start with the script (dialogue/narration and whatnot, not code script). It's much easier to stay invested in a project when it's got a world behind it. Despite being a noob hacker, these two basically summed up my attitude toward hacking.God knows I'm pretty burned out on Binding Blade + right now. At least it has a patch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobazco Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 I always start out by saying "I'm bored." and then go on from there. I usually try to immediately frame some goal, like "I want to make an open-ended map with multiple ways of beating it" or "I think FE7 is too easy but other hard-mode hacks have too much bullshit. I'll try and do one better." For me, making a hack starts with a simple vision and then expands. I'm a bit haphazard though and I'm a person who will draw up an entire doc and then as I follow the doc, change everything slightly but just enough to where the end-product is completely different from how I envisioned it. It's probably because of ADHD or whatever bullshit the american medical association is labeling me now, but it seems to work out alright. My biggest failing is that I burn out sooooo easily, on everything. And if I take a break, it's almost always permanent. Just like klok, I will usually be really bored and then suddenly have an idea. For example when I started weapon reversal I had been sitting around doing nothing for the past hour or so and all of a sudden thought, "what if every character in fe8 had the weapon they were weak to?"I then stayed up all night with hype and made most of it. Then, as some may have noticed, I got bored of the project because, as usual, it got tedious. Burn out op. I have planned on coming back to weapon reversal soon tho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomSwordmaster Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I pretty much stopped working on my romhack at still the concept level. Didn't have much testing done, the farthest i got was some inventory and text edits, as well as the basis for some eventing. I decided to wait until FEXNA is released, alongside when I'm not being swarmed with school( I HAZ FINALS IN ONE MONTH T_T....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primefusion Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 (edited) These days development goes mostly like this for me: - Consult my plot outline that I have for most of my story - Decide on some of the specific plot goals for the chapter I'm going to start working on - Decide on gameplay goals for the chapter - Come up with a map that meets these goals - Come up with any cutscene maps that will be needed as well - Write the dialogue/narration for the opening scene of the chapter - Write the event code for the opening - Insert maps and code and get the opening scene as polished as I can. - Write the ending scene for the chapter, insert, and polish - Write any miscellaneous events for the chapter, like villages or talk events, and test those - Come up with enemy units, and reinforcements, and playtest (this step takes a while and is the biggest source of burnout for me) - Fix and polish as I go If I don't have sprite work that need for the chapter I'll use placeholder stuff until I can get said sprite work. Back in the day my process was more like "make stuff up as I go" which can be fun, but can also get messy. I hope this is what you're looking for. Edited March 28, 2015 by Primefusion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klokinator Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 - Come up with enemy units, and reinforcements, and playtest (this step takes a while and is the biggest source of burnout for me) It's funny because I have the exact same issue. At least, in GBA. Adding/editing units in GBA is super tedious, but in FEXNA it's possibly the easiest thing to do, barring editing of item/weapon stats. GBA's lack of a visual editor is the biggest problem here. Someone should REALLY make a visual event/unit editor for GBA, maybe one that reads and event file and then has a list of coordinates laid out on a map along with sprites for player/enemy characters? Seriously, why isn't this a thing yet? All it has to do is read and write to an event file, piece of cake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCProductions Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Well, Binding Blade + started out with a simple concept, Eliwood's wife replaceing Merlinus' role in the plot. I even initially planned for 3 different versions with all of Eliwood's potential wives included. As I went along, I used a weak plot point in RD to bring Ike into the picture, and eventually moved away from three different versions to save time, and barely improved upon the initial concept. I burned out on it due to tedious bug fixes, and now want to start a different hack. That said, simple concepts are the best way to get started. Take it far enough, and you'll get something amazing like FE7CM or EN, or make a messtarpiece like Binding Blade+. Yes, I'm insulting myself here. Binding Blade+ is my first hack tho so my next one will be better. I hope.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghast Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 It's funny because I have the exact same issue. At least, in GBA. Adding/editing units in GBA is super tedious, but in FEXNA it's possibly the easiest thing to do, barring editing of item/weapon stats. GBA's lack of a visual editor is the biggest problem here. Someone should REALLY make a visual event/unit editor for GBA, maybe one that reads and event file and then has a list of coordinates laid out on a map along with sprites for player/enemy characters? Seriously, why isn't this a thing yet? All it has to do is read and write to an event file, piece of cake. eventiel does something similar and its amazing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT075 Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 klok if you want to make an actual point click GUI tool be my guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klokinator Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 klok if you want to make an actual point click GUI tool be my guest why would I when Yeti already did and it rocks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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