Forums

I would like to rip the maps for Asterix (I cannot find them anywhere on the Internet). I have not ripped maps before, so I have a few questions.

1. Is there a utility to dump level maps?
2. If not, what is the easiest method? The only method I know is to take screenshots and stitch them together in photoshop or some photo stitching software.

If you know a programming language of choice, and the map format in the ROM is known (or you're willing to research it if it isn't), you can write a level viewer, like I did for Slider and Pengo.

Otherwise, yes, the only other way is to take a bunch of screenshots and put them together. This is harder if there are objects and moving things, and a lot of manual corrections are likely to be needed. Sometimes it is possible to hack the game to hide the objects or to keep them still for easier ripping, but it ultimately depends on the game and on your Z80 skills. Some emulators allow you to hide the sprites; for more complex systems such as the Genesis and the SNES there are also emulators which can disable a specific layer to rip only the foreground or only the background, but this isn't applicable to the Game Gear and the Master System since they only have one layer afaik.

Most of the maps I did for this website were made in the old way, in fact, except for the aforementioned Slider and Pengo. Sonic Spinball was tricky because there were rings, badniks, and rotating palettes; Putt & Putter has a convenient preview mode which allows you to move the cursor everywhere, and the sea/lava in the background only has two frames, so it was quite easy (even though there is a bug with sprite drawing which forced me to rerip some maps after I noticed); Factory Panic also conveniently shows the whole map before each level, so I could take the screenshots there; Woody Pop was the easiest of the bunch, even if I overdid it by trying to figure out how the levels were stacked (it turned out they were way more contiguous than I would have imagined); and so on.

tl;dr there's a high chance it's going to be a lot of work. Have fun!

Maxim made this tool which may be helpful:
http://www.smspower.org/maxim/Software/ScreenshotAutostitcher

To get started you probably want to make or get made a simple hack to at least render you invincible so that you don't have to worry about this.

Thanks for the advice. I have little programming knowledge. I tried Maxim's tool, but for some reason it turns out like this (mostly black). I dumped the screens with mekaw (using "capture screen (all)"). Maybe I need to do something differently?

test.png (17.12 KB)

Okay, I have sorted out the black problem (I had to mask the scrolling buffer). And I have discovered the memory address for invincibility (good suggestion). Now the only issue is the giant pink border it leaves for some reason.

By the way, how can I submit codes to the Asterix cheats page?

I added you as a Wiki editor so you can add them yourself.

You'll want to tidy things up in an image editor, so you remove the giant pink border at the same time.

Quote

I added you as a Wiki editor so you can add them yourself.

Thanks.

Quote

You'll want to tidy things up in an image editor, so you remove the giant pink border at the same time.

Okay. It's a great tool, thanks!

Technical info: enlarging a bitmap is a costly operation, so I add large borders to reduce how often it happens (enlarging the image in chunks). I could crop then off when saving or copying but I didn't :) In horizontal mode it ought to add them only on the ends but maybe I didn't do that either...

Website-related discussion split to Website forum:

http://www.smspower.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=80406

How should I represent the contents of the blue pots that contain several items? The contents are somewhat random.

It's up to you... You could show the range of items, or show nothing, or show a question mark. I usually don't show box contents unless they are key to the game - it depends to some extent whether you feel you are making a view of the world or a guide to the game.

I decided to show the life symbol, which is perhaps the most significant and consistently found item found in said pots. I've now added 2-1-Asterix and 2-1-Obelix.

Author	Message
salamander Joined: 03 Nov 2013 Posts: 26	Map ripping Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 6:29 am
salamander Joined: 03 Nov 2013 Posts: 26	I would like to rip the maps for Asterix (I cannot find them anywhere on the Internet). I have not ripped maps before, so I have a few questions. 1. Is there a utility to dump level maps? 2. If not, what is the easiest method? The only method I know is to take screenshots and stitch them together in photoshop or some photo stitching software.

Tom Joined: 16 May 2002 Posts: 1356 Location: italy	Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 7:06 am
Tom Joined: 16 May 2002 Posts: 1356 Location: italy	If you know a programming language of choice, and the map format in the ROM is known (or you're willing to research it if it isn't), you can write a level viewer, like I did for Slider and Pengo. Otherwise, yes, the only other way is to take a bunch of screenshots and put them together. This is harder if there are objects and moving things, and a lot of manual corrections are likely to be needed. Sometimes it is possible to hack the game to hide the objects or to keep them still for easier ripping, but it ultimately depends on the game and on your Z80 skills. Some emulators allow you to hide the sprites; for more complex systems such as the Genesis and the SNES there are also emulators which can disable a specific layer to rip only the foreground or only the background, but this isn't applicable to the Game Gear and the Master System since they only have one layer afaik. Most of the maps I did for this website were made in the old way, in fact, except for the aforementioned Slider and Pengo. Sonic Spinball was tricky because there were rings, badniks, and rotating palettes; Putt & Putter has a convenient preview mode which allows you to move the cursor everywhere, and the sea/lava in the background only has two frames, so it was quite easy (even though there is a bug with sprite drawing which forced me to rerip some maps after I noticed); Factory Panic also conveniently shows the whole map before each level, so I could take the screenshots there; Woody Pop was the easiest of the bunch, even if I overdid it by trying to figure out how the levels were stacked (it turned out they were way more contiguous than I would have imagined); and so on. tl;dr there's a high chance it's going to be a lot of work. Have fun!

Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 8653 Location: Paris, France	Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 10:04 am
	Maxim made this tool which may be helpful: http://www.smspower.org/maxim/Software/ScreenshotAutostitcher To get started you probably want to make or get made a simple hack to at least render you invincible so that you don't have to worry about this.

salamander Joined: 03 Nov 2013 Posts: 26	Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 11:23 am Last edited by salamander on Mon Jul 14, 2014 7:53 am; edited 1 time in total
salamander Joined: 03 Nov 2013 Posts: 26	Thanks for the advice. I have little programming knowledge. I tried Maxim's tool, but for some reason it turns out like this (mostly black). I dumped the screens with mekaw (using "capture screen (all)"). Maybe I need to do something differently? test.png (17.12 KB)

salamander Joined: 03 Nov 2013 Posts: 26	Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 12:04 pm
salamander Joined: 03 Nov 2013 Posts: 26	Okay, I have sorted out the black problem (I had to mask the scrolling buffer). And I have discovered the memory address for invincibility (good suggestion). Now the only issue is the giant pink border it leaves for some reason. By the way, how can I submit codes to the Asterix cheats page?

Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 8653 Location: Paris, France	Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 12:07 pm
	I added you as a Wiki editor so you can add them yourself.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 1:19 pm
	You'll want to tidy things up in an image editor, so you remove the giant pink border at the same time.

salamander Joined: 03 Nov 2013 Posts: 26	Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 2:39 pm
salamander Joined: 03 Nov 2013 Posts: 26	Quote I added you as a Wiki editor so you can add them yourself. Thanks. Quote You'll want to tidy things up in an image editor, so you remove the giant pink border at the same time. Okay. It's a great tool, thanks!

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 8:33 pm
	Technical info: enlarging a bitmap is a costly operation, so I add large borders to reduce how often it happens (enlarging the image in chunks). I could crop then off when saving or copying but I didn't :) In horizontal mode it ought to add them only on the ends but maybe I didn't do that either...

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 4:25 pm
	Website-related discussion split to Website forum: http://www.smspower.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=80406

salamander Joined: 03 Nov 2013 Posts: 26	Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 7:46 am
salamander Joined: 03 Nov 2013 Posts: 26	How should I represent the contents of the blue pots that contain several items? The contents are somewhat random.

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 10:46 am
	It's up to you... You could show the range of items, or show nothing, or show a question mark. I usually don't show box contents unless they are key to the game - it depends to some extent whether you feel you are making a view of the world or a guide to the game.

salamander Joined: 03 Nov 2013 Posts: 26	Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 10:59 am
salamander Joined: 03 Nov 2013 Posts: 26	I decided to show the life symbol, which is perhaps the most significant and consistently found item found in said pots. I've now added 2-1-Asterix and 2-1-Obelix.

Forums

View topic - Map ripping