hello all and I hope that will you be able to help me. I'm doing fan made polish localization of AO, but I work on playstation version (PAL). In Poland was released only psx version (sad because on pc version is a little easier).

So I have a little problem. I use Snesedit and I found all text I can translate. (LCD itp) But I must have font file (in order to do polish letters) and backgrounds to edit(menu, tips etc).

The files are almost identical to the pc version (lvl, cam...). But only extractor work fine. Of course, image cam files are different from those on the pc so I can't decompress any cam files and save to bmp.

I ask you Paul, do you can write program to decomprese cam psx files please? Editor to import cam to lvl files work perfect, I only need cam compressor and decompressor. It's very important to me, If you haven't this version of the game i can send you psx lvl files. I'll be very grateful.

lol i found a disarmed ubx that was blinking green red,i walked over it and it blew

If it was blinking green and red, it wasn't disarmed.

I don't this this is the case, as there are no-fart doors that move you in the same path file. (They may look like different paths, but the P in the CAM name doesn't change)

@Max - He means UXBs that don't have this rotating thing on them, but are still blinking. I've seen this before, not sure what the reason was.

Anyway, a (somewhat) real level actually created with the level editor! :)

Laughing blind muds - nice :D

they are even heavyer to slap when they are blind

Sorry but reverse engineering the PC formats took a *LONG* time and I have no plan to do the PSX versions anytime soon. Changing the font is not enough either, you will have to patch the game code since it only knows about the chars in the font and expects them to be at a certain location in the font sheet.

Also debugging the PSX version is near impossible, I would stick to the PC version for trying anything like this..

Antanta, why do you require it to be the PSX version? A Polish localization would work and be playable on PC, surely.

But PC version never was released in Poland. Only psx.

And debugging psx version is posibble. I can use hex editor and I can change all I want. PSX font file has free space for letters (weird letters i can change into polish and search them on tabulator program).

I know how to romhacking, only thing i need is compressor and decompressor for cams.

And proof- I can edit everything. And videos too. I can use Photoshop and draw on the tablet so editing all backgrounds will not problem for me. But I cant do that do it without cam de/compressor. Really I know enough to made localization I'm not newbie.

http://ifotos.pl/img/beztytulu_apnwnp.JPG

But If you don't help me I won't angry. I do not know who else would be able to help me but i think nobody could made such a powerful program.

So when you go to Steam or Stardock or Good Old Games or Direct2Drive or Amazon Game Downloads you're not able to buy Abe's Oddysee or Abe's Exoddus for the PC?

If all you want is CAM decompress/compress than thats certainly something you will be able to figure out on your own ;)

PSX CAM's use the PSX MDEC hardware, if you think debugging PSX is as easy as PC then you should have no problems at all. MDEC hardware also decodes the movie frames, check out jPSXDec and you should beable to do it. Also if you make a standalone tool post it here so we can check out the CAM's in the PSX games VS PC version :)

Edit: Also is it not possible to get the PC version from stream? I'm sure they don't limit sales based on locale.

That's not a big deal - in polish there are no "x" "v" "q" (etc.) chars so we can simply replace it with polish's ones... there surely is more char space in font file because game was released in Japan, and in Japaneese ABC there are much more chars, aren't there?

jPSXDec don't work for me (i click on it and nothing appear any command lines :() Romhacking abe is easier only if i have programs, I havent any skills in compile programs. I can edited backgrounds and insert it in rom, same with mov movie files, next created pff patch file but i have only 1 problem- these stupid cams! I only decode lcd fonts (in tilemolester), bg files are so noisy and i cant decompress it in any way in any program.

http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/3548/aszkorde.png


Game dont need numbers (witchout one- some numbers working accidents something like that blah blah) so i replece them by polish letters.

And I must say I am not pirate and I do translate not only for myself but for all polish players. They have psx version and i think they hate playing on pc ;)

I please one more time- if you will have time you will try decompress it?

Please please please please :)

(It sound like noob prayer but you see... I do everything... ugh sorry ;))

And Varrok help me to convince you ;) (he want polish version too, isnt? :D)

I have no idea about the fonts, but the cams are just MDEC compressed and JPSXDec is an MDEC decompression library, if you really wanna do this then figure it out :P

Spend time and effort figuring out how use jPSXDec to decode mdec images and you are done, it also reencodes them too, it really is everything you need for the cams.

This is pretty bloody awesome; I like how you changed the doors into wells too, and the puzzles for it are quite nice! Better demonstration than what I'm doing anyway!

How did you move the UXB's near the portal and place a mine near the Slig? I'd love to be able to move objects around lol.

Moving the objects - using the yet-released Alpha 2. It also makes resizing possible. Placing the mine - that was Hex Editing. I removed a shadow or a no longer used object, can't remember which. It's the same for the invisible step switch that activates the alarm.

Yeah I noticed that alarm, surprised me!

I think later on, when this level editor is more developed, maybe a seperate thread(s) or something could be made where users can display their levels and maybe put them up for download (don't know about that one, sounds illegal)?

It sounds like a good idea to me, this could get cluttered quick if you get alot of levels in here. Just something to think about :)

I'm not a lawyer, but considering the fact that .lvl files are completely unreadable in a usable manner for those without a copy of the exe file, it should be legal.

Update:
After a LOT of time reading ASM code I've reversed engineered the triggering system, and found the 5th property of the Slam Door object - Can the door change its state based on the trigger only once, or multiple times. And 6th and last property probably deals with it too, but I'll research about it later.

So hows that alpha 2 update going?

Oh yeah, and since the oddworld community are going to start making there own levels, I figured they get it right. I'm making a program designed to make cam files (The actual images). I'll update with an example.

Ah yes, that would be a nice little program. Can we actually change Abe's Exoddus' CAM files yet though?

Genius! I dont find another word to display things! You are gonna make Abe2 to editable. :D I like it. :) *show's Thumb's up*

Alpha 2 released!

New features introduced in this version:
Moving objects via drag&drop
3 Grid modes
Lock Y position
Moving objects via text boxes
Resizing object via text boxes
Ability to split and rejoin BND files
Ability to edit ANY .path file, as long as it's documented in Paths.ini (Currently all MIP paths are documented.)

Bug fixes:
Fixes the 2 crashes found in the previous version

My feature requests:

1. Moving objects with snap to grid enabled
2. Adding and removing objects with right click menu
3. Change a mudokon into slig with right click menu
4. Redesign the whole level = adding/removing screens + screen sidescrolls

Wicked sick. Going to use this now.

1. It's already there, in the options menu.
2. Will happen, as promised, in the final version.
3. Will not happen as it's not safe. Removing the mudokon and adding a slig instead is the right way to do it.
4. Might happen. Might not.

Thanks for response LIJI.

This is awesome!
I messed around with the shadow settings and I made Abe red.:p
12054

Found a bug that crashed me when editing; if you edit properties for an object on the wrong cam screen it will cause crashing, but other than that I had quite a good level going :) ! Will toy with it later.

How do I get CAM screens to show? I have them all as .bmp's but I've tried naming them to the format and it's not working for me.

Why does the guy on the second screen disappear after I've edited the path? I know he's there but he doesn't show up.
Editor:
12056
In game:
12055

Sorry that they're small pictures.

Can you tell me the X and Y values of the mudokon?

Also save your images as .png's, the image will be smaller in size and still have a good quality.

I'm not sure why CAMs won't load for you! Can you send me a screenshot of Windows Explorer showing the CAM folder?
About the disappearing mudokon - I've had this bug before, I thought I fixed it. Make sure the Y position is dividable by 20 and the X position fits the foreground grid. Tell if it solves it.

Here you go: http://filesmelt.com/dl/fffff1.png

I changed the name of the first 3 just to see if anything else in a name change would work, which didn't; do I have to place them in a folder called "mi" or something?

It's probably me being bleeding stupid with it but if you can't spot anything...

Your Windows Explorer is configured to hide the file extension of recognized files. The actual names of your files are "MIP01C01.CAM.BMP.BMP". Paul's converter uses .CAM.BMP by default which is the reason I used this naming scheme. Just remove the extra extension (Leave it .CAM) or display the hide extensions option, so you can see the actual name of your files. ;)

Yeah that's why I had 3 renamed files. I tried it as what you had said (the first file in the row) and that didn't work.

It's the bit in the red box I wanted you to focus on...if it had extensions it would be MIP01C01.CAM.BMP for the first one but that still doesn't work. The third one doesn't work either, and that one is the default; it came out as .cam.cam.bmp

EDIT: Just incase that is a bit tl;dr none work regardless of what I put, even with what you've said, and even the first one in the red box which is correct from what you've said.

I still can edit the path files but it would look nicer with them is all.

Could you try and disable the hide extensions option? It's only good for nothing and only causes problems everywhere. The first file really should work!

Weird, it made them all .cam.cam.bmp for me without fiddling with anything. I had to mass-rename them all.

I've just tried making a few fiddles to the existing objects in MIP01, not even moving or adding anything, but somewhere along the line something must be going wrong. I put the rejiggered .path inside the .bnd, then put the .bnd back in the .lvl, but the game crashed when starting a new game. I restored the original .lvl and the game ran fine.

So I tried putting the original .path inside the .bnd and putting that in the .lvl. The game crashed again. I feel quite lost with all of this.

Did you rename the .path file to a .bnd file? That's what I did Max, then I recompiled the level after replacing mipath.bnd with that path file I renamed. Unless I'm misunderstanding you.

Also LIJI I can't quite remember how to make it show file extensions, I have it done on my other PC that is Vista but not this one because I found it too much of a pain.



This is a good test of user friendliness/ease of use for an Alpha, I want to write a readme for the editor :)!

EDIT: I got my cam files working, well sort of.

http://filesmelt.com/dl/camwat.png

This is the only one that shows up, and it shows up for every cam image for some reason. I am very confused.

Alright, using Paul's editor, I

1. extracted MIPATH.bnd from the original mi.lvl
2. deleted MIPATH.bnd from the original mi.lvl
3. added the extracted MIPATH.bnd to mi.lvl
4. saved

And the resulting .lvl was enough to crash Exoddus. What's the version of Paul's editor I should be using?

Hmm...To avoid MASS rename and hassle. Use pauls Version 0.3 of his converter.

It outputs the filenames differently.

Besides that it all works for me; Backgrounds and all!
Oh and LIJI, I just love how the editor gets sprites for objects using there ID, cause I make my own sprites!

Mlg man, have you tried splitting and rejoining .bnd's yet? Or does that fall under "all"?

Also my pictures all work now, so it's all good.

Do we have any update on the ID's of objects or is it still the same as last time but with scrabs as ID 29 and fleeches as ID 54?

I will work on a level tomorrow for fun, hopefully it wont crash me again if I'm a bit more careful.