Tutorial:Block Tool

From SMWiki

Block Tool is a program made for adding custom blocks into a hack. The description of the blocks (The one who appears on the Map16 Direct Access Window) are saved in a .dsc file with the same name of your hack. You'll need to know how to use the 16x16 Editor in order to get your custom blocks working.

[edit] How to use it

First open Block Tool, your hack in Lunar Magic, and Windows Calculator. You can find the calculator by going to Start > Programs > Accessories > Calculator. If you used Block Tool before, you will see all the blocks you have inserted previously. First, (even if you see the blocks) go to File > Open and open your ROM. Then click "Add Block."

From the window that appears, select the block you want to insert. Note that you can click "View Details" to view details of the block you selected without closing the block selection window. After you have highlited your block, do not click OK yet. Open Lunar Magic, and in the level editor, click the button with the ? box. Use the up-down arrow keys to scroll through the pages. Stay at pages 2-F. Once you have found a page, click on the area where you want your block to show up on the Map16 Page. Look at the bar at the bottom of the window. It should show a hex number with the first digit matching your Map16 Page number. Make a mental note of this number.

Now go to the calculator and click View > Scientific. On the left side, you should see a row of options saying Hex, Dec, Oct, and Bin. Click on the circle next to Hex and put the Map16 number. Then click on the circle next to the Dec. Make a note of the number that pops up in the formula bar. Then go to Block Tool. In the "Add block" window, put the number in the bar at the bottom of the window, then click add block. Repeat this until you have inserted all the blocks that you want to insert, then save them in blocktool. Note that you will have to reload your rom in LM for the blocks to have their effect.

Your block will now be in the spot where you have chosen it to be on one of the Map16 Pages. Once you find it, you will need to give it graphics and make it act like something. To give it graphics, either copy an original block to where the custom one is by clicking on the original and right-clicking on the custom one. Now the block will look and act like the original one, with the special properties of the custom one. From here you can change it to act like any other block, change its palettes, etc. by clicking on the custom block and then clicking on "Edit 16x16 Attributes".

If you don't want it to look anything original, then change the numbers in the "Use which four 8x8 tiles to create this 16x16 tile?". Finally, once you are done editing this block, click OK and right click on the custom block. This is a commonly missed step, and one that a lot of people complain about. If you do not right click on the custom block, nothing will actually be saved! Finally, remember to press F9, this will save the Map16 data back into the ROM.