Author Topic: Chrono Cross Hard Hack  (Read 6302 times)

lockgar

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Re: Chrono Cross Hard Hack
« Reply #15 on: March 11, 2017, 12:24:14 am »
Website ate my forum post. It was a long one too. I'll just make a summaries it.

Been coding for years, I've used python for many projects. Just an issue of syntax.
Is it possible to put high res textures like how n64 rom hacks have done? I remember people saying that it wasn't possible for playstation moding, but that was years ago. Is it even possible for higher polygon models? I don't think I ever saw any n64 mod project ever actually change with "HD models". Even if it was possible though, would there still be an issue with the "playstation hardware limit" the emulator is trying to emulate?

I'm wondering if the .mdl files where the same file format as the quake games, given the time frame, also if there is a limit to them it would probably be in the same ball park as below.
http://tfc.duke.free.fr/coding/mdl-specs-en.html
Quote
Constants

Here are some constant values defining maximal dimensions:

Maximum number of triangles: 2048
Maximum number of vertices: 1024
Maximum number of texture coordinates: 1024
Maximum number of frames: 256
Number of precalculated normal vectors: 162

However, I was more interested in moding more "under the hood" type of things, like having 4 people in your party. Even if they only appear in combat. I something tells me it would require more then just changing a few values.

alfadorredux

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Re: Chrono Cross Hard Hack
« Reply #16 on: March 11, 2017, 09:59:51 am »
We assigned (actually, that may even be "I assigned", but it was a long time ago and I don't remember) the .mdl extension because it was an obvious abbreviation of "model", not because of any connection to anyone else's format. Unless Quake uses arbitrarily mixed triangles and quads, and stores the skeletal rig as a series of joints rather than bones, they're unlikely to be a match.

I can't remember the exact texture size CC uses (it's fixed, may be different for overworld vs. combat models, PCs always have one texture only, some NPCs have more), and have no idea whether the size was mandated by the hardware or arbitrarily selected by Square. Someone at romhacking.net might be able to point you in the direction of better hardware information for the PSX, though.

As for increasing the size of the party...yeah, you're in uncharted territory there. Little work has been done on the program executables--we know that they're the files at the beginning of the disc, and a couple of the routines have been tentatively identified, plus some people have found pointer forests or other embedded bits and pieces, but that's it. Successful modification would probably require a knowledge of PSX assembler and/or a debugging emulator, which is out of my scope at this time.