The Practicalities of Hacking Roms

[drenrin2120]

I hope this isn't against the rules or anything since there are no actual links to roms or any links to hacked roms. That's not what this thread is about.

I'ts come to my attention that rm2k/3 is a very inefficient tool for making rpgs. It's fun to play with and, for the most part, easy to use. Unless you plan on doing anything that's not a default system in the maker. That's when it becomes tedious and quite frankly, not really worth the effort. So, this thread is about rom hacking. Any one ever tried it? I've been thinking about other ways of making games and this came to mind. My basic question is, would it be more practical to take a rom and completely tear it down to bear bones and make a game like say, Apathy of Angels, out of it rather than use rm2k/3?

And yes, I am aware that Gamemaker is a very good program, but there's something about playing a homebrew game on an actual console that greatly intrigues me.

[fruckert]

I have made dozens of Super Metroid hacks, most of them cosmetic

It takes awhile to learn how to use the toolkits, and it usually ends up crashing, unless you have programing experience

In my opinion, it's not really that worth it

[drenrin2120]

True. I've done a few cosmetic edits on various games myself. Mostly, it seems like a lot of trial and error.

[ZeroKirbyX]

I'd say its worth it. Ganpuru: Gunmans Proof is a great example of how even a cosmetic change can make a new game. Its based on Zelda: LttP but plays way different.

[drenrin2120]

Cool, I'm learning how to use hexeditors and stuff now. I remember messing around with some map editor a while back for a pokemon game, it was similar to rm but was a little confusing.

[cherko]

I'd say its worth it. Ganpuru: Gunmans Proof is a great example of how even a cosmetic change can make a new game. Its based on Zelda: LttP but plays way different.

Gunman's Proof is not a hack!

Romhacking is far from the most efficient way to make a game. It's fun to mess around with though.