Kinda new

I just finished playing through cave story and absolutely loved it! Now that I'm done playing it I would like to start modding. The problem is, that I have no experience modding anything and I would like to know how to start. I consider myself fairly proficient with computers but my only programming experience is a course in C++ I took in high school. Any advice you could give me would be appreciated.

I was also wondering if there are any finished mods which are very good that I could learn from.

PS: I'm not sure of what assistance I could be but I would love to help with any of the modding efforts that are going on.

Edit: I originally posted this in the modding forums but it got moved here

 

I hope this gets posted before DB finishes typing his post out.

 

I just finished playing through cave story and absolutely loved it! Now that I'm done playing it I would like to start modding. The problem is, that I have no experience modding anything and I would like to know how to start. I consider myself fairly proficient with computers but my only programming experience is a course in C++ I took in high school. Any advice you could give me would be appreciated.

I was also wondering if there are any finished mods which are very good that I could learn from.

PS: I'm not sure of what assistance I could be but I would love to help with any of the modding efforts that are going on.

Edit: I originally posted this in the modding forums but it got moved here

Some good mods are Jenka's Nightmare and Hell II.

The programming (or scripting, rather - I was correscted on this when I was new) is, well...

Liike this:

#XXXX (Unique event number, what you use to call the event)
<KEY(Lock out player controls until <END)<FAO0004(Fade Out with method 4)<TRA(Transport/Travel):0001(Map #1):0200(Run event 200 of the destination map):0050(X coord):0074(Y coord)<WAI0080(Wait 80 tics)

There are a lot more, and this is basically a sample of how to get from door A to door B.

As for your editor, I'd recomend Sue's WS. Very powerful, very good.

If you wish to create custom sprites, you'll need MS paint and a Hex editor.
You need the editor to add "(C)Pixel" to the end of the modded PBMs.
They are just regular bitmaps, but don't rename them.

Sorry I can't help more, but I have business to attend and packing to do.

 

I hope this gets posted before DB finishes typing his post out.

And I was being helpful to the newbie...

Why no love for catgirls, RW? Why?

Wait...
~Decapitates 600 catgirls~
I don't like them.

 

I just finished playing through cave story and absolutely loved it! Now that I'm done playing it I would like to start modding. The problem is, that I have no experience modding anything and I would like to know how to start. I consider myself fairly proficient with computers but my only programming experience is a course in C++ I took in high school. Any advice you could give me would be appreciated.

Cave Story is closed source, so your C++ experience wont help you that much (unless you also know x86 assembly and can do some basic reverse engineering). The main modding opportunity of cave story comes with the game's custom scripting language for events and text, and the fact that sprites and backgrounds are in a paletted bitmap format.
The text and event scripting can be edited with certain tools, "Sue's Workshop" is one of them. The bitmaps can be edited with a graphics editor (I highly recommend Gimp), there is just a little thing to remember: the game's creator made a little barrier against editing the bitmaps by requiring them to have the string "(C)Pixel" at the end, and graphics editors don't add this, but you can easily do it yourself with a hex editor.

 

Cave Story is closed source, so your C++ experience wont help you that much (unless you also know x86 assembly and can do some basic reverse engineering). The main modding opportunity of cave story comes with the game's custom scripting language for events and text, and the fact that sprites and backgrounds are in a paletted bitmap format.
The text and event scripting can be edited with certain tools, "Sue's Workshop" is one of them. The bitmaps can be edited with a graphics editor (I highly recommend Gimp), there is just a little thing to remember: the game's creator made a little barrier against editing the bitmaps by requiring them to have the string "(C)Pixel" at the end, and graphics editors don't add this, but you can easily do it yourself with a hex editor.

Ps:
I recomend Hex Workshop for sprite mods.

 

Ps:
I recomend Hex Workshop for sprite mods.

What about XVI32?

 

I recomend for every mod using a Hex Editor, it's just the best and free, without any shitty installation!

 

Yeah and the well known Sue's Workshop. Oh remember to download the latest TSC and ANP FAQs by S.P.

Edit - Also check the Offsets thread. Its called exactly that. Sorry no time to link you ><

I might try to start a thread with instructions on how to use Hex Editor o.o Only way I can be helpful lol

 

Oh, and make sure you keep a backup or seven.
I keep a backup of my work after each edit.

If you clusterfork the EXE or 40% of the TSC/PBM ect.'s, you'll have an easy reference point.