Introduction To Editing

This section is for the beginner getting started with hex&tile editing of NHL94.

One of the first things to understand is that you're working with hex code. When you open up the NHL94.bin or .iso file in Hex Workshop (the program used to edit data in), you will see all the data in sets of 4. Here's how the conversion works:

As you can see, Hex uses a 16 number system. Instead of 10 coming after 9, it uses 0A. Of course, this chart really goes on and on, I have only shown through the first 24 numbers. This is a useful link for doing quick conversions from Decimal to Hex: http://www.ascii.cl/conversion.htm.

There are 3 programs that we mainly use to edit the game with. They are Hex Workshop, Tile Layer Pro, and Tile Molester. Hex Workshop is used to edit hex code, and you would normally use this program to edit things like players names, ratings, numbers, uniform colors, etc. Explainations on how to do these things are listed on the Bin and Iso editing pages.

Tile Layer Pro and Tile Molester are used for editing some of the graphics in the game. These are typically used to edit ice logos, startup screen banners, the puck, and so on.

All of these programs show you the NHL94.bin or .iso data (whichever you want to edit). You may want to spend a little time going to the downloads section of this site, downloading these programs, and getting used to them. Once you feel comfortable with them, start reading about how to change certain things.

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Editing Graphics

For general editing information about editing with Tile Layer Pro and Tile Molester, please continue reading below. To check out one of the specific tutorial/how-to links, click the appropiate link right below this text.

» Ice Logo Tutorial
» Editing the Puck

Tile Molester Help Vidoes (Courtesy of slapshot67)

» Video 01
» Video 02
» Video 03
» Video 04
» Video 05
» Video 06
» Video 07
» Video 08
» Video 09
» Video 10
» Video 11
» Video 12

When editing the graphics, depending on what you're editing, you may use Tile Layer Pro, Tile Molester, Hex Workshop, or a combination of the three. For editing ice logos, startup screen logos and banners, and various other things I will eventually put up here, you will be using Tile Layer Pro. Programs for editing the game can always be found on the downloads page.

Below is a screenshot of what Tile Layer Pro looks like when you open a .bin or .iso file. You will notice the .bin file on the left, a tile arranger, a tile editor, and the pallette editor windows below.

Changing the Tile Format
When you load a .bin, .iso, Tile Layer Pro will decide the default tile format based on the extension of the filename. But some files store graphics in several different formats (a lot of SNES games store 2BPP-graphics in GameBoy format to save space), so there's an option to switch to a different tile format at any time.

This can be done either from the View->Format menu, where there is a list of all supported tile formats, or by pressing 1. Pressing 1 will cycle through all the available formats. The currently selected format and its bitdepth is indicated in the statusbar.

Hot Keys
Here are keyboard hotkeys for using the program that are very useful. I also highly recommend reading through the help documentation that comes with the program.

Zooming In and Out
You can zoom in and out on a window from 1x to 4x of its original size, either by clicking the magnifier buttons on the toolbar, or from the View->Zoom menu. Gridlines can be turned on/off in a similar manner.

Resizing a Window
By default, the .bin or .iso window has 16 rows of 16 columns, but you might want to view a file in a different resolution. You can resize the window either with the mouse, or with the keyboard. To resize with the keyboard, hold down shift, then press the arrow key in the direction you want to resize it in.

Again, please refer to the help file included in the Tile Layer Pro application for full instructions on how to use it.

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