SCHG:Sonic 2/Text Editing
From Sonic Retro
| SCHG: Sonic 2 |
|---|
| Main Article |
| Art Editing |
| Editing Art |
| Object Editing |
| Editing Objects |
| Text Editing |
| Editing Text |
| Music Editing |
| Editing Music |
| RAM Editing |
| Editing RAM |
| Miscellaneous |
| Miscellaneous Editing |
One of the most useful things to change in the game is the text. Though, there are many different formats for the many different types of text in the game. The known formats are listed here.
Two-Player Mode Text
2 Player Mode Text
| Offset | Text |
|---|---|
| $874B-8756 | Emerald Hill |
| $8759-8763 | Mystic Cave |
| $8765-8770 | Casino Night |
| $8772-877E | Special Stage |
| $8783-8789 | Special |
| $878D-8790 | Zone |
| $8793-8797 | Stage |
| $8799-87A1 | Game over |
| $87A3-87AB | Time over |
| $87AD-87B3 | No game |
| $87B5-87B8 | Tied |
| $87BB-81BC | 1P |
| $87BF-87C0 | 2P |
Options Text
| Offset | Text |
|---|---|
| $97CB-97DB | * Player select * |
| $97DD-97EB | Sonic and Miles |
| $97ED-97FB | Sonic and Tails |
| $97FD-980B | Sonic alone |
| $980D-981B | Miles alone |
| $981D-982B | Tails alone |
| $982D-983D | * Vs mode items * |
| $983F-984D | All kinds items |
| $984F-985B | Teleport only |
| $985F-986F | * Sound test* |
To properly modify the text, you will need to become familiar with the character set. Listed here is the entire character set that you can use.
| 00 - Space | 10 - 0 | 11 - 1 | 12 - 2 |
| 13 - 3 | 14 - 4 | 15 - 5 | 16 - 6 |
| 17 - 7 | 18 - 8 | 19 - 9 | 1A - * |
| 1B - © | 1C - : | 1D - . | 1E - A |
| 1F - B | 20 - C | 21 - D | 22 - E |
| 23 - F | 24 - G | 25 - H | 26 - I |
| 27 - J | 28 - K | 29 - L | 2A - M |
| 2B - N | 2C - O | 2D - P | 2E - Q |
| 2F - R | 30 - S | 31 - T | 32 - U |
| 33 - V | 34 - W | 35 - X | 36 - Y |
| 37 - Z | 0E - Start a new text line | 10 - Start a new selection box |
Level Select Text
009AEB-??????
009B44 - ARZ
009B58 - WFZ
009BEF - OOZ
The format for level select text is very different. This is because it is mapped. This can be very confusing because it uses a very odd format—10 bits for each character. So, the easiest way to modify it is to take 5 bytes and convert them into bits. Then take the bits and separate them into 4 sets of 10 bits. So, if I have "C1 E0 B8 32 07", then I'd convert that into bits. The Windows calculator will work this feature just fine (although if you don't have 2000 or later, you'll have to do two calculations, as only double-word length is supported on the older versions of the Windows calculator). Then break up the large line of bits into sets. So, "C1 E0 B8 32 07" would become this.
1100000111 (A)
1000001011 (Q)
1000001100 (U)
1000000111 (A)
This is the confusing part. You'll have to 'shift' the bits over to the left by 2. So, take a look at A and Q (1100000111 1000001011). Shifting over to the left by 2 would convert these into 0000011110 00001011(10). The extra 10 on the end of the Q comes from the first two bits of the U. So, the values above come out to be this.
0000011110 (A)
0000101110 (Q)
0000110010 (U)
00000111(10) (A)
These values represent the character number of each listing in the games VRAM. So, like 0000011110 (1E in hex form) for example is the letter A found in the VRAM. You can also use the chart at the top of this page for a full listing of the major characters.
Death Egg and Hill Top aren't editable yet though. Nobody has figured out why, and I haven't really taken the time to look at them. For now, Death Egg and Hill Top will have to remain the way they are on the level select.
© 1992 SEGA Text
For editing the "© 1992 SEGA" text string on the title screen, you must use a different character set. Here are the instructions.
003E80 - © 1992 SEGA
FORMAT:
- 1 #2
1+2 - Sprite selection in VRAM.
Every time you get up to 08 00 in a sprite selection, it wraps from the beginning of the VRAM, but with a different palette. Here are the standard sprite numbers for each character.
| 00 00 - Space | 06 80 - 0 | 06 81 - 1 | 06 82 - 2 |
| 06 83 - 3 | 06 84 - 4 | 06 85 - 5 | 06 86 - 6 |
| 06 87 - 7 | 06 88 - 8 | 06 89 - 9 | 06 8A - * |
| 06 8B - © | 06 8C - : | 06 8D - . | 06 8E - A |
| 06 8F - B | 06 90 - C | 06 91 - D | 06 92 - E |
| 06 93 - F | 06 94 - G | 06 95 - H | 06 96 - I |
| 06 97 - J | 06 98 - K | 06 99 - L | 06 9A - M |
| 06 9B - N | 06 9C - O | 06 9D - P | 06 9E - Q |
| 06 9F - R | 06 A0 - S | 06 A1 - T | 06 A2 - U |
| 06 A3 - V | 06 A4 - W | 06 A5 - X | 06 A6 - Y |
| 06 A7 - Z |
Credits/Intro Text
Now that we have gotten all the basic text editing information out of the way, we can now learn how to edit the larger font text. This uses X and Y coordinates to place the character on the screen rather than just using a fixed font. Here are the instructions for editing the intro screen and the credits.
003A30 - Pointer to screen 1 information (intro)
00A016 - Pointer to data pointers for each screen (credits)
00B2B0 - Screen 1 information (intro)
00B2CA - Data pointers for each screen (credits)
00B322 - Screen 1 information (credits)
This is the format for laying pieces out onto the screen. This will not edit the actual text though.
FORMAT:
- 1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6
1+2+3+4 - 32-bit address for text location
5 - Every time this value changes every 2 values, it will move on the Y axis 3 characters (24 pixels)
6 - Every time this value changes every 2 values, it will move on the X axis ½ characters (8 pixels). Every 80 changes in value will move on the Y axis 1 character (8 pixels).
For text, it works by placing 8x8 tiles together to make up the text.
Intro Text Format
| 00 - Space | 01 & 02 - A | 03 & 04 - B | 05 & 06 - C |
| 07 & 08 - D | 09 & 0A - E | 0B & 0C - F | 0D & 0E - G |
| 0F & 10 - H | 11 - I | 12 & 13 - J | 14 & 15 - K |
| 16 & 17 - L | 18 & 19 - M | 1A & 1B - N | 1C & 1D - O |
| 1E & 1F - P | 20 & 21 - Q | 22 & 23 - R | 24 & 25 - S |
| 26 & 27 - T | 28 & 29 - U | 2A & 2B - V | 2C & 2D - W |
| 2E & 2F - X | 30 & 31 - Y | 32 & 33 - Z | 34 & 35 - 2 |
| 36 - ( | 37 - ) | 38 - " | 39 - . |
| 3A - © | 3B & 3C - 1 | 3D & 3E - 9 | 3F & 40 - : |
Credits Text Format
| 00 or 01 - Space | 02 & 03 - A | 04 & 05 - B | 06 & 07 - C |
| 08 & 09 - D | 0A & 0B - E | 0C & 0D - F | 0E & 0F - G |
| 10 & 11 - H | 12 - I | 13 & 14 - J | 15 & 16 - K |
| 17 & 18 - L | 19 & 1A - M | 1B & 1C - N | 1D & 1E - O |
| 1F & 20 - P | 21 & 22 - Q | 23 & 24 - R | 25 & 26 - S |
| 27 & 28 - T | 29 & 2A - U | 2B & 2C - V | 2D & 2E - W |
| 2F & 30 - X | 31 & 32 - Y | 33 & 34 - Z | 35 & 36 - 2 |
| 37 - ( | 38 - ) | 39 - " | 3A - . |
| 3B - © | 3C & 3D - 1 | 3E & 3F - 9 | 40 & 41 - : |
Look in the games VRAM (patterns) to get the full listing of each character.
On text strings, FF is a separator that tells it to stop reading further. After FF, the next byte tells what palette info to use. This goes in 32's for each palette. This goes in 1's for change in tile set (move down the list of tiles every 256 tiles per every change in value). Use 00, 20, 40, and 60 for the credits and use 05, 25, 45, and 65 for the intro.
Title Card Text
| Pointer(8 - bit, relative to first entry) | Offset | Text String |
|---|---|---|
| $15820, $15821, $15822, $15823, $15829 | $15832-1583F | (E)m(e)rald( )Hi(ll) |
| $15824, $15825 | $15842-1584F | M(e)tr(o)p(o)lis |
| $15827 | $15852-1585B | Hil(l )T(o)p |
| $15828 | $1585E-1586B | Hid(den )Palac(e) |
| $1582A | $1586E-15875 | (O)il( O)c(e)a(n) |
| $1582B | $15878-15887 | Mystic( )Cav(e) |
| $1582C | $1588A-15897 | Casi(no )(N)ight |
| $1582D | $1589A-158A9 | Ch(e)mical( )Pla(n)t |
| $1582F | $158AC-158B9 | Aquatic( )Rui(n) |
| $15830 | $158BC-158C7 | Sky( )Chas(e) |
| $15826 | $158CA-158D7 | Wi(n)g( )F(o)rtr(e)s(s) |
| $1582E | $158DA-158E3 | D(e)ath( )(E)gg |
The above locations hold information that tells the game what sprites to load for the specific level splash text. Below is a list of all the characters you can choose from and what their values are.
| 00 - A | 04 - B | 08 - C | 0C - D |
| 10 - F | 14 - G | 18 - H | 1C - I |
| 1E - J | 22 - K | 26 - L | 2A - M |
| 30 - P | 34 - Q | 38 - R | 3C - S |
| 40 - T | 44 - U | 48 - V | 4C - W |
| 52 - X | 56 - Y | 5A - . | FF FF - End of string |
Now down to business. First off, you need to understand that E, N, O, Z (spells Zone), and space are not with this text editing section. They are in another section in which will be discussed after these notes. It is important that you understand the format. Here is how it works.
FORMAT:
- 1 #2
1 - Character
2 - Length that the character is drawn
Characters that are present more that once only show up once. This is because this stuff is only the info to tell what loads at startup and doesn't need to load the same thing twice since its already there. Here is a list of where all the strings are located.
Now, you will want to edit the actual strings and not just the sprites that load. So, here are the notes you need.
FORMAT:
- 1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8
1 - Y position of the character every pixel (signed byte, relative to top of string)
2 - Length (going by the character size bytes gives a corrected length)
3 and 4 - VRAM location of character (1 Player)
5 and 6 - VRAM location of character (2 Player)
7 and 8 - X position of the character every pixel (signed word, relative to left of string)
Now, remember that there is a 2 byte header for each string that tells how many characters to read. Now you will probably want the location that allows you to change what string is used for each level. So, here it is.
0147BA - 2 bytes for location after this location for each level
Here is how each string is listed.
Level 00
Level 01
Level 02
Level 03
Level 04
Level 05
Level 06
Level 07
Level 08
Level 09
Level 0A
Level 0B
Level 0C
Level 0D
Level 0E
Level 0F
Level 10
"Zone"
1
2
3
"Sonic The Hedgehog"
Red splash screen panel edges
Now, you need to know what value to give each character. Here are the values.
8580 (or, 82C0 for 2 Player) - E
8584 (or, 82C2 for 2 Player) - N
8588 (or, 82C4 for 2 Player) - O
858C (or, 82C6 for 2 Player) - Z
85DE+ (or, 82EF+ for 2 Player) - Character list (see "Level Splash Startup" above)
2 Player size is always half the size in the "Level Splash Startup" above.
Splash Screen Panel: 014C32
