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WarioManX
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    « on: November 25, 2012, 10:51:32 PM »


    The purpose of this tutorial is to teach you how to modify the data of already-existing stages. No making or importing here, you're just fixing it! ("fixing" subject to opinion) Even someone completely new to the concept of Stage hacking can follow along and get into the game! If you completely understand everything here then you can put the finishing touches on any stage. But more importantly, the techniques demonstrated below are fundamental to making or importing a stage; if you want to go far in Stage hacking you must know this.

    Everything explained here I learned on my own just by poking around Stage PAC files. If I can figure it out without any help or tutorials, it can't be that hard!

    Thanks to Mewtwo2000 for letting me use the stage in this tutorial! A single stage that fits all 4 things I wanted to cover? HELL YES! They also deserve your download because the stage is just that awesome! Seriously, you can't beat the classics, especially when they get makeovers!

    What you need to follow this tutorial:
    BrawlBox
    BrawlWall (installation required)
    A photo-editing program (MS Paint works)
    The stage used for this tutorial

    All four parts of this tutorial are meant to be followed in succession. You can skip past a part if you feel you already know enough but some information does carry from part to part that may cause you to feel lost, I don't recommend it.

    At the end of each part I'll have a video of me playing the stage on Brawl+ so you can see what it should be like at that time. It'd be a good idea to test yours out as well so you can see if they match.

    Part 0: Getting Started
    This is the time you should be getting everything you need to follow this tutorial. In the meantime, here's the first video; your newly downloaded stage should be like this.

    Pre-Mods Video
    <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMBkeYBH64Y" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMBkeYBH64Y</a>

    Part 1: Static Collisions
    Let's get started! First off, Collision Data! Collision Data is the interaction between fighters and stages. By the end of this part of the tutorial you should understand how to create, remove, & modify Collision Data.


    Begin by opening "STGPEACHCASTLE64_REDUX.pac" with BrawlBox. You'll see 3 other PAC files inside, the items that say "ARC". The one we want is #2 so click the "+" sign to display its files. You'll see the following:

    • Several BRRES files labeled "ModelData" with their own numbers
    • 3 COLL files labeled "MiscData[2]"
    • 2 "STPM" files
    • More "MiscData"
    • BRRES files "TextureData[0]" & "TextureData[1]"
    • BRRES file "SceneData[0]"
    • PAC (ARC) file "ItmMelee030Gen"
    • MSBIN (MSG) file "MiscData[0]"

    We're going to ignore most of it for now and leave that for another tutorial. What's important right now are the COLL files, which is the Collision data. Start off by right-clicking the first COLL file and selecting "Preview" (or left-clicking and hotkeying Ctrl+P).



    Before we do anything else, you should know how to modify your view in the preview. The right-mouse button grabs the models as a whole, hold and drag to move the models in the direction the mouse moves. Scroll up/down to zoom in/out, whether that be with a scroll wheel, the edge on a touch pad, or some other method. The little bar in the upper-right corner is NOT a zoom adjuster, it's a model rotater. Use this to get a different look at the models, necessary when checking textures (Part 2). That's all! You should have no problem seeing anything now! And as always, the left-mouse button is for selecting things.

    Back to what you're looking at in the preview box; you'll see what all the models look like put together as well as some blue boxes around the models and some data on the left. The only data we care about right now are the check boxes next to each "Collision Object".



    Make sure that whenever you do ANYTHING, only one of these check boxes are checked!!!

    The blue boxes are collision boxes, they are the actual terrain that players fight on. Hackers create and position these boxes around the models so it looks like the players are actually on the models.



    Each "box" has two vertices that position them. Technically each box is a plane between 2 vertices which is given an identity and characteristics to interact with players. When a box is selected, this information can be found in the lower left-hand corner.



    As shown above, the selected box becomes purple while connected boxes become pink. This is because you've actually selected two vertices! When a single vertex is selected, connected boxes still become pink, but the information displayed is different.



    More on what this means later. Back to boxes!



    For now ignore "Material", "Characters", and "Items", what we're looking at is "Types" and "Flags". Type is the identity of the box, you can select from "None", "Floor", "Ceiling", "RightWall", or "LeftWall". What they mean:

    • None ~ Players can't touch it
    • Floor ~ Players can stand on it
    • Ceiling ~ Players can't rise though it
    • Left/RightWall ~ Players slide without landing

    Flags are characteristics that can be used depending on the identity of the box. "No Walljump" is as obvious as it sounds, it's a Left/RightWall characteristic that prevents characters from using their ability to jump off of or grab the wall. The other 3 are for floors. Again, obvious; checking a ledge for a floor makes it possible to grab the corresponding edge of that floor. "Fall-Through" makes it possible to drop down through that floor.

    It's important to clarify the difference between Floors and Ceilings. The key difference is the ability to go through them: You can pass through the bottom of a Floor but not the top, and it's the opposite with Ceilings. You can actually fall through a Ceiling if an additional Floor isn't right on top. Just be careful, if any part of a character goes though the ceiling they won't be able to rise back up, they'll be stuck and forced to finish falling then go around it. That's how the grass of THIS Stage works.

    Another thing about Ceilings is that they can trap players. Ever played on Final Destination on Vanilla Brawl and tried using your recovery to go up the lip only to be caught in the lower corner of the stage and die? That's how the Ceiling works, it pulls players in! Even if angled upward you'll be pulling down into the corner. By changing these Ceilings to Walls the issue can be completely resolved! (Brawl+ version of FD)

    It's generally a good idea to disable walljumps on areas directly underneath a grab-able ledge. Don't wanna bounce off and die when grabbing would've saved your life! First thing we're going to do is set the flag "No Walljump" for both upper walls here.



    That's all you gotta do! Don't set "Left/Right Ledge" for the floors, however. I'll explain why when we get there. For now let's move onto the next Collision Object.



    Remember, only have ONE Collision Object checked! Otherwise each of their boxes will appear. If you make modifications like this and save both Objects will save on each other.

    For example, if you are modifying the Collisions Objects for Halberd for when starting liftoff and when airborne at the same time, when you play the stage and get in the air after liftoff you'll be stuck on invisible floors near the top until you reach the deck. This happened in one of my first edits, learn from my mistakes!

    Check the second Object and uncheck the first. Order doesn't matter as long as nothing happens in between. Here you'll see a long horizontal box and two stubby vertical boxes. These boxes are the Collision data for the bottom moving platform, but they're kinda lack-luster.



    First off, don't worry about the fact that the Floor Collision doesn't line up with the moving bottom platform. That part is already animated. Just follow along with the tutorial and everything will be fine.

    Remember what I said about models and Collisions? See the problem? If Collisions remain as is then players can rise through the bottom moving platform and even go though the sides. We should fix that! Now we'll learn about editing vertices. Time for a geometry lesson!

    On a grid directions are noted by "X", "Y", & "Z". X is the horizontal axis, Y the vertical axis, and Z (if not 2D) the depth axis. With Static Collisions you only need to worry about X and Y. A vertex is a single point on a grid. The word "Translation" refers to a vertex's position in correlation to the direct center of the grid [(0,0) OR (0,0,0)] From this point on we'll only talk about X & Y.

    On the X axis left is the negative side and right is the positive side. On the Y axis up is positive and down is negative. As shown above the selected vertex is at (-81.9001,-32.021). This means that it is about 82 points to the left and about 32 points underneath the center of the grid. Think you get it now? Good, because you'll need to understand this for Boundaries and Spawn Points.

    There are two ways to extend the size of a collision box, you can drag a vertex while left-clicking or you can modify their translation using the X/Y info on the left. Dragging is fine when you're tracing a new model but modifying the X/Y info is great for trying to get specific positions like linking collision boxes. Right now we're going to to the latter.

    However, I realize trying to click on a vertex can be hard, but if you left-click drag an empty area you can highlight everything in it similarly to selecting multiple files on your computer.



    Remember, if you select two connected vertices then you also select the box between them, changing the data displayed. For now select just the lower vertex on the left side. Because I'm a did a demonstration for the video I already know that the desired Y position is "-42". Change its Y Translation to -42 and click directly outside of the textbox. It'll stretch like below.



    Do the same for the lower-right vertex.

    Now we're going to have to make new collision boxes! This is actually pretty simple, just left-click in an open area and drag while holding the "Alt" key. If no vertex is selected when you do this, one will be created where you first clicked and connect to wherever you release. If one is selected, when you release that vertex will automatically connected to it.

    Be careful: If MORE then 1 vertex is selected when doing this, the new vertex will be connected to the 2 vertices that were closest when clicking, and they will no longer be connected to themselves. You shouldn't ever need to do this, so just don't do it. You shouldn't test this unless you've been saving regularly, the undo button only works once in succession and is unreliable.

    In this situation we want them to be connected so select one of the lower vertices and Alt+Left-Click somewhere open. Don't bother dragging.



    From here we're going to set its translation, again set its Y to -42. Then select the lower vertex on the opposite side and copy its X value. Go back to our new vertex and paste the copied number into its X value. The two lower vertices should now be connected!



    Before we move on to the next Collision Object we have to finish up here. Do you know what else needs to be done? Below is the answer, but try to figure it out for yourself first.

    Answer: Identify the Collision Boxes!

    Lower Box = Ceiling
    Left Box = LeftWall with No Walljump
    Right Box = RightWall with No Walljump.
    (the top box is already a floor with ledges)

    Don't EVER forget to identify a collision box you create.

    Onto the next Collision Object. Here the only boxes are directly above the stage.



    These outline the bumper from Super Smash Bros. 64. However, it wasn't imported, with no plans to do so. Thus, we don't need these boxes. There are two ways to get rid of them! The first is to select them and press "Delete" to remove them. You can delete them all at once this way by highlighting them all and hitting Delete once like in the example below.



    A good thing to note: Vertices shouldn't be deleted separately. Delete the Collision boxes instead. When a box is deleted the vertices will remain IF still connected to another box. If you delete a single vertex in between two others, the boxes will merge together, you don't want this unless they're already in a straight line. Also, you cannot delete a single selected vertex if there's only one connected vertex that isn't connected to anything others.

    Look at the picture above, I've highlighted all but the top vertex. When I hit delete all but that one AND the one connected to it. Understand? A vertex cannot be stand-alone, it MUST be connected to another vertex.

    Back to removing the bumber Collisions boxes. We could delete the boxes by highlighting and deleting them all way ~OR~ since these are the only Collisions in this Object, we can delete the Object itself!



    Technically we're done here, but we're going to look at the other Collision Objects to see what's in them. DON'T DO ANYTHING TO THEM!

    The next two objects each have Collision boxes for one of the ramps in the air.
    After that is the set of Floors on the top fall-through platform.
    Finally we have two triangles within the the stage.

    The two triangles within the final Collision Object are animated with ledges; they give ledges to the middle floor, and only when the moving bottom platform is completely on the opposite side. When you're done looking at them close the preview box.

    For the last bit of Part 1 you're going to go go into the other two COLL files and repeat everything we've done in this one. There are two differences between the first COLL file and the other two. First is the absence of the last Collision Object, the one with the triangles. The other difference can be seen in the image below.



    Notice the difference? Here, let's compare them.



    You'll need to create an additional Collision box on each side to cover the lower corners like in the first COLL file. This will prevent players from getting stuck while trying to recover. Don't forget to properly identify them as walls with "No Walljump". This may seem pointless since these particular corners only exist when covered by the bottom moving platform, but you're learning so buck up and get it done! Practice makes perfect!


    This part on Static Collisions is complete!
    (in case you're wondering, this is by far the longest of the four parts of this tutorial)

    Post-Collisions Video
    <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlff0O2aH0M" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlff0O2aH0M</a>

    Part 2: Model Textures
    Let's move on. Next we're going to look at textures. By the end of this part of the tutorial you should understand how to change the base look of stages and characters.


    Remember all the files within ARC #2? Here's some definitions about the files you've been seeing:

    PAC (ARC) ~ Packed File
    • A collection of files that contain data pertaining to a single entity
    BRRES ~ Resource File
    • A collection of folders that each contain files of a single datatype
    COLL ~ Collision File
    • A collection of Collision Objects
    MSBIN (MSG) ~ Message File
    • A collection of several sets of text

    There are other files among these but they're a level above beginners, not "need-to-know" for this tutorial.

    By now you should've noticed that BrawlBox is divided into the left and right halves; the left side is the set of files within the file loading into BrawlBox while the right side displays data within a highlighted file. The right side is also divided into two halves, the top displays data that can only hold specific data while the lower half have perform 2 functions. Either it'll display the image of a texture file (TEX0), a set of text of a MSG file, or the colors in an Palette file (PLT0). Otherwise nothing will be displayed in the lower half. Example:



    It's time to explore the textures of the stage! The best way to do that is by opening a second copy of BrawlBox and opening the same stage. Highlight the core of the PAC file and Preview All Models like below.



    This way while you look at the textures you can see exactly what uses them. This makes it easy to find the textures you're looking for. In this case we're going to look for the textures of the two ramps in the air. In the Preview you should be looking at this:



    Now let's get to exploring! There were two BRRES files labeled "TextureData[0]" & "TextureData[1]", obviously these are the files we're looking for. Use the "+" signs to open up #0 and its inner folder. It should look like this.



    Slowly run down all the textures in "TextureData[0]" and see if you can find them in the Preview. You may be surprised how hidden some textures are. Can you find the right textures?

    Near the top of the bottom half: "Side1" and "Side2"!


    Don't worry about any of the information about the textures, they only thing we're modifying is the texture itself. Right-Click a texture file and you'll see the options "Export" and "Replace" at the top. We're going to export the ramp's textures. The recommended format to export to is PNG; they are relatively small and support transparency, which is a must for Brawl textures.



    You should now close the Preview and the other copy of BrawlBox; you can't do any saving while this second copy is open and we don't need it anymore.

    Now lets load our textures into our image-editing program! I'm using Photoshop but you can use whatever you want, the purpose is to make a significant modification that is easy to see. I'll include what I do so you can see every step I perform.



    For the first image we're going to take an image of Peach and using the Magic Eraser Tool...



    We'll fast-render her!



    A couple things to note about the Magic Eraser Tool:
    • It deletes every connected pixel of a single color, varying a slight shade difference
    • If you look closely at Peach's right hand part of it is now missing; there wasn't enough shadowy shade between her hand and the background to distinguish a difference
      • To avoid this I could've removed a small outline around those fingers using the Lasso Tool and "Delete"; a lack of pixels will also count as a different color for the Magic Eraser Tool

    Now we'll just use the Move Tool to pull Peach onto the texture. With the difference in sizes we can center her face!



    For the next texture we'll change the texture completely. Let's use the Gradent Tool to create a colored shading effect. Just Left-Click Drag from the lower left corner to the opposite corner to get a result similar to below:



    If you're dealing with symmetrical textures you probably won't know which side of a texture start where on a model. To figure out which side is which it's a good idea to make a texture that ISN'T symmetrical, like the two above.

    We're done modifying them, so let's get them into the stage! Save new modified textures then replace the original textures in BrawlBox.



    Whenever you replace textures you should make sure they're the same size as the original. There's a risk that a file that's too large will cause a Wii to freeze. When it comes to character textures make sure to leave any transparency in place. You may get some... interesting... results otherwise.

    The last thing to do is make sure it worked. Select "Preview All Models" at the core of the stage file and look at the ramps. You should find it worked, though mine look silly.



    One more piece of information about Exporting and Replacing: if you play a different version of Brawl (like Vanilla Brawl, Balanced Brawl, Project M, and Brawl +/-) and you see a cool stage texture on a stage for a different version, you can make your version look just as good very easily! Simply right-click the TextureData Resource Files in the stage you're taking textures from and select "Export", then Replace the same files in the stage you want them in!

    For example: I Exported "TextureData[0]" from THIS stage, creating "TextureData[0].brres", then used it to Replace "TextureData[0]" on THIS stage. Doing so I created HD Green Hill Zone 2.5!


    This part on Model Textures is complete!

    Post-Textures Video
    <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbjSgyASH1U" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbjSgyASH1U</a>

    Part 3: Model Removal
    Time to get a little more complicated! We're going to completely remove the newly textured ramps! By the end of this part of the tutorial you should understand how to remove models from stages, as well as their shadows and Collision Data.

    But first a question: have you ever tried using a downloaded texture (character or stage) and found a spot where when you looked closely into it you could see completely through to the background? This is a blind spot, an area on a model where textures would normally cover but is failing to do so. A good example is THIS stage; it only has textures in the front so if you rotate a camera to the opposite side you'll see straight through to the background as if the castle isn't even there.

    Why is this important to know? Well if you ever want to made textures for custom models you'll need to make sure the model is completely covered, even stretches in animated models (which is information for another tutorial). But this is ALSO a shortcut to removing the ramps. Models call for textures of specific names for specific areas, if the texture is empty or nonexistent then it'll get a big piece of transparency which'll create a huge blind spot. Just delete "Side1" and "Side2" and the ramps will disappear!

    But we're NOT going to do that, mainly because that's not the point of this tutorial but also because of another reason we'll get to shortly. Instead we're going to remove just models themselves!

    The first step is to find the "ModelData" that has the ramps we're looking for. Start at the top and right-click "ModelData[0]", selecting "Preview All Models". Maximize the preview box and zoom out quite a bit to make sure the ramps aren't there.



    When you're done looking close the box, then rinse and repeat down the ModelData until you find the one we're looking for.

    This actually shouldn't take long, they're in "ModelData[2]"!



    Click the "+" sign to open the Resource File and you'll find two folders, "3DModels(NW4R)" and "AnmChr(NW4R)". AnmChr is Animation data for the models in the Resource File, which is beyond this tutorial. (get the feeling I've said that a lot?) 3DModels is just what it says, it's holds the models themselves. Open it up and you'll see some MDL0 files; each hold a separate model.



    Remember the name of the textures for the ramps? "Side1" and "Side2". Well here there are only 7 MDL0s, Static, 4 Sides, and 2 MShadows; it's pretty obvious which ones we want. However, there's only 2 ramps and 4 files... let's rinse and repeat our last process! Preview each model so we can find out know exactly what's in them.

    You should find that Sides 1 & 3 have the backside of the each ramp while 2 & 4 have the flat sides, but the other 3 models seem to have nothing.











    Now that we've found exactly what we were looking for the next step is the delete the Side models!



    This isn't the end of it; there's two more things we must do before this tutorial is complete. If we were to enter this stage in game right now the essence of the ramps will still be there. What I mean is that there's still Collision Data for the ramps so players could be effected by ramps they can't see. Or partially; shadows of players will still appear on top of the nonexistent ramps. We still need to remove these before the ramps are completely gone.

    The shadows are the reason we went to delete models instead of textures. They're generated using the "MShadow" models. Same procedure as before, delete them! With those gone only "Static" should remain. Leave it, it's really doing nothing now but it's important to keep. I'll explain why later.



    Note: Shadows can be generated different ways; that was the easiest of them. You can trust most if not all stages done or modified by Mewtwo2000 to have shadows like that.

    Now let's go back to the Collision Data. You'll need to go into all the COLL files and remove the Collision boxes for both ramps. You can either delete the boxes themselves or their Collision Objects, it's up to you.




    This part on Model Removal is complete!

    Post-Removal Video
    <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra_abpXycdU" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ra_abpXycdU</a>

    Part 4: Boundaries
    We're on the final stretch! It's time to learn about Death and Camera Boundaries! This'll go by pretty fast but it's also extremely important to understand if you plan to make or import your own stages. By the end of this part of the tutorial you should understand how to move boundaries and spawn points.


    Normally I'd send you to find what we're going to modify but this is different; it's a constant! The file with the data we're about to modify will ALWAYS be "ModelData[100]". It's actually deep within this Resource File. I'll list out the order but an image will also show you where it is. First open "ModelData[100]", then open "3DModel(NW4R)", the MDL0 file "StgPosition", the folder "Bones", and finally the RAW data "StgPosition". You'll see a lot of RAW files that end in a number followed by "N" or "E".

    Lost yet? No worries, here's the images I promised you!



    Don't get lost by all the little numbers on the right, there's actually only one area in these files we're going to look at: "Translation". Remember that word?



    RAW files can only display RAW data like you see now, they need special programs specially designed to give them shape in order to see exactly what their purpose is. In this case we're going to use BrawlWall. Open it up (but don't close BrawlBox) and open "STGPEACHCASTLE64_REDUX.pac" with it. You'll get a very crude layout that looks like it was drawn by a toddler. Don't worry, this is normal.



    It's EXTREMELY important to note that you cannot save while BrawlBox and BrawlWall both have the stage open. Don't even try. BrawlWall is a little unstable and could cause an error if saving breaks because of this. It could even corrupt the stage in rare cases.

    Full screen BrawlWall, you'll want its window to be big so you can see everything on the left. As you'll see there are several colored points and lines in the center, this is a basic representation of the Collision Data, Death Boundaries, Camera Boundaries, and Spawn Points of characters and items. Here's a Key to what each color means:

    • Red Box ~ Death Boundaries
    • Purple Box ~ Camera Boundaries
    • Black Line ~ Floor
    • Green Line ~ Wall
    • Blue Line ~ Ceiling
    • Pink Line ~ Unidentified Collision Box
    • Red Line ~ Selected Collision Box
    • Cyan Dot ~ Spawn Point/Boundary Corner
    • Red Dot ~ Areas where Collisions connect; unused points may exist

    We're specifically focused on the Death and Camera Boundaries, the red and purple boxes. The information for them are the lowest box on the left, the "Position" box. You should see the following:



    The "CamLimit"s and "Dead"s are the ones we're interested in. Each sets the corner for two lines in their respective boundary. If you change their X or Y values you'll increase or decrease the size to the boundary box. Test this out now! Change "Dead0N"s Y value to 100. You won't be able to see the Red box shrink UNTIL you select a different item in one of the lists.



    30 points makes a huge difference doesn't it? Let's do some more big changes! Set each of them to the following values:

    • CamLimit0N = (-150,100)
    • CamLimit1N = (150,-180)
    • Dead0N = (-180,120)
    • Dead1N = (180,-100)

    Just to make sure you've got the right values here's some more images!



    Once all those numbers are in watch as the boxes begin to squish the stage!



    No not really, but almost. It'll start to look quite packed, like there isn't much room to move anymore. And you would be right! But before we try it out we've got to get it into the stage file. Like I noted before, BrawlWall is unstable. So what we're going to do is un-maximize it and set it up so you can still see the position box and values while using BrawlBox. Go to the RAWs we already opened in BrawlBox and select "CamLimit0N" to display its data; find "Translation".



    As you can see it displays a 3-Dimensional value, but we're still going to leave the Z value "0". change the X and Y values here to the same ones we made in BrawlWall. Then do the same for the other boundary corners. Close BrawlWall without saving, then save with BrawlBox! It's done! From here you need to try out the stage, the image seen in BrawlWall is nice but you'll never know just how well-placed the boundaries are until you actually try them out. It's a trial & error process.

    I have a few suggestions that are generally good to follow when setting boundaries:

    • The bottom death boundary don't have to close to the stage, in fact they shouldn't be! Normally when a fighter misses the ledge on their recovery they're dead. Doesn't matter how far they have to fall to die.
    • Camera boundaries should be about 30 points inside of the death boundaries. It adds suspense when you can't see how close the enemy is to dying.
    • The wall death boundaries should be about 50-60 points away from the nearest ledge. A throw shouldn't kill at 40% damage, but at the same time lives shouldn't regularly last till 200% damage.
    • The top death boundary should be about 100 points higher then the highest platform; same reasons as above apply.

    Of course these are purely personal suggestion, you may make stages to any specifications and enjoy them the way you want. Surely you'll have a purpose in mind when you make/edit a stage and these suggestions may not fit. We're done now but some more info before we go.

    You may have noticed in BrawlWall the boundary corners were also marked with cyan dots. This means you can move spawn points the same way you moved the boundary corners! Feel free to experiment with these, but start with the Spawn Points of the Pokemon Trainers, if they end up in the middle of nowhere by accident they won't die. Just don't set their Z values to "0", fighters will start passing right through them and that would just be weird!

    The numbers and letters at the end of each RAW file has its own purpose. The numbers refer to multiple entities of similar identities, such as "CamLimit" or "Dead", but the letter refers to the spawn set. When a stage loads Brawl will randomly select set "E" or set "N"; when anything spawns that can be either "E" or "N" it will always go to the position corresponding to the set. The main purpose of this is to change up the starting position of fighters so they aren't in the same place every time. Avoid setting more then one "Player" of the same set in the same location.


    This part on Boundaries is complete!

    Post-Boundaries Video
    <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9drryR1yGc" target="_blank" class="aeva_link bbc_link new_win">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9drryR1yGc</a>

    And we're finished! That wasn't so hard now was it? If you followed everything correctly, your Stage PAC should be very similar to the "small" version of THIS!

    There's also one more thing that you can do that's simple and can make stages prettier; casting shadows! Making shadows cast from fighters is actually pretty easy, but rather then add it to this long-ass tutorial I'll just refer you to God's Mewtwo2000's Tutorial on it. Check it out then try modifying the shadows on the center platform, see what different types of shadows you can come up with, you may find a form you really like.

    Don't stop here, feel free to experiment with the stage and see what else you can come up with. Try out new textures, different boundary settings, strange collisions! Grab some more stages and do what you can to them too! Practice makes perfect!


    Again, don't stop here! Once you've gotten comfortable with these small-time hacks, move on to the next level! Check out LegacyWolf's Tutorial on OBJ importing and you'll be on your way towards high-level importing! Check out Chuy's Tutorial too, it has a lot of good information about the files we saw in BrawlBox, as well as a walkthrough for swapping backgrounds between stages!

    And remember, if you find something you don't know about and can't find a tutorial on, ask around! There are plenty of people here that have a black belt are masters in stage hacking, if you post in the Stage Help section you're bound to get the answer you're looking for. Just be clear and specific with as much detail as you can give; the less you tell your helpers the less they'll tell you.

    If any experienced stage hackers see any incorrect information within the tutorial, please let me know so I can fix it ASAP. I hope for this to be the go-to for any beginning stage hacker.
    « Last Edit: November 27, 2012, 09:45:53 AM by WarioMANX » Logged

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    « Reply #1 on: November 26, 2012, 11:49:46 AM »


    You say MDW a lot, I think you mean MDL0. Like Here "First open "ModelData[100]", then open "3DModel(NW4R)", the MDW file "StgPosition""
    STGPosition is a MDL0 file. All model files are MDL0's, I never heard of a MDW file.
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    « Reply #2 on: November 27, 2012, 09:50:03 AM »


    You say MDW a lot, I think you mean MDL0. Like Here "First open "ModelData[100]", then open "3DModel(NW4R)", the MDW file "StgPosition""
    STGPosition is a MDL0 file. All model files are MDL0's, I never heard of a MDW file.
    Thanks for the catch. The "MDL0" is so condensed in there that I couldn't see the separation, and Gray-on-Gray + bad eyes isn't a good combination. Fixed!
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    « Reply #3 on: November 27, 2012, 10:56:27 AM »


    Thanks for the catch. The "MDL0" is so condensed in there that I couldn't see the separation, and Gray-on-Gray + bad eyes isn't a good combination. Fixed!
    No problem, good to see a tutorial that also uses brawl wall. I don't think they're any out there.
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    « Reply #4 on: November 28, 2012, 05:22:23 PM »


    Holy fak, this tut is quite detailed.

    Very nice.
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    « Reply #5 on: January 12, 2013, 12:58:59 AM »


    This was great help. I have a specific question. First to explain, do you know those types of stages that there seems to be too much of the stage blocking the view of the left and right edge? Is there a good way of remedying that issue without deleting/ severely altering the stage model?
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    « Reply #6 on: January 14, 2013, 12:28:06 PM »


    This was great help. I have a specific question. First to explain, do you know those types of stages that there seems to be too much of the stage blocking the view of the left and right edge? Is there a good way of remedying that issue without deleting/ severely altering the stage model?
    In order to answer that question I'm going to need an example of exactly what you're talking about. (I can come up with maybe 3 different ways to interpret your question) Can you post an image of a stage that has what you're talking about, or even better, a download link to a stage in the vault so I can look at the files?
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    « Reply #7 on: May 14, 2013, 03:47:37 PM »


    Hey WarioManX this is a great tutorial but I'm looking to recreate the death boundaries in the Budokai Tenkaichi Grass=Death stage. Please reply if you can help.
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    « Reply #8 on: May 30, 2013, 09:15:00 PM »


    Love it, using the lesson you thought me about collision editting, I can convert most osteges into proyect m fair stages. Thanks Warioman X
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