Graphic hack: Uniforms

[Coach_Bama]

I made a couple of IPS files for alternate uniform combinations. These aren't the regular color changes anyone can make with any of the various editors.

Ohgoodlordno.

This is a graphic hack I made using Tile Layer Pro. The first file allows a team to take the field with the helmet and jersey as one color and the pants as another. The Pittsburgh Steelers can have a black helmet, a black jersey, and yellow pants. The second file permits the helmet as one color and the jersey and the pants as another. The Alabama Crimson Tide can have a red helmet, a white jersey, and white pants. You can still, of course, use your favorite editor to change the uniform color schemes. Some team combos look great, while others don't. But, this opens up a lot of different options.

However, only the player sprites have been changed in this way-- the action screens still retain the original color combo. The action screen color palettes work in the same way as the uniform palettes (in hex, you can change the helmet\pants and jersey colors), but unfortunately, the action screen sprites don't work in the same manner as the player sprites (you CANNOT, in a tile program, switch the colors of the sprites). In other words, the helmet and pants can't have different colors. So, there is no way I know of that can make the action-screen-uniform-color-combinations match with these new on-field color combos.

I wanted to go ahead and post what I had already done, so you all could check it out. I'm also working on a file that will have the helmet, jersey and pants as one color (with helmet and pant stripes as another), but I want to do some other stuff for awhile, as I'm kinda worn out with the player tiles right now. Once it's done, however, every uniform combination will be available. Some teams (such as the San Diego Chargers and the Auburn Tigers) that have 3 color combos, will still not be completely accurate. There is a way to circumvent this, but it would require that the skin color be used as a uniform color. I've experimented with this some but the hack would be a little more involved. I made the jerseys long-sleeved, so it looks like the players are wearing gloves and a helmet visor. Also, all players would have to be black-skinned and their portraits (at least for the white players) would have to be changed to the silhouette.

There might be some errors here and there, so just post what you find and I'll see what I can do. I had to use my best judgement in some cases, as changing things around required some artwork on my part, and sometimes I couldn't really figure out what that heap of player sprites was trying to look like in the first place. Simply switching color combinations didn't always work. There's a few in particular that I don't like, but these are representative of a player lying on the field, crumpled up in a certain way.

Also, sometimes a player will "lose" some body parts... this seems to be a glitch (?) associated with the emulation. Let me know if any particular problems persist. Sometimes, when a player jumps in the air, his hands disappear but other times the graphic seems to work as expected. I've never noticed this in other ROMs, so I may have screwed up a tile or two. Hopefully, not.

For anyone wanting to get their feet wet with editing graphics, this is a good place to start. I used Tile Layer Pro. Most of the player tiles follow an easy pattern: upper left, lower left, upper right, lower right. Some deviate from this, but it's not hard to figure out.

I've tested these IPS files on both the 28-team and 32-team ROMs and everything seems fine. I created these files using the original 28-team ROM.

As always, when using an IPS patch, make sure you back up your ROM. You can download the Lunar IPS patch utility here http://www.knobbe.org/mx/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=5320. It's in the ipspatchesfornewhacks folder contained within the download (which has other useful tools, as well). Patching is straightforward; the utility itself will guide you through the process.

[Coach_Bama]

I've noticed something that I can't figure out. Uniform 2 can be overwritten (through patching) by uniform 1 but the reverse is not true; Uniform 1 cannot be overwritten by uniform 2. Uniform 1 is a larger file, for some reason... I wonder if there's a connection?

Anyhoo, each of these uniform patches should be applied to a separate copy of a ROM.

[Coach_Bama]

Here are a few examples:

[Coach_Bama]

... and a few more:

[mikeyush]

this is a fantastic addition to the site, and i thank you for it.

a little confused though, i see that the changes are already intact when i apply the ips patch, but the steelers came up with yellow helmets and jerseys and black pants...is there a way to edit/reverse this, or no? i tried to edit it with tool to no avail.

thanks for the help, and once again, thanks for the hard work...this is something i've been looking forward to for a while now.

[mikeyush]

figured it out. thanks again!

[Maynard_G_Krebs]

So, is the graphics hack for the uniforms complete? Is it stable? Any bugs at all?

[SBlueman]

One step closer to realizing an even better hack. If we could have a 32-team NFL rom that accurately displayed the uniforms, had a 3-4 and 4-3 option and a 2-point conversion we'd be set.

Now are the only available options to have the helmet and jersey or the jersey and pants? Or is there a chance that down the road something like this can be mixed and matched and added to an editor like TSB TOOL?

[Coach_Bama]

Mikeyush: Glad you like it!

Yakmolester: Yes, the two files I uploaded are complete and without bugs as far as I can tell, except for the possible glitches I mentioned in my original post at the beginning of this thread. Just remember to apply the patches to copies of your ROMs, just to be safe. There was no manipulation of hex in these hacks; just copying and pasting tiles using a tile editor.

SBlueman: It's hard to explain how color palettes work, and others here have documented it better than I would be able. For the player tiles, you have 4 colors to choose from: the background color (which is not really a color; it allows you to "see through" to whatever the sprites are superimposed over... in the case of player tiles, the background is the football field) and three other colors, specified in hex (or, for all intents and purposes, an editor such as TSB Tool Supreme). One of these latter three colors is reserved for the skin color of the player. So, we are left with just two colors to use for the uniforms. In the original ROM, the sprites (or the football players) were drawn so that the helmets were the same color as the pants (and shoes and wristbands); the jersey (and the helmet stripe, pants stripe, and socks) used the last of these four colors. In my hacks, I used a tile editor to "re-draw" the player sprites. I simply switched the sprites around, basically reversing the colors for the various body parts. If you download a tile editor, which is very easy to use, and just fool around with a copy of a ROM, you will understand this easily. It's much easier to see for yourself. Trial and error can take you far in this area of ROM hacking. I apologize if I'm explaining something you already know but I wanted to write it down for clarification.

You can only have one combination at a time, in any one ROM. It might be possible to add another set of player sprites to a ROM and then write new code, telling the program which set to use, but I'm just speculating. As things stand now, there's no way, that I know of, that the program can switch the player sprites around; it just doesn't work that way. You can, however, still make color changes in the traditional way, with an editor, to come up with different color combinations. See my original post in this thread to read about a third uniform combo, and my solution concerning a three-color uniform scheme, using the skin color of the players.

So, to make a short answer long, I don't think an editor can make these kinds of changes. It's not a process of changing bytes around in hex; it's a process of re-drawing sprites, by hand.

[Maynard_G_Krebs]

On an unrelated note, I always find it amusing when people type out my username. Honestly, it brings a little joy to my afternoon to see it written, particularly with polite commentary afterwards.

[Coach_Bama]

<shakes hands with Yakmolester>

[mikeyush]

started a season with the falcons on the original version...SO COOL to be able to use them with black jerseys and helmets, and silver pants!

hypothetically, i don't imagine there's any way to "un-patch" if you wanted to...?

[DAMFNDRZA]

wow - cool - thanks!

[buck]

yeah, I'm digging version 2 (jersey+pants the same) the most. the stripe on the side of the leg is nice.

only one problem though - what to do with the Raiders?

[Coach_Bama]

Mikeyush and Buck: I figured I could answer both of your questions at the same time. This is the way I would do it: For any particular ROM, make 2 copies of the ROM you want to patch. The first ROM would be the unaltered ROM, the second and third would be the patched ones. Then, you name the ROMs in a way that is logical and familiar, such as: SuperCoach1, SuperCoach2, and SuperCoach3. Now, here's the neat part: since the emulator is where the save state is stored, and not the ROM itself (I think that's the way it works; I use Nestopia for this purpose), you can start a new season, and pick whichever of these three ROMS you want to start with. Then, you rename the ROM you picked (let's use SuperCoach2), using a different name, such as "Falcons", for example. Play a season game, then, switch over to one of the other copies (SuperCoach1), renaming "Falcons" back to the original "SuperCoach2" and renaming "SuperCoach1" as "Falcons". This way, any file named "Falcons" will retain all the season data accumulated to that point, but you can switch between ROMS, so you can use the different uniforms. This takes a small effort, as you need to exit the emulator and rename your files, and then launch the emulator again, but you're not limited to one set of uniforms for the entire season.

As far as the Raiders are concerned, the original, unpatched uniforms are the most accurate for them. They and some other teams don't look so great using the patches. But, considering that the original uniforms sort of screwed some teams (such as the Steelers and the Rams), you'll just have to find a combination that you find acceptable. Fortunately, real-life teams are using throwback uniforms quite frequently and sometimes even altering their existing ones. I think it would be acceptable to play the Steelers using yellow helmets and pants, and black jerseys when playing the Raiders, who could use traditional silver helmets and pants, with either black or white jerseys. So, this would be a case where an original, unpatched ROM would be more useful or appropriate than one of the two, new patches. Or, you could use one of the patches and play the Raiders using unrealistic uniforms, and pretend Al Davis finally went off the deep end and changed the classic Raiders look.

Unfortunately, as things stand now, only one uniform set can be used in any one ROM. I don't have the programming knowledge to ascertain whether it can be done or if the ROMs have enough room to do this, but it seems conceivable that one or two sets of player sprites could be added to a ROM, with code added to tell the program which player-sprite-set to choose during a game, for each team. This is pure speculation, of course. Maybe an editor could be made to direct the program to choose the sprite set for each matchup, and then the color schemes could be changed in the same way as is done now. This would certainly go a long way in having matchups look more realistic in terms of home and away uniform selection. In other words, you could have the Raiders in traditional silver helmets and silver pants with black jerseys, on the field with Cleveland wearing orange helmets with white jerseys and white pants. This might be too much to ask for, but you never know... It just seems implausible due to ROM space... the player tiles would take up a good bit of ROM space and no telling how much the new code would take up. Anyhoo, this is as far as I can take it.

Admittedly, the two new uniform patches work a little better for college ROMs, as there is more uniform variety in the college game. More teams use multiple uniforms, different color schemes, and helmet/jersey/pants combinations than the NFL does. So, it's easier to find acceptable uniform matchups, especially taking into consideration all of the myriad throwback uniforms.