FAQ

This page answers some of the more frequently asked questions.

A: This depends on what exactly you want to modify. In some cases, there will be an editor to help you accomplish your task. I recommend browsing the Hacking Utilities page to get an idea of what is available. Some of the more noteworthy tools to start with include:

Tools for SNES version:

Easy:

• FF3usME: An editor capable of editing a lot of game data. This tool is the go-to editor for the majority of standard modifications. Features include editing monster stats and battle scripts (AI), battle formations, items and equipment data, shop data, magic data, starting character stats, magic growth, esper boosts, and palettes among other things.
• FF6LE Rogue+ (also come packaged with Zone Doctor+): If you want to edit the overworlds, dungeons, towns, etc. then this editor is what you are looking for. Note that you must apply a patch available in the zip file to relocate data prior to using the editors. Also note that while Zone Doctor can edit events (the game's cutscenes), there are some caveats (see below).
• Lunar IPS: Allows you to apply or create IPS patches. You will need this to start playing a hack or to distribute your hack online.

Advanced (if you're just starting, you may not care about these just yet):

• If you read this Nattak/Jackimus, please note down the Sound editors you would commonly (ie, almost every time) use while editing music. I don't have enough knowledge in that area to really pick out which editors are super important in that department, and which editors aren't super important and are just listed on FF6Hacking for completion purposes. Not sure whether it should be Easy or Advanced
• YY-CHR: This can be used to edit compressed graphics.
• Xkas: Cross assembler that can be used to make assembly (ASM) changes to your ROM.
• Geiger's Debugger: It's a debugger. It can be used to set breakpoints and run traces.
• HxD This allows you to edit hex code directly. Allows copy-paste, making it preferable to Windhex for most people.

A: It's too late at night to answer now, I'll get back to it…

A: If the game is violently crashing when you load the game, reach the first battle, etc., you are almost certainly applying the patch to the wrong ROM. There are two different versions of the game (1.0 and 1.1) that have minor differences. In addition, for each version of the game there are both headered and unheadered ROMs (see below). You have to apply the patch to the same type of ROM that the creator used to make the patch. Usually the ROM you should use is specified in the ReadMe or wherever you downloaded the patch from. Don't ignore this info!

A: A header is essentially just 0x200 bytes of padding (with some information that doesn't really matter to you) at the beginning of the ROM. There's not really a functional difference between a headered and an unheadered ROM, but you have to take into account the extra bytes when you are hacking. In many cases you'll want to simply remove the header using SNESTool, as it will make your life easier.

A: blah blah blah