RGB Classic Games Forum

Interesting! I suggest you start a new thread for any Raptor discoveries so we can keep them separate from Camoto discussion, and perhaps work together on figuring out some more Raptor file formats!

Hey, I tested Zone 66 reading but everything I attempt is not properly loaded saying it is not Zone 66 format including the CDFM music. Is there a step I'm missing somewhere?

Yes sorry, I should have made it clearer that Camoto doesn't yet decompress standalone files on-the-fly. It won't unlzexe .exe files and it won't decompress the .z66 files either - at least not yet.

For the moment you'll have to decompress each file of interest manually (e.g. with a command like "gamecomp -t lzw-zone66 < in.z66 > out.z66") and then try it, or wait for a future release. This feature is pretty high priority so hopefully it won't be too much longer.

I've tried that but the output gives a file smaller than the input, far too little to be CDFM or graphics tiles, testing them in Camoto confirms that. Am I doing something wrong?

What commands are you using? This works for me: (under Linux)

Note the great shrink in filesize.

Edit: I guess there is something different between the Linux build and Windows build. And I can assume the files are certainly the same between us as there is no difference in byte-size.

Ahh, it looks like Windows treats streams as text by default, which means it replaces 0x0A with 0x0D 0x0A and stops processing as soon as it encounters a 0x1A (EOF) byte.

Can you try out this version of gamecomp.exe which switches the streams to binary-mode, and see if that works any better?

Thank you very much, it works now! I get a playable/readable output.

Will try with graphics now... Working!

Glad to hear it! Not much has been done with Zone 66 unfortunately. The map format is known, and some of the graphics kind of are, but that's about it. So any other formats you can figure out and put on the ModdingWiki would be much appreciated!

Well, I may have some info not currently documented, will see. I do wonder where ship palettes are.

I've taken a closer look at Zone 66 today and implemented basic map editing (background layer only.) The ship palette is mpal.z66 (the "map palette") which seems to be used by the majority of images. tpal.z66 is used for the main menu, leaving the intro animation (IMHO the best part of the game) with an unknown palette - neither tpal nor mpal are correct.

I've also added more graphic files to the list in Camoto Studio, so I think pretty much all of the graphics in the game are now editable. Of course I will have to implement the Z66 compression algorithm before modified files can be put back into the game. But the next release of Camoto (after 2013-11-17) will have much improved Zone 66 support. The remaining map files still need to be reverse engineered before enemies and other map elements can be edited though.

Malvineous, you did a really really great job I was waiting for an editor for Crystal Caves for long time.... But I have an issue, I don't understand why I can't edit any map. When I click on a tile, it doesn't do anything. I'm sure I'm doing something wrong, are there any instructions on how to edit crystal caves maps?

EDIT: I've figured it out. Don't worry.... I have another question, how can I delete a tile? Because whenever I put the wrong tile by mistake I cannot find the way to delete it

Thanks! If you look at the status bar while you're editing, it will tell you what keys/mouse buttons you can press at any given time. To remove a tile, select it with a right-click and then press Del. I am planning to write some more detailed instructions, but the priority at the moment is on making the editor itself more functional.

Thanks I've seen it. I decided to make my own mod, by now I have the main level edited and I started with level 1. I run into one issue, after I edited all the level and started to test it, the little miner couldn't jump more than a middle block. I mean that it's like there is too much gravity that it couldn't at least jump... Do you know what I'm doing wrong?... Also, I would like if you can explain me how is the thing with the switches and the elevators, and how to cut off the gravity like level 6 and the raining rock level.... Sorry if you ask you too much and sorry for my english.

I'm not sure what would prevent the player from jumping. There are many level attributes like falling rocks, reverse gravity, etc. but these are hard-coded in the .exe file. If you start a new thread discussing Crystal Caves editing, some of the other people on this forum can probably help you out with that. Please also read the "Modding Help" section on the ModdingWiki Crystal Caves page as it explains how switches work.