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: Graphics
===Level / Quest Hacks===
When you take it one step further in changing how the game plays by modifying maps and levels. You could also alter the programming to create new gameplay mechanics (FLUDD in Mario 64 DS, Paint Gun in Portal) to accomodate the new level design and you might end up with a whole new game, Chinese-bootleg-style!
: 2D Zelda games with altered dungeons (Zelda Alttp Parallel Worlds)
: Sonic games with the entire 3D geometry of a level from another game imported inside with possible tweaks to the actual level design too (Unleashed in Sonic Generations PC)
: Chrono Trigger Crimson Echoes
: Final Fantasy 6 T-Hack (Japanese)
: Romancing SaGa 3 hacks (Japanese) : have enemies from other games and radically new storylines to follow
: Graphics (occasionally)
: 3D Model of Level
===Asset Enhancement Hacks===
GBA games suffered from games having brightened palettes (to compensate for the lack of back-lighting on the early models), and terrible sound quality (the samples were low quality either by incompetence, just relying on Nintendo's tools, or wanting to save on cartridge costs). Forget about that, even SNES games have muffled sound samples and Megadrive games have questionable palette choices. Not to mention some FMVs in PS1 games being very low-quality for cost concerns, or having artifacts due to shoddy implementation of hard subs, compared to cleaner versions of the same FMV on other platforms. Have I mentioned horrible font choices for the text?
Some modders just went and fixed this up, by editing the files containing the sub-par assets to include a higher-quality version (often expanding the ROM in the process to get the needed free space).
It's nothing too crazy though - the replacements are still abiding by the hardware constraints. If you're looking for HD graphics you might want to check for emulator-based solutions enhancing the game on the go without actually altering the internal files.
Examples:
: Final Fantasy 4/5/6 (GBA) : sound and palette fixes (FF6's opera scene has full streamed opera singing audio)
===Scrubbing the game off Garbage Data===
Used to get rid of unneeded garbage data filling the disk and thus making it easier to compress later to much smaller sizes. Scrubbing preserves the disk structure by simply blanking out the garbage data areas, which might be needed to preserve the game's functionality when it expects to execute and load data off specific sectors - as opposed to trimming being scrubbing plus rearranging the iso dump file, potentially destructively too.
[[Category:FAQs]]
