v1.7
CGK is a MSX 1 Basic program that reads a binary file on disk (eg: a game), display its contents as binary graphic patterns and modify them on the disk itself.
A small set of machine language routines with 'advanced' edit tools called CGKTools.com are loaded if they are available.
Back in the olden MSX days, I wanted to be able to change the graphics of the games I played, working on cassettes and without assembler knowledge, however, the way I managed to do this was to make three very small Basic programs that could live on memory, one at a time, without conflicting with the games they intended to modify, hence the "Kit" on the name. They worked but they were not pretty.
So, for a long time, I wanted to know how far I could go remaking it and at the same time I also wanted to know how close I could get to my usual workflow coding in Basic for the MSX.
That is why Change Graph Kit was reborn, as an experiment on several things, among them MSX Basic Dignified, a Python program that convert an MSX Basic written with modern standards to the classic native format, assembler routines and a reconnection with the MSX in general.
There are three versions of the Change Graph Kit code:
CGK-Dignified.bad- The MSX Basic Dignified version.
CGK-Classic.asc- The Classic MSX Basic converted to ASCII format with MSX Basic Dignified.
CGK-Classic.bas- The Classic MSX Basic saved in tokenized format with MSX Basic Tokenizer.
Here is a little introduction.
- Pick the game without typing.
Top left:
- Region view. Binary display of 800 bytes of game contents.
Top right:
- Cursor Movement step.
- Region jump on browsing.
Bottom left:
Memory positions.
- C: Cursor initial and final position.
- R: Region initial and final position.
- G: Game initial and final position.
Bottom right:
- Game map and region position inside it.
The Exploded View can be used to see a map of the whole game. It displays 100 chunks of 8 bytes spread evenly through the game.
Just select something promising and the program will be taken to that memory region.
Enter calls the Edit Screen where the art can be properly modified.