To install the Modular Minimug Box (henceforth just the MMB) you simply need to #include one of the MMBInstaller files in the Installers folder. There are multiple variants of the installer included with the MMB, so pick your favorite to install or use as a starting point to customize.
The MMB takes up a considerable amount of freespace and is made by default to be included within a larger EA buildfile. If you're installing the MMB on its own, you'll need to modify your installer to assemble the hack to freespace. The easiest way to do that is to add the line ORG 0x00B2A610 as the first line in the installer, replacing 0x00B2A610 with the offset of some available space.
To edit items on the MMB, there are two steps: Enabling/disabling modules and configuring module options.
Throughout the installer there are lists of modules
// Unit name modules
//#define MMBName
/*
* Draws the unit's name to [MMBNameX, MMBNameY]
* using MMBNameColor.
*/
//#define MMBNameCentered
/*
* Draws the unit's name to [MMBNameX, MMBNameY]
* using MMBNameColor, centering it within the
* number of tiles specified by MMBNameWidth.
*/
#define MMBNameAffinityShifted
/*
* Draws the unit's name to [MMBNameX, MMBNameY]
* using MMBNameColor. If the unit has an affinity,
* the name is shifted 2 tiles to the right.
*/
and their options
// Unit name options
// Coordinates and widths are in 8x8 pixel tiles
#define MMBNameWidth 7
#define MMBNameColor TextBlack
#define MMBNameX 5
#define MMBNameY 3
To disable a module, comment it out (type // before a line's text) from the list of modules.
For example, if I didn't want the unit's name to be shown on the MMB my unit name modules would look like:
// Unit name modules
//#define MMBName
/*
* Draws the unit's name to [MMBNameX, MMBNameY]
* using MMBNameColor.
*/
//#define MMBNameCentered
/*
* Draws the unit's name to [MMBNameX, MMBNameY]
* using MMBNameColor, centering it within the
* number of tiles specified by MMBNameWidth.
*/
//#define MMBNameAffinityShifted
/*
* Draws the unit's name to [MMBNameX, MMBNameY]
* using MMBNameColor. If the unit has an affinity,
* the name is shifted 2 tiles to the right.
*/
Conversely, you select which module(s) to use by uncommenting them.
For example, if I just wanted the unit's name with no centering:
// Unit name modules
#define MMBName
/*
* Draws the unit's name to [MMBNameX, MMBNameY]
* using MMBNameColor.
*/
//#define MMBNameCentered
/*
* Draws the unit's name to [MMBNameX, MMBNameY]
* using MMBNameColor, centering it within the
* number of tiles specified by MMBNameWidth.
*/
//#define MMBNameAffinityShifted
/*
* Draws the unit's name to [MMBNameX, MMBNameY]
* using MMBNameColor. If the unit has an affinity,
* the name is shifted 2 tiles to the right.
*/
To make implementation simpler, certain module types only support one module from their list being used at a time, such as the unit name modules.
After deciding which module(s) you want from a list, configuring them is as simple as editing numbers in their options.
Multiple modules with similar purposes share options. For example, all unit name modules share the same options.
Many module options have comments about how the options are interpreted, such as
// Coordinates and widths are in 8x8 pixel tiles
Many modules need to be positioned by tiles while some are positioned by pixels. It might be confusing to have both, but it would be far worse to have either all positions be in pixels (which would cause modules that must be tile aligned to have their coordinates silently floored to the nearest tile) or be in tiles (severely limiting things like icons and numbers).
Some module options have advanced options like which tile index to write to/use in VRAM. By default, none of these need to be edited and are included for completeness.
Modules involving skills require the FE8 skill system to be included within the same buildfile.
Please see Installers/MMBInstallerDefault.event for descriptions of each module.
The MMB includes two utility files (build.bat and Makefile in the root folder) that can be used when developing modules. I can't guarantee that these will work for your environment out of the box. Both expect that you have devkitARM, lyn, and EA. The Makefile assumes that you have Stan's ea-dep.
Creating a MMB module requires some knowledge about THUMB, EA, and lyn. Taking a look at existing modules might be helpful, and you're free to contact me on FEU or the FEU Discord server.
There are three parts of a module:
- The code
- The inclusion and setup
- The array entry
MMB modules always have two inputs:
- r0: A pointer to the MMB proc state
- r1: A pointer to the selected unit's data in RAM (Most of the time)
The coordinates for placing BG elements on the MMB can be found by (2 * ((32 * YCoord) + XCoord)) + TargetBuffer where TargetBuffer is either WindowBuffer or WindowBufferBG1 (both definitions can be found in CommonDefinitions.inc which I recommend you include in your asm)
For drawing sprites to the MMB, it's important to get the vertical offset of the box in order to add it to the sprite's Y coordinate. Here's an example from the level number drawing module:
@ Get positions for numbers
ldr r6, MMBLevelX
ldr r7, MMBLevelY
@ check for lower window
mov r0, r4 @ MMB Proc state
@ First we get the window's position
add r0, #WindowPosType
ldrb r0, [r0]
lsl r0, r0, #0x03
ldr r1, =WindowSideTable
add r0, r1, r0
@ Then we grab which half of the screen it's on
mov r1, #0x03
ldsb r0, [r0, r1] @ -1 for top, 1 for bottom
cmp r0, #0x00
blt SkipBottom
@ If it's on the bottom of the screen we subtract the MMB's height
@ from the vertical size of the screen (20 tiles), multiply by
@ the size of a tile, and then add that to our Y coordinate
ldr r0, MMBHeight
mov r1, #20
sub r1, r1, r0
lsl r1, r1, #0x03
add r7, r7, r1
SkipBottom:
Step two is to turn your ASM into a .lyn.event file. There are two helpful files included in the root folder (build.bat and Makefile) that can be used to convert your sources, depending on your environment. Previously, the MMB would use #inctevent lyn "Some/File.elf" within MMBCore.event but I have since switched to pregenerating the .lyn.event files for assembly speed.
In MMBCore.event there is a section that looks like:
// Module inclusions
// Tilemap modules
#ifdef MMBStandardTilemap
#include "Modules/MMBDrawTilemap.lyn.event"
POIN MMBTilemap
WORD MMBTilemapPaletteIndex
#endif // MMBStandardTilemap
There are a few parts to this, so let's break them down.
First, #ifdef MMBStandardTilemap. MMBStandardTilemap is going to be the name of the module in the installer. The installer defines MMBStandardTilemap when the module is used, otherwise it isn't defined. Using this ifdef system we can keep the size of the MMB smaller by not assembling modules that are not used.
Second, #include "Modules/MMBDrawTilemap.lyn.event". This uses lyn to include the contents of our elf file like it was a dmp, but it allows us to use outside symbols, like EA labels, definitions, and things from other elfs (like Internal/Definitions.elf).
Third, we have some EA literals that correspond to options in our installer. I suggest doing math on these here rather than in your assembly in order to save time and space.
Afterwards, be sure to add your module's info to the installer.
The third and final step for adding a module is to add an entry to one of two arrays:
- Build Routines
- Dynamic Routines
Build routines are run once when the MMB is being built. Dynamic routines are run every proc tick. BG elements are usually build routines, but some, like status drawing, are dynamic. Dynamic routines can have a dramatic effect on lag, so it's best to avoid heavy calculations or drawing. For example, modules that draw a unit's inventory will copy the icons to VRAM as a build routine but display the sprites using a dynamic routine, to avoid rewriting the icons every tick.
To pick an array, locate them (they're at the end of MMBCore.event) and add something along the lines of
#ifdef MMBIconPrep
POIN MMBPrepIcons
#endif // MMBIconPrep
Where, once again, the #ifdef MMBIconPrep is the name of the module. The POIN MMBPrepIcons is a pointer to the routine.