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Post by estebandesoto on Apr 3, 2023 13:05:08 GMT -5
Hi everyone!
I'm a fan of the Petz series since the very beginning. I bought the original Dogz, Catz, and Oddballz when each of them first came out, and stuck with the series up until at least Petz 3. I'd like to get back into it now.
I am a programmer, and I'm experienced with hex editors. I've been using hex editors for more than 20 years, to translate games that were released only in Japan into English, and make other modifications. I've also made tools in the past for hex editing, for randomizing games, extracting text/graphics, and making other changes.
I'm also a psychology student. I'm interested in cognitive science, animal cognition, and artificial intelligence. I've been working with AI as a hobby for 17 years, and studying psychology for eight.
I also work with animals in real life. I'm married to a professional dog groomer, and I'm writing this message from the front desk of the grooming salon that she owns.
So yeah, I'm really excited to get started here, maybe make some new tools for the community, mod the original game, explore the extent of the Petz AI, and ideally expand upon it, if I can.
Can anyone point me to the really old guides on how to hex with a hex editor? Every time I think I've found one, it turns out to be for some newer tool. I would prefer to use a hex editor, because then I understand what I'm doing on a deeper level, and I can create my own tools. For the record, I don't need to know the basics of how hex editors work--I already know that stuff--just which offsets correspond to which traits, and which files have been mapped and stuff.
Also, what are the best websites that I should know about? I've been spending a lot of time at Carolyn's, but it looks like a lot of the other sites I'm getting linked to are long gone.
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Post by MoonBeam0715 on Apr 3, 2023 13:43:44 GMT -5
Welcome!!
I can't help with guides as I never learned how to hex (it intimidates me). I'm glad that you're here! I'm always hoping that more people will work on modding the original game, exploring AI, and creating new tools. There's just so much we'd like to see!
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Post by Anthracite on Apr 3, 2023 14:17:05 GMT -5
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Post by Bec on Apr 4, 2023 3:35:56 GMT -5
Hi welcome to RKC! -Bec-
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Post by Kel on Apr 4, 2023 4:36:01 GMT -5
Welcome!
The petz hacking discord is definitely a good place, my mind immediately started thinking that you should introduce yourself to Reflet. They’re one of the Big Brains in the community when it comes to trying to break down the inner workings of files and creating tools.
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Post by estebandesoto on Apr 4, 2023 8:48:44 GMT -5
Thanks guys! That's a big help. I'll check out those resources, and I've just joined the discord, which looks like it's just what I'm looking for. Definitely seeing what Kel means about Reflet.
Though today I need to work on actually getting Petz 4 running. I'm on a stripped-down version of Linux without Wine or VMs or anything installed, and also limited space. I'm thinking I'll install Windows 95 on DOSBox if I can find my old Windows disks, and see if I can run it that way.
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