FF6Tools is a browser-based app for editing Final Fantasy ROM files for the NES, SNES, and GBA. The latest version is always available here: https://everything8215.github.io/ff6tools/
Please post questions and comments in the FF6Tools thread at ff6hacking.com: https://www.ff6hacking.com/forums/thread-3321.html. You can also find me on the FF6Hacking Discord server.
FF6Tools started as an app for OS X which is no longer being developed. Old builds are available here: https://www.ff6hacking.com/wiki/doku.php?id=ff3:ff3us:util:ff6tools
A few folks have asked if I accept donations, so I set up a Patreon. If you'd like to help me out, I'd appreciate it! https://www.patreon.com/everything8215
Although FF6Tools is a browser-based application, it runs entirely on your computer. There is no server-side code. When you open and save files, it's just loading things into your browser. It doesn't actually upload or download anything to the internet. You must supply your own ROM files.
Click the folder button or press Ctrl+O (Cmd+O on Mac) to select a ROM file. FF6Tools calculates the CRC32 checksum of the file to determine which ROM you are attempting to open. FF6Tools uses definition files in either JSON or YAML format to store all of the information needed to open a ROM file. Definition files for all of the supported ROMs listed above are included with FF6Tools.
If the CRC32 of your file does not match any of the ROMs currently supported by FF6Tools, you will be prompted with a list of built-in definitions that you can select to open your ROM. If you are attempting to open a modified ROM, you can select the built-in definition that most closely matches it. You can also choose a custom definition file which you will get when you save your ROM. When opening a modified ROM that was created by FF6Tools, it is recommended to choose the definition file that came with it. However, keep in mind though that as more features are added to FF6Tools, they may not be available with an older definition file.
If you open a ROM with a 512-byte SNES/SFC copier header, FF6Tools will remove the header. These headers are obsolete and are neither required nor recognized by any modern emulators, though some older IPS patches require a headered ROM.
NES ROMs require a 16-byte iNES header. GBA ROMs never have a header.
FF6Tools has various editors for modifying the data in a ROM, including maps, battles, monsters, characters, items, and attacks. The left pane shows a hierachical view of the data in the ROM that can be modified. Selecting an item in the hierarchy allows you to edit the data in the center pane (editor) and the right pane (toolbox and properties). In general, the toolbox and editor are used to show a visual preview of maps, battles, etc. The properties pane is used to directly modify properties and attributes of whatever is currently selected. There is also a script pane that will appear below the editor when you select a script (for events, monster A.I., etc.).
Use the layer buttons above the toolbox to select which layer to edit. The buttons above the editor can be used to turn layers on and off, and to show various screen masks like tile passability and the screen size that will be visible in-game. Left click on the map to draw tiles. Select tiles in the toolbox by clicking. You can click and drag to select multiple tiles at once. You can also right click and drag on the map to select tiles on the currently selected layer.
When the trigger layer is selected, left click on the map to select a trigger. If there is more than one trigger at the same point, you can click multiple times to cycle through all of the triggers. Click and drag to move a trigger. Right click to bring up a menu with options to insert and delete triggers.
Click on a monster to select it. In most games, monsters can be dragged around to change their position. Click on an empty area of the battle to select the battle properties, where you can usually add and remove monsters from the battle. Some games have a VRAM view that allows you to see how the monster graphics will be stored in the system's video memory.
FF6Tools does not have any built-in graphics editing capabilities. Instead, FF6Tools can import and export graphics in several different formats, which are compatible with widely available graphics editing programs. In order to preserve color palette data, it is recommended to use indexed png files whenever possible. When importing graphics, it is possible to import an entire image, or just a rectangular section of an image. It is also possible to enable/disable import of the graphics or palette. When importing an RGB image (non-indexed) FF6Tools will quantize the image and generate an optimized palette based on the color depth of the target system's graphics. Note, however, that the colors produced by the quantization may not be in the correct order for use with the ROM.
The tilemap editor allows you to edit tile data which is used to assemble tile-based graphics into larger images. The graphics tiles which are available are displayed in the toolbox in the right pane and can be imported and exported just as described above. Some tilemaps allow you to flip tiles and change a tile's layering priority and palette index. Controls for these will be shown above the toolbox when they are available. Helpful masks can be enabled using the menu above the tilemap editor.
After you have made changes to a ROM, click the disk button or press Ctrl+S (Cmd+S on Mac) to save your ROM. FF6Tools will attempt to reassemble all of the ROM data to make a new ROM file. If this process succeeds, your browser will "download" a zip file containing the modified ROM, a custom definition file, and a ROM map. The modified ROM will have the standard ROM file extension for the applicable system (.nes, .sfc, or .gba). The definition file is in either JSON (default) or YAML format, and is needed in order to re-open a modified ROM with FF6Tools. The ROM map is a text file and is for information only.
In some cases, modified ROM data will increase in size such that it no longer fits in the region of the ROM where it was originally stored. When this happends, FF6Tools will prompt you with a list of options for how to deal with the new data. Note that the "Relocate", "Optimize", and "Expand" options can cause a ROM to no longer be compatible with patches and other utilities.
FF3usME is another commonly used ROM editor written by Lord J. Because FF3usME is closed-source, it is not known exactly what changes it makes when saving a ROM. Because of this, compatibility issues can arise when trying to open a ROM previously edited in FF3usME. Fixes for some of these issues are described here. These fixes can be implemented by editing the definition file that you use to open a ROM in FF6Tools.
If the World of Ruin is blank in the map editor (black/blue vertical stripes) edit your definition file as follows:
"worldGraphics2" and change its "range" to "0xEF7D07-0xEF9D17""worldLayout2" and change its "range" to "0xEF4A46-0xEF7D07"This problem seems to be much less common. If the World of Balance looks corrupted in the map editor (wrong tiles with blue/white palette) edit your definition file as follows:
"worldGraphics1" change its "range" to "0xEF111C-0xEF3250""worldLayout1" change its "range" to "0xEED434-0xEF111C"There can be up to 256 unique treasures in FF5, and they are stored sequentially in the ROM by map index. There is a table at 0x113000 that determines the index of the first treasure on each map. The problem is that there are two maps which share the same treasure data with a previous map, so their values in the table are out of sequence. FF6Tools doesn't know how to deal with this so it just duplicates the treasure data for those two maps when you save. But then there are more than 256 treasures in the game, so the table overflows and the last few treasures (on map 507) become inaccessible. Maps 216 and 218 are both level 5 of the Ronka Ruins, and maps 227 and 235 are both level 2 of Castle Exdeath.
Here is a way to prevent this issue. Any time you edit any treasures with FF6Tools, before saving the ROM, delete the treasures from maps 218 and and 235 (right click and select "Delete Trigger" from the menu). If you want to edit those treasures, do so from maps 216 and 227. After saving, open the ROM with a hex editor and go to offset 0x1130DA and change one byte to match the byte at 0x1130D8, then go to offset 0x1130EB and change it to match the byte at 0x1130E3 (the values should be 0x64 and 0x66 unless you added or removed treasures in previous maps). You only need to do this after modifying treasures with FF6Tools, so if you open the ROM again later to make other changes you won't need to do this again.
Thanks to Tzepish for pointing this out.
The following people contributed to FF6Tools, either indirectly by creating documents and tools that were used for reference or directly via chatting on various hacking forums and Discord (in no particular order): madsiur, Geiger/Evil Peer, Cless, Master ZED, Imzogelmo, Terrii Senshi, Mnrogar, Yousei, Lord J, Novalia Spirit, Corundum, giangurgolo, Disch, Ben Siron, PKT Paladin, Kea, JCE3000GT, samurai goroh, Lenophis, m06, Squall_FF8, Warrax, Tenkarider, Grimoire LD, Odym82, Jorgur, instructrtrepe, Light Phoenix, kwhazit, killXtech, snaphat, Maeson, OS, Dreami
FF6Tools uses the following libraries: