IMPORTANT: Some programs are incompatible with others. Using JHack’s and Mr A’s map editors together at the same time can cause major damage to a ROM, if not turning it into gibberish. Mr A’s map editor isn’t compatible with EB++ 0.2 or newer either. Follow the order of editing. A calculator capable of Hex is also useful.

What this tutorial is about. I won’t bother explaining everything PK Hack (also known as JHack) can do here, since I’ll be doing that in detail soon enough. The version of PK Hack I used for this tutorial is 05e, a newer version does exist but doesn’t function for me for some odd reason. If you are using a different version of PK Hack than me, then you may not have some features I do, or have some I don’t. Older versions also damage ROMs at a higher rate, and contain nasty glitches. Try to use 05e or newer. This program uses Java, so make sure you have the right version of Java installed.

Website for PK Hack: http://www.anyoneeb.net:83/jhack/
Forum thread: http://forum.starmen.net/forum/Community/PKHack/9348/first

JHack does come with a map editor, but if you ask Messianic, he’ll tell you that each map editor has things it does well, and things it doesn’t do at all. There’s also the Hyperbound method of map hacking. In case you can’t tell, map hacking is a pain. Some people can’t use the JHack map editor, others can’t seem to run Mr A’s. Either way, Mr A’s is similar to JHack’s map editor in how you use it. If you’ve ever touched StarEdit or any other game map making program, it shouldn’t be too hard to understand. There isn’t a thread for it for some reason, but there is a download link: http://pkhack.fobby.net/down/progs/mapedit461install.exe

Most text in the EarthBound ROM is manipulated using what are known as Control Codes. Control Codes format text, ask questions, open windows, change music tracks, start battles, all kinds of stuff. Editing text directly in the text blocks that exist is risky, even adding new ones are slow and boring. CCScript not only makes text editing much easier, but also eliminates most of the problems you can run into when editing text. The thread for it is: http://forum.starmen.net/forum/Community/PKHack/CCScript-A-new-revolution-in-text-editing-D/page/1/

If you want to change the music in the game, this is the only tool in existance. I have no idea how it works. The only person I know who can manipulate this thing is Alxprit, let’s hope he writes a tutorial. The thread is here. http://forum.starmen.net/forum/Community/PKHack/19071/page/6#post1337947

These are general SNES graphic editing programs, and can edit EarthBound’s graphics, except some are compressed and need to be decompressed before they can be edited. Both programs have their fans, try both and see which you prefer. One of these will be used when using Hyperbound’s map editing method. Google for them, they are easy to find. There are probably tutorials on how to use those programs as well.

If you can’t use JHack’s IPS utilities for whatever reason, these two programs can patch a legit EarthBound ROM. Both are at http://forum.starmen.net/forum/Community/PKHack/Reg-s-Cooltastic-PK-Hack-Resource/first. This topic also has many other tools.

Listed in the page previously linked, this tool clears almost everything in a ROM out, leaving just the bare frame of the ROM to edit. This is IMPORTANT if you plan on making a massive hack to prevent some reminent of old data from causing issues.

Does all your address conversion work for you, even ID’s what memory scheme the ROM uses for you. Google for it.