Hi, I'm RisanF. I have a minor interest in Rom Hacking, but I don't know much of anything about the subject. I just have this pet project in mind that I think would be fun, and I'd like to see if I can carry it out. Here's an overview of the project.

In MegaMan 8, the Flame Sword master weapon from SwordMan allows MegaMan to use his buster to emulate a flaming sword. I want to edit that animation so that MegaMan uses the same actual blade as Sword Man. In short, I want to replace the Flame Sword animation that you can see here http://www.sprites-inc.co.uk/files/Classic/MM8/Wep/index.php with this edited animation http://www.geocities.com/risanf/pricelessword.PNG . I can guess that hacking a PSX game is harder than NES or SNES, but is this feasible? (I'm only talking about sprite editing, not changing the actual gamplay; that's an idea for another day)

And if it is feasible, what steps do I need to take to make it happen, with what tools? (I have a computer that's around a year old, but it was pretty high-end when I bought it) Also, what experience do I need? Is this something I can pick up by looking at some guides and asking the right questions, or are we talking about four years at a technical schoo or somethingl? I'd appreciate it if you all can give me something to get started.

That's feasible provided you can find the graphics, you may run into palette limitations though (In that case you'd probably just want to make the sword orange as well, it won't look as good as your image there but it'll still be better than the original).

I'd just move the whole help section above community.

Users don't like to scroll. Or read really ...

If you're hacking the PSX version, there's a GOOD chance that all the graphics are contained in a TIM file, which has its own palette. You could feasibly insert the sword just as you want (with the colors and all).

If you're stuck with the SNES version, though, you may have to turn the sword into the same color as the flame.

Sega Saturn, too

I keep thinking 8 was released on the SNES. Doh.

Still. With TIM files, there's palettes in the files in many cases. So yeah.