1)Python
The script was made with Python 3.10.6, so that version or above is required. Google should prove satisfactory

2)Palmod
Palmod is a really dope program that allows you to edit the pallete data of an arcade game. It has support for tons of games for the CPS1/2/3, Neo-Geo, IGS PGM, SNES, etc etc. With it ya can rip the exact pallete of whatver you're ripping. It's also just genuinely cool so i'd suggest it anyway
DL: [url=https://zachd.com/palmod/releases/]https://zachd.com/palmod/releases/[/url]

3)Tile Molestor
Charming name i know. This program allows you to open the interleaved data in a way an actual person would care for. I'll link the one i use, which has an additional extension to load .act files. This in conjunction with Palmod is where the magic happens
Comes with the script, but being a Java application, Java needs to be installed for it to work. Simple enough to do

With those pre-requisites, here's how you would use it!

Assuming you installed Python correctly, you should be able to run the script as is. Place the unzipped folder of the ROM of your choice in to the roms folder and run it
You should be greeted with this



If your game is not supported, consult the readme and lemme know if there's anything i can do to help should you find my wording strange. If it is, sick! Just write the name of whatever game ya want. In this case, we'll go with KOF98



It should be noted it really doesn't matter if you type in upper or lower case. As long as the name is right, it'll work just fine. Assuming our ROM is in the right place, we can go ahead and enter 1 to interleave the data



Once that's done, there should now be a new folder name interleaved gfx. Inside is the GFX file we want to edit. Run runtm and open this file by switching the open type as "all files"
View > Codec > 4bpp Planar
Row Interleaved
Hold shift and press the right arrow key 16 times to give yourself a bit of wriggle room, and explore away!
As stated, the extension lets us import and act file directly in to Palmod. Look up how to find Pallete addresses should there be none for your game of choice. Seeing as KOF98 has support, we can simply open Palmod, load KOF98, and save an act file of our choice. Since i dig him, we're going with Kim. Once this is saved, in Tile Molestor, navigate to pallete > import from > another file, and load in the act file
To have the best view, go to view > block size, and turn off full canvas. The Neo-Geo loads tiles in strips, and these tiles are 16 by 16, so gp tp view > custom and change the width to 2
After a lil searching, we found Kims tiles!


If you want to rip stuff, great, we're done! If you want to edit them, the best way imo is to export the tiles in to another program, edit them using the colours of the pallete and shoot them back. Go to edit > copy to in order to export the current view. Open the PNG in a program of your choice, make the changes, and then edit > paste from it back in. Press ESC to apply the change, and CTRL+S to save. Run the Stitcher again, KOF98, 2, and ya done! The change should now be applied to the GFX ROMs proper. Simply load the ROMs back in to your game of choice. For the sake of this example, drew a lil face on Kims pants


Slightly outdated, but a decent vid showing the process for Neo-Geo


This process is identical for the CPS2, only real difference is it's tiles aren't strips so ya shouldn't need to adjust the block size. A vid reference in case ya still curious