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Very cool project, impressed by its quality and potential.

I guess it helps a little that PS2 was a little "low-specs" by Megadrive standards, but seeing how well Sonic Genesis for SMS ended shows how with modern tools and talent, surprisingly great things can be achieved.

I agree this looks brilliant. Am I the only one who kind of prefers the original abstract battle backgrounds from PSII, though?

Bock wrote

I guess it helps a little that PS2 was a little "low-specs" by Megadrive standards, but seeing how well Sonic Genesis for SMS ended shows how with modern tools and talent, surprisingly great things can be achieved.

Very true. They could've put quite a bit more into PSII. I probably wouldn't have tried a port, in that case lol. Agreed, Slogra and Maxim's skillsets really brought the most out of the game. And a very nice tool for any future endeavours.

Kagesan wrote

Am I the only one who kind of prefers the original abstract battle backgrounds from PSII, though?

I can definitely see the preference. There will be an option to use the original BGs only, or the new BGs. It'll be placed with the other planned game options.

Kagesan wrote

I agree this looks brilliant. Am I the only one who kind of prefers the original abstract battle backgrounds from PSII, though?

No you're not :)

I always thought that a chapter of PS2 should happen inside Mother Brain, when you fight virtual ennemies, so the abstract backgrounds would be justified :D

The abstract backgrounds are weird at the first sight but when you think about it, it matches the game's sci-fi theme.

PrOfUnD Darkness wrote

Cleeem this is a great project, curious to see the outcome.

It is finished and here :)
https://www.smspower.org/forums/19808-PhantasyStarSeriesCompleteStoryBetweenGame...

xfixium wrote

Although this forum is great when it comes to suggestions, and I do look at suggestions closely.

My new topic makes me suggest the following :

Shops

a casino
a store specially run by Motavians with collector figurines (Motavians like to collect a bit of everything)

Places

a visit in a high ivory tower where Palma's bad thinkers and rulers live
a visit in a town of the underground Palma where the resistance is located with huge spaceships building

Story

some dialogues with Ohario Sa Riik and Aina Le Cille (possibly using Kein(Rhys) and Marina (Maia) as inspirational models

Side missions

use each hero's special skill at least once in side missions (Ann could heal someone, Keinz could hack a computer...)
win at least a Motavian relic in a side mission or other items like the healing ring from PSG2

xfixium wrote

Future project, port Phantasy Star II to the Master System. This would be pretty challenging, but seemingly doable. My initial thoughts on tile management on being the most difficult problem to solve, without losing graphic quality (During battles). A possible solution could be to do what the original Phantasy Star did with monster encounter graphics, but instead of using sprites for the edges, do tile merging similar to other titles like SFII and Golden Axe? That way sprites could be used solely for battle animations for each character, as well as technique and damage count effects. It'd still be tight, but possibly manageable.

So far I have only created mock ups. I have vetted the palettes and converted to SMS colors, however. I would also like to introduce quality of life improvements. Like the macro system from PSIV, and possibly the skill system, as an added feature. Maybe side missions as well. For many of the other features, the Master System seems capable enough.

Hello! What about the soundtrack? I saw that no one has made a remix using the SN76489 chip so I did a test that is on my YouTube channel.
Unfortunately for some reason I can't put the link here but I wanted to show it.
I apologize if this is considered spam.

I was able to find your video by searching on by your forum name on Youtube. It sounds good to me!
I haven't seen the music in SMS format yet, so this should be very helpful.

However Xfixium hasn't been active on the forum for a while. He is probably on a break.

slogra wrote

I was able to find your video by searching on by your forum name on Youtube. It sounds good to me!
I haven't seen the music in SMS format yet, so this should be very helpful.

However Xfixium hasn't been active on the forum for a while. He is probably on a break.

Thanks for your time!
I assumed he had taken a break because I tried to contact him without success.
I would like to help with this project so if it is really useful I will work on the rest of the tracks.

Cleeem wrote

It is finished and here :)
https://www.smspower.org/forums/19808-PhantasyStarSeriesCompleteStoryBetweenGame...

My new topic makes me suggest the following :

Shops
a casino

a store specially run by Motavians with collector figurines (Motavians like to collect a bit of everything)

Places
a visit in a high ivory tower where Palma's bad thinkers and rulers live

a visit in a town of the underground Palma where the resistance is located with huge spaceships building

Story
some dialogues with Ohario Sa Riik and Aina Le Cille (possibly using Kein(Rhys) and Marina (Maia) as inspirational models

Side missions
use each hero's special skill at least once in side missions (Ann could heal someone, Keinz could hack a computer...)

win at least a Motavian relic in a side mission or other items like the healing ring from PSG2

Thank you for all your hard work! I'll be sure to read everything you came up with.

SanSenpai35 wrote

Hello! What about the soundtrack? I saw that no one has made a remix using the SN76489 chip so I did a test that is on my YouTube channel.
Unfortunately for some reason I can't put the link here but I wanted to show it.
I apologize if this is considered spam.

Wow! Very nice! I thought most of the body of the tune would be missing, but all the elements are there. Sounds great!

If you'd like to share the audio, I'd be very appreciative. I'd like to put it in the code base thus far, if that's okay with you.

Yes, I have been busy with life. My focus last time I was doing things was trying to get a decent release of SMS Tile Studio out there.

The last thing I did for this game was a dither in for the title. It's not as detailed, but it's in the spirit of the original. Also bringing in the data for all the enemies, and updating SMS Tile Studio with table output based on entity data. I spent a great deal of time converting the Motavia world map for the SMS. As you can see in the attached screenshot, the tilemap data is pretty high XD. It will have to be cut up into 32 x 32 pixel metatiles.

Getting it down to 256 tiles was a real pain.
https://www.pyxosoft.com/projects/sms_ps2/images/sms_ps2_0034.png

Small title update vid I did some time ago:
https://www.pyxosoft.com/projects/sms_ps2/videos/psii_0002.mp4

More updates to come.

Screenshot 2023-09-07 103452.png (56.27 KB)

Screenshot 2023-09-07 103553.png (57.08 KB)

sms_ps2_0033.png (64.71 KB)

Wow! This all looks and sounds incredible! :) Can't wait!

xfixium wrote

Wow! Very nice! I thought most of the body of the tune would be missing, but all the elements are there. Sounds great!

If you'd like to share the audio, I'd be very appreciative. I'd like to put it in the code base thus far, if that's okay with you.

Thank you so much!
I tried to be as faithful as possible to the original tracks.
I can add the .VGM file to my google drive folder, but I can't share the link here because my account is relatively new, so I'll send it to you via private message.

xfixium wrote

The last thing I did for this game was a dither in for the title. It's not as detailed, but it's in the spirit of the original. Also bringing in the data for all the enemies, and updating SMS Tile Studio with table output based on entity data. I spent a great deal of time converting the Motavia world map for the SMS. As you can see in the attached screenshot, the tilemap data is pretty high XD. It will have to be cut up into 32 x 32 pixel metatiles.

Man, that looks really fantastic. Thank you very much for your work, really.
It inspires me to do the rest of the soundtrack.

NewHorizon wrote

Wow! This all looks and sounds incredible! :) Can't wait!

Thank you very much!! I can't wait, too!

Nice work on the map. A few things that come to mind :

It is possible to get behind some elements in the original game (top of the trees, maybe the top of the spheres as well). I am guessing that it will not be possible anymore ?

In terms of tiles, you can also have water in the larger channels.

cireza wrote

Nice work on the map. A few things that come to mind :

It is possible to get behind some elements in the original game (top of the trees, maybe the top of the spheres as well). I am guessing that it will not be possible anymore ?

In terms of tiles, you can also have water in the larger channels.

The map is a placeholder. I needed something for the time being, and to work off of in the future (Color converted/optimized). It's not totally throw away work, but most likely it will be further simplified. I'll address other issues as they come.

Author	Message
Bock Site Admin Joined: 08 Jul 2001 Posts: 8606 Location: Paris, France	Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2023 10:11 am
	Very cool project, impressed by its quality and potential. I guess it helps a little that PS2 was a little "low-specs" by Megadrive standards, but seeing how well Sonic Genesis for SMS ended shows how with modern tools and talent, surprisingly great things can be achieved.

Kagesan Joined: 01 Feb 2014 Posts: 821	Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2023 2:14 pm
Kagesan Joined: 01 Feb 2014 Posts: 821	I agree this looks brilliant. Am I the only one who kind of prefers the original abstract battle backgrounds from PSII, though?

xfixium Joined: 18 Jul 2020 Posts: 365	Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2023 2:47 pm
xfixium Joined: 18 Jul 2020 Posts: 365	Bock wrote I guess it helps a little that PS2 was a little "low-specs" by Megadrive standards, but seeing how well Sonic Genesis for SMS ended shows how with modern tools and talent, surprisingly great things can be achieved. Very true. They could've put quite a bit more into PSII. I probably wouldn't have tried a port, in that case lol. Agreed, Slogra and Maxim's skillsets really brought the most out of the game. And a very nice tool for any future endeavours. Kagesan wrote Am I the only one who kind of prefers the original abstract battle backgrounds from PSII, though? I can definitely see the preference. There will be an option to use the original BGs only, or the new BGs. It'll be placed with the other planned game options.

Tryphon Joined: 17 Sep 2017 Posts: 4	Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2023 3:00 pm
Tryphon Joined: 17 Sep 2017 Posts: 4	Kagesan wrote I agree this looks brilliant. Am I the only one who kind of prefers the original abstract battle backgrounds from PSII, though? No you're not :) I always thought that a chapter of PS2 should happen inside Mother Brain, when you fight virtual ennemies, so the abstract backgrounds would be justified :D

PrOfUnD Darkness Joined: 29 Jun 1999 Posts: 374 Location: Brazil	Posted: Fri Aug 04, 2023 6:36 pm
	The abstract backgrounds are weird at the first sight but when you think about it, it matches the game's sci-fi theme.

Cleeem Joined: 21 Jun 2023 Posts: 111 Location: France	Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2023 3:37 pm Last edited by Cleeem on Tue Oct 03, 2023 6:21 pm; edited 1 time in total
Cleeem Joined: 21 Jun 2023 Posts: 111 Location: France	PrOfUnD Darkness wrote Cleeem this is a great project, curious to see the outcome. It is finished and here :) https://www.smspower.org/forums/19808-PhantasyStarSeriesCompleteStoryBetweenGame... xfixium wrote Although this forum is great when it comes to suggestions, and I do look at suggestions closely. My new topic makes me suggest the following : Shops a casino a store specially run by Motavians with collector figurines (Motavians like to collect a bit of everything) Places a visit in a high ivory tower where Palma's bad thinkers and rulers live a visit in a town of the underground Palma where the resistance is located with huge spaceships building Story some dialogues with Ohario Sa Riik and Aina Le Cille (possibly using Kein(Rhys) and Marina (Maia) as inspirational models Side missions use each hero's special skill at least once in side missions (Ann could heal someone, Keinz could hack a computer...) win at least a Motavian relic in a side mission or other items like the healing ring from PSG2

SanSenpai35 Joined: 30 May 2023 Posts: 3	Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2023 4:20 pm
SanSenpai35 Joined: 30 May 2023 Posts: 3	xfixium wrote Future project, port Phantasy Star II to the Master System. This would be pretty challenging, but seemingly doable. My initial thoughts on tile management on being the most difficult problem to solve, without losing graphic quality (During battles). A possible solution could be to do what the original Phantasy Star did with monster encounter graphics, but instead of using sprites for the edges, do tile merging similar to other titles like SFII and Golden Axe? That way sprites could be used solely for battle animations for each character, as well as technique and damage count effects. It'd still be tight, but possibly manageable. So far I have only created mock ups. I have vetted the palettes and converted to SMS colors, however. I would also like to introduce quality of life improvements. Like the macro system from PSIV, and possibly the skill system, as an added feature. Maybe side missions as well. For many of the other features, the Master System seems capable enough. Hello! What about the soundtrack? I saw that no one has made a remix using the SN76489 chip so I did a test that is on my YouTube channel. Unfortunately for some reason I can't put the link here but I wanted to show it. I apologize if this is considered spam.

slogra Joined: 09 Jun 2014 Posts: 350	Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2023 5:57 pm
slogra Joined: 09 Jun 2014 Posts: 350	I was able to find your video by searching on by your forum name on Youtube. It sounds good to me! I haven't seen the music in SMS format yet, so this should be very helpful. However Xfixium hasn't been active on the forum for a while. He is probably on a break.

SanSenpai35 Joined: 30 May 2023 Posts: 3	Posted: Tue Oct 03, 2023 8:28 pm
SanSenpai35 Joined: 30 May 2023 Posts: 3	slogra wrote I was able to find your video by searching on by your forum name on Youtube. It sounds good to me! I haven't seen the music in SMS format yet, so this should be very helpful. However Xfixium hasn't been active on the forum for a while. He is probably on a break. Thanks for your time! I assumed he had taken a break because I tried to contact him without success. I would like to help with this project so if it is really useful I will work on the rest of the tracks.

xfixium Joined: 18 Jul 2020 Posts: 365	Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2023 3:40 am
xfixium Joined: 18 Jul 2020 Posts: 365	Cleeem wrote It is finished and here :) https://www.smspower.org/forums/19808-PhantasyStarSeriesCompleteStoryBetweenGame... My new topic makes me suggest the following : Shops a casino a store specially run by Motavians with collector figurines (Motavians like to collect a bit of everything) Places a visit in a high ivory tower where Palma's bad thinkers and rulers live a visit in a town of the underground Palma where the resistance is located with huge spaceships building Story some dialogues with Ohario Sa Riik and Aina Le Cille (possibly using Kein(Rhys) and Marina (Maia) as inspirational models Side missions use each hero's special skill at least once in side missions (Ann could heal someone, Keinz could hack a computer...) win at least a Motavian relic in a side mission or other items like the healing ring from PSG2 Thank you for all your hard work! I'll be sure to read everything you came up with. SanSenpai35 wrote Hello! What about the soundtrack? I saw that no one has made a remix using the SN76489 chip so I did a test that is on my YouTube channel. Unfortunately for some reason I can't put the link here but I wanted to show it. I apologize if this is considered spam. Wow! Very nice! I thought most of the body of the tune would be missing, but all the elements are there. Sounds great! If you'd like to share the audio, I'd be very appreciative. I'd like to put it in the code base thus far, if that's okay with you. Yes, I have been busy with life. My focus last time I was doing things was trying to get a decent release of SMS Tile Studio out there. The last thing I did for this game was a dither in for the title. It's not as detailed, but it's in the spirit of the original. Also bringing in the data for all the enemies, and updating SMS Tile Studio with table output based on entity data. I spent a great deal of time converting the Motavia world map for the SMS. As you can see in the attached screenshot, the tilemap data is pretty high XD. It will have to be cut up into 32 x 32 pixel metatiles. Getting it down to 256 tiles was a real pain. https://www.pyxosoft.com/projects/sms_ps2/images/sms_ps2_0034.png Small title update vid I did some time ago: https://www.pyxosoft.com/projects/sms_ps2/videos/psii_0002.mp4 More updates to come. Screenshot 2023-09-07 103452.png (56.27 KB) Screenshot 2023-09-07 103553.png (57.08 KB) sms_ps2_0033.png (64.71 KB)

NewHorizon Joined: 30 Nov 2017 Posts: 71	Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2023 12:53 pm
NewHorizon Joined: 30 Nov 2017 Posts: 71	Wow! This all looks and sounds incredible! :) Can't wait!

SanSenpai35 Joined: 30 May 2023 Posts: 3	Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2023 6:03 pm
SanSenpai35 Joined: 30 May 2023 Posts: 3	xfixium wrote Wow! Very nice! I thought most of the body of the tune would be missing, but all the elements are there. Sounds great! If you'd like to share the audio, I'd be very appreciative. I'd like to put it in the code base thus far, if that's okay with you. Thank you so much! I tried to be as faithful as possible to the original tracks. I can add the .VGM file to my google drive folder, but I can't share the link here because my account is relatively new, so I'll send it to you via private message. xfixium wrote The last thing I did for this game was a dither in for the title. It's not as detailed, but it's in the spirit of the original. Also bringing in the data for all the enemies, and updating SMS Tile Studio with table output based on entity data. I spent a great deal of time converting the Motavia world map for the SMS. As you can see in the attached screenshot, the tilemap data is pretty high XD. It will have to be cut up into 32 x 32 pixel metatiles. Man, that looks really fantastic. Thank you very much for your work, really. It inspires me to do the rest of the soundtrack. NewHorizon wrote Wow! This all looks and sounds incredible! :) Can't wait! Thank you very much!! I can't wait, too!

cireza Joined: 27 Feb 2023 Posts: 108 Location: France	Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2023 3:54 pm
cireza Joined: 27 Feb 2023 Posts: 108 Location: France	Nice work on the map. A few things that come to mind : It is possible to get behind some elements in the original game (top of the trees, maybe the top of the spheres as well). I am guessing that it will not be possible anymore ? In terms of tiles, you can also have water in the larger channels.

xfixium Joined: 18 Jul 2020 Posts: 365	Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2023 4:27 pm
xfixium Joined: 18 Jul 2020 Posts: 365	cireza wrote Nice work on the map. A few things that come to mind : It is possible to get behind some elements in the original game (top of the trees, maybe the top of the spheres as well). I am guessing that it will not be possible anymore ? In terms of tiles, you can also have water in the larger channels. The map is a placeholder. I needed something for the time being, and to work off of in the future (Color converted/optimized). It's not totally throw away work, but most likely it will be further simplified. I'll address other issues as they come.

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