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View topic - SMS Golden Axe Tyris Flare Edition ROM Hack

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Post Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 11:15 am
Sonic level data is stored as one byte per 32x32 pixel square, decompressed into 4KB of RAM. Each square is a “meta tile” - it is made of different VDP tiles, and these tiles can be shared across many meta tiles. A meta tile will also link to (meta)data about solidity (which parts are ground or air, and also how slopes work) and special effects (ring tiles let you collect rings and then change themselves into tiles with fewer rings; springs make you bounce, water makes you slow down, etc).

Many games have 16x16 meta tiles, Micro Machines has 96x96, Psycho Fox has 16x128(?), whatever suits the game engine. You might have a look at my (incomplete) editor here to see how this feeds into level editing: https://github.com/maxim-zhao/micromachineseditor
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Post Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 3:52 pm
Maxim wrote
Sonic level data is stored as one byte per 32x32 pixel square, decompressed into 4KB of RAM. Each square is a “meta tile” - it is made of different VDP tiles, and these tiles can be shared across many meta tiles. A meta tile will also link to (meta)data about solidity (which parts are ground or air, and also how slopes work) and special effects (ring tiles let you collect rings and then change themselves into tiles with fewer rings; springs make you bounce, water makes you slow down, etc).

Many games have 16x16 meta tiles, Micro Machines has 96x96, Psycho Fox has 16x128(?), whatever suits the game engine. You might have a look at my (incomplete) editor here to see how this feeds into level editing: https://github.com/maxim-zhao/micromachineseditor


Ahhh, I see, that's very interesting. I'll take a look at your project. I recall when I was making a ROM data reading application for Phantasy Star VI, the tilemap data was smaller than I anticipated. At the time I didn't really know why, I chalked it up to a decompression issue. I may have to revisit that at some point. It was my first go at anything ROM related. Golden Axe being my second. Still lots to learn.
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Post Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 9:51 am
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I was going to try Master of Darknnes but the compression is different. I want to do a Castlevania hack on it. I found almost all graphics except the title screen

Seems that your idea was stolen:

Dont give up for others ideas but keep it in secret. LOL
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Post Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2022 5:14 pm
I have started to make a port of Sailormoon arcade as an hack of Golden axe using SMS editor tool.

Sailormoon arcade gameplay is pretty similar to Golden axe, so hacking the game would be a good way to port the game to home console.

I have thought of the gameplay.

Sailor moon would be the playable character
the mount would be replaced by sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars.

The dramatic move of sailor Mercury is a circular kick, similar to the attack move of the Chiken Leg and Sailor Mars use Fire spell like the Dragons.

And Sailor Mars and Mercury are also a good choice because they share color palette with sailormoon (Moon is in red and blue, Mars is Red, Mercury is Blue) making possible to make them using only 7 colors.

For Death Adder, I think to use Zoitzite sprite and make some edit to it to make it similar to Jadeite and maybe mixing it with some sprite of Jadeite from the Genesis game (Once again because of palette, but also to be storywise accurate as the hack would not include jupiter)

For the magic spell, I plan to give the choice between Tuxedo Kamen, Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus (as Sailor V)

And the dwarfs would be replaced by Luna and Artemis.


I have recreate the first level background and made it work in 124 tile and 10 colors. and choose each ennemie replacement

I have also limited the palette color of each sprite to the same 7 colors, the result is pretty good and I have made some test for the best size for each sprite to fit them into the game, but I have a problem, I am a poor pixel artist and the sprite reduced are awful(not like the background) as they are just downsized with photoshop.

If someone is interested by the project and could help me, I would be very grateful.

Oh, sorry for my poor english, I am french.

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Post Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2022 6:07 pm
chevkraken wrote
I have started to make a port of Sailormoon arcade as an hack of Golden axe using SMS editor tool.

Sailormoon arcade gameplay is pretty similar to Golden axe, so hacking the game would be a good way to port the game to home console.

I have thought of the gameplay.

Sailor moon would be the playable character
the mount would be replaced by sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars.

The dramatic move of sailor Mercury is a circular kick, similar to the attack move of the Chiken Leg and Sailor Mars use Fire spell like the Dragons.

And Sailor Mars and Mercury are also a good choice because they share color palette with sailormoon (Moon is in red and blue, Mars is Red, Mercury is Blue) making possible to make them using only 7 colors.

For Death Adder, I think to use Zoitzite sprite and make some edit to it to make it similar to Jadeite and maybe mixing it with some sprite of Jadeite from the Genesis game (Once again because of palette, but also to be storywise accurate as the hack would not include jupiter)

For the magic spell, I plan to give the choice between Tuxedo Kamen, Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus (as Sailor V)

And the dwarfs would be replaced by Luna and Artemis.


I have recreate the first level background and made it work in 124 tile and 10 colors. and choose each ennemie replacement

I have also limited the palette color of each sprite to the same 7 colors, the result is pretty good and I have made some test for the best size for each sprite to fit them into the game, but I have a problem, I am a poor pixel artist and the sprite reduced are awful(not like the background) as they are just downsized with photoshop.

If someone is interested by the project and could help me, I would be very grateful.

Oh, sorry for my poor english, I am french.


Sounds like a cool idea. Please, keep us updated.
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Post Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2022 8:12 am
chevkraken wrote
I have started to make a port of Sailormoon arcade as an hack of Golden axe using SMS editor tool.

Sailormoon arcade gameplay is pretty similar to Golden axe, so hacking the game would be a good way to port the game to home console.

I have thought of the gameplay.

Sailor moon would be the playable character
the mount would be replaced by sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars.

The dramatic move of sailor Mercury is a circular kick, similar to the attack move of the Chiken Leg and Sailor Mars use Fire spell like the Dragons.

And Sailor Mars and Mercury are also a good choice because they share color palette with sailormoon (Moon is in red and blue, Mars is Red, Mercury is Blue) making possible to make them using only 7 colors.

For Death Adder, I think to use Zoitzite sprite and make some edit to it to make it similar to Jadeite and maybe mixing it with some sprite of Jadeite from the Genesis game (Once again because of palette, but also to be storywise accurate as the hack would not include jupiter)

For the magic spell, I plan to give the choice between Tuxedo Kamen, Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus (as Sailor V)

And the dwarfs would be replaced by Luna and Artemis.


I have recreate the first level background and made it work in 124 tile and 10 colors. and choose each ennemie replacement

I have also limited the palette color of each sprite to the same 7 colors, the result is pretty good and I have made some test for the best size for each sprite to fit them into the game, but I have a problem, I am a poor pixel artist and the sprite reduced are awful(not like the background) as they are just downsized with photoshop.

If someone is interested by the project and could help me, I would be very grateful.

Oh, sorry for my poor english, I am french.


Graphics look promising!
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Post Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2022 2:53 pm
haroldoop wrote


Sounds like a cool idea. Please, keep us updated.


thanks, your tweaked version of RGBquant for master system have been very useful.

I hope I would be able to upgrade the sprite quality because actually they look pretty bad, look.

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Post Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2022 5:39 pm
The sprites seem a bit dark i guess. I expected the the dress to be much more purple, not black.

Are you limited to 7 colors? Or are you able to stretch it to 8, 9 or 10 colors?

And yes, after resizing pixel art, it usually needs a lot of manual tweaking.

If you can fit the current resized sprites in the golden axe space then you made a nice step. You can replace them by nicer optimized sprites later.
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Post Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2022 7:09 pm
slogra wrote
The sprites seem a bit dark i guess. I expected the the dress to be much more purple, not black.

Are you limited to 7 colors? Or are you able to stretch it to 8, 9 or 10 colors?

And yes, after resizing pixel art, it usually needs a lot of manual tweaking.

If you can fit the current resized sprites in the golden axe space then you made a nice step. You can replace them by nicer optimized sprites later.


xfixium have said golden axe use only 7 colors for the sprites of the characters, so yes, I am limited to 7 colors. with sailor mercury being in blue (2 blue), mars in red (2 red), and 2 yellow is needed for the skin of the sailor, so yes I am pretty limited.

most of the game is only 16 colors


for the dress, the original in the game was black, same thing in the anime
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Post Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2022 9:27 pm
Well, i gave the 7 color palette a shot (for fun). I created 2 different palettes.

One looks very much like yours. Except there is no black, i use dark blue for that. That opened up space for another color purple. And I used light yellow instead of white.

The other palette has real red and more vibrant colors.

The sprites are not resized yet though.
sailorsenemies.png (12.23 KB)
sailorsenemies.png

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Post Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2022 12:19 am
slogra wrote
Well, i gave the 7 color palette a shot (for fun). I created 2 different palettes.

One looks very much like yours. Except there is no black, i use dark blue for that. That opened up space for another color purple. And I used light yellow instead of white.

The other palette has real red and more vibrant colors.

The sprites are not resized yet though.


Great work, I also don't use white but light yellow.

But actually another reason to my use of black is because I need to use 3 colors used into the background because of the general limitation of 16 colors (the background is not 10 colors but 12, I made a mistake while writing my initial message)

So I just have 4 free colors

For the background, I use:

4 green

2 grey

1 blue

1 blue green

2 red

White
Black
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Post Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2022 4:05 am
Gave a shot at resizing, based on the size of the original. I THINK it will import without issue. Used slogra's re-colored stuff. Some more tweaking could be done I believe
sailor_moon_0002.png (5.66 KB)
legit size
sailor_moon_0002.png
sailor_moon_0001.png (10.16 KB)
4x original, for visual detail
sailor_moon_0001.png

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Post Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2022 8:40 am
xfixium wrote
Gave a shot at resizing, based on the size of the original. I THINK it will import without issue. Used slogra's re-colored stuff. Some more tweaking could be done I believe

Great work

I gonna try to change the blue for the sky in the background to use this palette.

But as sailor Mercury use the chiken legs sprites (40 pixels high), moon and mars need to be smaller too (47 or 48 max)
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Post Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2022 11:18 am
chevkraken wrote
xfixium wrote
Gave a shot at resizing, based on the size of the original. I THINK it will import without issue. Used slogra's re-colored stuff. Some more tweaking could be done I believe

Great work

I gonna try to change the blue for the sky in the background to use this palette.

But as sailor Mercury use the chiken legs sprites (40 pixels high), moon and mars need to be smaller too (47 or 48 max)


40 pixels is pretty small. When I was making the Tyris Flare hack, certain graphics needed to be more horizontal than the original. So for the Tarik's tackle (for example) to be made into the drop kick, I had to change the dimensions of the tilemap. That's what I would suggest doing for the chicken leg graphics. And while I have no clue how you're going to pull any of this off, you at least have plenty of tiles to play with, when it comes to the Chicken Leg and Dragon sprites.

Here's how you go about doing that in SMS editor:

Load the Tyris Flare SMS Editor project for this example. Go to the Chicken Leg sprite of your choosing, under the Sprite Edits tab. Click the tilemap tab. Take note of the id of the sprite's tilemap, that is the position of the tilemap data within the rom. The bounds (Origin offset) and the column and row bytes are immediately before the tilemap. I can get the position data for you, if you have any problems. The data is 6 bytes before the tilemap data, with this format:

Bounds Y0, Bounds X0, Bounds Y1, BoundsX1, Row Count, Column Count

The position of these are needed to tell SMS Editor where to overwrite. The bounds bytes will be needed after you give new dimensions to the Chicken Leg sprites. As long as you stay equal or under the original dimensions in total tile count, you should be fine.

Look at Tyris Drop Kick, camp, and kick, for examples.
info_0001.png (43.11 KB)
info_0001.png

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Post Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2022 2:06 pm
I didn't know it was possible to make this!!! Thanx, it would be pretty useful, not just for Mercury but also for some other ennemies.

edit:

I have made some test and the new palette don't work with my background, so I gonna stick to my old palette but I maybe could reduce them less thanks to your advice.


I share you some of my sprite with my original palette non resized

edit 2:
added the 3 sailor with my palette non resized

I have my some test with the arranged tiles position and I am now able to make the sailor bigger (between 49 and 51 pixel high) even mercury.
garoben master.png (65.91 KB)
garoben master.png
morga master.png (44.43 KB)
morga master.png
flau master.png (35.4 KB)
flau master.png
thetis master.png (24.44 KB)
thetis master.png
kyarune master.png (100.03 KB)
kyarune master.png
32989bis 8 master.png (156.45 KB)
32989bis 8 master.png
moon 8 master.png (256.63 KB)
moon 8 master.png
33245 8 colors.png (131.45 KB)
33245 8 colors.png

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Post Posted: Mon Jan 31, 2022 8:08 pm
I would like some infos about SMSeditor?

Is It possible to edit the level design with it? (change the element with collision in the background and the place where the character can walk)

For the character who have different sprite for right and left in your Golden axe project (the ennemies), can I give them different animation for right and left for creating more move to the ennemies?
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Post Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2022 2:26 am
chevkraken wrote
I would like some infos about SMSeditor?

Is It possible to edit the level design with it? (change the element with collision in the background and the place where the character can walk)


SMS Editor focuses only on the graphic resources of a rom. The editor allows you to change the tiles of anything you define. This also allows editing the attribute flags (X and Y mirroring, palette index, priority) As long as the rom supports it. You can also edit down to the pixel if you wish. These tools are pretty basic however, and you'd most likely want to use the image import feature, after you have the resource edited by other means, like a good graphics editor.

As for other meta data, like collisions and objects, it would have to be accomplished by other means. I would guess this data would be unique to every rom. However, changed data can be imported into a SMS editor project. Once you have manipulated the data, it can be imported under the Data Entries tab. So that you have everything under one project. I have done this for the Golden Axe title screen. Where I put it into an additional bank. The data entries importer accepts raw binary data, this can be anything you wish. You can also just copy and paste hex values, as an alternative. Once entered, you just name it, and set where you want the data to be in the rom, then click save.

chevkraken wrote
For the character who have different sprite for right and left in your Golden axe project (the ennemies), can I give them different animation for right and left for creating more move to the ennemies?


If you're saying you want to add more frames of animation, the editor doesn't allow for it at the moment. As any additional data isn't managed. Additional data will most likely overwrite other important data, which would crash the game.

If you want to change the appearance of the sprites, this can be done using the image importer. Which is how I replaced all the enemies in the game. When importing, the application will notify you if you go over the original resource data limits. By default, when the rom is written, it stays within the data limits, but there is also an option to go over the original limit, if you know it won't write over anything important.

SMS editor was designed as a hacking tool that is project minded. While it can do generic raw hacks, it's primarily a resource replacement tool, that keeps the original data limits in mind. Your mileage may vary. As some other features need to be implemented, and different compression methods outside of what is offered, aren't supported.
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Tyris Flare edition
Post Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2022 2:57 pm
I'm a little late to the party, but I just came back from two playthroughs of the Tyris Flare edition... what can I say? Stellar work!!. Golden Axe is more or less my favorite game of all time, and it blew my mind when the arcade classic became available on my console back then. I always loved how faithful the SMS-version is to the arcade, regarding sprites, level design etc., but this version is even closer to the original arcade experience! I love the new title screen, magic select, new palette, subtly edited level backgrounds... and not to mention you can play as Tyris now. I always play as Tyris!

I like the ideas somewhere in this thread about grabbing images from Red Sonja for the ending sequence.

Anyway, thanks for making the Tyris Flare experience possible, xfixium!
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Post Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2022 6:27 pm
hang-on wrote
I'm a little late to the party, but I just came back from two playthroughs of the Tyris Flare edition... what can I say? Stellar work!!. Golden Axe is more or less my favorite game of all time, and it blew my mind when the arcade classic became available on my console back then. I always loved how faithful the SMS-version is to the arcade, regarding sprites, level design etc., but this version is even closer to the original arcade experience! I love the new title screen, magic select, new palette, subtly edited level backgrounds... and not to mention you can play as Tyris now. I always play as Tyris!


Love Golden Axe. Thank you for the kind words. I unfortunately only discovered the SMS version about two weeks before I started this project. Would of loved to have played it on the Master System back in those days. I have fond memories of playing the game with friends, in the arcade, and on the Genesis. It was a labor of love to be sure.

On another note, thank you for the trainer article about Altered Beast (Another fave of mine) and Golden Axe. It was the first thing I read when I was deciding on if I wanted to do this hack. You gave some valuable information, and it's how I found this gem of a site.

hang-on wrote
I like the ideas somewhere in this thread about grabbing images from Red Sonja for the ending sequence.


lol, yeah, this was my idea I had from the beginning. I have one or two Red Sonja images converted, scaled, and reworked, but I have been on the fence on if I should use those, or just come up with original sprites. I think it would be funny to put the images in though.
tyris_end_01.png (3.78 KB)
Probably the first image I made for this game. It's not resized or optimized for use though. I used it to play with the 64 color palette, when I started to learn about the SMS
tyris_end_01.png

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Post Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2022 7:23 pm
xfixium wrote
On another note, thank you for the trainer article about Altered Beast (Another fave of mine) and Golden Axe. It was the first thing I read when I was deciding on if I wanted to do this hack. You gave some valuable information, and it's how I found this gem of a site.

I’m humbled and happy that my work on the Trainer DIY is in any way associated with this project! Thank you.

Your work on the Tyris Flare edition sure feels like a labour of love - right down to providing the authentic names for the enemies in the editor.

The Sonja image looks promising! Whatever route you go, new drawings or screengrabs, I’m confident that Golden Axe is safe in your hands :)
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Post Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2022 5:02 pm
I have a problem with the ending screen of golden axe with SMS editor.

the 2 first ending screen share the same tileset and when I upload the first, it replace the tile set for the second.

I have another question, too. For the ending screens, As the first and the second tile set use the same tileset, I assume I can use only the amount of tile that the tileset of this 2 background use (253)
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Post Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2022 7:00 pm
chevkraken wrote
I have a problem with the ending screen of golden axe with SMS editor.

the 2 first ending screen share the same tileset and when I upload the first, it replace the tile set for the second.


Hmm, what you can try to do is the following:

On the Sprites tab, click "End Screen 1" in the sprite list. This is to set the palettes correctly, as you will be creating a new Sprite. Under the Name field, change it to "End Screen 1 and 2". Delete any tilemaps in the tilemap list, and then add "End Screen 1" and "End Screen 2" to the tilemap list. Click Save, there should be a new Sprite under the Sprite Edits tab that you just created. You should be able to import for both tilemaps now, without overriding one or the other. You may need to delete the "End Screen 1" and "End Screen 2" sprites from the Sprite list as well.

Word of caution, I have not tested this myself, and both the tilemaps and the shared tileset are compressed. SMS Editor SHOULD warn you if you go over when you import, but it might prove to be difficult on the tilemap side. As long runs of the same tile id dictate the resulting compressed size, and the original used a lot of zeros (Empty space).

chevkraken wrote

I have another question, too. For the ending screens, As the first and the second tile set use the same tileset, I assume I can use only the amount of tile that the tileset of this 2 background use (253)


Since the tileset is compressed, the byte length is more important. Depending on what you create graphically, it might allow more or less tiles. The resulting compressed length of the tileset is what is important. Again, SMS Editor will let you know when you import it.

In the end, it might be easier to fit the data in another bank of data. Like I did with the title and magic select screen. Most likely that is how I will be doing it, when I get around to it. You could just wait till I update the Tyris Flare edition as well, and copy the new entries to your own project. It's up to you.
sms_golden_axe_tyris_flare_018.png (68.18 KB)
SMS Editor has a bunch of export options, if you need to export to another application. Just right click the sprite in the list
sms_golden_axe_tyris_flare_018.png

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Post Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2022 7:28 pm
xfixium wrote
You could just wait till I update the Tyris Flare edition as well, and copy the new entries to your own project. It's up to you.


I think I will do that, It will be easier

here are my 2 first end screen:
endbis-52.png (2.58 KB)
endbis-52.png
endx4.png (5.43 KB)
endx4.png

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Post Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2022 9:05 pm
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here are my 2 first end screen:


Lookin' good so far
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Post Posted: Sun May 01, 2022 11:56 pm
Last edited by xfixium on Mon May 02, 2022 4:04 am; edited 1 time in total
Golden Axe Tyris Edition update. Past couple weeks I've switched gears on finishing this project. Trying to get this released in May.

Only ONE screen stands between me and total victory, sorta *shrugs*

I also have made some changes I've been wanting to make for quite some time now:

Took out the Tyris Flare Edition verbiage on the title screen. Added angled Golden Axe text. It looks like the original developers wanted to do this at one point, as there's a separate tilemap for the swap already built in. So the original text shows, then the angled text appears eventually. Like the arcade original.

Redid most graphics for stage 1, changed the palette as well.
Redid Tyris's walking animation, it was kind of trash
Made all the shadows for the beasts smaller, and more consistent.
Fixed edge tiles for the 2nd and 3rd stages, they were a bit blocky
Changed a palette color for all camp night palettes.
Added end screen one
Changed all end screen text

Primarily I'm posting to get feedback on what I've created for the end screens so far. I have the first screen done, it's pretty much set in stone, but you may see something I don't. In the original game, the first end screen has a tiny animation where Tarik's sword gleams for a split second. I hijacked that animation, so that Tyris's eyes close, instead.

I have the 3rd screen pretty much done, but it looks busy to me, or something. That, I could use some commentary on.

Text WIP for end screen one:

WITH THE
DEFEAT OF
DEATH-ADDER,
TYRIS SECURED
THE GOLDEN
AXE, AND
AVENGED THE
DEATH OF HER
PARENTS.

Text WIP for end screen two:

TYRIS HUNTED
DOWN, AND
DEFEATED THE
REMAINING
FORCES OF
DEATH-ADDER.
LEADING YURIA
TO PEACE.

Text WIP for end screen three:

HER JOURNEY
COMPLETE,
TYRIS
CONTINUES
HER TRAINING.
KNOWING THAT
YURIA MAY ONE
DAY NEED HER
BLADE AGAIN.

THE END...

Reminder, the max characters for any one line is 13.
Thank you for looking!
sms_golden_axe_tyris_flare_019.png (22.04 KB)
End Screen 1 WIP
sms_golden_axe_tyris_flare_019.png
sms_golden_axe_tyris_flare_020.png (28.85 KB)
End Screen 3 WIP. Alternate palettes
sms_golden_axe_tyris_flare_020.png
sms_golden_axe_tyris_flare_021.png (28.49 KB)
Stage 1 update
sms_golden_axe_tyris_flare_021.png
sms_golden_axe_tyris_flare_022.png (26.71 KB)
Timed angled text
sms_golden_axe_tyris_flare_022.png
sms_golden_axe_tyris_flare_023.png (16.73 KB)
In game shot, and ending animation
sms_golden_axe_tyris_flare_023.png

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Post Posted: Mon May 02, 2022 12:02 am
Perfect!
Release date?
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Post Posted: Mon May 02, 2022 12:09 am
EmuBoarding wrote
Perfect!
Release date?


Early May, depends on what shakes for these last screens, and the release candidate testing. I'm shooting for within the first two weeks on this month.
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Post Posted: Mon May 02, 2022 5:54 am
Looks excellent. I have no complaints.

On the first end screen, the background seems a little undefined. It's not clear whether it's supposed to be clouds at sunset or fire. Maybe give the lumps of color clearer edges or make them dithered more for smoother transitions? Also, with a background like that I wouldn't expect Tyris’ face to look quite as pinkish. Have you tried using the pale yellow from the outline of the hair for the highlights of the skin instead of the white?

On end screen 3, the first version looks better. The olive green with its yellowish tint fits better with the sunset colors.
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Post Posted: Mon May 02, 2022 1:35 pm
Great screens. Do you could add text "Turtle Village" in rock at end of 1st stage? For end screen i saw and IMHO you could change the part about the training to Amazons kingdom hail her as Queen and recording her deeds.
Congratulations!
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Post Posted: Mon May 02, 2022 1:39 pm
I am loving the vibrant colours and extra details added to this edition! Can't wait to try it out on real hardware some day. :) Would love to see some FM enhanced sound to go along with this visual update. An FM patch like the one for Sonic 1 where both FM and PSG are used simultaneously.
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Post Posted: Mon May 02, 2022 2:43 pm
Kagesan wrote
Looks excellent. I have no complaints.

On the first end screen, the background seems a little undefined. It's not clear whether it's supposed to be clouds at sunset or fire. Maybe give the lumps of color clearer edges or make them dithered more for smoother transitions? Also, with a background like that I wouldn't expect Tyris’ face to look quite as pinkish. Have you tried using the pale yellow from the outline of the hair for the highlights of the skin instead of the white?

On end screen 3, the first version looks better. The olive green with its yellowish tint fits better with the sunset colors.


Thanks for the feedback!

For the background, it's basically just a pattern. Some sort of emote idea of Tyris's inner turmoil, and her finally having closure. I can try the dithering idea, or maybe something new altogether.

I have tried multiple colors for her skin overall (I do a lot of playing around with colors). I have tried the yellow and the light orange. In the end the white seems to fit best (For me at least) with the lighter tones. I also have tried overall darker tones. Again, I ended up with these colors. These are also the skin tone colors used for her in the game, and the last end screen.

The lighter colors for the forest does seem less intrusive. For giggles I got rid of most of the black, so that she stands out more on the hill. I've attached it to this post. Tell me what you think. I will add some black to the ledge she is on as well.

segarule wrote
Great screens. Do you could add text "Turtle Village" in rock at end of 1st stage? For end screen i saw and IMHO you could change the part about the training to Amazons kingdom hail her as Queen and recording her deeds.
Congratulations!


I tried to add the turtle village text when I first started hacking. I wanted it in so bad, but it was a boat load of tiles. Just couldn't fit it in. I did manage to get the turtle at the end of the stage in though, which the original didn't have. I'm satisfied with that, at least.

Wow, we think alike. That was my original idea for the ending text, but I wanted to stay true to the timeline, and I didn't see anything about her being Queen afterwards. Unless I missed something. Apparently in the PC version (I think), instead of her parents being killed, her whole Amazon tribe was slaughtered (I think she was the Queen of the Amazons), and she was the sole survivor. I kind of like that story arc a bit more than her being a princess of Firewood, and her parents being killed.

NewHorizon wrote
I am loving the vibrant colours and extra details added to this edition! Can't wait to try it out on real hardware some day. :) Would love to see some FM enhanced sound to go along with this visual update. An FM patch like the one for Sonic 1 where both FM and PSG are used simultaneously.


I wasn't sure I was allowed to bring this up, but Revo gave me the green light. The reason why I'm hard on finalizing this hack, is because Revo contacted me, and is planning on putting together hard copies. Orders to be delivered towards the end of June, I believe. The game looks really good, he did a great job putting it all together.

I would love to put the FM versions in. Not sure if I could squeeze in the sound driver ( I believe I would need something like that, correct? Forgive me if I sound ignorant.). Also, I'm not capable of writing the music myself, there would have to be resources already available.
sms_golden_axe_tyris_flare_024.png (18.37 KB)
Black removed from landscape
sms_golden_axe_tyris_flare_024.png
Golden Axe Tyris.jpg (1.88 MB)
Revo's creation!
Golden Axe Tyris.jpg

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Post Posted: Mon May 02, 2022 3:43 pm
Oh wow! Can you put me down for a physical copy?
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Post Posted: Mon May 02, 2022 4:36 pm
xfixium wrote
I have tried multiple colors for her skin overall (I do a lot of playing around with colors). I have tried the yellow and the light orange. In the end the white seems to fit best (For me at least) with the lighter tones. I also have tried overall darker tones. Again, I ended up with these colors. These are also the skin tone colors used for her in the game, and the last end screen.


I suspected as much. It looks great as it is, don’t worry.


xfixium wrote
The lighter colors for the forest does seem less intrusive. For giggles I got rid of most of the black, so that she stands out more on the hill. I've attached it to this post. Tell me what you think. I will add some black to the ledge she is on as well.


Good idea. While you’re at it, I suggest removing the black from the rock the castle is standing on, too. Then you have a great sense of distance, where Tyris on the ledge has the biggest contrast and the lightest and darkest colors and the things farther away, have lower contrast and less saturated colors.
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Post Posted: Mon May 02, 2022 5:11 pm
If you plan to make a multilingual manual and you need some Italian translations, feel free to send me a private message, I'm always up to help.
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Post Posted: Mon May 02, 2022 6:06 pm
Quote
Wow, we think alike. That was my original idea for the ending text, but I wanted to stay true to the timeline, and I didn't see anything about her being Queen afterwards. Unless I missed something. Apparently in the PC version (I think), instead of her parents being killed, her whole Amazon tribe was slaughtered (I think she was the Queen of the Amazons), and she was the sole survivor. I kind of like that story arc a bit more than her being a princess of Firewood, and her parents being killed.

Well, i got some info that comprove that amazons trained her after the massacre.
In Golden Axe: Beast Rider, she values the Axirian Sisterhood more than anything else and would sacrifice her life for her sisters without a thought
In the PC Engine version... After the downfall of the Firewood Kingdom, Tyris joined a group of amazon and trained in the arts of swordsmanship and fire magic.

You can verify here:
https://goldenaxe.fandom.com/wiki/Tyris_Flare

Quote
The reason why I'm hard on finalizing this hack, is because Revo contacted me, and is planning on putting together hard copies.

This cover is fantastic! i just dont understand why in 21 century is necessary follow the old squares pattern. The people could use more imagination and change the background patterns.
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Post Posted: Mon May 02, 2022 7:35 pm
NewHorizon wrote
Oh wow! Can you put me down for a physical copy?


Hmmm, I was going to refer you to Revo, but it seems their profile shows as "Guest" now. Not sure what that's all about. I'll try and let them know. As I have nothing to do with the production of the games. Other than, you know, the hacked ROM.

Tom wrote
If you plan to make a multilingual manual and you need some Italian translations, feel free to send me a private message, I'm always up to help.


Thank you for your offer, very generous! Unfortunately I don't know the details of what has been done with the physical product. Other than providing the hacked rom, and some feedback on the end product, I have had no involvement monetarily, or in the actual production. It looks like the manual is done to some extent.

segarule wrote
Well, i got some info that comprove that amazons trained her after the massacre.
In Golden Axe: Beast Rider, she values the Axirian Sisterhood more than anything else and would sacrifice her life for her sisters without a thought
In the PC Engine version... After the downfall of the Firewood Kingdom, Tyris joined a group of amazon and trained in the arts of swordsmanship and fire magic.
You can verify here:
https://goldenaxe.fandom.com/wiki/Tyris_Flare


I have no problem with that part of the timeline. There just isn't any information that she was made Queen of anything after the defeat of Death Adder. Again, maybe I'm missing some detail somewhere.

segarule wrote
This cover is fantastic! i just dont understand why in 21 century is necessary follow the old squares pattern. The people could use more imagination and change the background patterns.


Most likely done for nostalgia's sake, and uniformity vs the majority of other games created for the master system, but I agree with you.
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Post Posted: Mon May 02, 2022 11:10 pm
The project looks great so far, but It was supposed that Tyris would have images from the girl of the movie, that sounded fairly good, instead there is an anime style portrait now.

So I'm posting a photo of a model who impresively looks like the official art of the game like the one from the game box recently posted, this model is like the real life Tyris Flare and is wearing similar clothes besides she has red hair and looks like a warrior princess, doesn't she? so, how about base the portrait for the ending scenes on Scarlett's face? (even the model name is related to fire) so that It keeps the legacy of the original game having real people as ending scenes.
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Post Posted: Tue May 03, 2022 1:22 am
Quote
I have no problem with that part of the timeline. There just isn't any information that she was made Queen of anything after the defeat of Death Adder. Again, maybe I'm missing some detail somewhere

I understood your point of view now. You want follow a official timeline. Ok. Although be comprehensive that a princess that had parents killed can be successor and queen in a alternative end If Milan Flare is descendant of her (and princess in timeline), So i feasible think that Tyris were a Queen. But i totally understand that you want a true timeline.
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Post Posted: Tue May 03, 2022 2:01 am
FeRcHuLeS wrote
The project looks great so far, but It was supposed that Tyris would have images from the girl of the movie, that sounded fairly good, instead there is an anime style portrait now.

So I'm posting a photo of a model who impresively looks like the official art of the game like the one from the game box recently posted, this model is like the real life Tyris Flare and is wearing similar clothes besides she has red hair and looks like a warrior princess, doesn't she? so, how about base the portrait for the ending scenes on Scarlett's face? (even the model name is related to fire) so that It keeps the legacy of the original game having real people as ending scenes.


Yes, my original idea was to use images from the movie Red Sonja, which also had Schwarzenegger playing Conan in it. I mean I could go that route as well, whole lot easier tbh.

The idea was meant to be a tongue in cheek reference to the original game using edited pics straight from Conan The Barbarian, and whatever the first end screen is from (Darkstalker 2?).

The anime style isn't all that far fetched, since the PC Engine CD version of it had full cut scenes in anime style, with voice acting.

segarule wrote

I understood your point of view now. You want follow a official timeline. Ok. Although be comprehensive that a princess that had parents killed can be successor and queen in a alternative end If Milan Flare is descendant of her (and princess in timeline), So i feasible think that Tyris were a Queen. But i totally understand that you want a true timeline.


This is true. I hadn't realized Milan was a princess, tbh. I was aware of her being a descendant of Tyris. Maybe Tyris being a Queen is implied? If that's the case, what would you suggest the end text would be?
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Post Posted: Tue May 03, 2022 10:29 am
Quote
This is true. I hadn't realized Milan was a princess, tbh. I was aware of her being a descendant of Tyris. Maybe Tyris being a Queen is implied? If that's the case, what would you suggest the end text would be?

Let´s see:
Milan Flare is the princess of the kingdom of Winwood, and descendant of Tyris Flare (Tiris in the manual for some reason), who helped defeat Death Adder long ago. She is also the protector of the kingdom, and relies on wind magic to battle her adversaries. Though a bit young and brash, she takes her role of protector seriously and has won the confidence of her people.
The kingdom of Winwood is the most scientifically advanced of all the provinces. It is a prized jewel for many would-be leaders who could use the power of the winds. Should Milan win, the Golden Axe would be used to ensure that Winwood does not fall to foreign invaders.

https://segaretro.org/Golden_Axe:_The_Duel#Characters

With her parents killed, Tyris is the sole heiress of Firewood. Firewood falled, so she could have founded other Kingdom or Married with a King. Dont matter, Milan dont could be princess and Tyris princess because Milan is descendant of her. But you dont need advance at this level. Enough say that is Tyris was recognized as "Queen of Amazons" or "Leader".
About the text:
You text is excellent. For Tyris be hailed by Amazons the text could be:
WITH THE
DEFEAT OF
DEATH-ADDER,
TYRIS SECURED
THE GOLDEN
AXE, AND
AVENGED THE
DEATH OF HER
PARENTS.

Now could the alternative text would must be here:

SHE RETURNED TO
THEIR SISTERS AMAZONS
AND WERE HAILED AS QUEEN
THEY WILL TALK OF
HER DEEDS.
Texto em português, caso alguém queira traduzir melhor. (Se quiser ajudar pessoal).
Ela retornou para suas irmãs, amazonas e
foi saudada como rainha. Elas irão registrar seus feitos.



TYRIS HUNTED
DOWN, AND
DEFEATED THE
REMAINING
FORCES OF
DEATH-ADDER.
LEADING YURIA
TO PEACE.
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Post Posted: Tue May 03, 2022 2:26 pm
xfixium wrote
The idea was meant to be a tongue in cheek reference to the original game using edited pics straight from Conan The Barbarian, and whatever the first end screen is from (Darkstalker 2?).


Those were actual movie stills? It makes sense, but childhood me just assumed they were original digitized photos.
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Post Posted: Tue May 03, 2022 4:06 pm
I've always assumed they were digitised stills of Conan due to the obvious resemblance. The final ending shot is definitely from Conan but I haven't been able to confirm the others.
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Post Posted: Tue May 03, 2022 9:18 pm
I remember when the pictures of the boxes were minimalistic for western releases and epic for japan releases (this is not the case), I've seen pictures of people having vector illustration threatment standing out the faces to make portraits calling my attention at keeping the face features and reducing the color palete at the same time.

The portrait artwork mockup looks great but I still think that the epic of the posters and gamecovers artwork should have it in-game. I do remember when by hacking the anime stilish portraits of Castlevania games for the NDS were replaced by ones inspired by the work of Ayami Kojima because the producers tried to attract casual gamers to play those games.

This is a personal opinion and think you should give a try making the in-game artwork looks like to the official art and the picture of the model are a good source to work with.
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Post Posted: Tue May 03, 2022 10:02 pm
What about the arts of Golden Axe 1 and 2 for Mega Drive? those cover arts are realistic.

About the cover art of the Master System version, I am little sad because I published my own cover few months ago, the art obviously is not mine but this new cover copies the text Tyris Flare Edition of my version, no problem for but at least Revo could contact me before. I know that only to copy that text is a ridiculous thing but better ask before. When I published it no one gave me feedback :(

If I remember well, I deleted it some weeks ago to prevent copy or sell directly that cover. Also I published and deleted It on other forums.
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Post Posted: Wed May 04, 2022 12:02 am
xfixium wrote

...
I would love to put the FM versions in. Not sure if I could squeeze in the sound driver ( I believe I would need something like that, correct? Forgive me if I sound ignorant.). Also, I'm not capable of writing the music myself, there would have to be resources already available.


Do you know Inglebard? He's a YouTuber that (among many other things) composes music for the SMS and Megadrive. He's done a number of very impressive versions of "Symphony of the Night" conversions for both systems. If you want to contact him and see if this would be feasible, I can link you to his channel and/or Twitter.
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Post Posted: Wed May 04, 2022 2:32 am
FeRcHuLeS wrote
I remember when the pictures of the boxes were minimalistic for western releases and epic for japan releases (this is not the case), I've seen pictures of people having vector illustration threatment standing out the faces to make portraits calling my attention at keeping the face features and reducing the color palete at the same time.

The portrait artwork mockup looks great but I still think that the epic of the posters and gamecovers artwork should have it in-game. I do remember when by hacking the anime stilish portraits of Castlevania games for the NDS were replaced by ones inspired by the work of Ayami Kojima because the producers tried to attract casual gamers to play those games.

This is a personal opinion and think you should give a try making the in-game artwork looks like to the official art and the picture of the model are a good source to work with.


What official artwork are you referring to, so I can look into it further? There have been many styles for the game, through its many iterations. I most likely won't shelve the work I have done thus far, but in future versions, I can offer a variant. Much like Slogra's alternate title screen palette.

law81 wrote

About the cover art of the Master System version, I am little sad because I published my own cover few months ago, the art obviously is not mine but this new cover copies the text Tyris Flare Edition of my version, no problem for but at least Revo could contact me before. I know that only to copy that text is a ridiculous thing but better ask before. When I published it no one gave me feedback :(

If I remember well, I deleted it some weeks ago to prevent copy or sell directly that cover. Also I published and deleted It on other forums.


Sorry, I wasn't aware of the publication. Nor the use of the text.

Alys Kidd wrote

Do you know Inglebard? He's a YouTuber that (among many other things) composes music for the SMS and Megadrive. He's done a number of very impressive versions of "Symphony of the Night" conversions for both systems. If you want to contact him and see if this would be feasible, I can link you to his channel and/or Twitter.


Is this the person?

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdVJKi5eNAKBau3T5ql8KEA

At any rate, it would be something for a later version of the hack. I would love to get quality FM versions of the soundtrack.

Not sure how I would set that up in the game, but it seems doable. Not even sure how FM works tbh lol. Does the unit automatically detect FM, or is it more of a manual switch kind of thing? I have no clue.

Also, thank you all for the feedback, much appreciated.
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Post Posted: Wed May 04, 2022 5:43 am
xfixium wrote
Not even sure how FM works tbh lol. Does the unit automatically detect FM, or is it more of a manual switch kind of thing? I have no clue.


You have to do a check, then write certain values to the audio control port to activate either FM or PSG sound.

https://www.smspower.org/Development/AudioControlPort

Only japanese Master Systems and those modded with third party FM boards can use FM (music) and PSG (sfx) at the same time. Mark IIIs with FM units can only use either of the two exclusively, so if you want to provide FM music for those, you'll have to find a way of also providing FM sound effects. Western SMS and bare-bones Mark IIIs can only use PSG, obviously.

Also note that updating FM channels takes a lot more time than PSG, so if you don't have cpu time to spare in your game loop, adding FM might introduce some slowdown. You can see this in Power Strike / Aleste, for example, where switching to FM sound makes the game slow down quite noticeably.
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Post Posted: Wed May 04, 2022 12:26 pm
Regarding the box art. I must admit that I absolutely love the classic white and black lines, combined with beautiful artwork. I'm not necessarily nostalgic for it but I think it's instantly recognizable as an SMS title. For better or worse, it was Sega's look at the time. The clip art time period was unfortunate and definitely hurt the brand but later boxes were really quite nice.

On the topic of FM -
Definitely potential to slow the game down with both FM and PSG playing at the same time but oh the possibilities if it can be pulled off. Worth the risk in my opinion. I love playing FM games on my Modded SMS. There may be room in some game to optimize a bit here and there to lessen slowdown....potentially.
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Post Posted: Wed May 04, 2022 1:00 pm
Kagesan wrote
xfixium wrote
Not even sure how FM works tbh lol. Does the unit automatically detect FM, or is it more of a manual switch kind of thing? I have no clue.


You have to do a check, then write certain values to the audio control port to activate either FM or PSG sound.

https://www.smspower.org/Development/AudioControlPort

Only japanese Master Systems and those modded with third party FM boards can use FM (music) and PSG (sfx) at the same time. Mark IIIs with FM units can only use either of the two exclusively, so if you want to provide FM music for those, you'll have to find a way of also providing FM sound effects. Western SMS and bare-bones Mark IIIs can only use PSG, obviously.

Also note that updating FM channels takes a lot more time than PSG, so if you don't have cpu time to spare in your game loop, adding FM might introduce some slowdown. You can see this in Power Strike / Aleste, for example, where switching to FM sound makes the game slow down quite noticeably.


Thanks for the info! It doesn't sound promising, however XD. The game is pretty slow already.
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Post Posted: Wed May 04, 2022 2:16 pm
xfixium wrote

Thanks for the info! It doesn't sound promising, however XD. The game is pretty slow already.


Yeah, Golden Axe isn't known for speed. haha A shame though, an FM soundtrack would be awesome.
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