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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2021 4:28 pm
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Good news everyone! I made nice progress with Greenhill.
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- Site Admin
- Joined: 19 Oct 1999
- Posts: 14762
- Location: London
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2021 4:39 pm
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That seems incredibly good. Having the distant mountains disappear near slopes is a bit funny looking, maybe adding some gaps where they aren’t required would help?
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2021 5:04 pm
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Yes, the slopes are a bit of a problem. I tried to hide the issue, but i guess it needs some more work. Another problem are the flowers and the totems with are in the way at some places. I also tried to make that problem less visible.
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- Joined: 17 Aug 2021
- Posts: 80
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Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2021 6:21 pm
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This is just Jaw dropping... amazing work.
I think Maxim's suggestion would work best to hide the mountain / flower / totem problem. Break the skyline up into several islands.
It means it's not an exact copy of the 16bit background, but it wouldn't be anyway.
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 12:04 pm
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Thanks guys. Most issues are fixed and only very few "square" parts remain. At some places i've simply lowered the flower. At other places with the moving flower i created the gap between the islands.
All tile blocks are in use now, so remaining issues are hard to fix (unless i can free up blocks somehow)
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 5:32 pm Last edited by slogra on Wed Nov 24, 2021 10:02 am; edited 1 time in total
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The Starlight music had very little space, because the original Sky Base tune was fairly small. I had to cut many stuff like rests, ADSR and modulation effects from Starlight to make it fit.
I finally fixed the space issue by switching the Star Light with the End boss music.
After that i tweaked it a little bit more.
Edit: i noticed the volume of the noise channel with the in_vgm is way too loud (not sure why, maybe i tinkered with the settings myself :p).
So the hihats should be much lower volume, even barely noticeable. I changed that in my version.
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- Joined: 17 Aug 2021
- Posts: 80
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Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2021 10:00 pm
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slogra wrote I'm aware of the Springyard issue, but i find it still playable after getting used to it. If you have any suggestions how to fix it, then i'm very interested.
Something like this at the start would guide the player by letting them know at the start of the level which things are solid and which you can pass through in a way that doesn't lose lives.
Right at the start you run into the solid Light and then wall, over on the left you can jump and pass through the platform, but land on the solid floor below, then with the slope you jump and pass through the side to get to the center.
Rings let you know you can walk through the green grate on the right, but you can't slip off the left.
Obviously it's a rough idea but it sets out what is what and makes the rest of the level easier to understand.
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 3:08 am
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I understand what you mean and it's a good idea, but i want to keep the layout/gameplay of the levels the same as the original, so i don't want add new parts.
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- Joined: 02 Nov 2021
- Posts: 10
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Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2021 3:12 am
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Stunning work all around. The music sounded lovely. Great work.
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2021 10:28 am
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Scrapbrain is starting to take shape. I changed the outside almost completely. And I've added shadow to the pipes (without using a gazillion tiles and blocks, still quite a few though).
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- Joined: 21 Oct 2015
- Posts: 304
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Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2021 10:34 am
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Scrap Brain is amazing 😍
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2021 10:59 am
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I messed around with the Star Light music again. I experimented with the pitch bend effect for the first time and applied it to the "trumpet" part. It sounds a lot more fun(ky) this way.
As far as i know this is the only time this effect is used in the Genesis game. But if you know other songs then let me know, i will put it in those songs as well.
I'm not talking about modulation, but the bends like at the start of the trumpet notes in the Star Light song.
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- Joined: 06 Aug 2015
- Posts: 150
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Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2021 3:33 am
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every day it gets better =)
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2021 11:59 am
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What you can do with a palette swap :)
Click on the image to see the animation.
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2021 9:39 pm
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This is the Star Base zone so far.
I had to work with a limited number of colors in this zone, because 5 colors are used by palette cycling/lightning, so only 11 colors are available.
I worried about the clouds being green, as blue has been replaced by green, but the simple solution was to turn them into stars :).
I was unable to use dark grey and the rings are a bit greenish, due to lack of yellow/brown.
Also the green color is not near the green of the Genesis. It is a bit too bright, but I don' think you will really notice unless you do a direct comparison though.
This is the best compromise i could find.
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- Joined: 17 Aug 2021
- Posts: 80
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Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2021 9:44 pm
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Absolutely amazing, just when I think I can't be more surprised by your work, you take things to a new level.
Not even I can nitpick, it's fantastic.
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2021 10:07 pm
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Thanks Emrabt! I'm really happy with it too, although i realize it might not sounded like that in my previous post. I just wanted to explain why it looks the way it is.
And thanks for not nitpicking :p.
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- Joined: 06 Aug 2015
- Posts: 150
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Posted: Sun Nov 28, 2021 12:56 am
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It's wonderful.
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- Joined: 23 Jan 2010
- Posts: 446
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Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2021 6:14 pm Last edited by segarule on Sat Dec 04, 2021 11:15 pm; edited 1 time in total
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I did a test today with Genesis plus Gx and i found a big problem in sky base 1 floor with sonic.
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2021 9:58 pm
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Did you fall through the floor?
It's caused by strange behavior of the tileblocks of this zone. The last blocks of Scrapbrain are shared with the first ones of Sky Base. So if i change them in Scrapbrain i mess them up in Sky Base, and the other way around.
I'll work around the issue.
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- Site Admin
- Joined: 19 Oct 1999
- Posts: 14762
- Location: London
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Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2021 10:48 pm
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Is that the block mappings overlapping (ie the high numbers of one are the same data as the low numbers of the other)? That seems like a bug in the editor. It has some hard coded lengths because the data itself doesn’t have any indication, and that may be faulty.
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- Joined: 23 Jan 2010
- Posts: 446
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Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2021 11:17 pm Last edited by segarule on Mon Mar 21, 2022 9:18 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Quote Did you fall through the floor?
Not only this but if i jump forward the spin keep running and i not can continue
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2021 9:38 am
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Maxim wrote Is that the block mappings overlapping (ie the high numbers of one are the same data as the low numbers of the other)? That seems like a bug in the editor. It has some hard coded lengths because the data itself doesn’t have any indication, and that may be faulty.
Yes, the block mapping solidity is the issue. It seems to be the last 5 blocks of Scrap Brain and the first 5 of Sky Base.
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2021 11:08 am
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Final Zone is almost finished.
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- Joined: 23 Jan 2010
- Posts: 446
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Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2021 12:51 pm
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slogra wrote Final Zone is almost finished.
OMG!
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Tue Dec 07, 2021 11:25 pm
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Can you recognize this little fellow?
I had to make some (compressed) space for him. I did that by removing some of the characters from the big font.
The font is not used for zone names, as you would expect. If i'm not mistaken, it is only used for these words:
SONIC HAS PASSED
SPECIAL STAGE
GAME OVER
Btw. Something strange is going on with the Q again. Some of the Q tiles are used for the O.
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2021 9:29 pm
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Labyrinth work in process: New colors, crystal and statue/face in the background.
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- Joined: 06 Aug 2015
- Posts: 150
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Posted: Wed Dec 15, 2021 3:04 am
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slogra wrote Labyrinth work in process: New colors, crystal and statue/face in the background.
Slogra wants to kill me with these photos...
Perfect!
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2021 4:11 pm
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I fell in all imaginable pitfalls while changing it, but with some help of Maxim i was able to edit the layout the Game Over screen, and add nice graphics of Sonic :).
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- Joined: 11 May 2017
- Posts: 4
- Location: Marseille, France
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Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2021 7:25 pm Last edited by nguyom on Fri Jul 29, 2022 2:13 pm; edited 1 time in total
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I'm really excited by your project. You have created a whole new game !
Can't wait to see the final release !!!
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2021 10:32 pm
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Hmmyeah, the final release... I'm afraid it will take a while to wrap up. I just keep finding stuff i want to change. In the end i will run out of rom or tile space though :p
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- Joined: 06 Aug 2015
- Posts: 150
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2021 12:26 am
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slogra wrote Hmmyeah, the final release... I'm afraid it will take a while to wrap up. I just keep finding stuff i want to change. In the end i will run out of rom or tile space though :p
Hahahaha perfect!
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- Joined: 27 Dec 2021
- Posts: 7
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Posted: Mon Dec 27, 2021 10:29 pm
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Truly incredible work!
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- Joined: 14 Feb 2021
- Posts: 13
- Location: Canton, Missouri
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Any plans for a release date
Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2022 7:49 am
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Is there going to be any definite or estimated release date for this hack
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2022 11:39 am
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I wish i could tell you, but it's hard to predict. I guess this year :).
Maxim is adding amazing new features to the editor, which i happily use to make more improvements.
Lately i've been working on:
- Robotnik sprites (side, front facing, walking)
- Labyrinth (i'm still not satisfied with the palette)
- Springyard map details
- Redo title screen
- Credits screen
- Many small details
But that's not all, i still have many other ideas. I'm experimenting with Greenhill to make it better. I really want to improve Bridge, but i'm not sure how. And Scrapbrain needs more Genesis graphics.
The basic music is there but it needs to be improved. I'm having a bit of a hard time with it though. It's very easy to make it worse instead of better.
The map screen is also on my mind. But i don't think i can change it, because it is also used in the end.
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- Joined: 14 Feb 2021
- Posts: 13
- Location: Canton, Missouri
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Posted: Tue Jan 04, 2022 11:41 pm
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slogra wrote I wish i could tell you, but it's hard to predict. I guess this year :).
Maxim is adding amazing new features to the editor, which i happily use to make more improvements.
Lately i've been working on:
- Robotnik sprites (side, front facing, walking)
- Labyrinth (i'm still not satisfied with the palette)
- Springyard map details
- Redo title screen
- Credits screen
- Many small details
But that's not all, i still have many other ideas. I'm experimenting with Greenhill to make it better. I really want to improve Bridge, but i'm not sure how. And Scrapbrain needs more Genesis graphics.
The basic music is there but it needs to be improved. I'm having a bit of a hard time with it though. It's very easy to make it worse instead of better.
The map screen is also on my mind. But i don't think i can change it, because it is also used in the end.
Okay, nice work-in-progress credits screen though.
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2022 2:41 am
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I experimented with the Bridge/Marble zone today. I was able to free up one color (light blue) from the palette. This means i can finally use mint green for the pillar now.
Also i freed up a lot of tiles by sacrificing the clouds (which used light blue). And I changed the bubbling lava in act one to the flowing lava instead, freeing up more tiles. This also fixes minor graphical issues with the bubbling lava and transition to the trees/sky etc.
Then i was able to add a building, a bigger pillar and even a diagonal pillar.
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2022 11:16 am
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I changed the the green and sky colors. The building looks better at the expense of the grass. I also added grass pixels at the base of some of the blocks, but only when no additional tiles are required.
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- Joined: 06 Aug 2015
- Posts: 150
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Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2022 3:37 am
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News??? =)
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2022 6:13 pm
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Process is a little slower than before, but I'm still going.
Greenhill
Improved and finished!
Both flowers and bush are bigger now. I had to sacrifice the flower animation though.
Act 2 is much different.
Added "depth" to the blocks.
Marble
Removed the bridge and replace it with grass bricks. It looks more like Marble zone now and i used the tiles for more pillars and details.
The falling bridge is still there. It's not easy to replace by anything else. Changing it into bricks did not work out. Size and color are hard to change.
Changed the lava to be more round, instead of sharp like the water was
Replaced the weighing scale into a pillar
Springyard
Big blocks and added big clouds
Labyrinth
Almost finished. Still struggling with the Labryrinth underwater palette. The lighter palette covers all shades, but is too light. A darker palette like genesis will have duplicate colors and less details.
I'm working one Burobot even though it only appears once in the game.
Scrapbrain
Still needs work.
The flame is improved.
Star Light
Replaced the darkblue sky into black. This meant i had a color to spare and was able to add darkgrey at last. I just need to fix the palette used for lighting.
The rings are still green in this zone. I could remove grey again, and make the rings more brown/gold. But i probably won't.
I used the Star Light palette for the zeppelin as well, which actually looks very nice. Some details are grey now, like the chain.
Robotnik
Working on the Robotnik walking sprites but it's not easy to make it look right.
Improved the end boss projectile
Bonus
Bigger clouds
Nicer flippers
Other stuff
New big title screen using 254 tiles just for graphics. I removed "Genesis" from the title screen, and restored "The Hedgehog" in a nice font. This way the hack is Genesis/Mega Drive neutral :).
Improved explosion
Animals and capsule
Trying to change end
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- Joined: 30 Nov 2017
- Posts: 75
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Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2022 7:16 pm
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slogra wrote Process is a little slower than before, but I'm still going.
Greenhill
Improved and finished!
Both flowers and bush are bigger now. I had to sacrifice the flower animation though.
Act 2 is much different.
Added "depth" to the blocks.
Marble
Removed the bridge and replace it with grass bricks. It looks more like Marble zone now and i used the tiles for more pillars and details.
The falling bridge is still there. It's not easy to replace by anything else. Changing it into bricks did not work out. Size and color are hard to change.
Changed the lava to be more round, instead of sharp like the water was
Replaced the weighing scale into a pillar
Springyard
Big blocks and added big clouds
Labyrinth
Almost finished. Still struggling with the Labryrinth underwater palette. The lighter palette covers all shades, but is too light. A darker palette like genesis will have duplicate colors and less details.
I'm working one Burobot even though it only appears once in the game.
Scrapbrain
Still needs work.
The flame is improved.
Star Light
Replaced the darkblue sky into black. This meant i had a color to spare and was able to add darkgrey at last. I just need to fix the palette used for lighting.
The rings are still green in this zone. I could remove grey again, and make the rings more brown/gold. But i probably won't.
I used the Star Light palette for the zeppelin as well, which actually looks very nice. Some details are grey now, like the chain.
Robotnik
Working on the Robotnik walking sprites but it's not easy to make it look right.
Improved the end boss projectile
Bonus
Bigger clouds
Nicer flippers
Other stuff
New big title screen using 254 tiles just for graphics. I removed "Genesis" from the title screen, and restored "The Hedgehog" in a nice font. This way the hack is Genesis/Mega Drive neutral :).
Improved explosion
Animals and capsule
Trying to change end
Wow, that all sounds amazing. Looking forward to some screen shots and trying it out in an emulator.
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- Joined: 18 Jul 2020
- Posts: 387
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Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2022 8:06 pm
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Wow, I missed a lot through the holidays. This is looking beautiful! Loved what you did with the Game Over screen. Seems like it was a pain to get in. That editor looks amazing too!
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2022 8:55 pm
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These are some problem areas.
In the Bridge/Marble zone I changed the bridge into grass and bricks supported by pillars. I kinda like the idea, but i'm not sure. The bricks are not perfect here yet. The grass and shadow on the bricks require a lot of tiles already, but if i have tiles to spare i will fix it.
The pole of the scale is replaced by a pillar as well. I hope you like it.
In the Jungle/Springyard zone i've added big blocks. At some areas i had to make them flatter. The 2 metal part on top of each other.
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- Joined: 06 Aug 2015
- Posts: 150
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Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:24 pm
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slogra wrote Process is a little slower than before, but I'm still going.
Greenhill
Improved and finished!
Both flowers and bush are bigger now. I had to sacrifice the flower animation though.
Act 2 is much different.
Added "depth" to the blocks.
Marble
Removed the bridge and replace it with grass bricks. It looks more like Marble zone now and i used the tiles for more pillars and details.
The falling bridge is still there. It's not easy to replace by anything else. Changing it into bricks did not work out. Size and color are hard to change.
Changed the lava to be more round, instead of sharp like the water was
Replaced the weighing scale into a pillar
Springyard
Big blocks and added big clouds
Labyrinth
Almost finished. Still struggling with the Labryrinth underwater palette. The lighter palette covers all shades, but is too light. A darker palette like genesis will have duplicate colors and less details.
I'm working one Burobot even though it only appears once in the game.
Scrapbrain
Still needs work.
The flame is improved.
Star Light
Replaced the darkblue sky into black. This meant i had a color to spare and was able to add darkgrey at last. I just need to fix the palette used for lighting.
The rings are still green in this zone. I could remove grey again, and make the rings more brown/gold. But i probably won't.
I used the Star Light palette for the zeppelin as well, which actually looks very nice. Some details are grey now, like the chain.
Robotnik
Working on the Robotnik walking sprites but it's not easy to make it look right.
Improved the end boss projectile
Bonus
Bigger clouds
Nicer flippers
Other stuff
New big title screen using 254 tiles just for graphics. I removed "Genesis" from the title screen, and restored "The Hedgehog" in a nice font. This way the hack is Genesis/Mega Drive neutral :).
Improved explosion
Animals and capsule
Trying to change end
NICE!!! =)
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2022 10:38 am
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I'm trying to improve the colors of the rings in Star Light zone. There is no gold/brown in the palette so i have to use other colors. Which colors do you prefer?
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- Joined: 18 Jul 2020
- Posts: 387
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Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2022 12:33 pm
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slogra wrote I'm trying to improve the colors of the rings in Star Light zone. There is no gold/brown in the palette so i have to use other colors. Which colors do you prefer?
I haven't played Sonic, so I have some questions. Are the rings in the game, tiles or sprites? If they are tiles, do the rings in the stage use typical tile attribute data? Can you change the palette index bit to point to the palette the HUD ring at the top left is using?
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2022 1:27 pm
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The rings are background (tiles) and the hud ring is a sprite. In this game the background and sprite palette are always separate.
I would not know how to point background tiles to the sprite palette.
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- Site Admin
- Joined: 19 Oct 1999
- Posts: 14762
- Location: London
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Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2022 2:47 pm
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The game engine doesn’t support background tile attributes except for the priority bit.
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2022 3:01 pm
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Thanks Maxim.
I'll probably go for rings3. The rings look most round there. I'll use the raytracing hardware of the SMS to reflect the green color of the surrounding from the rings ;). Incidentally it only requires one color change.
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- Joined: 09 Jun 2014
- Posts: 385
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Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2022 3:15 pm
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ha, the grey of rings3 looks horrible in-game. So i'd best stick with the original colors of rings1.
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