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#1
Maps Of The Month / Re: 2026/10: Castlevania: Por...
Last post by Cyartog959 - Yesterday at 09:55:43 AMThat is well-deserved to be in the "Maps of the Month" lineup, and fits well with October's usual spooky antics, and in the 20 long year gap, time-wise, but not release wise, because that and Belmont's Curse's dates are a bit distant by almost 2 months.
Well, to say, its second DS game stood very well among others, especially with Koji Igarashi's involvement. In quite a time when Metroidvanias were very little, this game sure rocks as one of the best.
Although, I could notice the castle's map isn't quite longer than others; I mean, it is the DS we're talking about. The extra memory from it past the GBA's, and more from the DSi, would've made the map at least a bit larger to make it more sprawling. If Castlevania had one more DS entry after Order of Ecclesia, I would definitely see its map made larger than OoE's, even more if it was a DSi exclusive game, on a Game Card, that is.
Still, Portrait of Ruin is a very fun Castlevania game, and while many of us have good memories of it, the Metroidvanias that came by kinda filled the void for those missing more new Castlevania games in that fashion. Even the 3DS could've had new 2D Castlevania games after the DS games that might've been brilliant. Imagine if we had those.
But, of course, Konami's release of the newest Castlevania game in so long is sure to be good, too.
Well, to say, its second DS game stood very well among others, especially with Koji Igarashi's involvement. In quite a time when Metroidvanias were very little, this game sure rocks as one of the best.
Although, I could notice the castle's map isn't quite longer than others; I mean, it is the DS we're talking about. The extra memory from it past the GBA's, and more from the DSi, would've made the map at least a bit larger to make it more sprawling. If Castlevania had one more DS entry after Order of Ecclesia, I would definitely see its map made larger than OoE's, even more if it was a DSi exclusive game, on a Game Card, that is.
Still, Portrait of Ruin is a very fun Castlevania game, and while many of us have good memories of it, the Metroidvanias that came by kinda filled the void for those missing more new Castlevania games in that fashion. Even the 3DS could've had new 2D Castlevania games after the DS games that might've been brilliant. Imagine if we had those.
But, of course, Konami's release of the newest Castlevania game in so long is sure to be good, too.
#2
Maps Of The Month / 2026/10: Castlevania: Portrai...
Last post by JonLeung - September 30, 2026, 09:41:50 PM
For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to G.E.R.'s Castlevania: Portrait Of Ruin (DS) maps.
The Castlevania series celebrates its 40th anniversary this year! The Famicom Disk System release of Akumajou Dracula (which the West would later get as "Castlevania" on the NES) was near the end of September 1986, and a new game, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, will be released this month! Quite a treat for a series that has been dormant, at least in the sense of new games, as Castlevania has mostly been about crossovers and collections lately...
And close to halfway between 1986's Castlevania and 2026's Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is 2006's Castlevania: Portrait Of Ruin!
During World War II, the agony and hatred of countless lost souls allow the vampire, Brauner, to recreate Dracula's castle. Jonathan Morris, wielder of the legendary "Vampire Killer" whip and the son of John Morris (from Castlevania: Bloodlines), and his friend and skilled sorceress, Charlotte Aulin, take on the duty to take on Dracula. This time, painting-like portals throughout the castle add some variety to the settings of this Castlevania adventure.
These worlds range from a London city street to an Egyptian pyramid to a bizarre circus-themed area with rotated and upside-down portions where gravity is pointed inwards for most creatures, but not for Jonathan and Charlotte. And G.E.R. has mapped all of these for our viewing pleasure!
So to recognize the effort put into mapping one of the "Metroidvania" Castlevania games, G.E.R.'s Castlevania: Portrait Of Ruin (DS) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for October 2026.
#3
Maps In Progress / Re: The Pirates of Dark Water(...
Last post by JonasReisner - September 30, 2026, 07:11:38 AMQuote from: Aspirin18 on August 18, 2026, 11:23:47 AMI've completed a playthrough where I collected all the chests. I used the RetroArch counter to double-check my progress. It's highly unlikely that the achievements author and I missed any chests. Perhaps the game is still hiding something. But I'm absolutely certain about the number of locations.
I've got a modded version of the game that lets you fly through walls and has several types of invincibility. Are you interested?
Sorry I just saw this. Actually I'm already using cheat codes to get the same result, combined with memory modifications to adjust character coordinates and some others. So I don't think this modded version would improve my work efficiency.
Lately, I've been dealing with some... what could barely be described as relationship issues. And the biggest obstacle for the progress is... yeah, I'm just lazy.
Anyway thank you for help.
#4
Map Gab / Re: Wizards and Warriors 2 for...
Last post by mechaskrom - September 27, 2026, 09:37:39 PMGood job on improving KingKuros maps and making them more complete. I played all three Wizard & Warriors NES games a lot when I was young. Despite their difficulty and clunky controls I like them. Never managed to beat Ironsword though. The final boss fight against the four elementals at Icefire peak is hard.
#5
VGMaps Social Board / Re: YouTube channel! (JonLeung...
Last post by JonLeung - September 22, 2026, 09:23:03 PMDang, my YouTube channel's a decade old?
Ten years ago today, I posted this video:
Slightly awkward and not as polished. But feeling cringe at past videos proves that I've gotten better since then!
Ten years ago today, I posted this video:
Slightly awkward and not as polished. But feeling cringe at past videos proves that I've gotten better since then!
#6
Map Gab / Re: Wizards and Warriors 2 for...
Last post by xcalibur201 - September 21, 2026, 05:20:43 AMIt's probably unorthodox to up a thread from many years ago, but I recently added revisions, and thought I'd comment.
It all began when I noticed that the dragon room was missing from the Volcano level. I figured I'd add that, then realized I could add the inns, and the rooms where you get segments of the Ironsword. I share our hosts misgivings, I'm always cautious about editing others' maps, and strove to fit my revisions into the existing pattern -- same labeling, same 21px margin, utilizing blank spaces while keeping alterations to a minimum.
One tricky map was upper earth, where the shots fit together fairly evenly into a square pattern, so I didn't have room to add things without shifting the frame too much. My solution was to put the inn screen on top of the background pattern -- normally I wouldn't do this, but there was plenty of background, it was near the inn entrance in-game, and it was the only way to avoid making even greater changes, so I decided it was justified.
Moreover, adding the inns makes the maps alot more informative, giving you intel on the prices and wares being sold, along with their names, like Cliffside Inn, Tree Trunk Bar, Crater Tavern, Bear King's Arms, etc (I like that sort of attention to detail in games). On a couple maps, I also added the interior shot of inns, alongside the wares; I only did this where it would both fit and be adjacent, which were the Forest and Icefire Base; since they all look the same, it doesn't need to be on every map.
The Ironsword rooms were fairly straightforward, although it took some tricky jumping to get it all screenshotted. The main thing was putting the R label correctly -- you fly up after the wind fight, sink down after the earth battle, and go to the right after water & fire, which seems to be kinda symbolic.
I thought I was done, but then I figured out how to add the sky approach. If you've played the game, you'll recall how the air king/eagle flies you up to the second part of the level. That transition phase was something I wanted to capture, and although I couldn't blend it in, or include as much as I wanted, I was still able to fit a reasonable amount within the blank space. I had to shift the label/title over to the left (by 21px ofc), because when I placed it in the middle, the lopsided negative space made it look wrong. All in a day's work!
In fact, I went ahead and added shots of the cloud transition -- the unused wide version, the used narrow version, and the uncut version made of combined screenshots. This way you can get a behind-the-scenes look and compare them. The wide version shows the other indents, and you can more easily see the reiterating pattern. On the narrow version, you'll see a smidgeon of clouds on the right edge, which I included so that it's easier to figure out the pattern. The eagle mostly flies up the middle, and only occasionally veers off to the sides; it took a number of trial runs, but I screenshotted most of what I needed, and duplicated the rest according to the pattern (for the narrow version, only the lower corners needed filling in; and for the wide version, I nicked the corners of clouds to confirm the pattern). Oh and, I'd be remiss not to mention that turning off sprite layer made this task much easier.
Other than that, the colors look a bit different on my captures compared to his, but that's fine -- it's a minor difference, and it lets you see a bit of variation in how the game displays.
Overall, much props to KingKuros for doing fine work. All I did was refine what was already there, he did the lion's share, which is why I insisted on my name being put in parentheses on credits, to make it fair & representative. I emailed for permission, but he couldn't be reached, so I went ahead anyway. btw, the last map (which I didn't edit) of the Icefire peak is amazing, one of the finest I've seen, downright wallpaper-worthy.
It all began when I noticed that the dragon room was missing from the Volcano level. I figured I'd add that, then realized I could add the inns, and the rooms where you get segments of the Ironsword. I share our hosts misgivings, I'm always cautious about editing others' maps, and strove to fit my revisions into the existing pattern -- same labeling, same 21px margin, utilizing blank spaces while keeping alterations to a minimum.
One tricky map was upper earth, where the shots fit together fairly evenly into a square pattern, so I didn't have room to add things without shifting the frame too much. My solution was to put the inn screen on top of the background pattern -- normally I wouldn't do this, but there was plenty of background, it was near the inn entrance in-game, and it was the only way to avoid making even greater changes, so I decided it was justified.
Moreover, adding the inns makes the maps alot more informative, giving you intel on the prices and wares being sold, along with their names, like Cliffside Inn, Tree Trunk Bar, Crater Tavern, Bear King's Arms, etc (I like that sort of attention to detail in games). On a couple maps, I also added the interior shot of inns, alongside the wares; I only did this where it would both fit and be adjacent, which were the Forest and Icefire Base; since they all look the same, it doesn't need to be on every map.
The Ironsword rooms were fairly straightforward, although it took some tricky jumping to get it all screenshotted. The main thing was putting the R label correctly -- you fly up after the wind fight, sink down after the earth battle, and go to the right after water & fire, which seems to be kinda symbolic.
I thought I was done, but then I figured out how to add the sky approach. If you've played the game, you'll recall how the air king/eagle flies you up to the second part of the level. That transition phase was something I wanted to capture, and although I couldn't blend it in, or include as much as I wanted, I was still able to fit a reasonable amount within the blank space. I had to shift the label/title over to the left (by 21px ofc), because when I placed it in the middle, the lopsided negative space made it look wrong. All in a day's work!
In fact, I went ahead and added shots of the cloud transition -- the unused wide version, the used narrow version, and the uncut version made of combined screenshots. This way you can get a behind-the-scenes look and compare them. The wide version shows the other indents, and you can more easily see the reiterating pattern. On the narrow version, you'll see a smidgeon of clouds on the right edge, which I included so that it's easier to figure out the pattern. The eagle mostly flies up the middle, and only occasionally veers off to the sides; it took a number of trial runs, but I screenshotted most of what I needed, and duplicated the rest according to the pattern (for the narrow version, only the lower corners needed filling in; and for the wide version, I nicked the corners of clouds to confirm the pattern). Oh and, I'd be remiss not to mention that turning off sprite layer made this task much easier.
Other than that, the colors look a bit different on my captures compared to his, but that's fine -- it's a minor difference, and it lets you see a bit of variation in how the game displays.
Overall, much props to KingKuros for doing fine work. All I did was refine what was already there, he did the lion's share, which is why I insisted on my name being put in parentheses on credits, to make it fair & representative. I emailed for permission, but he couldn't be reached, so I went ahead anyway. btw, the last map (which I didn't edit) of the Icefire peak is amazing, one of the finest I've seen, downright wallpaper-worthy.
#7
Map Requests / Re: Full map set for Sonic the...
Last post by calijones - September 21, 2026, 03:03:05 AMQuote from: G.E.R. on January 11, 2021, 12:29:25 AMI think this theme is should be here for clarity.
If it possible, please extend this list for including all official games.Quote
2D platformers
O Sonic 1 Saturn
O Sonic 1 Genesis
O Sonic 1 Android
- Sonic 2 Saturn
O Sonic 2 Genesis / Delta / & Knuckles
O Sonic 2 Android
O Sonic CD
X Spinball Saturn
O Spinball Genesis
X Sonic Chaos
O Sonic 3 / & Knuckles
O Sonic & Knuckles
O Sonic 4: Episode I
O Sonic 4: Episode II
O Sonic 4: Episode Metal
O Sonic Unleashed J2ME
O Sonic Mania
O Sonic Mania Plus
O Chaotix
O Sonic Advance
O Sonic Advance 2
O Sonic Advance 3
O Sonic Rush
O Sonic Rush Adventure
O Sonic Colors DS
O Sonic Rivals
O Sonic Rivals 2
O Sonic Jump (J2ME) / Sonic Jump (Android/iOS) / Sonic Jump 2 (J2ME)
O Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal
O Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice
O Sonic Superstars
Full 3D
O Sonic 3D Blast
O Sonic Adventure
O Sonic Adventure 2
O Sonic Heroes
O Shadow the Hedgehog
O Sonic The Hedgehog 2006
O Sonic and the Secret Rings
X Sonic and the Black Knight
- Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
2D + 3D (Hedgehog engine)
O Sonic Unleashed Wii
O Sonic Unleashed Xbox 360 / PS3
O Sonic Colors Wii
O Sonic Colors Ultimate
O Sonic Generations PC 2011 / 2024
O Shadow Generations
O Sonic Generations 3DS
O Sonic Lost World Wii U / PC
- Sonic Lost World 3DS
O Sonic Forces
Other
O Sonic Drift
O Sonic Drift 2
X Sonic R
O Sonic Riders
O Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
O Sonic Battle
X Sonic Jam
X Sonic Rumble
Great effort compiling this comprehensive Sonic map set list. having everything categorized perspective (2D, Full 3D, Hybrid, and Spin-offs) mnakes tracking missing maps much cleaner.
Thanks for maintaining this checkilst, it's super useful for mappers looking for their next project.
#8
Gaming / Ys 1 and 2 releases collage
Last post by mechaskrom - September 19, 2026, 10:52:55 PMAll the different Ys 1&2 releases are quite confusing so I made a collage of all of them (I hope) from 1987 to 1991 to give me a better overview. It's a bit simplified with one entry per platform. The FM-7 got an extra release of Ys 1 for the more powerful FM77AV with better sound for example. And Ys 2 was only released for the Sharp X1 turbo and Fujitsu FM77AV (hence its nicer title screen). Finding details of all the different Ys 1&2 releases is hard though.
I've played a lot of different Ys 1&2 versions and I think that TG16 Book 1&2 is superior to all of them. Good graphics, good controls, voiced dialogs, not that grindy or difficult and awesome music. The TG16 music is even better than what modern versions have in my opinion. It's really strange that no remake used it as far as I know. Maybe some licensing issue?
Ys I & II Chronicles is also quite good if you want something more modern, but it's missing the TG16 music and the graphics style, although very pretty, doesn't really capture the look of the old Ys games. That together with many other changes makes it feel like a new game rather than a remake of Ys 1&2.
Which Ys 1&2 versions have you played and which is your favorite?
I've played a lot of different Ys 1&2 versions and I think that TG16 Book 1&2 is superior to all of them. Good graphics, good controls, voiced dialogs, not that grindy or difficult and awesome music. The TG16 music is even better than what modern versions have in my opinion. It's really strange that no remake used it as far as I know. Maybe some licensing issue?
Ys I & II Chronicles is also quite good if you want something more modern, but it's missing the TG16 music and the graphics style, although very pretty, doesn't really capture the look of the old Ys games. That together with many other changes makes it feel like a new game rather than a remake of Ys 1&2.
Which Ys 1&2 versions have you played and which is your favorite?
#9
Mapping Tips/Guides / Re: What map-making feature wo...
Last post by Guard Master - September 19, 2026, 05:23:54 AMQuote from: ReyVGM on September 13, 2026, 02:31:38 PMGood news. SuperSNES9x does have the option to display "accurate SNES colors". I haven't tested it, but it's there in Video -> Color Correction.
That's great. Tried it myself with the latest release. Getting my hopes higher for the emulator to be the next one I use as default. Here are additional features I'd like to see:
1. Support to combine multiple of the "tools" windows (e.g., the viewers, debugger, cheats, etc.) into a single window, offering tabs to switch between them. Having all these windows opened while I'm also alternating between other external windows becomes overwhelming.
2. Support to enable "widescreen" view. More emulators are supporting this including the latest Super ZSNES. Also, support to disable overscan (to allow 240 pixel height viewable instead of the typical 224 pixels in most games). Lastly, not sure if even possible, but the best would be support to have the emulation screen be the same size as the tilemap viewer and display as much as possible of bg + sprites.
#10
Map Gab / Re: Coming Soon: Undertale Map...
Last post by collinseyes - September 18, 2026, 02:06:12 AMQuote from: Rew on December 07, 2024, 04:55:00 AM(Seeing this website go nearly a decade without any maps from Undertale fills you with DETERMINATION.)
Truth be told, I was already making these maps and then remembered I used to frequent this website back in the day. I returned to see how this site handled maps from this game and was surprised to see there were none. (But nobody came!) Kind of a pleasant surprise, though, because now I get an opportunity to share my maps with this place!
They're still in progress, but I'm putting the finishing touches on Hotland, then they'll be ready to roll. I'll go into more detail about my methodology in a later post, but the gist of it is, I'm using the UndertaleModTool, which has rips of each and every single room in the game. So I'm stitching all those rooms together. However, the rooms are rather imperfect compared to what you see in-game (especially the Hotland ones, what with all their complicated backgrounds and whatnot). So I'm using Paint.net to polish the rooms so they look as close to how they appear in-game as I can get them.
There will be two different varieties of maps I'm doing: labeled maps (the rooms in the mod tool include a lot of interactable elements you can't see in-game, most of which I'm keeping for this variety--which is great as a visual guide to what you can and can't interact with, ideal for those on a second or later playthrough who want to experience everything). These maps include spoilers such as late-game and post-game NPCs, puzzle solutions, etc.
And then I'm doing unlabeled maps (without all the game data labels), which still include items and NPCs, but only ones you would see on a first visit--and no puzzle solutions either. This type will only show what you can actually see in-game and will be as close to spoiler-free as one can get with an Undertale map.
Anyway, I look forward to sharing more in the near future! (Fun fact: These will also be the first ever video game maps I've ever done.)
It's mind-blowing that VGMaps hasn't had a proper Undertale atlas after all these years, seeing someone finally take on this project fills the community with determination. Looking forward to seeing the final renders published on the site. Take your time with Hotland, and good luck.