Messages

1

Map Gab / Re: Secret maps

« on: May 12, 2022, 01:51:30 pm »

I never knew about those! Interesting stuff 

Tomba's Village of Civilization is just one piece of a large amount of unused Tomba stuff that is actively being researched:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq5rTECKb_w 

Now that you mention it - yeah, that and the Masakari Jungle area!

2

Map Gab / Secret maps

« on: May 07, 2022, 08:19:17 am »

Recently I programmed a level viewer for Pocky & Rocky (SNES) and was delighted to find that the final level, Stage 6: Battle With Black Mantle has an unused area not seen in this (presumably) screenshot-stitched map by MagnetiC.

this is my output:


the only rooms you can actually see in-game are these highlighted here:



So here's the unused corridor:


and its background:


and my best-guess estimates of the three middle rooms


Very interesting! There are unused enemy graphics in the bank assigned to that level, but we weren't able to spawn them anywhere sadly. I was doing analysis with Random Talking Bush and they found this interesting bit too:

There's traces of an unused stage in the first Pocky & Rocky as well by the looks of it.
Setting the selected byte to "6" on the level select and moving the selection up or down makes "Stage 7" appear.

Can't be selected regardless, and forcing the stage value to be anything higher makes it default to Stage 6.
...but if you change it during the map transition...

Which is definitely different than the actual Stage 6's.

Apparently the Black Mantle's Revenge is making the game crash. 😛
Haven't gotten to parsing the level data for either game so I don't know if any actual unused stages exist yet

This is all pioneer work, by the way, so you won't find this info on the Cutting Room Floor wiki 
Nonetheless, how do you feel about "secret maps" in general? Super Mario Bros. 3 might be the most known about, or at least I think a lot of people know about the unused levels in the game... Do you know of any cool unused maps? What's your favorite?

3

VGMaps Social Board / Re: VGMaps.com's 20th Anniversary - PROMO VIDEO CHALLENGE!

« on: May 06, 2022, 12:36:22 am »

That was very kind of you! Woke up to a happy surprise indeed.
Excellent job everyone 🥳 here's to 20 more years of vgmaps!

4

VGMaps Social Board / Re: VGMaps.com's 20th Anniversary - PROMO VIDEO CHALLENGE!

« on: April 29, 2022, 03:16:28 am »

Worked on it for an entire evening straight and despite the rush I got it done in time  really happy how it turned out although I kinda wanna go back and fix some stuff.. but then again, if I do, I'll end up trying to do more and more and more ...
I had lots of fun nonetheless!

5

VGMaps Social Board / Re: VGMaps.com's 20th Anniversary - PROMO VIDEO CHALLENGE!

« on: April 27, 2022, 02:12:52 pm »

Intriguing...! Read about this way too late but I gotta try and get something done! 

6

Map Gab / Re: SilverSword - Incedibly obscure Macintosh game from 1998

« on: September 26, 2018, 06:17:28 am »

I'm not 100% sure if I played it but I do have to say it looks very familiar. I grew up on Mac OS 7-9 and my father had a fuckload of weird shareware on his G3. I am also from Finland so there's a small chance that might've played into it too.
I have a very soft spot for Macintosh exclusive abandonware, so great job!

7

Map Gab / Re: Super NES Classic Edition - full map set

« on: July 12, 2017, 05:02:44 am »

Devin Acker (Revenant) has programmed a level editor for Kirby's Dream Course, which makes ripping super easy.
https://github.com/devinacker/kdceditor

However, it only displays the tiles with the default palette, so that would need to be accounted for.

8

Maps In Progress / Re: Wario Land 2 (GB)

« on: December 30, 2014, 02:13:09 am »

A very promising Wario Land II level editor was released just recently. For screenshots and more information, see the original forum post.
Maybe that helps?

9

Map Requests / Re: New Super Mario Bros. 2?

« on: September 10, 2013, 05:59:19 am »

3DS emulation is impossible at the moment, as is peeking inside the 3DS filesystem. This is because of a proprietary chip in the 3DS that we really don't know anything about.
However, there is a fundraiser that, once funded, aims to decap this special chip to see how it works. This might eventually lead to a general 'file explorer' of sort.
You can help by donating. It's at 2000 dollars right now, but they need 2300 USD in total.

10

Map Requests / Re: Paper Mario Titles (Peardian)

« on: May 31, 2013, 01:00:51 am »

Let it be known that Retriever II has done extensive work in forms of documentation and tools regarding Paper Mario and its two sequels.
His (public?) stuff is here, but not organized very awesomely. Check the 'pm' folders and everything with a prefix of 'pm' or 'pm2' or whatever.

Don't quote me on it but he might have a level viewer.

11

Map Gab / Re: Umihara Kawase [COMPLETE]

« on: May 16, 2013, 09:00:08 am »

Thanks for your kind words. Strange, I'm 100% sure I sent an e-mail. And no, you're not missing anything; for some reason, fields 09, 13, 19, 27, 32, 39, 44, 53, and 54 don't exist at all. That order is just fine.
I don't remember anything about wanting my e-mail not shown. Hmm. Maybe I'm just forgetful :F. Please add my current e-mail behind the link; vervalkongmail.com

I don't know anything about the 3DS game, but I hope it's good! :>

The PSX sequel has a similar file structure, so maybe one day I'll dig into those files as well. Haha!

12

Map Gab / Re: Umihara Kawase [COMPLETE]

« on: May 16, 2013, 12:13:47 am »

Yeah, the longer you play the game, the probability of the game throwing you to an END-field 28 increases. I don't know what would be the best way to imply this.
I'm also in the middle of sending these maps to TASVideos.org's well-forgotten Umihara Kawase strategy page. They used to have some (bad) maps and a roadmap.
Thanks, though :>

13

Map Gab / Re: Umihara Kawase [COMPLETE]

« on: May 15, 2013, 11:38:27 am »

Looks great!  Is this an official submission?

You guys know I prefer being emailed about this if so, rather than being expected to always catch them on the forums...

Thanks! And yes, this is an official submission. I also e-mailed you these earlier today. :3

14

Map Gab / Re: Umihara Kawase

« on: May 12, 2013, 11:42:02 am »

Well guys, I'm happy to announce that all maps are done. Sprite placement 100% accurate and guide notes have been added. This is also my first complete mapping project.
In the end, I chose not to go with animated maps, but instead toned down the opacity on some sprites and added some arrows here and there. All in all:
• If a platform has a small arrow in it, it goes continuously to that direction.
• If a platform has a big arrow in it, it stays still until grabbed with the hook, pulling it down.
• If a sprite has a 50% opacity, it means that it is a protruding/receding "pushy" sprite. An arrow next to it denotes its direction.
• Arrows, in general, explain which way conveyors go. Also, see above.
• If the level has a tide, I've set it to its highest point in the map.










If these get added to the site, I feel that mechaskrom must also be added to the 'Author' section as his help was overwhelmingly significant.


here's the title card

15

Map Gab / Re: Umihara Kawase

« on: May 08, 2013, 05:32:47 am »

You're exactly right. Also, GIFs would be good for only small animated elements like the conveyors. I wouldn't go for flash nor video either.

But yeah, I've done much progress now, and have about 90% done maps of 11/48 fields. For all sprites with a moving property (moving platforms, rising/falling towers) I've set an alpha of 50%. I also include small textual tips where necessary (which way a conveyor/platform is going, where a door leads to).

Nothing to show though, but here's a demo of field 22