Messages

2266

VGMaps Social Board / RE: I'll be less present around here for a while...

« on: May 04, 2006, 07:53:57 pm »

Thanks for the tip, but church is right out for me, being agnostic and all.



As for the social circle thing, yeah I meant become part of one. I'm hoping to find some hobby or social activity that would let me meet people with whom I'd get along.



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

2267

VGMaps Social Board / RE: I'll be less present around here for a while...

« on: May 04, 2006, 01:41:34 pm »

Exactly right. Aside from my family and a friend or two who don't live in my city, I've been pretty much alone for the last two years. I've always been afraid of personal contact, of letting people inside my personal space, yet at the same time I need it, which makes for a nice contradiction. You know the way we humans are, we don't always make much sense.



Yesterday I just had like a divine realization that spending time on my computer has been pretty much a reflex when I'm home alone ever since I've lived alone, for two years like I said. I went from living with my best friend to having no real friend except one that I only get to see once every 2 or 3 weeks. Talking on the phone or chating no the web are nothing compared to spending time, doing anything, with someone in real life.



What I need is to try and create my own social circle, something I should have done years ago but just was too afraid to do (there's a reason I've been seeing as psychologist for the last few years; I have a lot of fear issues despite there being no real trauma being it all)



I'll keep visiting here during the day at least, but I'm afraid I won't be contributing much in actual maps for a while, not until I've learned to be reasonable in the time I spend online.



But make no mistake, I'm glad to have this place to talk with people



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

2268

VGMaps Social Board / I'll be less present around here for a while...

« on: May 04, 2006, 11:10:54 am »

Long story short, I'm addicted to my computer; addicted to surfing, addicted to message boards, etc. For the last few years, I've probably spent about 80% of all my free time on my computer.



Well yesterday evening, I don't why exactly but all of a sudden I just got sick to death of my computer. I *had* to turn it off, as if it was some huge bug crawling over my body that I needed to slap off and crush with my foot. It was probably the first time in I don't know how long that my computer at home wasn't open from the moment I come back from work to when I'm ready to go to sleep.



The sudden silence was almost bliss. It also made me realize that spending all my time on the computer is why I have no social life at all. I already knew it, but I guess I didn't really *accept* it. I wish I had that realization long ago.



So from now on (hopefully), I'll limit time on my computer at home to a few hours *maximum*, and even then, that might be too much, what with a possible relapse and all.



I'll still come here in my free time at work, but I won't be active much in the evening, and mapping is definitely taking a break for a while. I'm pretty sure that mapping Metroid Fusion intensely for several weeks only hastened the crisis.



Sorry guys. I won't be gone completely, but I really need to take a serious break for a while.



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

2269

Mapping Tips/Guides / RE: Mapping Tools

« on: May 03, 2006, 07:12:21 am »

No way that I know. I've heard of some mappers using Game Genie codes or memory hacks that stop the animation of moving tiles, but nothing automatic I'm afraid.



As for which frame to use like with water, the choice is up to you. Usually, I find that there's one frame that looks better so I use that one, but it's really your prerogative.



Sometimes it's hard to capture every animated tiles at the right time, so some of us will go back to a finished map to correct mistakes, which is often easy since tiles are almost always a round number of pixels like 8x8, 16x16 or even 32x32. For every map I work on, I always keep a folder with clean sprites files for items, enemies, bosses and animated tiles. That way I can be sure that the water, flowers, lava or anything else like that always looks consistent across all the maps.



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

2270

VGMaps Social Board / RE: im not new, i just havent posted anything yet...

« on: May 03, 2006, 07:06:59 am »

Hey, welcome aboard (again, it would seem)!



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

2271

Mapping Tips/Guides / RE: How do you guys make these maps?

« on: May 02, 2006, 02:25:11 pm »

MrBlank Said:

Wow! Thanks for the replies.



I've mapped a bit of Legacy of Kain because it was easy with screen grabs, but it took a long time.



I also tried some ROM hack programs, but couldn't make heads or tails out of what they were doing. Don't emulators have some sort of edit mode feature where you can scroll through levels and get screen grabs? Maybe I need to find some gameshark codes that let me go into edit mode ...

Nope. There's no standard data format for games, except maybe when a company reuses the same code. Either a level editor is hidden in the game and can be accessed with a secret code (like Debug Mode in the various Genesis Sonic games) or a cheat code, or someone needs to program such an editor to be able to display the maps from a rom. Needless to say, doing the later requries an in-depth knowledge of the game in question and really good coding skills. Nothing comes easy unfortunately, and using a hacking program takes time and skills and is not intended for beginners.



The best I've seen is in VisualBoyAdvance which has a Map Browser. It basically shows you the content of what I'd call the map buffer, which is the portion of the map loaded in memory. You can cycle through the various layers but it doesn't show really far beyond the screen borders, and things are not always in order because of the way it's refreshed I guess (for example, you might need to remove a 'blue screen' color, or split the area in two and paste the second part before the first; it'S really hard to explain without a picture).



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

2272

VGMaps Social Board / RE: Revned, come here...

« on: May 02, 2006, 01:09:06 pm »

Speaking of XP, when the hell do we finally get to edit our posts and put links and pics? I mean, all things considered, not being able to do these is severely limiting my participation to the board. I like posting visual previews of my projects damnit! Plus, I'd like to post some new TF pics instead of just a text link



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

2273

Mapping Tips/Guides / RE: How do you guys make these maps?

« on: May 02, 2006, 01:06:14 pm »

On the other hand, anyone can edit a wiki entry and the staff may decide that the extra tutorial information is not warranted.



And I'm not sure this is what I was talking about. The tutorial I remember showed how to assemble screenshots for the foreground and background, and to combine them to make a finished map.



Personally, I'd prefer to have tutorials either on  VGMaps or on some private space or other if it's feasible. I should really consider getting some webspace of my own just in case.



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

2274

Gaming / RE: Gaming as a diversion

« on: May 02, 2006, 12:23:09 pm »

Inty Said:

I didn't say it too be mean. It's just from the other side (skinny) i get jealous of people being overweight. It's me being biased but i've always thought it easier to lose weight, than to gain it.



But if i were fat overweight, i'd say it the other way.



I'm just bitter about being so damned small. I'm like 5ft 9" and 125lbs.



---

I remember being skinny as a teen, having about your proportions. Sure, my lower risb would stand out on my abdomen, but it's not like I was doing it on purpose. Heck, I wasn't exercising at all and I was eating unhealthy, like most teens too. I never had a problem with it unlike everyone else who knew me and kept saying I needed to put more meat on my bones.



Then I turned 20 and family genetics on both sides conspired to give me a bit of a belly. I'm sure if I actually worked out and ate better I could lose a bit but it's stable at least. Sucking in my guts is enough to make it disappear but it's not like that works when I'm alone in my briefs in front of a mirror...



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

2275

Mapping Tips/Guides / RE: How do you guys make these maps?

« on: May 02, 2006, 12:18:36 pm »

I can't wait for us to be able to gain basic abilities like editing posts but mostly posting real links and pictures. Otherwise it's kinda hard to make a visual tutorial.



What sucks is that I'm pretty sure the old board had a link to a basic tutorial for making a screenshot map with a parallax-scrolling background (meaning it moves slower than the stage itself), from a Wiki site, but I don't know the link unfortunately.



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

2276

VGMaps Social Board / RE: Spread the word, sign this petition!

« on: May 02, 2006, 12:11:57 pm »

Never saw that movie sadly. In fact, being from Quebec means taht a lot of american pop culture goes right over my head. I also misinterpreted the "over my head" thing, and assumed you basically said I carpet-bombed you or something



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

2277

Mapping Tips/Guides / RE: Mapping Tools

« on: May 02, 2006, 07:13:39 am »

Sorry, I confused your remark about zoom with the actual size of the pixels. When assembling in MSPaint, I mostly keep it zoomed at 2x. I only go closer when playing with individual pixels.



However to my dismay, I found out yesterday that I might need to switch to Paint Shop Pro more to continue Metroid Fusion because the game's layering system is simply too complex for parts like water and having a file with every layer separately will end up being easier than a separate file for each. I'll probably still assemble things in Paint though, as it's just more convenient. I know all the keyboard keys for the functions I need the most and I'm not prepared to learn a new set.



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

2278

VGMaps Social Board / RE: Spread the word, sign this petition!

« on: May 02, 2006, 07:03:58 am »

Don't worry bustin98, I wasn't talking about you at all. I had some fun teasing you and JonLeung before the board changed, but it was all in good fun.



I was talking about the truly obsessive fans, which every property has, who are so fixated on something that brings them some sort of emotional/psychological comfort that any change, no matter how minute, is seen/felt like a momentous threat to their psyche and they feel the need to lash out in anger.



Or at least I prefer to think of it that way. It demonizes them less that way



Oh yeah, and the Boys of Phan was taken from 'Hyrularity', an unfortunately unfinished fan Zelda comic which you can read at http://www.zeldauniverse.net/gallery/index.php?cat=14.



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

2279

Mapping Tips/Guides / RE: Mapping Tools

« on: May 01, 2006, 03:08:52 pm »

I'm at work right now so I'll be brief for the moment.



I think the tools used vary from people to people, so I can only answer for myself.



In terms of emulators, I stick with the following:



NES: FCE Ultra, if only because it's the most stable on my computer. It has the nifty option of being able to display simply the sprites or the background.



SNES: ZSnes, if only because it's the one I've always used. I've only ever mapped one game (which is still unfinished) with it so I can't really claim it's the best for mapping.



Genesis: Gens, with the KMod fan module, which adds the ability to turn on and off the various display layers, so I can capture only the sprites or the foreground or whatever else I want separately.



GBA: VisualBoyAdvance, no contest. It has tons of debugging functions which make mapping a lot easier. You can turn off any of the 8 graphic layers, and it has two tools I like very much: the Map Browser which allows me to capture the contain of the graphic buffer for all 4 main map layers, and the OAM viewer I think it's called, which allows me to see (and save) all of the separate sprites currently in memory. Those two tools are invaluable in my Metroid Fusion map project. Also, it's possible to advance one frame at a time which helps in making sure that I always keep animated tiles consistent.



As for the actual assembly, I use MSPaint, and I frankly find it a lot easier and faster to use than anything fancier like Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop.



I use Irfanview to cycle through the various screenshots I've made and simply copy/paste each one in MSPaint, removing the background color if I can and assembling them together. Sometimes, I'll assemble both the foreground (actual stage) and background (fancy image in the back) separately and put the first over the second once I'm done.



Sometimes I'll use Paint Shop Pro if I need to do some transparencies because it features layers. I'll paste the segment, add in a layer with the element like water or fog, adjust the opacity, merge them and copy the result in Paint for assembly.



I'll also use Vicman's Photo Editor (rather obscure program) if I need to remove colors to separate a sprite from the background. I know that Paint Shop Pro can do it, but it's a lot harder to use in terms of interface, while Vicman's software is just a matter of clicking on colors.



As for scaling, the general consensus here is that if you're doing screenshot maps, you do *not* shrink or enlarge the maps as it changes the pixels and thus its authenticity.



Some people will add in guides and map keys, but I almost never do. It's mostly because I suck at writing strategies and because I find my page compositing skills atrocious.



Sorry, that's all I have time to write right now.



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

2280

VGMaps Social Board / RE: Spread the word, sign this petition!

« on: May 01, 2006, 02:54:04 pm »

Well, I've seen fans bitching about 20th anniversary Optimus Prime's shorthened smokestacks (for safety reasons). It might not be as stupid, but it's pretty close in my opinion.



Have you ever heard of the Boys of Phan? They nitpick everything and are never, *ever* satisfied no matter how much you bend backward to accomodate them. I don't like Phanboys very much as you can guess, but they're not worth the negative attention.



*waits to see if anyone gets the reference to the Boys of Phan*



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me