Messages

2281

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

2282

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

2283

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

2284

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

2285

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

« on: May 01, 2006, 11:07:48 am »

Sadly, I see fans being serious about stupid details like that on Transformers boards all the time...



---

"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

2286

VGMaps Social Board / RE: New Transformers Article

« on: April 28, 2006, 01:20:43 pm »

Ah, come on, I'm not that bad, am I ?



Seriously, in this case, I'm realy anticipating a big transforming robots movie, not really a Transformers one. It's clear that fundamental differences are going to be there, such as Brawl being a police car instead of a tank, and Devastator beign a robot on his own instead of a fusion of all 6 constructicons. As for Soundwave or should I say Kennywave (WTF?), rumors are that he might be made to turn into a cassette player or something similar without changing size. Who knows what that means (giant cassette player? mini-soundwave?).



And despite finding the old cartoon really childish in execution, I still really like their characterization and prefer them over those of the old comic for the most part. It's just that as with everything, some people are incapable of accepting changes, even when it's a good thing. You have any idea how many people hated Beast Wars because it featured biological animal alt-modes, without even caring about the writing, the great voice cast or the countless G1 hommages? Nostalgia is not bad, as long as you can refrain from losing all objectivity over it. I find Transformers: The Movie really entertaining and great fun with a bitching soundtrack, but objectively it was a really messy movie with cheesy music that was evidently aimed at introducing as many new toys as possible. See, balancing the two is possible



---

"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

2287

VGMaps Social Board / RE: New Transformers Article

« on: April 28, 2006, 12:47:10 pm »

Considering the possible yet unconfirmed cast of Transformers and their alt-modes that was uncovered not long ago, having Prime red is the least of the movie's problems.



Here is what was said (still unconfirmed, but apparently fits well with what was found by the guy from AICN who visited Michael Bay):



AUTOBOTS



Optimus Prime (semi)

Ratchet (ambulance, not an emergency vehicle or firetruck)

Ironhide (pickup truck)

Jazz (sports car)

Bumblebee (Chevrolet Camaro, possibly a '70s/'80s model)



DECEPTICONS



Megatron (tank, presumably)

Starscream (F-22)

Vortex (helicopter)

Soundwave (bastard version - a.k.a Kennywave)

Scorponok (minion)

Brawl (police car)

Devestator (tank)

Bonecrusher (Mine clearing vehicle)



And the thread at http://www.transformerslive.com/board/showthread.php?t=2783 is where I found this and it contains numerous links to the sources of ths info. Suspect, but if true things are definitely going to be different.



---

"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

2288

VGMaps Social Board / RE: New Transformers Article

« on: April 28, 2006, 09:27:45 am »

I think it's safe to expect the movie designs to be extremely divorced from their toy inspiration since Hasbro has little to no say in the matter.



It's like any movie based on a cartoon, comic or game; the director ultimately does what he wants. If he's a fan of the original material or thinks it will sell better based on recognition, he's go for a more faithful adaptation. Otherwise he'll do what he wants and just slap on the name as an afterthought. Which is what risks happening with the movie.



Now, despite how negative that seemed I'm still eager to see the movie, if only to finally see a truely original take on the Transformers concept, but even if it ends up being a truely rotten film with no redeeming qualities, it won't affect my memories of my enjoyment of the current comics.



---

"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

2289

VGMaps Social Board / RE: New Transformers Article

« on: April 28, 2006, 06:57:00 am »

There might be hope for you yet lad !



---

"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

2290

VGMaps Social Board / RE: New Transformers Article

« on: April 27, 2006, 02:50:04 pm »

Not to sound cynical, but seeing your response to the Neo G1/Redux Astrotrain from the previous board, I would have pegged you as being against anything that went against the old cartoon/comic, and it sounds like the new movie is a complete reimagining of the Transformers concept. Me, I'm really eager to see something *different* for once, which we haven't seen since Beast Wars and Beast Machines. Which is a shame when you consider that the franchise is centered around the idea of *change*.



---

"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

2291

Gaming / RE: If you forget the space in "Game Boy" again I'm going to kick you.

« on: April 26, 2006, 01:59:15 pm »

Sooo... murderous rampage intent with foaming mouth aside, how are you this fine day?



But seriously, does anyone feel like listing all the system names as they should be written, including the spaces, capital letters and hyphens? Because despite the inaccuracy of the spelling, Gameboy looks better than Game Boy, which is the only reason why I've always written it like that.



---

"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

2292

VGMaps Social Board / RE: I just made a `Top Posters` page!....

« on: April 26, 2006, 12:23:09 pm »

Well, I'd post more but then work as been piling up lately. The benefit of being a goverment service employee in a satellite office is that when there's no work to do, nobody's around to berate you for browsing the net as you wish.



And since we're hooked up with a simple cable modem instead of being on any sort of goverment network, there's no firewall blocking sites or checking where we're hanging



Anyway, I was planning on writing a small mapping guide soon for GBA games. I just need to put my mind to it and stop mapping long enough to finish it.



---

"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

2293

VGMaps Social Board / RE: Red Dwarf Anyone?

« on: April 25, 2006, 10:41:45 pm »

I live in Quebec, and without cable or a dish, we don't get shit, no matter how good your antenna is. We're lucky if we can get 2 or 3 of the main french channels, so what would be the odds of an American public station broadcasting with enough power to reach us all the way up here?



---

"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

2294

VGMaps Social Board / RE: Red Dwarf Anyone?

« on: April 25, 2006, 10:02:45 pm »

I regret never having seen much of it, aside from a few episodes on PBS back when it was included in the basic cable package. I've always enjoyed witty  british comedies, what little of it I've seen anyway.



---

"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

2295

VGMaps Social Board / RE: Strange Dreams

« on: April 25, 2006, 06:57:48 pm »

Okay, I'll share one which happened two nights ago actually. Now, I've spent the last week or so mapping Metroid Fusion like crazy, and ended up spending almost all my time in Visualboy Advance's Map Browser to try and capture the various layers of the screen and beyond.



Well my dream or should I say, nightmare, was all about those tiles and layers. The dream wasn't about me mapping; it was completely divorced from the context and was just about tiles, colors, transparencies, shifting blocks around and trying to composite rooms together. It was really tiring, and frustrating because it was rather unimaginative as far as my dreams go. If I'm going to remember them, I prefer them to be interesting and full of fascinating images and experiences.



---

"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