Messages

31

Mapping Tips/Guides / Re: Emulator for PC games

« on: November 14, 2012, 07:42:18 am »

I meant to revisit Xargon, especially after I found the source code somewhere on the internet, but I just never got around to it.

FYI, the world maps have some alteration by me.  They abruptly end in places where the camera never reaches, so I had to fill out some things.

32

VGMaps Social Board / Re: The Legend Of Zelda: Symphony Of The Goddesses

« on: November 13, 2012, 07:44:43 am »

Hrmm, if they do LttP and OoT it might be worth going.  Did they do the field music from Twilight Princess?

33

VGMaps Social Board / Re: The Legend Of Zelda: Symphony Of The Goddesses

« on: November 08, 2012, 08:58:51 am »

I saw a sign for this a month ago.  We're supposed to get this in Portland in March 2013.  It's going to be the weekend after a long convention weekend for me though, so maybe your review will help me decide.

34

VGMaps Social Board / Re: vgmapper, get while it's there

« on: September 23, 2012, 02:05:31 pm »

But I am sure there are already professional alternatives that can download from CSV files? 

The CSV was so Jon could filter out the things he already has based on the information Trop posted on user ids and such.  Once the list is filtered, the URL column could just be copied to a text file, and most mass downloaders I think would support that.  Of course if you want the downloaded files put in proper sub-folders and what-not, yeah you'll need something more advanced.

35

Maps In Progress / Re: Shadowrun (SNES)

« on: September 20, 2012, 09:54:19 am »

You could also chop off the jagged areas of the map using a line that follows the perspective (should be a 2:1 line in this case).

As for sprites or object states, show what you think is important for playing the game.  Not that maps for aesthetic purposes aren't allowed, IMO, I just think more people will find it useful if it contains actual information related to game play.

36

Gaming / Re: Wii U Countdown!

« on: September 18, 2012, 08:23:00 am »

BB will be out of business soon, or at least they'll end up like Radio Shack (primarily a phone store).  They can't compete with online retailers on price and they don't offer much of an in-store experience to really offset that.

37

Mapping Tips/Guides / Re: GIMP 2.8.2 - Basic questions

« on: September 14, 2012, 10:36:53 am »

This is how it works with Paint.NET as well.  I'm not sure what kind of tools GIMP has, but in Paint.NET you can use the magic wand to select the background color then hit delete key and it will change the selection to transparent.  Most newer programs don't support the type of masking that MSPaint supported, and you'll need to start thinking in layers as well as using a transparent color for your background.

I stuck with MSPaint for quite a while when doing sprite or mapping stuff, and it's a bit of a pain to start with something new at first.  But it's worth it.  Mapping is much easier with layers.

38

Mapping Tips/Guides / Re: Emulator for PC games

« on: September 11, 2012, 07:50:19 am »

Your best bet is to use something like Cheat Engine and see if you can toggle the darkness "off".  You'd have to run your searches in areas where the darkness layer appears and where it doesn't.  If you're lucky there will be some sort of variable that tells the game engine whether or not to draw the obscuring graphics.

PC games with 2d graphics typically have different ways of rendering scenes.  There is no hardware on the PC to support the Genesis/SNES style of layers.  And even with modern video cards, 2d engines can be implemented in various ways.  So no emulator or program is going to have a "layers" option for PC games.  You'll have to deal with it on a game-by-game basis.

39

Mapping Tips/Guides / Re: Game Codes and Cheats - All Kinds; Official and Fan-Made

« on: September 07, 2012, 08:04:54 am »

When a game is localized or they release a revision, sometimes the memory addresses of certain values can change.  Usually the address is somewhere close to the code though.  For example I found a Phantasy Star II code that I had to move +/- a few bytes to get working on the particular revision I was using.

40

VGMaps Social Board / Re: vgmapper, get while it's there

« on: August 22, 2012, 09:24:25 am »

Jon, you might find this useful.  I crawled the website and made a CSV of image files that followed the format Trop described.

http://garoux.net/forum/vgmapper_images.csv

41

VGMaps Social Board / Re: vgmapper, get while it's there

« on: August 21, 2012, 07:51:46 am »

Sorry to hear about your parents.  Do you have a local copy of everything?  If not, I will try to make one and hold onto it.

42

Gaming / Re: Wii U Countdown!

« on: August 13, 2012, 07:39:12 am »

Not excited at all.  For me consoles are waning and my PC is waxing again.  The next-gen consoles should be doing great things.  It's time for them to catch up on digital downloads, offer better home media center options, and talk with your other devices (like tablets).  But I have a feeling they are going to have to fail first before getting it right.

43

Mapping Tips/Guides / Re: Filling in maps?

« on: July 29, 2012, 10:09:54 am »

That would take forever, and in some cases produce false matches.

44

Mapping Tips/Guides / Re: Filling in maps?

« on: July 27, 2012, 07:33:18 am »

Not sure what image editor you're using, but when you're trying to paste piece of coral in to see if it fits, you can try to use Undo/Redo in quick succession using keyboard shortcuts to make the piece you pasted over appear and disappear quickly.  You should be able to visually see if the piece lines up because if it doesn't you'll see "jumping" in the image.

45

Maps In Progress / Re: Sonic the Hedgehog (GEN) *Redux*

« on: June 26, 2012, 10:49:02 am »

I can't wait to see Scrap Brain Zone 3.  I've always taken the shortcut to beat the stage, so I've never really explored the zone.