Recent Posts

11

Map Requests / Re: Mega Man Maps

« Last post by JonLeung on May 06, 2025, 07:05:32 pm »

Recently (late March this year), an English patch for the Japanese mobile game, Rockman DASH: 5tsu no Shima no Daibouken! (Mega Man Legends: Great Adventure On 5 Islands!) was released, as explained here.

It's cool that there is still more Mega Man stuff.  People have been clamouring for Mega Man Legends 3.  This isn't that, but it's another Mega Man Legends chapter (which takes place between the two main games), and so now with the English patch, its audience has opened up!

Rockman DASH: 5tsu no Shima no Daibouken! is one of those Japanese Mega Man mobile games that might be lost to time, if not for the efforts of preservationists like RockmanCosmo over at Rockman Corner.

And mapper Princess Eev has mapped this game and submitted the maps here on VGMaps.com, so it is preserved in this way too.

Thanks, Princess Eev!

12

Maps In Progress / Re: FlyingArmor's Map Projects Present and Future

« Last post by FlyingArmor on May 03, 2025, 11:25:20 am »

Been a li'l while since I last updated this.

From the start of this year, I finally got the dungeons for Ultima: Quest of the Avatar (NES) done. Thankfully the dungeons in this version were great abbreviated compared to the PC and microcomputer versions, so capturing all graphics and arranging them wasn't a great burden (well, once I settled on what the format for these maps was).

Another game I just finished yesterday (and should be up some time today) is Tenshi no Uta: Shiroki Tsubasa no Inori (SFC). This game was a nice break from what I had to do for Dragon Quest VI, haha. It was far smaller in size, and I barely had to worry about transparent layers, which I've found over the years can screw up the colours of the maps if one isn't careful.

And while I'm at, I may as well mention Attack of the PETSCII Robots for the Commodore PET. I was a little surprised to see it generated a new page on this site, but maybe I shouldn't be, since it is a rather obscure platform for games. While this game spawned around 20 or so ports (VIC-20, C64, MS-DOS, PSP, SNES, Sega Genesis, Apple II, Amiga, and many more!), the PET version is the original version, so it seems fitting to have that be the version available on VGMaps first. I intend to also map the MS-DOS version as well, but the PET comes first!

I think I should also mention that I didn't map these with the usual technique of taking screenshots; I instead wrote a few Pascal programs that extracted the graphics and maps from their respective files and put them into PPM files, which I could then take into Krita or Photoshop and do the rest from there. Once I had gotten the programs just right, it was amazing to see the map images get dumped in a matter of seconds, as opposed to taking at least 20 minutes per map with the screenshot method.

It'd be nice to extract the maps and graphics from other games on the PC like this, but I don't know if the file formats would be nearly as straightforward as the ones for this game were. I can poke around I suppose.

13

Map Gab / Re: Jurassic Park (Sega Megadrive/Genesis)

« Last post by Vertigo on May 03, 2025, 06:59:08 am »

Rampage Edition maps are up!


Grant

Aviary (unmarked) (+hints)

Savanna (unmarked) (+hints)

Cargo Ship (unmarked) (+hints)

Hidden Ruins (unmarked) (+hints)

River Run (unmarked) (+hints)

Burning River (unmarked)


Raptor

Aviary (unmarked) (+hints)

Savanna (unmarked) (+hints)

Hidden Ruins (unmarked) (+hints)

River Run (unmarked) (+hints)

Cargo Ship (unmarked) (+hints)


So as with the JP1 maps, the foregrounds are stitched screenshots/videos, and the item/enemy sprites are pasted in after playtesting to determine their position. Backgrounds are a bit simpler this time, mostly just bicubic enlargements.

What makes Rampage Edition trickier to map than JP1, other than its massively increased size, is the fact that the retail build doesn't have a noclip mode. Some of the beta versions do though, so my process has been to map out the foreground in the beta version, then play through the explorable areas in the retail version and replace any sections that don't match. The beta and retail layouts are generally very similar, but you'll occasionally find a 32x32 pixel segment with different art, or a slightly different ledge length. It's possible that I may have missed some spots where there are differences between the versions, but I've been careful.

In terms of enemy positions... this too is trickier in Rampage Edition, because the enemies are far more dynamic. They begin moving around before they come on-screen, so it's impossible to determine their exact starting position without access to the source code (which I don't have). The pterosaurs are a particular headache, because they don't have starting locations so much as starting zones: you can encounter them in radically different places depending on your angle of approach. In Grant's version of River Run, it's likely that I don't have an accurate count on the number of Pteranodon in that level.

Another River Run quirk is that there are areas which can't be explored, but probably contain enemies. Noclipping around the inaccessible areas in the beta showed quite a few. But I only used the retail version for item/enemy locations, so if I couldn't see it in the retail version, I didn't include it in the map.

Anyway - if you happen to spot a difference in graphics, or an item that I missed, please do let me know. It's unlikely, I've gone through these levels with a fine toothcomb... but I'm only human, and these maps are just made through playtesting rather than assembling from the source code, so it's possible I may have missed things. But I'd be surprised.

If anyone has any questions about either of these games, please feel free to ask. These are probably going to be the last maps I make, every other Megadrive game I have/had is already mapped. But it's been fun!

14

Map Requests / Re: Sega Genesis Mini 2 - full map set

« Last post by JonLeung on April 30, 2025, 10:13:57 pm »

Pew pew!

Three more from G.E.R. today: Night Striker (J), Silpheed, both for the Sega CD, and some of the maps from the hidden Space Harrier.

Thanks yet again, G.E.R.!

I also decided to honour xyzbilliu's maps of Shining Force II as the "Maps Of The Month" honouree for May 2025!  Congratulations!

Is Shining In The Darkness, mapped by Vorpal86, considered complete?

Is the end in sight?

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Maps Of The Month / 2025/05: Shining Force II (Genesis) - xyzbilliu

« Last post by JonLeung on April 30, 2025, 09:51:40 pm »

Shining Force II

For this month's "Maps Of The Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to xyzbilliu's Shining Force II (Genesis) maps.

Slade the thief has stolen the Jewel Of Light and the Jewel Of Evil from the Ancient Shrine, releasing the evil "King Of The Devils", Zeon.  Under the guidance of the wise wizard, Sir Astral, Bowie - our hero - along with his classmates, Sarah, Jaha, and Chester, will form the "Shining Force".  In strategic combat, they will repel the forces of darkness that threaten the kingdom of Granseal, as well as the world!

Sega's long-running "Shining" role-playing series has many games in a few different sub-genres, including first-person dungeon-crawling and third-person action.  The fifth game, Shining Force II, is one of the strategy games, where multiple characters are issued commands in a top-down view to clash on grid-based battlefields.  Despite its more tactical nature, it's one of the most popular games on the Sega Genesis (usually better known for its action games).  Shining Force II even made the cut to appear on the Sega Genesis Mini 2!

So to recognize the effort put into mapping this iconic Sega strategy game, xyzbilliu's Shining Force II (Genesis) maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps Of The Month for May 2025.

16

Map Gab / Re: Bubsy in Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind

« Last post by Cyartog959 on April 29, 2025, 06:47:31 am »

Apologies for bringing this up from inactivity, but I wanted to give a heads-up about, Fractured Furry Tales.

A user on The Spriters' Resource, named Ragey, took the time to rip and upload most of the game's sprites, including all of its enemies and bosses! Well, "Most", being the keyword.

Besides the game's maps still yet to be seen in full, I can only guess the backgrounds are yet to be ripped and seen.

Honestly, I'm astounded that game's sprites got some attention and someone took on that task where others didn't.

To anyone wanting to see them, as proof, the link to the game's sprites uploaded to that site is right here - https://www.spriters-resource.com/jaguar/bubsyinfracturedfurrytales/

Perhaps doing that gave that game some more attention, and it's nice it needed some more. Give thanks to Ragey for the work done.

17

Map Requests / Re: Sega Genesis Mini 2 - full map set

« Last post by JonLeung on April 24, 2025, 05:32:10 pm »

Today we have a map set from a mapper that we haven't seen before here, Guard Master, for ToeJam & Earl In Panic On Funkotron!

I don't usually ask people on GameFAQs for the maps they have there (the only other time I did it in recent years was for Panic! for the Sega CD... it's a funny coincidence how it's another Sega game with "Panic" in its title).

Guard Master said he was "not completely satisfied" with the maps hosted on GameFAQs, so he had to make some changes.  In a short amount of time, he produced this nice set for VGMaps!  Thanks, Guard Master!  It's good to see someone that takes pride in their work and wants to put the best versions of their work out there!

(Also, thanks to G.E.R. for suggesting that I ask Guard Master in the first place.)

There are only a handful of games remaining; will we have a full Genesis Mini 2 atlas before long?

18

Gaming / Re: Crater, a Sokoban clone for MS-DOS

« Last post by FlyingArmor on April 23, 2025, 01:04:19 pm »

Thanks so much, mechaskrom, for your feedback!

I had to resort to a Sokoban solver as well for a few puzzles just so could continue playtesting the rest of the stages in a timely manner, haha.

Although they're not present in this beta version, I do plan on adding more story elements throughout the stages, in the form of inscriptions, just so my game can stand out a little bit from the more blatant clones.

Also, thanks for actually taking the time to rate every puzzle! I have a feeling most playtesters haven't bothered even to read the readme file (which is why I stressed it here in the initial post), so your contribution is most invaluable in that regard.

19

VGMaps Social Board / Re: I feel slightly worried...

« Last post by Cyartog959 on April 22, 2025, 01:14:50 pm »

I'm sorry to resuscitate this, but I have recently gotten worried about the series and the progress report on the next installment that should've been out by now.

Well, we do have patience, but depending on factors, it can shorten quite quickly.

A bit far too long, there's not much activity about Kokopolo in many fronts, even from the social media outlets, but I was able to find another YouTube channel that Keith Webb is active there, as of lately.

Here it is...

JMac & Webbsta's YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@JMac1980

All this inactivity from Tanukii Studios' Twitter Account, aside from Keith Webb's own being a bit more active, led me to worry about the series' state. I'm too worried about too much focus on Crash Twinsanity's hidden and scrapped content as a priority than Kokopolo itself.

Yes, I already know that game's a huge fan favorite in the Crash Bandicoot series, and there's been constant requests of a remaster to Twinsanity with loads of scrapped content put back in, but, given Activision's too constantly changing and rising expectations in their games' sales, and stronger priorities towards lots of unnecessary aspects of gaming, such as online multiplayer royale games(which is being oversaturated too much), alongside Crash Bandicoot 5 being already canned(can't speak that long story, but, yes, rather disappointing, but I honestly prefer new stories that don't involve too much dimensional travel and carbon copy-and-pastes of same stories & material, etc., yadda, yadda, yadda.) in favor of said practices, & recent... well... controversies that hit Activision badly(don't like to talk about here nor ask why), I strongly feel that the chances of Activision developing and fans playing the long-desired and constantly asked re-doing of Twinsanity is very, very, VERY slim.

That, and I think Webb is kinda out of the loop about Activision's recent actions.

I also feel such fans have already got their hopes up far too soon for it and believe Webb should resume work on Kokopolo soon before anything else comes up.

I worry this much, because I'm a huge fan of the Chase-'Em-Up series and the overall main character.

So, anybody around here, at least take some time to speak to Webb in whichever channel our outlet he's active in and try to catch him up on a few things sometime soon.

I spoke of this out of some concern as a fan of Kokopolo in this post, and I'm sorry if it bears repeating.

Also, if any of you played the Kokopolo games, what favorites can you talk about?

20

Gaming / Re: Crater, a Sokoban clone for MS-DOS

« Last post by mechaskrom on April 22, 2025, 12:40:59 pm »

I thought it was a solid sokoban game with nice graphics and good puzzle and interface design. It having a story with a short intro and ending was a nice touch as well. The difficulty felt fair with a nice mix of easy, medium and hard levels. There were only three levels I got totally stuck at (I gave those a 10 rating) and had to use a sokoban solver (Sokoban Automatic Solver by takaken) on.

Overall I liked your game very much and didn't find anything particular to complain about. Good work!