Author Topic: Equinox SNES maps  (Read 21796 times)

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Offline Cleeem

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Re: Equinox SNES maps
« Reply #15 on: July 13, 2020, 07:41:46 pm »
Today, I have updated the first post with the map of Quagmire.
So, only Afralona is missing to finish the maps.

Before I do the last map, I may mark all the maps, so it may take a little time but everything could be finished this month.  ;)

Offline TerraEsperZ

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Re: Equinox SNES maps
« Reply #16 on: July 13, 2020, 09:05:21 pm »
Amazing work Cleeem! I'm kinda jealous that you've managed to do so much so quickly while I always seem to be stuck running in place.

I've been trying really hard to finish my isometric version of the overworld map but I'm probably going to start a new thread for it. I don't want to hijack yours and there are a lot of technical details I'd like to talk about (*if* I can muster the energy to make a visual guide for what I'm talking about).

Can't wait to see the final result for your dungeon maps!
Current project that are on hold because job burnout :
-Drill Dozer (GBA)
-Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis)
-Naya's Quest (PC)

Offline Cleeem

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Re: Equinox SNES maps
« Reply #17 on: July 14, 2020, 12:25:21 pm »
Added small images to make maps a little more fun and attractive on the first message! ^^ I hope you will enjoy it.  ;)

Dear TerraEsperZ, I am happy to know you will open a thread for your overworld map. I will have joy  to read and participate!  :D

When I started the plans for Equinox, I only had the energy to produce for a short time, so I gave everything I could of myself in a short period. I admire people like you who keep a project over time.  :)
« Last Edit: July 14, 2020, 12:38:57 pm by Cleeem »

Offline Cleeem

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Re: Equinox SNES maps
« Reply #18 on: July 16, 2020, 01:20:57 pm »
Added Afralona as a a thumbnail in the first post so you can discover the look for it! ^^
I know I said I was on my way to mark all the maps already done, but I decided to finish Afralona first after all.  8)

The hardest level to assemble was without a doubt Atlena.  :P
Now the final part, marking the maps!  ;D

Offline TerraEsperZ

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Re: Equinox SNES maps
« Reply #19 on: July 17, 2020, 10:05:10 pm »
Those thumbnails are quite the tease... Can't wait for the real thing!
Current project that are on hold because job burnout :
-Drill Dozer (GBA)
-Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis)
-Naya's Quest (PC)

Offline Cleeem

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Re: Equinox SNES maps
« Reply #20 on: July 18, 2020, 08:21:26 am »
Oh thank you !  :)
I am putting low res because I want to share the final version only (to be sure no other old version would ever be on the web).

I would like to share about my work on alignments with blocs in this post to show the cases I've encountered.


----- 2 exits on the same side (1-0D) -----


As you can with a short peace of Galadonia, it occurs that sometimes, the alignment with doors is not possible to win some space.
Arrows for room 1-0D do not have the requested alignments to rooms 1-0B and 1-0C but what you can see here is what my final map is exactly displaying.


If you decide to space the blocs a little more, the alignment will be good with the version I just made right now to show for 1-0D with 1-0B and 1-0C.
I found myself that the second picture just above is better, but if I had to do that for an entire level, it would be more difficult to read.
Indeed, when 2 blocs are closer, it is easer to understand the connections between them without having to suggest lines or arrows in the map everywhere.

Another reason why I chose a reduced spacing between the blocks is that everything fitted perfectly at 90 % of the time.
The 10% is where there are 2 exits on the same side, as seen in the example for Galadonia.

The last problem was that with big maps, the last levels would have been gigantic with the increase spaces method.


----- vertical and horizontal aligments -----


Check for the room 6-23 in Afralona.
The vertical line is aligned with the rooms 6-20 and 6-26.
The horizontal line is aligned with the top of room 6-22 and the middle of room 6-1F.

Here, some doors seems not aligned even if they are!
The reason why it seems wrong is that I choose vertical blue line bloc to suggest the connections.
As you can see with room 6-1E, connections are verticals with rooms 6-1F and 6-22, not diagonal as it should be.

So, why vertical bars ?
Because with vertical bars, I was able to put the bars closer to the doors and the eye see it faster after several tries I made.
Another reason is, if you zoom out the map, the set of connections between the parts seems more cohesive with this choice.
Indeed, vertical/horizontal lines harmonize only a little bit with diagonal lines and when you zoom out, everything seems a mess ... or not depending what has been chosen between vertical/horizontal or diagonal bars.
It just happens occasionally.


----- artistic aligments -----

Yes, I dare it! ^^
And only for Afralona.
When I have some long long corridors to cross, I've allowed myself to make roundabout connections. It's not perfect, but it's visually nicer than a straight line that goes up and up.


The yellow line shows what should have been a perfect alignment...


----- better is the enemy of good ? -----

Oh! It could have been a perfect title for my work. I really tried my best and while I was writing this post, it made me think of someone else work : Auximines.

It is here in pictures:

https://metroidconstruction.com/resource.php?id=110

His whole work is in this page:
https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/342/

Here is a small part of his readme, commenting his work for the heroine Samus, to play without combinaison :

« My anatomy is a little better than it looks; each sprite was made with limited space, and an odd shaped tile formation.
The upper body and the lower body are different sprites, the tiles are arranged in the shape of a suit of space armor rather than a human body, so it's hard to fit an accurate human body in there.

Also, many sprites are used in combinations with other sprites in different frames. the "aiming upward" sprites were made to look good when standing, but those same sprites are used when ducking, and it makes her waist look very short.

The ducking sprite itself is the same one for left and right, but the upper body sprites are also the standing left/right sprites, and since one has her back facing you it was hard to make a lower body ducking sprite that looked good with all the different sprites it's combined with in various frames. There are many other sprites like this, too.

So if her arms look too short sometimes, or her upper body too small, waist too short, legs too short, or anything looks "wrong" at all, I know about it. And I can't fix it as it would screw up something else. Every sprite is as good as I can get it, under all these bizarre circumstances. »


----- conclusion -----

Well, I tried my very best for this project.
Believe it or not, I was described as very slow and very perfectionist when I was a young boy (the slower of the galaxy ^^). So did I just eat a super rocket or something ?

No! Not at all ! When I started the project, I spent some time to study how to save a lot of time.
So I was able to find good cheat codes, good tools and good saves of a complete game (actually my old ones).

I had to think about something that would be very nice and well made but with eventually a little defaults to save me A LOT of time. So everything started in June and is now finished in July...

The first time in my life when I decided to stop being to perfectionist is when I played Secret of Evermore on the Snes. I calculated that, *if* I would like to put the magic alchemy to max, I had to spent 8 hours a day during 2 months...

And in RPG games, I decided to level up only if one level take me under 10 minutes, other wise, I stopped...

Nothing is perfect in this post from the top to the bottom but I tried my best to give the best I could according to so many things to consider! ^^  :)
« Last Edit: July 18, 2020, 08:54:29 am by Cleeem »

Offline TerraEsperZ

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Re: Equinox SNES maps
« Reply #21 on: July 18, 2020, 09:03:48 am »
I was beginning to think I was the only one who obsessed this much about room placement, door connection/alignment and total accuracy vs artistic liberties!

While you definitely come off as having more artistic flair than me, I certainly recognize part of myself in you (which is a compliment by the way!)
Current project that are on hold because job burnout :
-Drill Dozer (GBA)
-Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis)
-Naya's Quest (PC)

Offline Cleeem

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Re: Equinox SNES maps
« Reply #22 on: July 19, 2020, 02:20:18 pm »
Thank you TerraEsperZ !  :)
Everything is now finished at 100%

PNGGauntlet makes the pgn files at their best!
I will wait a few days before I submit anything.
It is good to let the things sleep a little to be sure everything is good.

If you go to page 1, you will see that the Ghost Ship Level has changed.
It is because there is a deck (level 0) and a hold (level -1) that are now displayed on the top (level 0) and on the bottom (level -1) of the map.
The other 7 worlds have only a level (-1) with the use of the ladders.

Can't wait to read your explanations about the map dear TerraEsperZ.  ;D
« Last Edit: July 19, 2020, 02:21:39 pm by Cleeem »

Offline JonLeung

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Re: Equinox SNES maps
« Reply #23 on: July 22, 2020, 10:52:40 pm »
And... the maps are up!  Great work, Cleeem!

Offline Cleeem

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Re: Equinox SNES maps
« Reply #24 on: July 23, 2020, 03:32:08 am »
Thank you Jon!
I am glad it is finished ! ^^  8)

Offline n000b51

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Re: Equinox SNES maps
« Reply #25 on: February 16, 2024, 03:28:01 pm »
:o Amazing work ! I didn't remember all that... all these rooms...
So many thanks to share your work for the posterity. Your captures are simply perfect !
What a pretty nice game (my favorite continent was Afralona).