Author Topic: Chuck Rock (SMS), Cool Spot (SMS)  (Read 39219 times)

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Offline Maxim

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Chuck Rock (SMS), Cool Spot (SMS)
« on: May 29, 2007, 04:20:57 am »
I have no idea why I'm choosing to map these lame ports, but I've done a level or two in each.



One thing that may be of interest to some is news that the recent release of Meka (SMS/GG/etc emulator) has a new feature for map-making that I suggested to the author. When enabled, "crop and align screenshots" will trim down any screenshot you take so it's aligned with the video hardware's underlying 8x8 pixel grid - basically, trimming off any half-visible tiles. Since I use Paint Shop Pro set to snap to an 8x8 pixel grid when mapping, this makes map-making roughly 64 times easier because it's that much easier to line the screenshots up perfectly (off-by-one errors are probably my biggest problem when mapping).

Offline TerraEsperZ

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RE: Chuck Rock (SMS), Cool Spot (SMS)
« Reply #1 on: May 29, 2007, 05:33:03 am »
Hey Maxim! Great work again on those Sonic The Hedgehog (SMS) maps, which actually managed to get me interested in the SMS/GG Sonic games (as poor as some of them are).



I even managed to map a few stages of those (specifically, Sonic The Hedgehog 2 - Under Ground Zone Act 1, 2 & 3), but without being able to go anywhere or control the camera through hacking, it didn't go any farther.



And I totally understand the "why the hell did I just map *that* crap!?" feeling ;)



---

"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
Current project that are on hold because job burnout :
-Drill Dozer (GBA)
-Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis)
-Naya's Quest (PC)

Offline Maxim

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RE: Chuck Rock (SMS), Cool Spot (SMS)
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2007, 07:35:49 am »
SMS Sonic 1 is a great game, the later ones are probably best avoided IMO (although some would disagree). Nostalgia is a major factor here, the vast majority of games I map are games I've played through many times, on a real console, in my mis-spent youth. That's why I like to map the lame SMS ports rather than the originals - not so much "why the hell did I map *that* crap!?" as "someone will have valid reason to map the original and mine will become an ignored footnote, yet I don't care".



Others, like the Wonder Boy games and Sonic 1 8-bit, are really just great 8-bit design, something rather lacking as it was a generation that went from small, sparse levels up to backports of the big-money 16-bit titles of the 90s and missed out on having many big-money well-designed "proper" efforts in the middle.



I did spend a few hours trying to hack Sonic 2 similarly but it didn't come to anything much. These kinds of games really benefit from hacks to free-scroll the camera. I may try another hack to give infinite rocket sneakers and then try for a no-clipping mode. Having Sonic moving that fast will make mapping something of a challenge, of course...

Offline TerraEsperZ

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RE: Chuck Rock (SMS), Cool Spot (SMS)
« Reply #3 on: May 29, 2007, 10:39:55 am »
I meant "crap" objectively, as I too have mapped games out of nostalgia, like Goonies ++ which has aged terribly.As for the 8 bits Sonic games, the first one was enjoyable, but therest wasn't that great except for (ripe Trouble, the last and best one. Anyway, Ihope this post comes out okay, since I'm typing on my Blackberry at work (during my dinner break while training of course.
Current project that are on hold because job burnout :
-Drill Dozer (GBA)
-Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis)
-Naya's Quest (PC)

Offline DarkWolf

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RE: Chuck Rock (SMS), Cool Spot (SMS)
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2007, 11:39:23 am »
I don't know if it works for you but I get around "off by one" errors by using undo then redo a few times.  If it's spot on the overlapping parts will stay in the same position, if not they'll "jump".

Offline JonLeung

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RE: Chuck Rock (SMS), Cool Spot (SMS)
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 2007, 06:05:23 pm »
When working on Super Kid Icarus, I was working off of Tim's Kid Icarus maps and found a few of them to be off slightly.  By replacing tiles using Revned's Tile Slicer/Splicer, it was actually easy to correct "one-offs".


Offline Maxim

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RE: Chuck Rock (SMS), Cool Spot (SMS)
« Reply #7 on: June 01, 2007, 05:05:20 pm »
Cool Spot stage 1: Shell Shock

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/7518/coolspot01shellshockax1.th.png

http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/7518/coolspot01shellshockax1.png

This game is a total nightmare to map, since I'm anal about including enemies.


Offline Maxim

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RE: Chuck Rock (SMS), Cool Spot (SMS)
« Reply #9 on: June 24, 2007, 09:25:13 am »

Offline Maxim

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Offline Maxim

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Offline Maxim

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RE: Chuck Rock (SMS), Cool Spot (SMS)
« Reply #12 on: July 03, 2007, 12:28:02 pm »
Cool Spot - Stage 5 - Wading Around

User posted image

http://img239.imageshack.us/img239/892/coolspot05wadingaroundse3.png



The bonus levels are getting really annoying, so I skipped on to the real levels.

Offline Maxim

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RE: Chuck Rock (SMS), Cool Spot (SMS)
« Reply #13 on: September 15, 2007, 10:54:33 am »
Cool Spot - Stage 6 - Back To The Wall

User posted image

Offline TerraEsperZ

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RE: Chuck Rock (SMS), Cool Spot (SMS)
« Reply #14 on: September 15, 2007, 11:56:13 am »
Good job. That last stage doesn't looks good as the others, as the graphics look like they originally had more colors but were then down-converted for the SMS. I assume you've played the Genesis version, so is that the 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
Current project that are on hold because job burnout :
-Drill Dozer (GBA)
-Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis)
-Naya's Quest (PC)