Author Topic: JonLeung's Requests  (Read 156920 times)

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Offline Cyartog959

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Re: JonLeung's Requests
« Reply #135 on: October 29, 2024, 10:59:04 pm »
Well, I'm fine with seeing NES games' maps uploaded now and then, but I feel should keep you up to speed that there are still new NES games made, and they can be as good and/or great as the many past games mapped so far.

I didn't mention to you and the mappers in the community about said games before, but, might as well, anyway.

"Trophy"(not a trophy, the game's actual name) by Gradual Games - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxqdsiihpCk

"Sam's Journey"(2017 - 2024) NES port by Knights of Bytes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsBnlkQHkpA

Morphcat Games' three very own original games... (left their video trailer links here for you to watch)

"Space Gulls"(2021) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuOkfqogLro
"Böbl"(2020) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uor-iTY-FqQ
"Micro Mages"(2018) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFX401vvKTQ

The last of said game in this lineup was, in truth, made to fit on an actual 40-kilobyte cartridge, just like Super Mario Bros. did.

They all gave out splendidly great graphics that withstood the NES' limitations.

I'll leave you with this video link about how Micro Mages handled being in a 40-kilo cart with clever tricks and techniques, so you can watch(slight heads-up, little complicated tech speak in the vid. A little to take in for those that don't understand it yet.) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWQ0591PAxM

If you've not heard of 'em, well, take a look. I'm sure you'll like 'em.

Offline JonLeung

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Re: JonLeung's Requests
« Reply #136 on: October 30, 2024, 09:43:00 am »
I'm generally not as interested in aftermarket/homebrew NES games when there are still many official games not yet mapped.  And this particular topic is about my personal requests, of which zagato blackfist has recently been doing a lot of heavy lifting by considering them and mapping them, which is why it comes up a lot when I thank him for each one.  There are not many NES games remaining on my list as of now.  This could change, as I'm sure it wouldn't take much for me to skim through all the NES games and pick out some things of interest I may have forgotten about and then add them to my list, but I'd like to see this batch done before I even consider doing that.  Some of the NES games I had requested I felt were already a bit of a stretch for me to think anyone was even interested.

That's not to say I'm entirely immune to the charms of some new NES games.  I did recently add "Rugrats: Adventures In Gameland" to my list; this is a game that was released this September (just last month).  It can be played with a modern look and an NES look.  But it's not just aesthetics, it really is a NES ROM under the hood!  On PC, on the Epic Games store, they actually gave away the game for free the first week that it was out, which is crazy!  But, at least at the time, no NES ROM is included in the Epic Games version.  But if you get the Steam version, the NES ROM file is in the game's folder, which can be played on any NES emulator or flash cart.  I've got it on my recent-ish purchase of an Anbernic RG35XX SP:



And literally just a couple nights ago I got the last of four endings in the PC game "Beyond Shadowgate", which is now also on my request list.  It's a true sequel to the NES classic, not to be confused with "Beyond Shadowgate" on the Turbo Grafx CD, which was meant to be a sequel but whoever got the rights changed it from its original version.  This newer one is the version intended by the original creators.  While not technically a NES game, the interface is pretty much the same.  The window where the action takes place is still 112 x 112 pixels.  While the original game's resolution is 256 x 224 (as are all NES games), this one is 400 x 225.  The extra pixel of height making it 225 pixels means that it's a multiple of 9 pixels, hence, it has a 16:9 ratio for modern displays.  The extra width is for some background specific to the area (sort of like a Super Game Boy border), or the hotkeys on the left and the mini-map on the right, but otherwise certainly feels like a NES game.



But you see, I'm interested in Rugrats: Adventures In Gameland because the coexisting modern/NES styles is neat (I'm not even a Rugrats fan at all), and I'm interested in Beyond Shadowgate because it's a modern sequel to a NES game and retains its aesthetics and gameplay (though mouse control is nice).  I'm not throwing shade at any other NES games being made these days, it's just that if they don't have an interesting hook to make it worth my time, when I have an 8-bit craving, I'd rather be playing classic NES games that I still haven't gotten around to.  Yes, even I haven't played every NES game... (I'll get around to Battle Of Olympus, Magic Of Scheherazade, and Rygar one day, really!)  There's been discussion before about how realistic it would be to see every official NES game mapped, which shows mappers are generally more interested in prioritizing that over newer games.

(You mentioned the homebrew NES game "Böbl", which has been mapped here.)

And has been suggested many times before, specifically to you, Cyartog959, if you love these new NES games so much, or other games on other platforms you've mentioned, and really want to see maps of them, you could map them yourself...  As I've said, it would be nice to see you at least try, but (disappointingly) you never actually seem to consider it.  If you have the desire for them, put some drive into it.  As in actually making them, instead of just expecting others to do so.

Cyartog959, I appreciate that you are passionate about maps, and discussion is a good thing, but consider making a different thread for your own requests or if you feel you have lots to say about a particular topic (like NES homebrew/aftermarket games).  This one is about my personal requests, which is admittedly self-serving, but that's what this one is.  My requests I think are generally reasonable and skew towards popular games, if you're wondering why these are steadily getting done.

We can continue this discussion in another thread, and good luck with your own mapping endeavours, if you do get into it.  I'm sure there are many people that can help you here on these forums if you need assistance.

Offline Cyartog959

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Re: JonLeung's Requests
« Reply #137 on: October 30, 2024, 11:49:02 am »
Alright. I have no problem with all that. I don't want to disappoint anyone here. I was only talking, but you're right on this and others. Its about your personal requests in this post, and I can do the mapping myself. Its the first steps I've got to take.

Not too nervous or anything like it, and don't want to be rushed of any sort by pressure, not that I am in it, but, yeah, I can do it, and still talk about other matters and hang out, which I like to do sometimes, 'cause it comforts me.

I almost forgot to ask, how goes the talks with Stubbsy on the matter with Alwa's Awakening's map since you sent your message? I don't want to presume its briefly forgotten because of how busy everyone's been at times. I hope you've kept in touch.

Offline JonLeung

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Re: JonLeung's Requests
« Reply #138 on: November 11, 2024, 04:17:09 pm »
I've requested a BUNCH of NES games, and zagato blackfist has mapped out no less than two dozen of them!  Thank you!

The latest two map sets, submitted and uploaded today, are interesting in specific ways.

First, there's Gauntlet II.  The main reason I wanted this mapped is because it's one of the games featured in Nintendo Power magazine's Volume 19 - the "4-Player Extra" Strategy Guide issue - as one of the games that can take advantage of the NES Satellite and NES Four Score.  That kind of counts it as a Nintendo Power cover game - and I have a whole topic about those.  To see what I have to say about Gauntlet II, see this post specifically.

(Maybe not fully related, but on the topic of Gauntlet, when I worked at Playdium in West Edmonton Mall over twenty years ago, I really enjoyed Gauntlet Legends.  Even though another arcade in the mall had Gauntlet: Dark Legacy, the point is that I could play Gauntlet Legends for free with my benefits.  It's one of those games that lets you save your progress by inputting initials and a PIN.  I managed to build up all four main characters to the maximum level and stats.  Good times.)

The other game that zagato blackfist submitted today is Rugrats: Adventures In Gameland (Homebrew), a game that was released earlier this year for the PC and modern consoles.  It has gameplay very much like Super Mario Bros. 2, and has two different modes - one with a high-res, modern look, and one with a NES look.  And it literally is a NES game, as the ROM is available in the folder if you buy the Steam version on PC.  (Though the game was given for free on the Epic Games Store the week that it was released, that copy did not come with the NES ROM.  I don't know if that has since changed for anyone buying it there now.)  You can put that on a flash cartridge to play on an actual NES, or anything else that plays NES ROMs, which is why it's listed as a NES game.

Like Grimace's Birthday, a 2023 browser game that was technically a Game Boy Color ROM (also mapped by zagato), I wasn't sure whether to call this "unlicensed", "aftermarket", or "homebrew".

They're not licensed by Nintendo for play on Nintendo platforms, but they are considered official products by McDonald's/Nickelodeon, so they feel more "legitimate" than the "unlicensed" term typically feels to me.  I thought I had used the term "aftermarket" before for something, but I might be mistaken as I can't find that term on the main "Directory" page, and I didn't feel like introducing another term, which I might not be using correctly anyway.  "Homebrew" sounds like a small team made it, maybe one person, maybe just a handful.  Even if that was still the case, the backing of McDonald's/Nickelodeon kind of makes it... not really homebrew?

But in the end that last term was the least problematic, so I changed Grimace's Birthday from "(Unlicensed)" to "(Homebrew)" and applied "(Homebrew)" to Rugrats: Adventures In Gameland.  If anyone has any better ideas regarding its classification, feel free to let me know.

This is probably the first time I have requested a NES game that isn't an officially licensed one (at least not by Nintendo), so thank you for indulging me, zagato.

And thanks yet again for all the work that you do for VGMaps.com!