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| Acmlm's Board - I3 Archive - - Posts by Surlent |
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Surlent Koopa Back to the roots                   Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days |
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| "Kamanofutada ichi kôsu 2", the second level in world 2, starts out to be pretty challenging; aside that the difficulty until here was balanced well, and I'm no professional gamer.
There were not too many 1-Ups, but with regular and Dragon Coins, along with the bonus game you can get enough lives to beat the levels, until you reach the castles or ghost houses to save your game. The first world was okay, although I have to admit it was not too impressive; that old destroy-bricks-with-shell-in-the-cave level seems to be overused by him. But overall it seems to be a fun hack. Depends on the quality of riddles in the ghost houses and such too; these are very important elements to me in a SMW hack. Overall, until I can judge better (more levels played), pretty decent until now, in general. (edited by Surlent on 09-19-06 05:43 AM) |
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Surlent Koopa Back to the roots Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days |
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It is actually funny; I used a Ressurection Mist in time, the enemy could somehow unleash its attack - Rena got revived while Bowman fell. The result is shown here.
 (edited by Surlent on 09-20-06 03:50 PM) |
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Surlent Koopa Back to the roots Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days |
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Originally posted by XkeeperOriginally posted by Bloodstar When a small Mario carries a shell, the ducking animation still is useful, as you have visual proof, you put it down - and don't just kick it. Of course, rather rely on really holding the down button, instead of the animation, but actually it is rather funny. I even like to dodge when Banzai Bills fly one tile row above small Mario anyway  |
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Surlent Koopa Back to the roots  Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days |
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| The demo has some neat elements in it. The difficulty level for was fair enough; I didn't need to savestate (and I'm no expert in playing SMW hacks) and you could beat each level with caution. There were enough power-ups, getting lives were not that hard.
There is a small bug in the bonus game: The horizontal scroll is enabled. If you go right, the 1-UPs won fall down in the right wall area and move on the floor "in" it. If you go left again, they appear on the regular floor - after collecting them you can end the game normally. This could be deadly trap if something happened. If you disabled horizontal scroll or at least added a small pit in here, it could be a life saver from the bonus game of death; if the last save was longer ago. As said, nothing happened (every time I got the bonus game, it worked normally), but this should be fixed, as the only one major bug and maybe a possible (?) killer. As Stifu stated, the time limit should be higher, mostly by 50 or more time units per level. I never got into the goal with a value like 60 or lower, but I always feel the pressure - if you want to explore a level, it is sad. As for ROM additions, it works pretty well; although the vertical SMB3 pipes seem to have slightly less room for entrance. When running and jumping, I often miss the exact center and have to very accurate below those pipes in order to enter them. The screen also seems to follow slightly too slow. If there are jumping koopas placed right at the upper exit, an unavoidable hit can occur easily. The graphics are very good; I liked the firebars and up/-downmoving line-guided lifts, which gave me a reminiscence about the first Super Mario Bros. The little power up icon in the status bar is neat; but if it doesn't serve more of a purpose than just eye-candy, it is pretty useless (since you always know which state Mario is in by simply seeing him). The hammer-throwing frequency was very low - so I even had good chances to stomp them; unlike in most Mario games with them I get hit at least once when I try to hit them from above. In general, it is a fun demo - the style is unique, I'm looking forward for the next release. |
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Surlent Koopa Back to the roots Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days |
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| This editor looks very nice, but I have trouble making it run properly.
The program kinda starts up and only shows a small portion of it. Creating a new track from the File menu doesn't seem to do anything, except showing the question if I really want to create a new one. As in the help file stated, the program doesn't need a ROM to run. So I can create tracks with the program itself, when I'm done simply open up a F-Zero X ROM via File menu and patch the changes to it ? As for the game itself: Which file endings does the editor accept, as my F-Zero ROM ends with .rom ? I am running Windows XP SP2 with the most recent updates, I even downloaded the VB 6 runtimes, installed them - made a reboot - but still I cannot get the program to work. System specs: AMD XP 2800+ GeForceMX4000 with 128 MB of VRAM 512 MB DDR-RAM What did I miss to do - in order to get the editor working ? Do I simply have to find a proper ROM with file ending n64 or something similar ? Thumbnail and screenshot:  |
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Surlent Koopa Back to the roots Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days |
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| Considering the large amount of changes done, the HDMA effects and, of course, the new intro song (An actual song on a SNES cartridge! Seen this only in Tales of Phantasia so far, what explains its huge size), the pseudo 3D effect, it really shines.
But I also have to tell, that, as close the translation also might be, there are some flaws. Translating Japanese is very hard, we know. The game is, as stated in the readme, very close to it, like "Medama gumi" for The E. Sludge, which got translated to "Apfelschleim". Also Bow's original name "Bosshu", which got translated to Boche. This is good on the other side. All from that - very nice; but Cure 1 became "Verarzten" - what just sounds a bit too straight, also the initial Ryu's weapon seems a bit off. I have to play further to tell about the quality. But aside from the nice effects, I appreciate one: THE ABILITY TO HOLD DOWN THE B BUTTON! It rocks and saves a lot of time (since the encounter rate in some dungeons is very high). the translation is close to the original - but maybe in some areas too straight. It must not be that bad as the German version of Seiken Densetsu 2, but some things might have had better alternative text. But in the end, overall I'm satisfied with this: Longer item names, full enemy names as well (I especially like that small character enemy name font). Great work! (edited by Surlent on 10-04-06 05:10 PM) (edited by Surlent on 10-04-06 05:11 PM) |
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Surlent |
Koopa Back to the roots Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days
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You won: One life off. Seriously, those jumping note blocks, adjacent to walls, can be your way leading to doom, since Mario comes trapped inside the wall. One funny thing: The 1-UP mushrooms didn't stop to move, while Mario's death sequence was played.
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Surlent |
Koopa Back to the roots Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days
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Edit: Wrong forum - I shouldn't post if I come home tired |
Sorry for the confusing title and the length of this post, but I couldn't find a better one and need some explanation. I am interested in ROM hacking, especially translations. So I discovered some nice documents ("Tables for dummies" from Zophar.net for instance), got some knowledge about hex editing years ago - usage of those hex editors is usually very trivial; even for me who has no clue about editing a ROM apart from changing (non-compressed) graphics in ROMs and/or changing text in games with direct ASCII-characters in ROMs. An example is the english version of FF3j, it is very easy to find text like the battle commands and change them. Enough for the introduction. I am studying "Japanese Studies"; although I may not be that fit yet, I can translate some texts easily. Especially I might be interested in games like Sutte Hakkun (I found the proper thread in this forum and it is really a very neat little game); the tutorial is text-intensive - and since we anyway get parts from literature for translating, it could even fit in my study and be fun. The text doesn't seem too difficult; since the target group also was Japanese children usually - so I don't expect extreme complex sentences like in a novel from the Heian or Meiji era and such 
Now to the problems and questions: I cannot get Hex Workshop to install; the installer stops (running Windows XP which is perfectly stable else and runs every desired program properly); but this hex editor is known for its comparison function for easily finding tables. 1.) Is there any recommended hex editor, which has a similar comparison function (and supports tables), apart from Hex Workshop ? It also should display Japanese characters; or is there another way to get all kanji out of the game's text ? Hexecute doesn't seem to do that - and I don't know how to get a table out of games like Rudra no Hihou (the tutorial implies entering names in kanji in normal and backwards way; later comparing both save files and isolating the first kana) without this comparison method. 2.) How is the deal with kanji in hex editors ? I mean, is something like 先生 simply substituted by せんせい in a hex editors or does it even show kanji in the right/text area (but ... how to display more complex kanji with a small fixed font) inside the editor ? 3.) If there is no way to find the text, using methods to create tables, the ROM probably is compressed; then I an still out of luck - I have no time to learn assembly language or even dare try to crack compressions (this is no request that someone should do this for me - since it even isn't sure I might be able to do this). If all fails, how about simply writing down all the Japanese text while playing - and translating it; is there a way to get this into a ROM, replacing the original text (of course, I won't be able to do this, since I doubt you can easily copy ANSI type text into a hex editor  ) ?
Thanks for reading - and hoping to find answers to this; if it requires way too much work to get to the precious text data (I don'T want to waste too much energy on finding the text, since the translating part might be a extremely long process), please tell me. Then I won't try and will rather invest more time for studying. Thanks in advance, Surlent (edited by Surlent on 10-25-06 12:24 PM) (edited by Surlent on 10-25-06 12:27 PM)
Surlent |
Koopa Back to the roots Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days
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Our course began with translation two weeks ago, and in the current state I never would intend to translate something what might be released to the public ... at least not yet. I just want to test myself - and for that I need the basics how to display kana and kanji in hex.
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If you want, I can send you the text we are currently working on (in rômaji/kana/kanji and my version/translation) - to judge the skills; it is not too much - but I need more practice ... then I'll gladly grab your script and work out the translation. Or give one short excerpt from any other RPG (in kanji); just to prove I'm not kidding. It sounds very challenging but interesting; although Sutte Hakkun's sentences are easier than Rudora no Hihou's. There are no extremely complicated relative clauses, but more short, clear phrases in ST. So, rather than promising something I cannot finish due to lack of skill/time/interst, I have to deny ... yet (edited by Surlent on 10-25-06 06:36 PM)
Surlent |
Koopa Back to the roots Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days
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Crossing The Rubicon - The Human Abstract from the album Nocturne.
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As for a first album, this is hella sweet - and the instrumentation first seems weird, but soon it turned out to be great for me. The band defines itself as "Metalcore" (I never heard something from that sub-genre before), but they somehow retain to make every song unique enough (Mea Cupla - drum work!, the "disordered" Echelons to Molotovs), without going too far. It is kinda hard to desribe. For Black Metal listeners this CD might be too smooth, although some songs opens up pretty nice (Harbinger - after the intro) and the lead singer really puts effort into his work, but for everyone else this might be worth checking out at the local dealer. As for me, I'm very pleased with this piece of work.
Surlent |
Koopa Back to the roots Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days
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Originally posted by HyperHacker Reminds me about Block Tool, which contains arrow blocks as well (passable from three sides only; but usually you put something solid to their sides, so it's a true one-way-block then). I am interested in collision detection as well, but although I have no clue of assembly nor advanced hex editing, I have a question: If every game used the same location and similar code, it actually would be very easy to figure this out. In RPG maker each tile simply has a flag, "passable or not passable". If you are in front of such a solid obstable, then the arrow key simply is bypassed in that direction. My theory might be, that the editor checks the movement inputs first; if there is NO obstacle in the location the sprite is intented to move, the move command will be executed. If it's not there, it's simply ignored. That also might explain the lack of the movement animation if you try to move further, when you are touching a wall. Okay, I don't want to go too off topic; but which method is more efficient for sprite/collision detection ? A) Flagging all objects passable or impassable, then "pushing" the character back (maybe before the frame is drawn on screen - otherwise it might be a very ugly result). So this is basically HyperHacker's explanation. B) Intercepting the movement inputs before the command is executed; something like IF solidness(destination tile+1)="1" THEN { GOTO Thou shall not pass} (meaning 0 = passable and 1 = solid, of course) ?
Surlent |
Koopa Back to the roots Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days
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I never bothered too much about ROM hacking and such, but my first "computer" was a Schneider CPC464 with Locomotive BASIC 1.0 ("High resolution mode" was 640 x 200 pixels, yeah - and Datacorder with tapes (!) for the win).
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Hexadecimal numerals where pretty important then as much as the binary system. Seeing how much important even today these are (BSoDs and such), it is pretty good to know that system, especially when programming or doing something else with computers. On the other hand, I'm not involved in this; so you won't really lose any huge experience if not working with PCs/Macs a lot. It's also interesting - it also could have been the octal system (basis 8; ranging from zero to eight, concerning the different numerals) or something else ... (edited by Surlent on 12-11-06 12:39 PM) (edited by Surlent on 12-11-06 12:51 PM)
Surlent |
Koopa Back to the roots Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days
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As for your connection problem, I cannot help (as it depends on various factors, such as a router, software-side settings and more), but I will use the board's attach feature to upload the proper archive. |
Surlent |
Koopa Back to the roots  Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days
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The last demo already was incredible (Especially "Extra 5" rocked; I never thought such a simple trick with disabling vertical scroll with "the thing" below - I don't want to spoil the fun), though it was not finished, it was more than good - though it was very challenging.
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I absolutely loved the Deku Tree level. The ways you need to take - actually I never expected things like this. As for those two trailers - who has not played the last demo from TSRP II yet - grab it; but maybe it even is better to wait for the "real thing" (full version). And prepare to take a lot of time for this. Some of the secret stuff is more than well hidden ...
Surlent |
Koopa Back to the roots Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days
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In the last demo (I think it was until world five if I'm not mistaken) I needed to abuse save states a whole lot, but luckily even this seemed me to "strengthen" a bit. You also placed the Buzz Beetle Cave to a later spot, like some other levels too.
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With no save states getting until the mentioned "Fortress of Doom" isn't too hard. The player's timing in the level almost needs to be perfect, too perfect in my opinion. Other than that - I like the new backgrounds (like in "Construction Site" for example) - Whispy Woods had a really good boss fight (fight? eh) idea, though. Although I have to agree with Alastor with too much repeating of really (!) neat ideas in the level. Like you have some rotating platforms and a complicated setup. It gets used too often sometimes. Other ideas again - such as the Deku Tree level - are really unique and never over-used. And the player will clearly know which levels where created first (such as these use much less ExGFX), this hack stands really out of all known ones for me. While TSRP I seemed almost impossible for me at early stages already, you have a better chance here. No blind jumps (at least there are sufficient guide coins), no invisible platforms (a big no-no in every SMW hack - especially if it is the bottom) - just one more save point between a new world and the castle might have been nice. It's not too hard for accumulating some lives in one of the easier levels, but this still takes time since you cannot use the good ol' known START + SELECT code for collecting flowers or capes. No hack is perfect, even this master piece isn't - but overall it's still a very great hack
Also you improved with grammar a lot (it was not "bad" - but once yourself wrote, your English language isn't that good), both regarding your forum posts and the in-game dialogues. As for me, it will take some time to finish this hack - I "like" doing preperations for lectures, homework and such  (edited by Surlent on 01-02-07 05:22 AM)
Surlent |
Koopa Back to the roots Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days
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That post contains a lot of spoiler tags. I hope the post doesn't become too cluttered due to that - but I don't want to spoil the fun here.
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This hack is pretty impressive, when it comes to overworld design. This is the same for the Guardhouse. I like the room setups - in the original you often have rooms with four corners (of course there is change, too), here you move through narrow and other shaped passages much more. The difficulty would have been right if rthe save feature worked before you got the sword and shield. This really pissed me off because although I read the readme - I simply forgot to use save states at the entrance of the Guardhouse (I try to use them only when really neccessary; like dieing a dozen of times without any advancement - like with each try you can beat more and more - or when I leave the house for "saving" game). So: With save feature = Guardhouse is a piece of cake, really. I enjoyed games like Deus Ex (where you mainly sneak your way through as well, though this is a first person shooter and cannot be compared with action adventures, though). Without save feature or not using save states = a pain in the ass. I dunno know how hard this bug is to fix, when it comes for enabling saving before getting the sword. I also am one of the players who missed the Blue Boomerang as well - in my second try I got it - and also grabbed the big chest in the Guardhouse as well (with the proper key). Unfortunately the first real dungon - Nayru's Bay - was too short in my opinion. The idea itself was very neat - as for finding the invisible bridge, I tried it blindly. I know there is an item which helps showing the bridges in original Zelda as well as using things like Spoiler:
Bombs, if they don't disappear/fall down after placing, there is a way. But what is the "real" solution to find the bridge without wasting ten bombs or even more ?" Also the Armos fight takes way longer than the actual boss fight Spoiler:
just behind that room. I think a mid-boss should be less challenging than the actual dungeon master. How about switching the rooms ? So the moth could be the "pre-boss" (no hole on the floor) - while the Armos Knights could be the real boss, since it took much longer to defeat them - due to high health. There is also a bug with that boss - after two or three attacks its "bullets" vanish, you hear the attack sound - but you can freely move along with the boss without worrying to dodge - and kill it very quickly. It didn't drop a heart container after its dead too - was this made by purpose or do some/all bosses usually should drop them normally in this hack ? I am just about to enter Din's Catacombs - it is again a nice idea; but I have to agree with most players that it is simply too hard to kill three high-health sand worms in the darkness, with annoying vertical damaging "bullets" when they dive in AND this machine-gun type shooters in it. Without the shooters the fight could have been very challenging, but more fair. As for the hack, when it comes to level design in general and overworld placement: Great! I love the setup of Kakariko, the paths you need to take - also trhere is much originalty in reaching the ways; I think I never expected to find Spoiler: in Zoras's Scales Spoiler:
a DESERT (!) behiand a waterfall. Neat idea
So my overall impression after the introduction and the first dungeon - despite the things I pointed out here - is great. I just hope the difficulty level increases without getting unfair some time. Other than that this is a very good hack which makes a lot of fun - since you can travel to all important locations easily and there are no boring places, such as Lake Hylia in original Zelda III which just made me sleeping when I got there (crabs, a coast - boring). (edited by Surlent on 01-04-07 05:55 AM)
Surlent |
Koopa Back to the roots Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days
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I just got through Rauru's Ruins (the first one I finished in the Parallel World actually, so boss killed, crystal acquired ... but, didn't find the Big Chest key.
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I think it might have to do something with that room where I cannot seem to find a way to the other side below: 
Those dark rooms have been put in by purpose, yeah :p That's the equipment I got so far. Can someone give a a certain hint, like specific rooms/exits (like that one with the three sand worms, one with the dropping tiles etc. pp) or guide me to that Big Chest Key ? I somehow feel "empty" - Ieaving a dungeon in a Zelda game, without acquiring the specific item in it ...
Thanks in advance. Other than that - the layout of those dungeons still amazes me; wanna continue and so on ...
Surlent |
Koopa Back to the roots Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days
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Simple, but great for me - I rarely switch background images anyway, but this one fits my mood everytime |
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/4415/desktopey4.jpg
Surlent |
Koopa Back to the roots Since: 11-18-05 From: Berlin, Germany Last post: 6308 days Last view: 6308 days
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We use Blackboard as well. I don't know any other "e-learning" systems, so I cannot judge how well BB works, compared to other solutions.
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On the one hand it's good that you obtain your material directly (PDFs and other files) and instead of having printed 600+ pages (like one lecture/course requires you to read about fifty pages per week) and paying for that, you can download it easily. It' not that much work reading the stuff, but if you have multiple tasks and having to find the fitting text from that huge (obviously not-sorted) stack of paper on your desktop. The downside is still is the fact, that very few grades are visible online; though you know the result directly after you got your test or term paper back. Those 'quizes' can be created as well and the lecturers even can check if you participated in it or not. But fortunately these doesn't count/gives grades - would be useless anyway if you take part from home ... as you have access to your books and the world wide web. I don't like to read longer texts on the computer, and what I might need later as well (not only in the forthcoming lesson), it is still easy enough to hit the "print" button. I just wished, Blackboard worked properly with lololol; for some reason our version doesn't display anything after logging in - but there's that neat "IE Tab" extension for FF, which fixes that issue without any flaws. (edited by Surlent on 01-30-07 12:04 PM) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Acmlm's Board - I3 Archive - - Posts by Surlent |
