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| Acmlm's Board - I3 Archive - - Posts by optomon |
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optomon Rat                  Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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| I'm just some guy who periodically gets addicted to hacking NES games. Sound familiar?
As of late I've being relatively addicted and my roommates are like WTF. I'm so addicted I decided to join some hack forum. I recognise this addiction as somewhat of a time eating process, as I go on hiatus from pretty much everything else when I do get into such a state. I suppose I could give it the good connotative word and call it a hobby, but oh, the time it eats up... I was tempted to talk to people about hacking from time to time and I'm sure I can learn a lot too. Sometimes I cross a hacking document and I have no idea what they are talking about, but Ieventually figure it out as time goes by. I feel that this is a place to go if I get stuck on anything I can't figure out. This place looks strange and a wee bit disorienting with the posting layouts and all. I primarily use a hex editor to edit games. The things I like to edit most include level design and music. I admit that I don't really like making much graphical enhancements on games since I usually enjoy the look of most games. I am not too advanced of a computer person. I took a Java programming class at school and got a C in it if that counts for anything. Righht now I'm hacking Castlvania. |
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optomon Rat Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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| I hope that at least one of you is named after the Castlevania song. If so, I can play you on piano! | |||
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optomon Rat Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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| Well so far, I can tell this place is very active and highly populated. It doesn't appear that I would have to wait long in order to get a response after leaving a message here. And it also looks as if the people here are very knowledgable about programming too so this looks like the top place to be at for my reasons. I come here with much humility. | |||
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optomon Rat Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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| I'm already getting tired of hacking and may have to put it off for the time being, especially because a lack of free time is starting to close upon me. Some of it has to do with finishing school of course, showing to me, my friends and my family that I am a busy and hard working person with a good deal of self regard.
Like I said, I was mostly fooling around with Castlevania, having editing in some new music and hashing parts of the game using a GUI called Stake. I also was able to find out a few other things about the game. One good example is the info pointing to where all the secret hidden treasures in the game are. Now that I've opened the rom in hexeditor and searched thoroughly, I can see where all them are! Not such big secrets anymore, hahaaha. Not sure if I'll be here much now but knowing me, I bet I'll be active here one of these days. |
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optomon Rat Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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I have been hacking Castlevania. I just wanted to see what I could do with it. I'll just show some pictures to show what I have done with it. I've done some minor layout and musical changes to the game.
In terms of level layout, I only hacked level three.This is near the beginning. This part of the level is supposed to resemble an area in Castlevania 2, but it's pretty vague since I only used CV1 graphics using some GUI (stake). It's kind of primitive I guess, but it's just one of those first steps to editing the game. Also from Castlvania 2, I changed the musical theme on this level to that of the night time theme in that game. It's sounds pretty decent. 
Another shot in the same area of the level. This is one of the many platforming challenges I experimented with: having to close in on a pillar of bones with a ghost chasing you while jumping over pits. If you don't execute this in the right manner, you could easily die. Don't panic. 
Another shot outside. This is starting to resemble the original level 3. I don't know about the colour scheme though. My monitor is crappy and turned green, so the sky shows up as red and everything else is pretty much green. 
This shows a hidden 1up I put in the game for fun. Aside from editing the music, It was one of the few things I found out how to edit without directly using stake. O well that's all I really got right now. |
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optomon Rat Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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Originally posted by Dragonsbrethren I wouldn't mind at all. I'll show you where you they are and how I did it. I guess this might be somewhat of a spoiler since I will show you where some of the games original secrets are. Plus, my terminology is pretty akward since I rarely explain anything. 
This is a section in the Castlevania rom at around 18000 or so. This is near the beginning of data that describes some of the special features in levels. I haven't explored them too much. However, I know where the special items are. In the picture above I highlited the bytes describing the hidden items that emerge from the floor in level 1. Each hidden item is described by a series of 4 bytes. I will break up the bytes in the highlited sequence above and explain what they represent. The first four bytes: B6 DA 1A 00 This is the hidden money bag that appears when Simon jumps behind the Castle entrance. Here is a screenshot of it for visual representation's sake. 
Each of the nybbles represents something... the first nybble is the row on the screen in which Simon has to be for the bag to appear. In this case it is B, so Simon must be near the bottom of the screen. The second nybble 6 is what Simon has to do to get the bag to appear. In this case Simon just has to simply get to the spot where the bag is to appear. ( I think if the nybble is 0 Simon needs to wait on the block for a few seconds; if it's 2, then Simon must kneel for it to appear; if it's 4, Simon needs to walk into a wall for a few seconds over the block; Add 8 to the nybbles value to have the item accessable on the second quest). The third nybble is the column Simon must be on the screen for the item to appear. Simon must be almost to the far right since the nybble is D. If it were say 3, Simon would have to be just left of the statue in that screenshot for the bag to appear. The fourth nybble is what "room" Simon must be in. A room in this case is the size of the screen. The screenshot above is exact description of room described under the nybble 2. A value of 8 has been added to this nybble to make Simon have to be just one half step to the right more for the item to appear so hence the nybble "A". If you change the nybble to 8, then Simon will need to walk in that same spot, but on the very first screen in level 1. The fifth nybble is the row in which the item will appear relative to Simon. It is 1 in this case, so the item appears on level with Simon's feet. It were 2 it would appear below Simon's feet, if 0, it would be on level with Simon's head. The sixth nybble is the column which the item appears relative to Simon. Set it to 0 to have it appear in the same row as Simon. Since it is A in this case it appears to the left. If it were more than 0 and less than 8, it would appear to the right of Simon. If it were set to 8 in this case the item would appear off the screen. The last byte in the sequence is what the the item actually is. It is 00 here so the item is a money bag worth 1000 points. If 01 is a 1up, 02 and 03 are items worth 2000 pts. (One is the chest the other is the crown not sure which is which off the top of my head). 04 is the moai worth 4000 pts. Past that is just a bunch of random sprites with random points values. The vast majority of them aren't very pretty if you want my opinion. Anyway, onto the rest of the bytes in the highlited sequence: BA 31 1A 00 : This describes Simon kneeling next to a statue in the courtyard on the second quest for a moneybag. FF: These singular FF bytes tell us that a new set of secrets begins for another part of the level eg after halfway points. I believe they can be readjusted. B2 D1 D9 00 : The money bag down by the fishmen in the basement. 8D 80 FA 01 : A 1up upstairs in the area just before you head downstairs to where the fishmen are. To get it, you must walk into a block for a few seconds and it must be on the second quest. FF : another buffer. On to another segment of the level. 68 43 1C 00 : Yet another second quest secret. A moneybag hidden a top the highest platform in which those black dogs are. This is one of these wait a few seconds in a particular spot secrets as indicated by the second nybble. FF FF : Two of these. There are no more hidden items of these kind in level one. Normally, I believe there would only be one of these, but in this case I think a segment of the level is left out (the final are of the level where the boss is). Immediately preceding these highlited bytes is the info for staircases in the level 1. Following the bytes are the items that Simon uncovers when he whips a block (The first two describe the 400 pts on the dog platforms). I'm not exactly fresh on how these works since it's easy to manipulate these with stake. But if you do use stake it wont alter this section of the rom and instead creates a new space in the rom with the same info and changing. It makes me wonder why its creator didn't bother to alter hidden items that rise up from the floor, since the data is so adjacent. Oh well. Anyway, following that data is miscellaneous data for other features in level one. It goes on for a good while. Eventually a similar pattern will emerge as you scale down the data. You'll find that of later levels. Great god look at this mass of words I've spat out. Well, a little overspecification and not being concise on my part. Uf. |
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optomon Rat  Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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| Oh, you made stake. Well, I thought Stake was a good and complete editor compared a lot of other ones out there anyway. It was at least complete. But if you feel you can do better then I highly encourage you to do so.
I would create level editors myself, but I wouldn't know exactly where to start and my knowledge of programming languages is rather mild. I don't think I've ever created a complete GUI with programming language now that I think about it. And what do you guys mean by the layouts? Do you mean like rearranging or creating more/less rooms for the levels? Do you guys know how to do that in Castlevania? Oh and regarding that Mario screenshot. It looks like Mario 3 on the SNES All Stars, but appears to have the stats display of Mario World. Are you somehow going to put Raccoon Mario in it too? That'd be pretty slick. |
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optomon Rat Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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| I had to thank god for the last bomb threat that happened at my school several years ago since I got to skip economics class because of it. | |||
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optomon Rat Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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| Is that Simon wielding a giant centipede? | |||
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optomon Rat  Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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| Holy god.
I don't usually care much for graphic enhansements, but that chess Castlevania image is way rad. I can't see the blue though, because my monitor. I would LOVE to hear the final fantasy battle music play on that stage, it would be such an outstanding fit; it would totally give an "I'm a strategic game piece used in the mission" type of feel. Nice skeletons too, put them in the chess level. (edited by optomon on 03-17-06 04:13 AM) |
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optomon Rat Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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Well I went back to hacking Castlevania cause I had some free time. I just want to showcase a few things of what I've been experimenting with. For the most part I have been trying to create new intense challenges and editing the soundtrack. I've done some minor editing on graphics and secrets as well. Right now I can just showcase some of the challenging moments that occur in the game, as I'm trying to make life in the game difficult but fair.
This situation is not easy, Simon is floating back and forth on a platform and can only get cracks at the skeledragon when the platform gets close enough, plus he has to fend off occasional bats flying by in the process. The skeledragon can knock Simon off the plaform with his head if he stands on the front part when it is in closest range. 
This is one is interesting. The goal here is to dispatch the pillar of bones first (because he's in the way) then move in on the two other guys. Simon will need to find away to dodge and counter all three of them at once- two from the front and one from above. 
Ok... you have to jump over this guy at the right time and you have to take into account when he will fire and the medusas flying at you... 
...and if you make it, you'll have to think fast because you'll be sandwiched between two bad guys. 
The infamous grim reaper and his hatchets, if you made it this far pray you be sharp. In this setup you can clearly see him try to sit on you. When he swoops down you will have to find ways to clear space in those steps. 
This is Simon taking a stroll in the park with his buddies. The dead tree things in the background are my first attempt to bring graphics from another game into this one. Problem is when they are sitting next to each other they are holding hands! Well, I'm coming near done with this thing and it'll likely be complete sometime soon. |
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optomon Rat Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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| Anaheim defeats Calgary in OT to tie series, Giguere still perfect in 8 straight playoff overtimes. Except for that 3 minutes of Iginla controlling the universe the Ducks put in a solid effort all the way to put away the Flames. Some of the Flames most prized defenseman are like -6, gahahaha.
GO DUCKS!! |
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optomon Rat Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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| Update:
My Castlevania hack is complete. Includes new level design, new music, new secrets, and some minor graphical changes. |
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optomon Rat Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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| YES!
This is it... game 7... of the game 7 rejects!! I expect this one to go into OT and not some boring 3-0 Brodeur crap. Calgary's a tough team, Ducks gotta make them pay! Stand up to Iginla and his assclownery! I'm shocked that Babcock's club lost in the first round to the 8th team. Sounds like you guys had a bad call. Ducks had that problem in Game 6. Blatant Selanne goal waived off. Puck in the net like 2 seconds before another player made marginal contact with the goalie and was given an interference penalty for it. Dumb. |
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optomon Rat Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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| So like how did you make mario's power up disappear after zero coins?
Did you put something in the rom that was like: IF mario coins = 0, THEN fireflower = false ELSE fireflower = true |
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optomon Rat Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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| OK, I made this Castlevania game for fun. I'm planning on releaseing it soon, but I'm not sure how, and I feel rather innocent to come here and say something like that. I'm sure I'll get it figured out though.
I showcased a few screenshots in the progress thread. Here are some of them again for reference. 
This what the game kind of looks like. I'm not big with graphics, so it's just graphics from the old Castlevania with a little bit of palette swapping. I tried rearranging the graphics so they didn't look too disorganised. But the point is the level design. In addition to messing with the game's level design, I've been making an amateur attempt to entirely revise the soundtrack. So far I've replaced "Walking on the Edge" with "Bloody Tears" "Wicked Child" with "Clockwork" "Stalker" with "Monster Dance" "Out of Time" with "Rising" "Nothing to Lose" with "Within These Castle Walls" Rest of the songs remain and some have been experimentally tweeked. There is still remaining space and I think I couild theoretically jam in a few more songs or at least improve upon them. They are louder then they probably should be. I would attach the nsf, but I don't know how exactly, and currently don't have a website. |
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optomon Rat Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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| Yes it was a boring Brodeur 3-0...
BUT WE WON! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! Man, it feels good to be on the other side of that finally... Flames were shut down badly, I'm kind of disappointed. |
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optomon Rat Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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Originally posted by ImInvisible I'm having a difficult time comprehending this statement. Am I only allowed to attach ips files when I create a thread?? It's difficult, I wanted it to be intimidating but beatable. I guess its extreme to a certain degree, even I have trouble finishing some parts. It's certainly designed for the more experienced players, I'll say that. I have made an ips for the game but not for the nsf. I could make one sure. For example, let me try. EDIT: Umm... sorry, this one is for the rom, and not the nsf. I guess you can use it anyway. I'll get an nsf one in a bit. (edited by optomon on 05-04-06 03:59 PM) |
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optomon Rat Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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| Hehehehe,
Yeah it is rather lame, I'm not going to disagree with that. I just wanted it to look a little different somehow. But don't worry, the levels are rearranged, and like I said, that's the point of the fun I intended. |
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optomon Rat Since: 02-12-06 From: California Last post: 6291 days Last view: 6290 days |
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| Thanks dude. I think one of these days I'll get around to utilising ASM and its opcodes.
I feel like asking a million other questions, but I don't believe either of us have the time. |
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| Acmlm's Board - I3 Archive - - Posts by optomon |
