(NES) Total Conversion Hack Castlevania 3: Aperture of Corruption

[Toffi]

It's Updatin' time!
Welcome back this months batch of development updates from the team!
Last time we talked about boosting the native sprite colors from 2 to 3 active colors, so to illustrate the difference that choice makes we redid a few sprites and added some new ones to the games roster. Starting off with the armored knight.

Next up is a new creature, so consider this an ENEMY ALERT:
The Native American Kunenhráyenhnenh also known as a "Flying Head," is an Iroquoi demon created as punishment for murder or cannibalism. It appears in the darkness as a monstrous head with gleaming eyes that flutters through the night looking for it's next victim.

Another classic redesign returns with the balloon pod, this time around it gives birth to multiple floating pods when killed and releases them to the wind.


Lastly on the list is some more stage work and a quick boss demo with the Alraune, a human plant hybrid monster that lives in the basement of Dracula's botanical garden.



REPLY SECTION

Thanks for the reply Alkali Man OG, giving out monthly updates helps show that were still active and motivate the team to keep moving forward to bring RHDN new updates.

Happy to hear you like it DeathlesSNESs, the only thing holding the team back from making a new Classicvania here is ASM. Any and all programming help can transform the landscape of the game into something unique.

Thanks again for the offer Flaviogames but at the moment the roster is 100% filled, while the idea to use SOTN characters was put on the table close to 2 years ago and some concepts made the team ultimately went with the forgotten underdog's of the franchise to highlight hero's with only a game or two under their belts. Maybe someday after the projects completion some DLC could get cooked out if we aren't burnt out at the end of development. Here's some AoC themed demo's made in development to hopefully hold you over for now 

[Noside]

Maria, Alucard and Richter sprites look fantastic! great work!

[Flaviogames]

all this is getting too beautiful

[Alkali Man OG]

Omg this looks so legit.

Is alraune a retexture on an existing cv3 boss or something new?

[DeathlesSNESs]

I won't get tired of repeating: that's looking even better and more promising with each update!

That new stage looks really interesting. Somewhat reminds me to the Submerged City from CV4 but more garden-ish and green-ish. Really good designs

[Googie]

Those recent screens really look cool! I'm loving the progress. 

[Toffi]

Welcome back to to another round of CV3 updates:
We have a few new tweaks and updates to show today so get ready for some more content.

Starting us off is some more work on the games title screen! It's been a while since the last name table update and with much better CHR compression tables in place, meaning more graphical data can be streamed onto the games intro. Thanks to the work of SpiderDave better name table modification outside of what ReVamp offers can be provided.


Previously, background data needed to match the games pre programmed table or edited through ReVamp, which gave the team very little control over uncovered details like menu's and still screens. As more tools are developed the process of loading and editing ROM's is becoming much less tedious.


Lastly on our list today is the latest stage. In the place of the ship of fools is a massive flying fortress. This infected dirigible is unlike anything the world of 1897 has ever seen before. Invented by the cursed version of Claudia this machine was designed to launch troops high above the nations of Europe in order to spread Dracula's influence across the world.

The armies of Romania; partially led by the Lecarde clan and Quincy Morris, fought the airship with mortar fire. Ultimately the air ship was heavily damaged during the skirmish. It currently resides over the bloodied heart Wallachia awaiting repairs.



REPLY SECTION
Thanks Noside. Perhaps with enough interest and ASM help CoA could be revived.

The Alarune boss is entirely new Alkali, it's been partially written to the background and is currently a part of a special BG effect. The boss uses it's long vines to reanimate the twin dragon's defeated in 1476.


Always happy to hear Flavio, Googie, and Deathless. Hopefully the team can continue to surprise going forward

[DavidtheIdeaMan]

Excellent stuff you are showing off here Toffi,keep up the great work!

Also I hope you gain more help with the ASM,that way more possible stuff,possible custom animations more sprite sheet expansions or whatever.

[Megatronformayor]

This looks really good so far. Out of curiosity is there going to be any new mechanics like new weapons and boss and enemy ai.

[Alkali Man OG]

darn that airship level looks hype.

[Flaviogames]

It's getting very good indeed

[Supergamerguy]

The Aperture of Corruption team never ceases to amaze me. I can't wait until this beast of a project finally releases.

[Fray]

A marvel for the eyes  !! Absolutely great job, keep it up.

[Creature667]

This game gets me more and more hyped up with every update... Keep up the good work, Toffi and AoC Team! I can't wait to play it when it's done!!!

[Arcade-Elite]

Awsome work Toffi keep it up, btw i wanted to ask will you be able to have up to 3 characters same as castlevania 3? If so will you be able to play as the next one if one dies? Like they did for Bloodstained curse of the moon. I was playing that today and was thinking about your new castlevania game. Any thoughts if this could be done or has it been done already?

[Toffi]

Ready for another round of monthly updates? I thought so!

Welcome back everyone, It's always a delight for me to reveal the games progress and this month's no different. We have some stage updates to the airship shown in the last level along with some more info on stage formatting and a peak at a future WIP section and an enemy reveal. Let's get right into it

Starting things off strong we have an update on the airship, which has been infected with insects over the month of November. Monstrous bugs have claimed the ship as their own, molding it's once decrepit interiors into their home. Deep within the ships bowls the levels boss reigns supreme.

Expect to see more updates on the boss form soon.


Next up is a reformatted version of 02's chapel for 0D Dracula's tower. This retexture was baked into the first few screens of the stage, so this is only the beginning of the bloodied chapel at the pulsing heart of Castlevania.


ENEMY ALERT
Long before the foundation of Walachia the land of Romania was inhabited by the Roman Dacia
(106–275 AD) their most legendary warriors were buried with honor. After a millennia of rest these revenants have been reborn to serve the forces of the night. If these creatures are in your sight be prepared for a fight.


REPLY SECTION
Thanks David,
I really hope we can find some Assembly help for this project as it would open up quite a few doors. If anyone here's interested feel free to give me a DM. Were always looking for more help.

Currently a few new mechanics have been edited in so far Megatron for Mayor, including:
-instant character swapping on the fly ala Portrait of Ruin
-added extra mid air control with help from NaOH (who built the flight controls hack)
-sub weapon dropping ala Dracula X and SOTN
-slightly faster stair climbing and improved door opening times
AI wise enemies are harder to work with as no real sprite assembly editor is available for the game unlike other titles such as Mega Man. Essentially everything needs to be done from scratch which requires coding help.

Happy to hear that Alkali Man OG, we finally achieved mastery over the speed and placement of animated banks which means neat BG effects like passing clouds and the illusion of multi screen layering can be achieved (albeit at a lower fidelity the more frequently it's used).

Thanks for the kind words Flavio, Supergamerguy, Fray, and Creature667. It's always great to hear from you guys

Funny you would say that, Arcade-Elite. It's been on the todo list since 2020. On the 3 player front a test ROM was made however some major crashes arose when completing a level with a 3 player party. CV3 normally runs with only 2 players at once and while levels were playable bosses would almost always crash the game upon defeat. On the player death handicap, it's theoretically possible to limit the player death system to a single character however nothing has been done with it yet. I would imagine it could work with some time and the proper coding.

[Alkali Man OG]

Is that enemy a sort of Dullahan retexture?

[Flaviogames]

Toffi: the game is getting better and better, the visuals are impressive, it seems to have many colors due to this technique used in the colors, any predictions about the release?

[Arcade-Elite]

Nice if it can only be 2 characters at a time then it would still be great if one die's you could use the other with there health left. I am hoping you can make that work. Just by seeing the work you and your team does on this game gives me hope. It's already x2 better in graphics then CV3. And i am also hoping 2x bigger as in more levels and bosses too. Can't wait to play it. Please don't give up on this game the more you show us the more a fat man wants his cheeseburger lol. Man this game looks tasty.     

[Toffi]

December's come folks! Were getting close to the end of year 2.
This month I'm happy to report a lot of progress, more holiday off time means more time for development.
Currently we have some stage remodels, a new enemy type and a new stage.

Starting things off strong we have a round of small quality of life updates to stage tiles in area's including the botanical garden, circus, and port town. As the projects progressed and new graphical techniques were uncovered many of the older stage layouts became somewhat outdated. Currently the games oldest stage, the CV2 port town Aljiba has been getting some serious upgrades due to the voidspace bank expansion, so expect some new info on it soon.




ENEMY ALERT
Out from the infected ship flows dozens of hornet's. They're extremely durable and can survive harsh winds and cold winters with help from their hibernating queens. Once temperatures rise they can emerge from their cocoons to fight any would be intruders.


On the hive front new tiles have been crafted for the ships infected underbelly. With this the airship stage is getting close to completion, more work is being put into boss designs. Keep an eye out for more info soon.




REPLY SECTION
It's actually the skeleton knight Alkali Man OG. Were able to add fit a bit more curve into the animation thanks to the original uncompressed sprite graphics.

Currently we've gotten somewhere with the concept Arcade-Elite, code has been developed that lets the game know which character a player died with. All that's left is to lock the players swap wheel back to 1 character. How that might effect the stability of the game or cutscene's? Like the multi-swap that's currently unknown.

Thanks for the encouraging words Flaviogames. Currently were on track to release a demo build sometime in 2024 however the date has not been set in stone yet. Progress updates will continue monthly with more content coming soon.