[VicVergil]

Mock-up, my two cents.

[MathUser2929]

Make a decision, the year of Luigi is almost over.

[Shugo]

Woah, this thread got kinda popular today, huh? I just got home from work, ha ha.

The problem with the right one is white. It might work better with a darker color replacing it. This would require the Luigi sprite being removed or maybe making look like a gold Luigi.

Yeah, you're right about the white being the issue. I had a thought, though... There's another part to the Year of Luigi logo with a "sprite":



It can even be represented by only one or two colors, too, and they're colors that don't look too shabby together: the original SMB question block colors. Nintendo already did this in their own SMB 25th anniversary romhack:



So I could just change the "25" to a "30" and either use orange(brown?)-and-yellow or just white-on-black! This frees up the background palette a bit so I can at least ditch the white. I'm thinking I'll also flatten the black bar that it's in by a couple pixels so that the checkerboard pattern can peek out from behind it and remove a little of that cluttered feeling. I still want it to be a big "pill" shape so I'm not going to do something like GHANMI suggested, but it will look better.

Regardless of this, I think the year of Luigi text makes the screen far too cluttered the way it is.
I would also point out that none of the year of Luigi products explicitly say year of Luigi in game anywhere. Plus Dr. Luigi itself is already associated with it without the text telling you so.

Aaaaactually, I hate to break it to you but:




Still, I think I've come up with a solution to all this anyway. I'll just simply include multiple versions of the patch so people can pick what they want. It's not like this is an official thing going to retail so I don't have to pick one. Patches aren't that big on their own anyway.

I'm probably going to have four versions:

Dr. Luigi Lite



The hack as it was originally going to be, but with the newer logo lettering. All palettes are the same, the only changes are to the logos and Mario. This is for those who want the "how Nintendo would do it" feel, since this falls more in line with Luigi Bros. It's also the only one that'll have a properly centered title logo; tile attribute palettes don't let me do this for the green/grey 'asymmetrical pill' design. The other ones are centered if you consider the trademark icon, but the original Dr. Mario screen didn't consider the TM part of the logo for centering so technically this is "more centered".

Dr. Luigi Standard



New palettes, new viruses, and secret new ending animations! You'll actually have a reason to play this now! (Unless you cheat and go look at it in a tile editor, but that's no fun.) I consider this the "how Nintendo would do it if they felt like putting in some effort" edition.

Dr. Luigi: Year of Luigi Edition



New palettes, new viruses, the new endings, and the classy Year of Luigi title. Since I'm going to change it to the "30th block" I'll be able to revert the background palette to the better blue one. Still including this and Standard as separates to satisfy everyone (and because it's a romhack and I can do whatever I want).

Dr. Luigi: Green Cap Edition



I AM A WIZARD and I have used my powerful magic to grant Luigi his hat, as he has in the Wii U version. Unfortunately this breaks his victory/loss animations and I can't fix those, so this is a separate extra edition for those who want it. Just an idea I had that I didn't want to go to waste.


So yeah, that's how I'll do it. Four IPS patches all with the ultimate goal of simply giving Luigi his rightful place in another NES classic. I think this solution is good.

Make a decision, the year of Luigi is almost over.

Actually! Nintendo said The Year of Luigi will extend into 2014. And this makes sense, as it was only declared in mid-February, so it should last at least that much longer. I'm sad that the Luigi Nendoroid won't be released until June so that'll miss the festivities entirely, but at least they're making it! 


EDIT:

I didn't want to make this post any lengthier but check this out:



I'm very happy with this, personally. Less cluttered, more classy, better colorscheme. It won't replace "standard", but it will replace the orangey old one (unless someone really, really wants that).

And here, have a new video. I actually played in this one, showing off the game over animations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3CHXLjBYik

[M-Tee]

To me reads like "The year 30 of luigi"

[Chippy2000]

Can you release a beta of the current build? I'm too excited to wait  !
I like the new animations btw

[Vanya]

Aaaaactually, I hate to break it to you but:

LOL. I totally missed that! OK, well I concede that there is one instance. ... But it's not on the title screen!

{multiple patch variations}

That's a perfectly fine idea. The differences are relatively minor, and anyone can always go in and alter their personal patches if they so choose.
Plus if anyone REALLY wants another variation, making palette changes is simple enough that they can do it themselves.
I'll probably fiddle with it myself. (I still dig the lighter blue background)


About the 30th block logo. How about placing that into the main game screen somewhere subtle? Like making it the dark blue color and putting it at the mouth of the bottle?


EDIT:

From WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!



Dr.Wario maybe?

[Shugo]

To me reads like "The year 30 of luigi"

Yeah, but it looks weird and asymmetrical if I put the 30-block to the right or left. Lots of other logos do this, so I don't think it's a problem. (Could always just use the non-year-of-luigi-edition anyway. )

That's a perfectly fine idea. The differences are relatively minor, and anyone can always go in and alter their personal patches if they so choose.
Plus if anyone REALLY wants another variation, making palette changes is simple enough that they can do it themselves.
I'll probably fiddle with it myself. (I still dig the lighter blue background)


About the 30th block logo. How about placing that into the main game screen somewhere subtle? Like making it the dark blue color and putting it at the mouth of the bottle?

You think the lighter one was better? I personally thought it felt a bit too bright. Dr. Mario has this dark-ish tone in most of its backgrounds, probably to make the foreground stuff pop out more with the limited colors available. I actually do play this on my real Famicom on a real CRT, and when a game has bright colors everywhere it makes it feel extremely cluttered and hard to look at. The contrast is important.

The current one does feel a bit dark though, even in the video (It looks purple-ish in the screenshots but that's because those are taken in FCEUX default palette; the video was done in puNES with an NTSC CRT palette). Maybe there's a better in-between combination? I haven't played with all the blues available.

Also I don't think I'll insert a Year of Luigi reference into the main game screen; the main screen is full of stuff as it is and it's all lined up so perfectly. The way I have it is the way I'm gonna keep it, I think.

Feels good to have come this far though, even if the result is kinda simple. I've learned a lot. Now all I really have to do is finish multiplayer graphics and figure out what stuff I'm gonna put in the ending screens, which I'm gonna keep a secret.

December 27, 2013, 06:51:02 pm - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)

EDIT:

From WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!



Dr.Wario maybe?

Someone already did Dr. Wario, and they did a good job (though clearly they didn't figure out how to kill the title screen antipiracy since they're missing some graphics, haha): http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/647/

It doesn't run on real hardware, though. Or at least I couldn't get it to.

[Vanya]

Someone already did Dr. Wario, and they did a good job (though clearly they didn't figure out how to kill the title screen antipiracy since they're missing some graphics, haha): http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/647/

It doesn't run on real hardware, though. Or at least I couldn't get it to.

How the hell did I miss that?

EDIT:

I tried it out and I can't get it to run on FCEUX or NEStopia.

EDIT2:

Oh. I see, it's because it was made on a trained rom instead of a clean one. I get the feeling that might be the root of the issue on real hardware too.
I definitely think it should be remade. There are enough problems with it to merit a second attempt.

EDIT3:

Dr. Luigi: Green Cap Edition



I AM A WIZARD and I have used my powerful magic to grant Luigi his hat, as he has in the Wii U version. Unfortunately this breaks his victory/loss animations and I can't fix those, so this is a separate extra edition for those who want it. Just an idea I had that I didn't want to go to waste.

What about changing his animations?
In the new game instead of tossing the pills overhanded, he kinds tosses them underhanded. That could work to your advantage.
You'd also need to change the location of the pills, but that shouldn't be too difficult.

EDIT4:

I just noticed, that in the new game, besides wearing his hat, Luigi is also wearing his gloves. So you may not even need to worry about palette wierdness if you do the same in your edit.

EDIT5:

One last thing. About the placement of the copyright. Would it be appropriate enough to drop the original copyright year and just keep the 2013? That way you don't have to lower the thing. I was debating even bringing this up, but whatever. I just think that the closer you can keep to the original title screen the better. Plus, the technical accuracy of the copyright year on a ROM hack is a bit moot.

[Shugo]

How the hell did I miss that?

EDIT:

I tried it out and I can't get it to run on FCEUX or NEStopia. So it might merit another look.

EDIT2:

Oh. I see, it's because it was made on a trained rom instead of a clean one. I get the feeling that might be the root of the issue.

It would be easy enough to replicate on a proper ROM, but I wouldn't feel comfortable taking his work.

EDIT3:

What about changing his animations?
In the new game instead of tossing the pills overhanded, he kinds tosses them underhanded. That could work to your advantage.
You'd also need to change the location of the pills, but that shouldn't be too difficult.

EDIT4:

I just noticed, that in the new game, besides wearing his hat, Luigi is also wearing his gloves. So you may not even need to worry about palette wierdness if you do the same in your edit.

Actually, Mario tosses them underhanded and also wears his gloves, a red tie, and the stethoscope over his shoulders in the WiiWare Dr. Mario, so that isn't a Luigi thing; it's just an updated look that the series has gotten over time. The only new thing Luigi does is wear his hat. I mean, I could put effort into trying to represent all those updated things in the tiny sprite space I have, but there's a point where it moves away from the "semi-official" look I was going for and into "way too fan-made looking" territory. They'd be neat changes and would actually probably look nicer especially if I modify his proportions to match the modern Luigi, but the look I'm going for is a "what if Dr. Luigi was actually made in the early 90's" look. I also want it to fall in line with Nintendo's recent, cute romhacks they've done (like Luigi Bros.) which are "a little different, but mostly the same". I'm taking a liberty doing the Year of Luigi logo, but that feels like something Nintendo would do (and I'm including a version without it anyway).


By the way, I actually went in and put that good Sony NTSC palette into FCEUX and messed with the blues. I think 1C,2C actually does look better than 01,11, at least with this palette. You have to have a good palette though, or it'll look too bright.

Here it is with the Sony NTSC palette:


And with FCEUX's default:


So it'll look good on TVs, but not in some emulators. Which is alright with me; Dr. Mario was a game clearly designed for CRTs in the first place, since designs stretch into much better shapes when on a TV, like the magifying glass and title pill shapes; the magnifying glass is a tall oval when you play it with 1:1 pixels, but it's a perfect circle on a real TV.

EDIT5:

One last thing. About the placement of the copyright. Would it be appropriate enough to drop the original copyright year and just keep the 2013? That way you don't have to lower the thing. I was debating even bringing this up, but whatever. I just think that the closer you can keep to the original title screen the better. Plus, the technical accuracy of the copyright year on a ROM hack is a bit moot.

I did that because that's how Nintendo does it in their romhacks like Donkey Kong Original Edition and Luigi Bros. I wanted it to look official.


EDIT:

Okay actually, i think I found a palette set that looks good on both sides:



Left: Sony NTSC, Right: FCEUX default

Didn't even realize till now that I wasn't using the brightest grey I could in the first place, so the logo is just all-around better. I really wish I could center it properly. That would require me to use the same green on the whole logo, though, and I'm not sure I want to do that. What do you think?

[Celice]

I don't have much to say on palette choices, but I gotta give you props for allowing multiple patches for everyone's own preference. That's a great move you decided to make 

[Shugo]

I don't have much to say on palette choices, but I gotta give you props for allowing multiple patches for everyone's own preference. That's a great move you decided to make 

Thanks! Yeah, I asked a lot of my friends outside of this forum for opinions and there was a very mixed response to which version was superior, so I said screw it. Not like it's hard anyway; I just have to make one version, copy it, and change a few hex values.

[Zoinkity]

The lighter background certainly is much better.  The dark blues were just way too dark.
If you were to use a single green, the darker one on the left looks more Luigi than the pea green on the right.

New endings are a great idea!  Looking forward to it ;*)

[Chippy2000]

good so far keep up the good work!

[Vanya]

It would be easy enough to replicate on a proper ROM, but I wouldn't feel comfortable taking his work.

Redoing the whole thing from scratch wouldn't take so much effort to warrant working off his hack anyway. All the sprites from Warioware are freely available online. Most of the ones for Dr.Wario are already in the right state for insertion into the game and the rest would just require editing the colors a bit with minimal need for altering the graphics. The old patch has enough problems IMO to warrant making a new version. Honestly, I should get off my butt and do it myself. Really, the only thing I would need to research is bypassing the anti-piracy thing and I'm sure that's well documented.

Actually, Mario tosses them underhanded and also wears his gloves, a red tie, and the stethoscope over his shoulders in the WiiWare Dr. Mario, so that isn't a Luigi thing; it's just an updated look that the series has gotten over time. The only new thing Luigi does is wear his hat. I mean, I could put effort into trying to represent all those updated things in the tiny sprite space I have, but there's a point where it moves away from the "semi-official" look I was going for and into "way too fan-made looking" territory. They'd be neat changes and would actually probably look nicer especially if I modify his proportions to match the modern Luigi, but the look I'm going for is a "what if Dr. Luigi was actually made in the early 90's" look. I also want it to fall in line with Nintendo's recent, cute romhacks they've done (like Luigi Bros.) which are "a little different, but mostly the same". I'm taking a liberty doing the Year of Luigi logo, but that feels like something Nintendo would do (and I'm including a version without it anyway).

Well Like you said, you're taking a liberty with the Luigi Hat version, so in this case it's already breaking the "what-if" premise a bit so you might as well add the gloves too if not the new animations. That way at least you avoid any palette issues.

I really wish I could center it properly. That would require me to use the same green on the whole logo, though, and I'm not sure I want to do that. What do you think?

You and me both. I guess I would rather go with it being properly centered over the slightly different shade of green on the pill.
Also, I like both shades of green, but I have to agree that the one on the right feels more like Luigi.

EDIT: Say, wouldn't doing that also free up a palette so you can have the Nintendo logo in the right color AND have the Luigi sprite you originally wanted?

[Shugo]

Redoing the whole thing from scratch wouldn't take so much effort to warrant working off his hack anyway. All the sprites from Warioware are freely available online. Most of the ones for Dr.Wario are already in the right state for insertion into the game and the rest would just require editing the colors a bit with minimal need for altering the graphics. The old patch has enough problems IMO to warrant making a new version. Honestly, I should get off my butt and do it myself. Really, the only thing I would need to research is bypassing the anti-piracy thing and I'm sure that's well documented.

I realize it's really not 'stealing his work' to do it but the way he did the Wario sprite is pretty much exactly how I would do it, so if I submitted one with exactly the same graphics it wouldn't feel right. Plus the submission would probably get tossed as a duplicate. Maybe I'll get in touch with him? Unless you just wanna go ahead and do the hack, lol.

But anyway, to disable Dr. Mario's antipiracy checksum, go to 0x00001216 and change FF to 00. Done. This doesn't always need to be done for all title screen edits but it's a good idea to do anyway. I don't know exactly what kinds of edits trip it, since it crashes when a pill drops in-game and I hadn't actually played the game for a while when I was doing a bunch of title screen edits. I just know that at some point one of the things I edited triggered it.

EDIT: Say, wouldn't doing that also free up a palette so you can have the Nintendo logo in the right color AND have the Luigi sprite you originally wanted?

Yep, I realized that immediately but I was going to wait to see if people liked the single shade of green. Doing a single shade of green on the logo gives me an entire extra BG palette to do whatever I want with! Feels good to have a bit of freedom for once with these damn NES palettes. Working on this hack has made me slowly start to realize that NES developers in the 80's/90's were goddamn wizards.

Well Like you said, you're taking a liberty with the Luigi Hat version, so in this case it's already breaking the "what-if" premise a bit so you might as well add the gloves too if not the new animations. That way at least you avoid any palette issues.

I don't consider the green hat version to be proper; it's just some trickery with the BG and sprite transparency. This unfortunately means that if Luigi ever moves then the illusion breaks, which he does for the game over animation. I've learned some rough TSA editing which could potentially solve it, but I'd have to redraw Luigi in a way that the hat/head and palettes fit together in a non-ugly way, which would mean I'd probably have to make him shorter too. It's just not worth the effort. I'm happy with classic head mirror Luigi myself. I felt pretty good when I got him looking like 80's/90's-era Luigi, even if the end result means he doesn't look extremely different from Mario (which was kind of his point back then lol).

I am interested in just having the knowledge, though: how would I go about moving sprites like the pill? You said it would be easy, so I'm assuming you know how?

[Vanya]

Damn straight they were wizards! LOL.
Actually I've been reading the game Maker Studio Techblog and got into an interesting article about using some of the old console tricks to speed up collision detection in modern games. It's not a huge deal for windows games, but it helps a lot for mobile and browser based platforms.

Interesting thing with the hat. I can see how TSA editing would be a must.

[Chippy2000]

 Just had a BRILLIANT idea! The next ROM hack could be a Luigi patch of SMB for the NES! Or maybe it could be SMB3!

 Like you could replace the ? blocks with 30th like in Nintendo's 25th SMB and patch Luigi in as Mario! It could be AWESUM! And maybe add an L symbol on occasion!

[Jeville]

Luigi for SMB3 has been done, minus the anniversary blocks. You can download it here.

While not Super Mario Bros., I thought it's brilliant what someone has done for Mario Bros. here, using original and modern Luigi. It's a recent hack.

[Chippy2000]

They could've at LEAST changed the old luigi to mario, i mean, come on... 

[Shugo]

While not Super Mario Bros., I thought it's brilliant what someone has done for Mario Bros. here, using original and modern Luigi. It's a recent hack.

They could've at LEAST changed the old luigi to mario, i mean, come on... 

This is actually a clone of the official Luigi Bros. included in Super Mario 3D World if you didn't know (because it didn't seem like you guys realized): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds0X4QkfeC4 That's why they did "new Luigi" and "old Luigi" instead of Luigi and Mario. Their "Made in Japan" line is off-center by one tile, though. I don't like it, I DON'T LIKE IT. FIX IT.


Good to know these already exist, though, because I was probably gonna do those next. I guess I'll stick to inserting Luigi into the ones that take more effort than just a palette swap, like the puzzle games.  (Not that those hacks aren't appreciated; I'm probably gonna toss them on my Everdrive now that I know they're there, thanks.)

But yes, I guess I'll come out and say I was thinking about doing a whole series of Year of Luigi-inspired Luigi insertions into the whole range of Mario NES/Famicom games. Some more simple than others. I've learned a lot doing Dr. Luigi, so the simpler ones (like making Super Luigi Bros. 1) would be a cinch. Even if nobody wants them, at least I'll have my personal collection of Luigi goodness to play.

EDIT: Actually I just noticed that the Super Luigi Bros. 3 has a bit more polishing on it than simply the in-game sprite and title screen (like the minigame Luigi graphic). Very nice. Now I don't have to go through the trouble!