New Megaman hack in the works

[RetroRain]

Synopsis

Intelligence indicates that a secret weapon satellite called the Nova Star is being developed on a remote island east of Metropolis City.  Rumor has it that it is being super-headed by a scientist called Dr. Hoffman.  Not taking any chances, Megaman was sent in to investigate.  Little does he know that a deadly game is about to begin...

For the first time, Dr. Wily is no longer the final boss, nor is he in the game.  An all-new villain is introduced.

Bosses

Blizzard Buffalo [You Get: Frost Shield]
Frog Man [You Get: Acid Bubble]
Horse Head [You Get: Strike Chain]
Moth Man [You Get: Silk Shot]
Voltage Man [You Get: ??????]
Blaze Man [You Get: Speed Burner]
Crush Man [You Get: ??????]
Wheel Gator [You Get: Spin Wheel]

Sprites to be inserted.





Moth Man Stage













Horse Head Stage





A secret area in the palace...


I wonder what the wizard has for you...?






I was in a drawing mood the other day, so I did a design of Moth Man.  He looks a lot like Cell from Dragon Ball Z, but he has wings like a Moth's.  I have to make his sprites next.



Currently working on weapons ASM, sprites, and new music for stages.  I hope to have a demo out soon!  I'm having a lot of fun with this!

[Zynk]

Heys! 

Is this a ROMhack or a Gamemaker? If its the latter, I suppose this is not the right place to showcase that.

Anywho, I'm not fond of Robot Masters whose name doesn't have 'Man' (or Woman) on their names. And Megaman should ride a Rush Bike from MM8. So the new villain is a guy that looks like Sigma? 

[Da_GPer]

Why are you using Zelda 2 graphics? You should try making your own instead. Also, I agree with Zynk. If the Robot Masters arent ending with Man or Woman, its not right. Also, if its Game Maker, it dont belong here either.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Another Rockman 4 hack eh? Well, I welcome ambitious projects - but some of your ideas aren't er, good. Don't incorporate Mavericks into the classic series. If you want new bosses based on existing Megaman villains, pool from some of the net navis that don't have classic series equivalents.

Also you appear to be using tilesets taken from a hack of Megaman 2 called Megaman Ultra - which itself "borrowed" tilesets from other games such as Zelda II. It was ironic there, but using them as anything other than placeholders isn't really a great plan.

No Wily in a classic series game? Then it's NOT a classic series game. You have to incorporate Wily, even if you choose not to make him the final boss, like in Megaman V GB. 


Some general pointers:


In Megaman 4, the MegaBuster charge shot was added for the first time, but it's not really that great. Don't set up your stage designs to absolutely require it at all times.

At all times try to keep the difficulty curve balanced. The robot master stages should be easier than the Cossack stages, and the Cossack stages should be easier than the Dr. Wily stages. AVOID sudden spikes in difficulty. I'm not saying don't any any challenge, but keep it in check - this is a problem the majority of the Megaman 1, 2 and 3 hacks have.

Design areas to make use of the Balloon and Wire! The Balloon is kind of like item 1 or the Magnet Beam, and the Wire goes mostly unused in the original game. so don't be afraid to add areas where the use of the gadgets are needed to proceed or to bypass a section.

Always, always design areas with fail safes. If you include an area with that you need Rush Coil or Rush Jet etc, then ensure that you're giving the player a solution if they should run out of weapon energy - a spike, a pit, a respawning enemy, something.

Add E-Tanks in tricky spots to entice exploration of your levels.

If you want to check out an example of a hack that gets MOST things right, check out Rockman 4 Minus Infinity. This hack isn't completely finished (I'm still working on it myself in the final beta stages) but it also does crazy things you won't be able to copy. Just make sure your level designs are good before you worry about creating custom graphics or music.

[Celice]

As a converse opinion, I don't give a shit if this fan project doesn't align itself rigidly with how the actual games do; if it wants to break naming conventions, I don't care. If the game is fun, I care.

Same goes for the Zelda II graphics. If the author can do something amazing with them, then there's not really an issue as far as I feel.

I don't know why the internet has turned so critical these past few years--and not even good criticism, but a subjective one. Myself, I'm looking forward to your next update.

[kuja killer]

for you guys who dont know.. it's a megaman 4 rom hack.
Not "fan game"

[Jeville]

I agree with Celice. Looking forward to it.

[mrrichard999]

Looks like so far a lot of work has gone into it Keep up the good work!

[RetroRain]

It may be a while for a demo, since I still have a lot of work to do.  ASM hacking is A LOT of work.  Hopefully by September 1st.  But here is a video in the meantime!

Moth Man Stage, Horse Head Stage, Spin Wheel Weapon, and New Sprites!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8CBU8c9VpE

Special thanks to Matrixz for his help on the hopping Zelda 2 sprite, and infidelity for his notes.

Also, back in the day, Matrixz helped me with the Spin Wheel.  I re-programmed it for this hack.  Thanks again to Matrixz.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Well, it's a good start. My earlier advice still applies to this though. It's fine if you want to use Zelda II or SMB graphics I guess, but keep in mind people play hacks for originality, not to play the familiar.

If you're going to use Zelda II or SMB or whatever else, do something interesting with it.

Good examples: Flashman's stage in Rockman no Constancy, Woodman's stage in Megaman Ultra.
Bad examples: Pretty much everything in Megaman 3 The Hedgehog trap and numerous MM1 hacks.

[Yumetaro]

Not bad for a first hack. But what do I know? I haven't even started mine.

Mega Man? You look kinda skinny when riding that bike-thing.

The only total problem right now is that the graphics look pretty shoddy. But this looks like an early version or something.

Looks fun, I will definitely play this when it is released.

[gadesx]

maybe better?

[mrrichard999]

You thought about using some Bionic Commando graphics or enemies for this hack?

[Celice]

Sweet update man! Thanks for sharing I loved seeing the Zelda II and Super Mario Bros enemies implemented in the game--that was a really nice touch. Looking forward to more news about your hack.

Well, it's a good start. My earlier advice still applies to this though. It's fine if you want to use Zelda II or SMB graphics I guess, but keep in mind people play hacks for originality, not to play the familiar.

How long have you actually been around the romhacking scene, Satoshi_Matrix? I've hung around here for almost a decade, and I've never seen that opinion be a de facto goal of romhacking. Originality and familiarity are both good goals to pursue, and both may be mutually exclusive without a project being the worse for it.

This sounds more like what you think romhacking should be like. That's fine; don't push your expectations on others, however. I love this new footage precisely because it explores the familiar.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

It all depends on how it's done. the first level of Super Mario Bros. is always remade in any game that lets users create levels, from Megaman Powered Up on PSP to LittleBigPlanet. Seeing familiar stages can be fine if they are done right.

Staying with Megaman Classic, there are examples of hacks that get it right and those that get it wrong.

In Megaman Ultra, Woodman's stage is a wonderful homage to SMB's 1-1, but done in a way that respects the game is Megaman, and not Mario, and therefore the mechanics and layout need to be fitting a Megaman game and not SMB because hey why not.

In Megaman 3 The Hedgehog Trap, stages are built to resemble Sonic stages. The idea is sound, but the result is the complete opposite of Megaman Ultra - almost all the stages are garbage. filled with boring stretches and level designs that don't belong in a megaman game.

Some official Megaman games are guilty of this too, particularly the GameGear title that uses Quickman's stage as the final Wily level. That's a neat idea on paper, but once you play it you think well why the hell didn't they come up with something better?

I don't want to be too negative on this Megaman Nemesis hack, but my concerns for it are all centered around making the project better than it would otherwise be. Adding Mavericks in a Megaman classic game, Zelda II/SMB elements for no reason, and other concerns.

[RetroRain]

Mega Man Nemesis Alpha v0.1 Work-in-Progress RELEASE

For Mega Man 4, NES.

I haven't really worked on this for a few weeks, because I got discouraged by all of the ASM hacking. It truly is a pain in the ass to do. However, I haven't released anything in the community for a very long time, and I wanted to release at least something by September 1st. So, here ya go. You can play the work-in-progress Alpha v0.1.

This hack is still very much incomplete, and the two levels are not even fully playable.

Moth Man is almost complete, but not finished. Horse Head is half complete. Still lots of work to go.

To access Moth Man, the stage select cursor needs to be on the top-right of the screen. To access Horse Head, the cursor needs to be on the top-center of the screen.

To gain access to the Spin Wheel weapon I have created, just set cheat address or RAM address $B4 to #$FF or some other number around #$C0.

NOTE: You have to set Cheat address or RAM address $B2 to #$FF or some other number around #$C0 to gain access to the Rush Jet, which you will need to get through a certain part of Moth Man's stage.

Have fun! 

http://acmlm.kafuka.org/uploader/get.php?id=4465