Sonic 5 - Improvement Vol.2 (Nes)

[Redd]

If you will pardon the nitpick...

Am I the only one who feels that the clouds' bizarre animation in Marble Zone and Spring Yard Zone looks rather distracting and out of place? I honestly think these stages would look better if they were disabled.

I know it wasn't you that added that animation, as it comes from Jabu's version, but you do have any idea what's the idea behind it? I've never seen clouds move like that in Sonic 1, or any game for that sake...

[sics]

Gastronomicon
Yes, I can not believe that this project has gone so far, it even starts to look like a real game , by the way I like your new avatar

Redd
Congratulations you are the comment number 100!!!, well and also the 98 but that does not count
Thank you, comments like those are very comforting! I hope to give you a good reason to relive the past

Do not worry, this space is for review, it is also a change that does not cost to carry out, before releasing the final version I will try to remember to make an alternative version with these characteristics, if this does not happen like this, they warn me of the carelessness and I'll solve it 

On the other hand, I do not only understand the creative decision of Jabu, but I have adopted it in my designs, the reason is simple, the universe of Sonic is presented as a dynamic world where everything is energetic, the sky moves, the plants move even inert objects have some feature that prevents them from looking static.

[gadesx]

Looks very good, if the control works good (atleast more playable)
can be a really good improvement.

[Spooniest]

I've never seen clouds move like that in Sonic 1, or any game for that sake...

Gyroman's Stage, Megaman 5.

[sics]

Gadesx
The controls will continue to the level that Jabu left, but it will be compensated by fixing some unfair decisions that did not allow to pass certain levels at full speed

Spooniest
While it is true that Redd's criticism is incorrectly substantiated, I think that his point is valid as well. Not every change is effective, you must always find the right balance to avoid breaking the atmosphere of the rest of the game

For example, I can not imagine Barney in a Gothic setting with a sword, although personally I would enjoy that game very much

[retroverse]

Great to see so much progress has been made on this, I've been keeping an eye on this for a while...

Regarding the clouds, is there a different type of weather effect - rain, wind, etc - that might achieve the desired dynamic/animated look while being a little more subtle?  (To continue the Megaman theme, Toad Man's stage uses what looks like a fairly simple rain animation in the background (Around ~2:40), but I'm no expert on how this would be done?)

Incidentally, the subject line changed at some point to 'Sonic 5 - Improvement Vol.2', is that the planned name for the hack?

[NES Boy]

Torridgristle

^{Sorry, I could not resist, was very funny what you said xD}

Apologies for derailing this thread for a bit, but that GIF is clearly an edit of this one:

It's quite strange, as the original GIF is fine as is. Anyway, I wish that the Special Stages use this music instead of the one used in the current music improvement, since they're supposed to be based on the Master System/Game Gear bonus stages. I mean, the original Somari used the appropriate theme, but they converted it in a way that doesn't do the original song justice.

[sics]

Retroverse
Thank you very much for following this project, and sorry for delaying me answer, is that I was thinking a lot about what you said, since I thought it was an interesting idea.

Despite that, I came to the conclusion that if I implemented something like that, I would risk moving away from the original concept of the game.

Let me explain, one of the main reasons for which Sonic was conceived was to try to demystify the deficiencies that they attributed to the Megadrive, that's why the Sega of that time decided to leave its comfort zone to deliver more colorful and varied environments.

That's why as a designer I think that although you can play with the idea of ​​a storm that happened or will happen, what this game has to fundamentally convey is the idea of ​​life and movement, I apologize in advance since I know that this idea may sound silly

About the title, it is only a tentative name, it is based on the style of titles used in Hummer for its ports. I would like to make sure that the title as a search criteria helps to find content related to this hack, so any suggestion is welcome

NES Boy
The truth is that I had no idea, just download a pack of memes, on the other hand I respect the work of the person who created this gif, but I try to use light images so that this publication can be read in the same way in places where devices still They are not so powerful and the connections are still slow, for that reason I decided to make my own version of the image and end the discord.



Regarding your request, although Amilgi was interested in creating the bases to do this type of editing, I have not heard from him again, although being honest I think that this type of editing would be much better left to those who really know about hackrom, as for example the same Ti that has already worked with the game's sound engine.

I also add that if someone is interested in working on this feature or any other you want, you can contact me privately to have a copy of this project

[SuperStarFox]

Have You Thought On Adding The SEGA Logo To The New Title Screen? Will Tails Be Playable In This NES Improvement? How's The Progress On Sonic's NES Improvement Coming Along? Will Anyone Be Able To Do Music, Graphics, and Control Physic Improvements For Some Other Games Like Street Fighter 2, Super Mario World, Kart Fighter, and More? 

[FailSandwich]

Hi! I saw the discussion about music you were having. I know how to use Famitracker, and I had wanted to insert several of my own compositions into the Super Mario World Famicom pirate. I know the version of the sound engine is the same as the one used in Somari, so could you give me a few pointers for how to proceed with inserting new music?

[Sephirous]

The clouds to me look like a Volcanic Eruption or something burning back there to cause the sky to be in smoke clouds.

But I still think this looks very awesome. I can't wait to try my hand at this game. 

[FailSandwich]

One more thing: will you modify the game to allow Sonic to 1) spindash/roll into Badniks without popping upward a little bit every time he destroys one, and 2) spindash through item monitors to break them?
And do you guys have any plans on implementing checkpoint monitors/speed shoes? Also, I know you've considered implementing Scrap Brain Zone, and my question is, if the idea does go through, will the layouts be original or will they attempt to replicate the Genesis version? Replicating the Genesis version would take a ton more work, and a lot of new graphics.

[capnkatie]

I think I've found a way for the ramps in Spring Yard Zone to work. By Star Light Zone, Hummer Team had obviously got their game together and had made a zone of much higher quality than previous ones, adding impressive features such as running up vertical walls and the like. One of the new improvements was that the ramps actually worked. By the look of it, the ramps were made from similar resources as the normal slopes, just increasing in steepness as they go on. This suggests to me that you could essentially create your own ramps by using a succession of slopes increasing in steepness, replacing the broken curved ones with your own more jagged but more functional ones.

I hope you understand what I mean. I would give you an image but I'm unable to at the moment.

[SuperStarFox]

Will Tails (Sonic's Friend and Sidekick From Sonic 2) Become a Playable Character? I Really Would Love To See Tails as a Playable Character In This NEW NES Improvement! Will The Enemies Shot Timing Be At Least 5 Seconds Or Something (Like In The Original Sonic The Hedgehog on Sega Genesis!?), Will The Entire Game Have Less Enemies (Like... Buzz Bombers, Moto Bugs, Crabmeat, Bomb From Star Light Zone, and Furthermore...), Less Spike Balls In Spring Yard Zone, and a Much Better Level Design? Will The 1up, Choas Emerald Obtain, and The Continue Sound Effect Be Played In The Game Including Both, The Ending And The End Credits? 

[sics]

SuperStarFox *
About the progress of the project, I am precisely working to solve the problems that prevented the first version of the title screen from being displayed correctly. I also want to take the opportunity to try to integrate the design provided by SuperStarFox of the Sega logo in this new version of this screen.


^{Sonic The Hedgehog (SupaStarFox - Mockup Genesis Style)}

In addition, I am working to optimize again the tileset that I will use in "Star Light Zone", since I came to the conclusion that I made a disproportionate use of graphics in certain objects that I had included.

About the possibility of integrating Tails as an objective of this project, although I must confess that I never discarded the idea, at the moment I still see it difficult, since I have a too long list of unfinished things and still to fulfill, perhaps with the inclusion of some extra hands helping me would consider it.

Spoiler

* Actually this is not an answer as such, since we had the opportunity to chat privately before I could read your post, but I suppose that someone who shared their concerns could be interested in this answer.

[close]

▫▫▫ 2 ▫▫▫
■ Shooting: The last thing I discovered is that enemies are activated by proximity, but I have not achieved more progress than that.
■ Enemies: My goal is only to redistribute what is necessary to eliminate as much as possible the unfair factor in the game, that means that I will keep all possible enemies except of course those who have no purpose or are in inaccessible places of the level.
■ Levels: I do not have plans to make massive changes in the structure of the snows, but if time allows I would like to fix some design problems, especially the roads that do not lead anywhere.
■ Sfx: It's not in my plans.
▫▫▫ 3 ▫▫▫
That ramp caused many problems that's why I simply decided to eliminate it.

FailSandwich
I have not worked with the music engine of the game, but I suspect that the version of Ti does not use the version that is part of the so-called "Somari engine".
Although I think that if you have a solid base of music a good idea would be to examine the BGVC hack with a hexadecimal comparison program, in this way you can take note of the addresses where this hacker has made modifications, and then analyze these addresses with Fceux for example.

The steps would be:
● Start a game of the Original Somari and perform a SaveState. Open the hexadecimal editor integrated to the emulator and check the option in the menu with the legend ROM.
● Now you must go to the addresses you have written to start making changes in your data, so you can see in real time how the game reacts.
● According to what you decide you can replace the data by writing values ​​randomly or re-entering the code of the version modified by BGVC, occasionally the game may end up crashing, that's where the SaveState that you have made before is fundamental,** in addition you can also find changes that only take effect when a level starts.
 
▬ Moving on to your next query, I do not currently know how to alter Sonic physics, and to avoid being redundant I can summarize that from the second point onwards practically all the answers are negative to a greater or lesser extent.***

In spite of that I am working to complete the graphics of the "Final Zone" tab, with the hope of leaving a solid basis for the next hacker who tries to make "Scrap Brain Zone" a reality.

About the designs I would like to think that they are a mixture of different styles, having as main base the official version of the game, but also rescuing some details of the work done by the artists that preceded me.

Spoiler

** Do not forget to undo the changes that corrupted the game in the hexadecimal editor.
*** You can find more complete information on the topics you have raised in the previous publications of this article, thank you very much for your inquiry.

[close]

Sephirous
Personally it is one of my favorite levels, I love that volcanic aesthetic about to erupt. Later I want to try to draw more defined clouds taking advantage of the extra space left in the tileset, but first I have to check if there is free space in the level to store new objects and if I have the talent to draw clouds.

Gastronomicon
It is strange, but I was convinced that I had talked about this in the past, although apparently I never did any publication about it, unfortunately I must clarify that this idea is unfeasible, since the blocks that make up these two ramps are absolutely different, if you look in editors like CadEditor when superimposing them you will see that their surface does not coincide in the least.

[SuperStarFox]

I Found a Ramp In Green Hill Act Act 3 and It Doesn't Work Either!
Will Be It Fixed Along With Marble Zone, Spring Yard Zone, Labyrinth Zone, and Star Light Zone? (I Still Know That Scrap Brain Zone Is Not Available In This Port) 
January 23, 2019, 01:14:40 PM - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)
The Progress on Sonic For The NES So Far Is Doing Great... 

Hey sics, How's The Progress On Sonic's NES Improvement Coming Along? 

[sics]

SuperStarFox & Firedropdl
Thank you very much, I am currently working on several things at the same time I do not know if all this effort will be useful, but I do not lose anything by trying

Among the changes I can reveal are:

● Update the EggMan graphics.*
● Update the graphics of the end-of-level capsules.
● Fix the end of level screen. (I finally made it!)
● Fix the screen at the end of the game.**
● I began to make the schemes to arrange the route of the levels.***
● Reorganize the graphics of the special stage and now the emerald is animated.

Spoiler

    Buu 2! I do not get tired of this!
   * Both in the regular battles and in the final fight.
  ** The emeralds were centered, the animation modified and their palettes adapted to these changes.
*** I still have not decided if I'm really going to do it, but for the moment the idea is that yes.

[close]

[dACE]

Just a tiny suggestion - perhaps make Dr. Eggman/Robotnik's head a bit rounder and add a nose?



Also - all the animation above seems to be running just a tad to fast. Is it the same speed in-game?
Any chance of slowing it down?

/dACE

[sics]

 In some places they also say "Mostachone" , about your suggestion, although I am not convinced with the EggMan design, I have not achieved better results than the current one.
Later I would like to expose some of the graphics that I drew, to see if I can get advice from other artists, I would really love someone to help me with things like clouds or water

On the other hand a tip for the next edition the colors are separated by areas these can not be mixed



The images are only Mockup for optimization purposes, however I often often take the times of each frame of real captures, but a problem with the gifs is that they do not always run at the same speed on all computers

[capnkatie]

How do the emeralds work? Is there an actual counter for how many you collect or are they simply decorative for the end of the special stage?

Also, if you need help with clouds and water, I could try and help