Secret of Mana, Turbo - Beta 210915

[Skyle Kelvin]

I would like to report a bug in SoM. After I beet Spikey and got the whip, I was making my way out of the Haunter Forest when I was about to take the whip shortcut. But the guy stops in the position and the camera doesn't move, essentially hard locking the game without freezing or stoping the music. The only thing I can think of that might contribute to it is that Watts was sitting there below the platform, so the Watts and Neko in Haunted Forest patch may have had something to do with it. I was still able to play the game, but the whip post soft locks on either side. I checked from the Water Palace angle too.

[Queue]

Version 2020-02-11:
https://ufile.io/zmum6qz7

Technical Changes:
- Added Technical\Internal_SFROM_Header which embeds the SFROM header (and footer, technically) needed by the Nintendo emulator internally called canoe (used by the 3DS VC, Wii VC, SNES Classic, Switch, etc.) into the first 0x60 bytes of the ROM, and removes any dependencies on the code that was originally there. Said header is actually only the version for the Wii VC and SNES Classic; it also embeds the Switch "Can1" variant in the final 0x14 bytes of the ROM (currently 4MB ROM size only). 3DS VC is still not inherently supported and will require the use of external tools to format the ROM for use.
- Cleaned up SFROM header data layout in the Helper Script (even though it's technically not even necessary now).

This doesn't matter for 99% of users, but perhaps the tiny (probably immeasurably tiny!) performance benefit from having axed the jump table / function table of contents at the beginning of the ROM will benefit us all.

For those who do use the Turbo ROM with one of the canoe emulators, this should mean the patched ROM will work without further processing: SFROM Tool (etc.) shouldn't be necessary and the ROM should just be ready to use. The .sfrom file generated by the helper script is actually overkill and will likely be removed in a future release. My final tests (yesterday) unfortunately had to exclude the Switch / SNES Classic, and were only via Wii, so until I have a chance to try on those systems again, I'll have to rely on users reporting if it worked on theirs.



MrBlunty9, I don't currently offer a pre-built IPS file (and obviously can't legally provide a pre-patched ROM). The error message you got is fascinating since it seems to indicate a fair bit of patcher code ran, but failed to parse the ZPS file and slice it up into virtual files (DEF.adf is the hardcoded filename that is at the top of the virtual file hierarchy).

SLXD249, that sounds like the event that runs when you use a whip post is mangled, which would happen due to some unresolved patch conflict. Any further info you can give me would be helpful, namely:
- are you using any external SoM patches (IPS patches applied before or after Turbo)?
- could you post your Turbo config file (SoM Turbo.200126.ini) to pastebin.com (or similar)?

[Skyle Kelvin]

Kethinov contacted me directly. Apparently it was due to a whip post patch bug in an older build of the turbo patcher. I downloaded a fresh one and repatched it, and it works now

Quote:
"The bug is related to Queue's whip post bug fixes. If you download the latest version of the Turbo patcher and do a build based on that, it should be fixed."
Unquote

[AdamDravian]

Version 2019-02-11:
https://ufile.io/zmum6qz7[/url

Unless that's a build from exactly one year ago, I think the year's wrong.

[hmsong]

Unless that's a build from exactly one year ago, I think the year's wrong.

LOL!  The download has the right year.

[Queue]

SLXD249, great, and d'oh, I always forget to consider someone's just running into an old fixed bug.

AdamDravian, got out my time machine backspace key and fixed that.

[kethinov]

New hack: No Neko Price Gouging

This patch makes it so Neko no longer double charges for everything. This is particularly useful if you want to buy Faerie Walnuts or Barrels earlier in the game without wanting to hyper grind or go into poverty.

Download: http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4955/



This is not the big project I was describing working on before. I decided to take a quick break from that because I saw a request for this Neko tweak on the SoM Randomizer Discord and since it is easy to do and nobody had made a hack for it, I figured I'd go ahead and put it up. To be honest I don't think I'll actually play with this hack in my builds. I like that Neko rips you off. Adds some charm to the game. But I've seen a lot of people complain about it over the years, so I'm sure this will make somebody's day.

[Queue]

Neat. Those sorts of options do tend to make people happy.

I'm currently pounding away at the world map. I've got the "globe" map scrolling roughly 25% faster and the "flat" map loading basically instantly instead of slowly over multiple seconds. I also fixed a tiny graphical glitch at the bottom edge of the "flat" map and fixed its colors in ZSNES. Trying to eke out a little bit faster scrolling from the "globe" map, then I'll feel better about adding new functionality. It's just been slow going, trying to optimize already fairly optimized code; the biggest gains so far have been in the world map RLE decompressor, which benefits flight, globe and flat, but I think I've made it as fast as I'm capable of.

[hmsong]

@Queue @kethinov

I am truly glad that both of you haven't ditched SoM.  I know it's been quiet here recently, but I check this place everyday, always looking forward to the things you've been working on.  This is the most ambitious project in improving the game that I've ever seen (I hope neither of you are tired of making immprovements to this).  And I seriously enjoyed all the improvements, to the point that I feel that if this had been implemented in the original release, this would have been the most well known action rpg in the golden era.  Well, SoM was still extremely well known, but people had plenty of complaints due to many many problems.

[Mr X]

Hello, hope everyone has been doing well! Even tho I wasn't active in testing, I was still keeping an eye to this thread from time to time. Good to be back.


February 24, 2020, 02:26:18 PM - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)

@Queue @kethinov

I am truly glad that both of you haven't ditched SoM.  I know it's been quiet here recently, but I check this place everyday, always looking forward to the things you've been working on.  This is the most ambitious project in improving the game that I've ever seen (I hope neither of you are tired of making immprovements to this).  And I seriously enjoyed all the improvements, to the point that I feel that if this had been implemented in the original release, this would have been the most well known action rpg in the golden era.  Well, SoM was still extremely well known, but people had plenty of complaints due to many many problems.

Agree, and agree. They could bave used the opportunity with the remake to fix the issues/flaws the original SoM had, but from what I heard nothing changed in regards to the flaws the original SoM had.

I still love the game, that's why I follow this thread. It was one of the first super nintendo games I played as a kid.

[Queue]

Version 2020-02-26:
https://ufile.io/39qnygt8

Changes:
- Added kethinov's No Neko Price Gouging (it's in the middle of the Balance category)
- Modified Frosty_the_Friendly_Alchemist so that Pygmy Snowmen face you when they talk to you (hopefully no side effects; this animation change affects normal Snowmen too!)
- Marked Axe_Beak_-_Sonic_Sleep as Incomplete; this one still needs work
- Added preview version of Miscellaneous\Enhanced_World_Map; I still have more to do but made it available to experience at least somewhat faster maps

Technical Changes:
- Made title screen stuff relocatable



The world map stuff is all I'm working on at the moment. My last round of optimizations to it gave me an idea on what I need to try next, but it's going to be a lot more work. My goal is to make the globe view scrolling even faster, so that it's actually pleasant to use.

[hmsong]

Damn, my computer is going through reformat and I can't test out the rom.  I shall do so when I'm done reformatting and all the programs are reinstalled back (lots of work).

[Queue]

Version 2020-02-29:
https://ufile.io/h1r1d1gs

Changes:
- Second preview of Miscellaneous\Enhanced_World_Map. The globe map view now scrolls pretty quickly. I think it feels nice now but would like feedback. It cost 256 KB of ROM space, which is a LOT, but probably worth it. Still can be improved further, but trying to push out playable iterations as I go.

[PRG]

Would it be possible to add an option to swap the default maps? Like press start to access the full map, R to change to the globe?

[Queue]

PRG, I'm hoping it's possible. The thought had crossed my mind since the flat map no longer takes forever to load. There are unused buttons available during flight (and the maps) so I was considering using one to open directly to the flat map; maybe the select button. If I get it figured out, I'll also put in an option to swap the buttons for the globe and flat maps.

Now that I have the maps sped up how I wanted (probably how everyone wanted; I doubt anyone who isn't a liar liked them slow), I need to get the code cleaned up, because it's still a big mess.

The world map format is unfortunately sorta bad, just a big 512x512 grid, where stuff that uses it loads entire 512-wide rows of it at a time; bad because it means run-time replacements for regions within it are more difficult than if it was broken up into blocks to begin with. It spoils some of the stuff I wanted to do.

hmsong, my sympathies; I hope you're back up and running soon. I love my computers, but I sure hate having to do hardware maintenance, let alone OS setup. I've had parts for a new computer sitting around for like 4 months now but I hate Windows install and setup enough that I keep putting it off.

[Mr X]

Version 2020-02-29:
https://ufile.io/h1r1d1gs

Changes:
- Second preview of Miscellaneous\Enhanced_World_Map. The globe map view now scrolls pretty quickly. I think it feels nice now but would like feedback. It cost 256 KB of ROM space, which is a LOT, but probably worth it. Still can be improved further, but trying to push out playable iterations as I go.

Never used the globe view due to how slow it was. It's much better now for sure.
March 03, 2020, 02:19:03 AM - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)
Not sure if this was pointed out but I ran into this:


March 03, 2020, 06:02:51 AM - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)
An issue (sort of) I ran into regarding weapon reforging after level 9, after I level up a weapon to 8:99, if I reforge that weapon back to level 8, after I kill an enemy it reverts back from 8:99 to 8:0.

But that wont even matter atm, since reaching 8:99 is worthless, just mentioning it in case something gets done in the future about the 8:99 thing.
March 03, 2020, 06:27:06 AM - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)
Hm actually I am able to level up the Griffin Claw beyond level 8:0 after reforged

[Queue]

Hm, I'm not sure why the background color (the sky) failed to get color filtering applied. Here's a screenshot I just took at the same location:

That's in Mesen-S; I also saw the expected results in ZSNES. Not sure yet if it's actually an emulator issue, just mentioning in case.

I've never really looked at the weapon experience logic, but that sounds like something I want to fix. If I recall correctly, the Mana Magic damage bonus does benefit from 8:99 (for the boy only, for obvious reasons), but that should be the only thing that cares about partial weapon experience.

And here's a preview of what I've been working on (for like 2 months):

[Afiction]

Oh my goodness, I'm seeing this for project for the first time. This looks amazeballs. Looking forward to playing this on Canoe soon! Is this close to RC1?

[Queue]

I don't tend to do projects that way; it'll possibly always be labeled as a Beta. When I don't consider a project ready for public consumption I label it an Alpha; once I think it's ready to share publicly, I label it a Beta; if I ever actually finished it, I'd just list a version number without Beta (or Alpha), but in the past 20+ years the number of fun projects I've ever removed the Beta label from might be three.

This has been at a "release-worthy" state for over half a year, I just keep deciding to work on it more.

If it's not clear, it is currently playable on Canoe (at least on SNES Classic and WiiVC, not sure about Switch or 3DS).

Another teaser:

[Afiction]

Fantastic! I appreciate your candor. Will give this a whirl soon with co-op. I adjusted 002811 > 9C and 00FFD9 > 01 01 01 EA 8B 15 to fix brightness issues on the title screen thanks to Sluffy's gamma patch for Canoe.