NES RoboCop with Arcade sprites

[SomeOldGuy]

Cyneprepou4uk, do you have any idea where I might need to look?  Using FCEUX, I looked up Robocop's palette (0F 0F 1C 3C) and found matches at 000080, 002080, 004080, 006080, 008080, and 00A080.  I then changed the palette to 0F 00 10 20 in all six locations and it still didn't work. 

[Cyneprepou4uk]

In case of taking damage, your game manually writes color bytes, instead of reading them from a common palettes table.

https://imgur.com/a/wxEZtQT

[edwinmusic]

Hi! You are doing a great job! I congratulate you! Your work is progressing very well! Although it is a demo it looks great! I wanted to share your idea, is to give the first level boss a more human look, since he looks very robotic! 2nd Robocop when taking a step with his right leg, this in turn looks very wide (thick) when fully stretched, it seems as if he was wearing pants. 3rd The way Robocop enters the rooms, it seems like he was dancing! I know you do the work on the basis of the Arcade version, but it would also be excellent to make sprite improvements to the same NES version as leaving the way to shoot by extending the arm! Making two versions of your work would not be bad at all! There are also some small details as the robocop sprite looks shortened on the sides, it looks the same when you go up or down stairs, I know they are polishing details! The difficulty feels somewhat more difficult that is very good! Another point is that you be more professional and eliminate the rudeness (Mayor) "Marica, Fuck yeah" 

[SomeOldGuy]

Cyneprepou4uk, I see what you mean, thank you for looking into that issue.  Is there an easy way to make the game write the color bytes I want it to?  There are a few more palettes that I think may work in the same way.  For example: 1. the cross hairs on the bonus stage and 2. the flashing pink text on the "congratulations" screen following the bonus stage (must shoot 30 or more targets to trigger this).  Robocop's palette I can live with, the pink font not so much.

edwinmusic, Thanks for the reply!  Your post brought a big smile to my face because it confirmed that people are taking notice of the little changes I've been making all along.   These are silly references that I put in the game to amuse myself, it helps to keep from getting bored.  I do agree that there should be a more "professional" kid friendly version though.  It shouldn't be too difficult to maintain a kid friendly and adults only version.  Did you notice on the start up screen that the game was rated M for Mature? 

Regarding the enemies, I'll definitely get around to them and will put the first boss on the top of my list, but Robocop and ED-209 are my priorities.  If I can only make them look the way I want in-game, I'd call the mod a success, everything else is just a bonus. As for the other changes you mentioned, I can make Robocop thinner and have him extend his shooting arm but that will come after I finish the game I've envisioned. I hope you can understand my point of view.       

Cheers everybody!  Enjoy the game, and to all the Americans out there, Happy Turkey Day!

 

[Cyneprepou4uk]

Is there an easy way to make the game write the color bytes I want it to?

Changing those 3 bytes sounds easy enough.

[SomeOldGuy]

edwinmusic, As promised, here's a patch with foul language removed - Rated E for Everybody. 

http://www.mediafire.com/file/at46udo6h2qkg37/RoboCop_%2528USA%2529_-_E_-_Edit.ips/file

Cyneprepou4uk, You wouldn't happen to know someone that writes NES hacking tutorials that could show me how to do this, would you? 

[Queue]

In his debugger pictures, do you see the following?

Code Select Expand

07:E30D: A9 10   LDA #$10
07:E30F: 85 34   STA $34
07:E311: A9 38   LDA #$38
07:E313: 85 35   STA $35
07:E315: A9 30   LDA #$30
07:E317: 85 36   STA $36
and

Code Select Expand

07:E9EF: A9 0F   LDA #$0F
07:E9F1: 85 34   STA $34
07:E9F3: A9 1C   LDA #$1C
07:E9F5: 85 35   STA $35
07:E9F7: A9 3C   LDA #$3C
07:E9F9: 85 36   STA $36
The values on the left are the addresses for the code, followed by the literal bytes that make up the code, then the human-readable (dis)assembly, and it's the LDA #$?? values you want to change. You should recognize the second set of values at least (0F 1C 3C).

If nothing else, you could use that data as a guide for what to search for to change:
A9 0F 85 34 A9 1C 85 35 A9 3C 85 36
and change the 0F, 1C and 3C to the colors you want (and likewise for the first set of code that sets the damaged colors, where you'd instead be replacing 10, 38 and 30).

[SomeOldGuy]

That worked!   Robocop is now grey!  Thank you Cyneprepou4uk for finding the solution and Queue for showing me how to implement it!   

Which one do you think looks better, blue or grey?

[cartridge_rom]

Grey is very better like Power Arcade 

great work

[Metalwario64]

Grey works better for Robocop 1, and for 2 blue works better since his armor had a blue tint in that one.

[edwinmusic]

Hi, Thank you for taking my opinions into account, I congratulate you again for your advances in the game, With respect to the size of robocop, its height is robust and it is fine, it only needs changes in its lower parts of the legs when it is walking. Also when Robocop is covered, his hands look very dark and perish that they wear black gloves! Patient patience is key to a good job and you are doing very well! 

[sics]

 Have you thought about harness the background color to draw ED-209 as in the original version?


^{Click to enlarge.}

About the colors I think it highlights more blue palette

[SomeOldGuy]

Thanks to Cyneprepou4uk and Queue, Robocop is now grey!  New patches below.

Rated E for Everybody
http://www.mediafire.com/file/cjek746b4c7b65o/RoboCop_%2528USA%2529_Edit_4_-_E.ips/file

Rated M for Mature
http://www.mediafire.com/file/s0dmdje6xmun4d6/RoboCop_%2528USA%2529_Edit_4_-_M.ips/file


cartridge_rom and Metalwario64, thank you both for your input.  I like both versions, so I'll release the final edit in both color palettes.  Seeing the pictures side by side, I agree with sics, the blue pops more. 

edwinmusic, I did a little work on the blocking pose (when pressing the select button) that you mentioned.  I think you can see his hands a little more clearly now.  Let me know what you think. 

Wow! sics, that looks AMAZING!   That took a lot of work and I really appreciate you taking the time away from your own project to help me with mine.  Sonic looks awesome and I cant wait to play it one day.    No, I hadn't considered using the background color when drawing ED-209, great idea.  Would you mind giving me some tips on how you create your backgrounds?     

Changes in this patch:

Grey Robocop, Texture on the ceiling of the bonus stage, various other text and graphics changes.

[SuperStarFox]

I Really Like How You Make This Rom-Hack Look Just Like The Arcade Version! Keep It Up... You're Doing Great! 

[Spooniest]

"I had to kill Data East because they made a mistake! Now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Data East because they made a mistake! Now it's time to erase that mistake. I had to kill Data East because they made a --"

You get the idea Nice work so far... The gameplay can be kind of clunky tho, and I wish it had more music from the film itself. NES games' music is limited enough as it is, games that only have one or two tracks can be competent but totally bland. Wolverine, for example.

I know it do what it do, just throwing ideas into a hat here...

[sics]

There is no secret to do this, it is only a question of being persevering, for example in adapting to ED-209, I made 35 attempts before deciding which would be the best method to edit it.

When it comes to smaller graphics, what I do is work without restrictions, and then adapt them to the style I need.



Sometimes I draw sprites much larger than necessary to better understand the structure I want to represent.



But always the biggest challenge is the reduction of colors, personally I like to do it manually, to get the best results.



But luckily there are also automatic methods that are very effective. Firework MX and Color Cuantizer are the best tools for this purpose.

Take for example again ED-209, to speed up that work, I did the following.

I sought to create a range of colors higher than necessary, in this case with 5 colors seemed sufficient to me.



After this save three versions:

One as a reference with the 5 colors and then another 2 with a range of 4 colors, where in one remove the darkest and another instead the lighter color.



Then I loaded these images to Photoshop and matched their colors using a unique palette for both images.



In this way later I made a single image from the two files, with the help of the reference.


^{(This work is done with much more care)}

Other useful programs:
ImageResizer-r129: It allows you to resize images with all existing methods of interpretation.
Rotsprite: It serves to rotate objects in a unique way.
Tiled: Its uses are almost endless.
PhotoScape + DoubleKiller: It is the best way to detect repeated graphics.

● With the PhotoScape Cutter tool, you can split a tab into 8x8 graphics, then with DoubleKiller delete the repeated sprites and then with the Mural tool (also from PhotoScape) reassemble the image.

[edwinmusic]

Hi!! I apologize for not answering you before. I had previously tested the demo on an "Android Tablet" and the screen was scared and for that reason I saw Robocop's legs wide I could test the demo on a CTR TV and found the detail that you see well but you have to give them some definition, they look somewhat distorted when walking. With respect to the hands when tanning, they were very good. I don't know if you could give them a somewhat gray tone to test how they would look! and another detail is when Robocop is covered, some sprites of his legs disappear ... also improve the side sprites that are lost, his shoulders etc. It would also be good to focus the words on the "Game Over" It is still a Demo and you will gradually improve it!...

[SomeOldGuy]

Thanks SuperStarFox, I'm trying! Hopefully I can get the game to at least look good.

Spooniest,  HAHAHAHAHA   That line is perfect!  I'm trying to make it fit in the game now!  As for the controls and music/sound, I agree %100, I just don't have the skill set to improve them.  I'll keep working on the visuals though.  If you have any more suggestions, please share 'em! 



sics, again, Thank You!  I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge with me.  I'm going to try out your method this weekend when I have more time! 

edwinmusic, The missing sprites that you mention are one of my main challenges.  There is plenty of space in CHR to draw them but I need someone to show me how to manipulate the game's code so that the missing sprite is drawn on screen and completes the image.  I hope that makes sense. 

Does anybody have a tutorial on how to add sprites to a character in-game?  Also, a tutorial about editing the horizontal/vertical coordinates of where the sprites are drawn on screen would be extremely helpful.     

[Cyneprepou4uk]

Since you don't know nes assembly, these tutorials (if they exist) won't help you.

[SomeOldGuy]

It sounds like you're saying I need a partner Cyneprepou4uk.  Do you want to help me transform this mediocre game into something great?