Zelda: Remastered (Mesen HD Pack)

[Pee wee]

Thanks for explaining this to me, @Aclectico. I really appreciate everything you've done.

PD. Another game?? are you up for it? 

Regards.

[KnaveMotif]

1. I'm reluctant to make the "breakable tile hints" more visible. The thought was to make something for players to reference if they were looking closely - but not too "in your face." Do others wish the tiles were more obvious?

2. The dungeon color scheme was actually referenced from BS Legend of Zelda. Do others feel they are too dark as well?

1. They're prefect (6x 30").
2. On the bright side of OK already (PC).

[KnaveMotif]

As far as shrubs go, some hints are in the works for screens that have burnable shrubs. However, the hint may not be what most players would expect.

I expect butterflies.

[Aclectico]

Thanks for explaining this to me, @Aclectico. I really appreciate everything you've done.

PD. Another game?? are you up for it? 

Regards.

Thanks - I'm a bit exhausted from the Metroid and Zelda packs at the moment. I'll probably take a break from any new large projects (at least for now).

[guppy]

I've completed the first quest through Level 7 now.

I will say that I wish that the hint for the no-fairy pond was a little bit less obvious than it is.

In regard to the fonts used in the game, the clear choice for this would be something that resembles the fonts from Zelda III: A Link To The Past.  The version of the HD Remake that I'm playing now looks more like Comic Sans, and isn't ideal. I don't like the idea of using the font from Diablo.  Zelda has its own aesthetic and this remake should do its best to adhere to it.

Also I noticed this graphical glitch on the pause screen:



The missing piece of the triforce is represented by 3 squares rather than a smoothly drawn triangle.  It seems there's a missing tile/sprite to fill in the halves of the two squares that would make the missing piece look right

[Aclectico]

I've completed the first quest through Level 7 now.

I will say that I wish that the hint for the no-fairy pond was a little bit less obvious than it is.

I actually took a cue from BS The Legend of Zelda on this one. I think the creators of that game thought the no-fairy pond puzzle was way too difficult, and may actually frustrate players more than anything. So, they made it pretty obvious as well. I could give some thought about this one.

Spoiler

[close]

In regard to the fonts used in the game, the clear choice for this would be something that resembles the fonts from Zelda III: A Link To The Past.  The version of the HD Remake that I'm playing now looks more like Comic Sans, and isn't ideal. I don't like the idea of using the font from Diablo.  Zelda has its own aesthetic and this remake should do its best to adhere to it.

I agree Link to the Past font would probably be ideal - However, character spacing limitations of the base game make that font look a little funny. Unfortunately, there would be too much space between the tall and skinny characters. In any case, version 1.1 of the pack is now available for download and the font has been changed.

Also I noticed this graphical glitch on the pause screen:



The missing piece of the triforce is represented by 3 squares rather than a smoothly drawn triangle.  It seems there's a missing tile/sprite to fill in the halves of the two squares that would make the missing piece look right

Can you link to a save state? I'd like to investigate the behavior of the base game here that's running in the background with the graphic improvements turned off.

[guppy]

I agree Link to the Past font would probably be ideal - However, character spacing limitations of the base game make that font look a little funny. Unfortunately, there would be too much space between the tall and skinny characters. In any case, version 1.1 of the pack is now available for download and the font has been changed.

Can you link to a save state? I'd like to investigate the behavior of the base game here that's running in the background with the graphic improvements turned off.

I updated to 1.1, and I do like the new font better. It's too bad the LTTP font has spacing issues.

About the triforce graphic glitch, I didn't think to create a save state, but I'll see if I can re-create the bug, and if so I'll post a link to it.
October 22, 2020, 01:55:35 PM - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)
Here are two save states for debugging:

Triforce draws incorrectly on inventory screen (pieces 5-7).

Another glitch:  If I have Bombs, Prescription to buy medicine, and no Boomerang in inventory, if I try to cycle through my B-items using Select, it gets stuck on the Prescription, and will not cycle through the rest of the inventory.

Download: zip file

[Aclectico]

I updated to 1.1, and I do like the new font better. It's too bad the LTTP font has spacing issues.

About the triforce graphic glitch, I didn't think to create a save state, but I'll see if I can re-create the bug, and if so I'll post a link to it.
October 22, 2020, 01:55:35 PM - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)
Here are two save states for debugging:

Triforce draws incorrectly on inventory screen (pieces 5-7).

Another glitch:  If I have Bombs, Prescription to buy medicine, and no Boomerang in inventory, if I try to cycle through my B-items using Select, it gets stuck on the Prescription, and will not cycle through the rest of the inventory.

Download: zip file

For the Triforce glitch - I think I see what's going on. I should be able to address it fairly easily.

For the item cycle glitch - I may need to ask ShadowOne333 for help on that one. I'm not sure if the same issue is found in Zelda 1 Redux or not. But, I'll ask if it sounds familiar.

Thanks!

[guppy]

With the item cycle glitch, I notice that it works properly once I get the boomerang; the boomerang seems to fill the 0th B-item slot in your inventory, so something about that slot being filled seems to be the key.    Maybe the code is checking to see if the slot is empty before moving the selection cursor there...

[ShadowOne333]

Got your PM, @Aclectico, but I decided to reply here.
The issue with the item cycling is a known one.

The current implementation of the Item Toggle through the Select button is a reworked routine, which gzip tweaked further to avoid some more issues it had. However, the only current side-effect this has is that if you have the letter in the inventory and no boomerang, then the items won't toggle.

I've fixed this issue in my hack, A New Light. It's my first attempt at assembly though (directly in hex as well), so it could probably be coded better. It still might be helpful. The addresses are the same since I used the redux code as a start (thanks!). There's still one issue in my code that if you have the letter and no boomerang it won't cycle (this doesn't happen in my hack since you start out with the boomerang).

So it is a known issue, but sadly that very last bug hasn't been fixed yet.
Simply get the boomerang asap or deliver the letter as quick as possible to get rid of the bug

[Aclectico]

So it is a known issue, but sadly that very last bug hasn't been fixed yet.
Simply get the boomerang asap or deliver the letter as quick as possible to get rid of the bug

Thanks for the feedback. Most people probably find the boomerang first anyway (since it is located in the first dungeon). Because of this, I'm hoping a relatively small proportion of players actually encounter the bug. With that said, if that last pesky bug ever does get fixed, I would be very interested to know 

[ShadowOne333]

Thanks for the feedback. Most people probably find the boomerang first anyway (since it is located in the first dungeon). Because of this, I'm hoping a relatively small proportion of players actually encounter the bug. With that said, if that last pesky bug ever does get fixed, I would be very interested to know 

For sure
If it gets fixed, it will be pushed into the Zelda 1 Redux repository right as it comes along, so every new version of Redux from there onwards should have the fix... When it comes

[FeRcHuLeS]

Hello I want to post a bug the HUD map disappear at the menu screen in dungeons I thought was because of RA's core (Mesen)but It happened using the latest standalone emulator.

The proof:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Wg7SnzR32dGLv3IKPuNw7BuxDckUbsuX?usp=sharing

I have to add something to the breakable tiles being virtually invisible to sight and is worst playing on mobile devices, well just look at "Link to the Past" the breakable walls are fully visible, that's the point, considering the current how about 10% visible and LTTP as 100% visible, how about adjust to a valour between both?

[pleasejust]

The breakable walls look fine. There's only so many places to bomb anyways.

[lexluthermiester]

I think I found a glitch. Can't see anyone else has mentioned it. Whenever Link goes down a cave/level entrance he disappears, same with coming back out.

[Aclectico]

Hello I want to post a bug the HUD map disappear at the menu screen in dungeons I thought was because of RA's core (Mesen)but It happened using the latest standalone emulator.

Yeah, we've been discussing this one for a bit at the post on Oct 15 at 8:47am. In short, the best way to address this one is to figure out how to scroll the HUD map mask downward when pressing the start button. It's an open issue.

I think I found a glitch. Can't see anyone else has mentioned it. Whenever Link goes down a cave/level entrance he disappears, same with coming back out.

Mkwong98 noted this recently as well. To summarize, there are two issues:

1. Hidden caves are one problem. The pack uses one giant ".png" file for the Overworld. The current strategy is to cover the giant ".png" file with a "cave entrance mask" graphic whenever a hidden entrance is uncovered. The only way to keep the "walking up" and "walking down" functionality would be to have a transparent cave entrance (which is not possible if a mask is being used). I've thought about a couple of alternatives to address this, but each one I can think of has it's own downsides.

2. The second issue is related to the running animation. There is a limitation of the current running functionality that has probably bothered me the most. But it would appear it's not as much of a noticeable issue for others. I'm surprised (and happy) no one has mentioned this yet – But, Link's running animation occurs when a player is pressing a directional button. Below is the memory check used:

<condition>LinkIsMoving,memoryCheckConstant,FA,>,0,F

The reason this memory check is used rather than the native walking functionality is because more frames were added to running then what is present in the vanilla game. As a result, something needs to trigger Mesen to cycle through a multi frame running animation. This memory check is the best and most reliable option found so far (KYA uncovered it).

However, this does come with a couple of side effects. First, there are many points in the game where Link is stationary. One example is when you enter the first cave with the sword. In the vanilla game, when the text is populating, you can press forward and Link's sprite will not change at all. However, in this pack, if you press forward during this point, Link will run, but he will also appear stationary. Below is an example:



Also, this means that when Link is supposed to be walking on "autopilot" (like during cave entrances and exits), it's possible for Link to appear as though he is "levitating." This occurs if Link is walking on "autopilot," but the player is not pressing a directional button. Below is an example:



I mention all of this because the "black cave entrance mask" mostly covers up this "levitating" problem. If the first issue I mentioned is fixed by finding an alternative to using a mask to deal with hidden cave entrances, the "Link levitating" problem would then need to be addressed.

[mkwong98]

2. The second issue is related to the running animation. There is a limitation of the current running functionality that has probably bothered me the most. But it would appear it's not as much of a noticeable issue for others. I'm surprised (and happy) no one has mentioned this yet – But, Link's running animation occurs when a player is pressing a directional button. Below is the memory check used:

<condition>LinkIsMoving,memoryCheckConstant,FA,>,0,F

The reason this memory check is used rather than the native walking functionality is because more frames were added to running then what is present in the vanilla game. As a result, something needs to trigger Mesen to cycle through a multi frame running animation. This memory check is the best and most reliable option found so far (KYA uncovered it).

I think the best alternative is to hack the ROM to use one frame for running and the other frame for idle similar to your Metroid HD pack.

[Aclectico]

I think the best alternative is to hack the ROM to use one frame for running and the other frame for idle similar to your Metroid HD pack.

That makes sense. When it comes to the .ips hacking work that allowed one frame in Metroid: HD to be referenced for running - KYA made that contribution (not quite sure how it was done). So, I can't speak for KYA right now, and I'm not sure if there is any interest in doing something similar for this pack. But, you might be right that it's the way to go.

[gzip]

The issue with the item cycling is a known one.

The current implementation of the Item Toggle through the Select button is a reworked routine, which gzip tweaked further to avoid some more issues it had. However, the only current side-effect this has is that if you have the letter in the inventory and no boomerang, then the items won't toggle.

So it is a known issue, but sadly that very last bug hasn't been fixed yet.
Simply get the boomerang asap or deliver the letter as quick as possible to get rid of the bug

I think I have this fixed now. Here's the new implementation. Basically it relies on the vanilla code to change the item if there's no magical rod rather than assume there's a boomerang.

Code Select Expand


05:BFC0:A9 01     LDA #$01
05:BFC2:AC 56 06  LDY $0656
05:BFC5:20 C8 B7  JSR $B7C8
05:BFC8:AC 56 06  LDY $0656 ; load current item into Y
05:BFCB:C0 10     CPY #$10  ; compare current item to 16 (letter is 15)
05:BFCD:10 03     BPL $BFD2 ; branch if greater than or equal to 16
05:BFCF:4C DE BF  JMP $BFDE ; otherwise skip to return
05:BFD2:A9 08     LDA #$08  ; load rod value into A
05:BFD4:8D 56 06  STA $0656 ; set current item to rod
05:BFD7:AC 5F 06  LDY $065F ; load rod status into Y
05:BFDA:C0 01     CPY #$01  ; check if has rod (1)
05:BFDC:D0 01     BNE $BFDF ; branch back to beginning if no rod (0)
05:BFDE:60        RTS       ; otherwise return
05:BFDF:4C C0 BF  JMP $BFC0 ; jump back to beginning so correct item is set


[Aclectico]

I think I have this fixed now. Here's the new implementation. Basically it relies on the vanilla code to change the item if there's no magical rod rather than assume there's a boomerang.

Code Select Expand


05:BFC0:A9 01     LDA #$01
05:BFC2:AC 56 06  LDY $0656
05:BFC5:20 C8 B7  JSR $B7C8
05:BFC8:AC 56 06  LDY $0656 ; load current item into Y
05:BFCB:C0 10     CPY #$10  ; compare current item to 16 (letter is 15)
05:BFCD:10 03     BPL $BFD2 ; branch if greater than or equal to 16
05:BFCF:4C DE BF  JMP $BFDE ; otherwise skip to return
05:BFD2:A9 08     LDA #$08  ; load rod value into A
05:BFD4:8D 56 06  STA $0656 ; set current item to rod
05:BFD7:AC 5F 06  LDY $065F ; load rod status into Y
05:BFDA:C0 01     CPY #$01  ; check if has rod (1)
05:BFDC:D0 01     BNE $BFDF ; branch back to beginning if no rod (0)
05:BFDE:60        RTS       ; otherwise return
05:BFDF:4C C0 BF  JMP $BFC0 ; jump back to beginning so correct item is set


Great - thanks! I'm looking into how to merge this with the full pack now.