(NES) Total Conversion Hack Castlevania 3: Aperture of Corruption

Toffi · May 16, 2021, 01:32:37 PM

Happy 100th post everyone! Its amazing to see how far things have come, I thank everyone on the AoC team for their passion and support.
Here are some quick updates on AoC.
The Port Town boss has officially reached its phase 2 state thanks to Emco! Now all that's left to complete on it is music, before testing can really begin.

Bouffon is helping create some marvelous still scenes for the title sequence, and a new prologue is being written up to go with them.

Finally, Trax has made a significant breakthrough on the title-screen. We finally have the space to fill in AoC's original mock up with room to spare. That leaves room for possible additions to the title screen in the future.

To conclude, things are quickly moving forward thanks to the dedication of the projects wonderful development partners. With Demo 1's completion in sight, things are looking great.

DavidtheIdeaMan · May 16, 2021, 01:58:06 PM

Those sprites are sick looking! You & your team have come a long so far Toffi,keep up the great work!

Vanya · May 17, 2021, 01:17:56 PM

Everything is looking great!
This shaping up to be one of the best CV hacks out there.

Flaviogames · May 17, 2021, 01:42:59 PM

is getting really good, would it be possible to save instead of having chicks ?, the title of the game without the number 3, Castlevania Aperture of Corruption looks good it looks great

Toffi · May 22, 2021, 01:08:51 AM

Hi Flaviogames! The current build still uses the original Castlevania 3's save codes instead of a built in save feature. This is because the original NES cart (and the MMC5 ROM build) did not have the unique battery memory section built in to save game progress. If your playing on an emulator with save states, you can load and save at any time during game-play. This option is available with flash cart play as well. If AoC desperately needed a save feature, we would have to modify the games internal ROM. Once we change the board layout, emulators would no longer classify it as the same CV3 ROM. (at least from what I have been told)

Flaviogames · May 22, 2021, 08:43:32 AM

toffi: I understand, the project is very interesting only missing the same save, I do not like save state, great work

Toffi · May 26, 2021, 12:53:41 AM

ENEMY ALERT:
Bone pillars have been given new life in the form of the unnerving Tsukumogami, a spirit of evil from Japanese folklore. According to legend, neglected or misused items could obtain a spirit (named a kami), which would turn the object into a monstrous Tsukumogami. After Dracula's horrid resurrection in 1897, all those who stood against him perished. Many of them were melded into Tsukumogami via curse. While these haunted cannons are unable to move on their own, they can fire out multiple rounds of fire in a row (which can eat away at a Belmonts health quickly if gone unnoticed) so stay on the lookout!

Flaviogames · May 26, 2021, 08:34:11 AM

one thing u don't like about castlevania games is that enemies get 3 life bars when they hit, should only get 1 for the game to be fun for everyone, so it would be a good option for difficulty in the game

Toffi · May 27, 2021, 01:54:57 AM

Hi Flaviogames!
The damage a player takes is directly connected with the games 6502 ASM code. Most of AoC's programmers have their hands full with the games sound engine and bug fixing, however I can most certainly look into it.

Flaviogames · May 27, 2021, 06:09:03 AM

Toffi: great, if it is possible to add a menu to choose difficulty it would be great, as I noticed that an enemy takes 3 bars out of life this level would be difficult, normal take 2 bars and easy take out only 1, if you want super difficult level for either now is used to castlevania can take 4 bars, the game would be great for veterans and novice players today, a pity not being able to add saves system, I never write down the choruses to continue, I zero at once or nothing

DavidtheIdeaMan · May 27, 2021, 11:14:40 AM

Awesome stuff your posting here Toffi.

Flaviogames · May 27, 2021, 04:52:11 PM

DavidtheIdeaMan: thanks, so the game will age a wider audience, there is also a patch that improves gameplay and jump control, a menu where you can choose original or modern gameplay would also be very good

Trax · May 27, 2021, 07:53:23 PM

I found the damage table as well as some indexes (because the game is stupidly overengineered) associated with each enemy. I think there is two tables for the two difficulty levels. The hard difficulty setting is activated when you finish the game once.

Flaviogames · May 27, 2021, 08:21:09 PM

Trax:so is there a more difficult level than we already know but isn't there an easier level? I can't imagine what that level would be like, in short there is no way to have an easier level in the game? please can you answer me how many colors can nes display on the screen at the same time? I created some sprites from New super Mario bros from NDS with the colors of this example mario with only 3 colors and other sprites too, I created elements to set the scene and in total I think I have 15 colors at the same time, and if not too much how many sprites can Nes have in a walking animation? I know this has nothing to do with the topic, but I couldn't find this information, if you want to see the work I can post it on 4shared and let the link download and tell me if it would be possible, I really liked the look, but I'm not a programmer

Toffi · May 27, 2021, 09:38:36 PM

In short yes, there is an ungodly hard mode to CV3, there is no easy mode in the original title. Enemy damage is calculated on a level by level basis, the projectiles in stage 1 only dish out 1 damage (the smallest amount in the game) The only 'easy' version I have heard of is CV3's JPN release Akumajo Dracula. The damage is not based on level, its on enemy type (projectiles from bone towers will always be 1, instead of taking 2 and 3 in later levels). From what I have heard, parts of JPN's code is still in ROM, it might just be a dead end though.

Non related NES facts:
The console can work with 16 active colors (plus one if your really working your hardest) at its max. This is separated up into 12 sprite colors and 12 BG. Each of these 12 colors is broken up into 4 colored banks, all banks MUST share 1 color (known as the base color) this leaves 3 active colors and 1 transparent one in the case of sprites.
The console can only generate 4 colors in 16x16 blocks (although the newest MXM-0 cart may bring that down to 8x8) sprites that have more than 4 colors use whats called a sprite overlay, where 2 palates lay on top on one another to simulate more than 3 colors, this technique takes up a lot of space, so be sure not to go to crazy with that fact.

The NES can render up to 8 8x8 tile sprites in one scan-line, you can push that limit by sprite flickering, however this can cause slow down.
Im not a programmer, but sites like https://bitbeamcannon.com/nes-graphical-specs/ may be able to help.

Flaviogames · May 28, 2021, 07:23:35 AM

Toffi:thank you for the informations, but if by chance during the work you see that it is possible to add menu for level including easy equal to rom j, and also the hack to improve the jump be sure to do this, the game the more it has options the more people it will attract , I want to include a comment that maybe nobody has thought about it, would it be possible to add a way for chicore to reach enemies that are coming from behind? I already noticed that in the animation of castlevania the whip also goes behind but it does not have any effect on the enemies that are coming from behind and so we are hit, I think it was a mistake because I already played several other games that work this way

Toffi · June 01, 2021, 12:15:15 AM

:MEGA CHR UPDATE:
Thanks to the help from our newest sprite artist Ontar, the first newcomer to the team has finally made their first appearance. The mysterious magician Saint Germain has stepped forward out of the darkness! For those who dont know, Saint Germain made his first debut in Curse of Darkness, where he appeared as a bizarre time traveler working with Aeon while looking for a 'perfect timeline'. Most know him from the Netflix show.

In AoC, Germain is native to 1897, and runs a traveling circus. (explaining his flamboyant clothing and personality) On his way through Transylvania, Dracula's forces capture the circus and bring them to his castle. Dracula gives the circus's ring leader (Saint Germain) a simple, yet horrifying ultimatum. Join Dracula's forces or perish. Germain weighs the options and chooses to join forces with Dracula, shaking the demon lord's hand in agreement. Dracula recoils after the handshake is complete, laughing as the entire circus crew is transformed into mindless monsters in-front of him. Now under Dracula's control, the circus sets up shop, preparing for an everlasting show.

Here is a complete sprite timeline from Germains 8 bit mock up to his 80% graphically completed current iteration.

We are still working on Germains NTSC palette, so things may still change in the coming future