[susdsd]

Hello,I am susdsd in Pixiv.Very thank for making this game! 
Could you share this edition to me? I really want to collect it.

Sorry for my poor English.

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV17U4y1N7zo

[PowerPanda]

There seems to be a lot of discussion around colorization of the Stardroids. Capcom actually HAS official colorizations in their archives. When the board game "Megaman Pixel Tactics" came out, the designer/publisher got Capcom to agree to release the offical colorized sprites for the first time. Let me know if you want higher-quality scans of these, since I have the game.

[Vanya]

I have it, too.
So consider me a back up source if anything.
Great game BTW.

[ProstatePunch]

There seems to be a lot of discussion around colorization of the Stardroids. Capcom actually HAS official colorizations in their archives. When the board game "Megaman Pixel Tactics" came out, the designer/publisher got Capcom to agree to release the official colorized sprites for the first time. Let me know if you want higher-quality scans of these, since I have the game.

This is great information!  Good find, I'm sure marc_max would be interested for sure!

[PowerPanda]

Here is a scan of the cards. I remember the designer was almost giddy with excitement when Capcom unearthed these official sprites halfway through the Kickstarter for this project. He had already created all of the Stardroids abilities in hopes that they would one day surface. Quint was released as part of the same set, since his official coloration was unearthed at the exact same time.

https://imgur.com/a/zkJlt2X

[Lazermutt4]

Here is a scan of the cards. I remember the designer was almost giddy with excitement when Capcom unearthed these official sprites halfway through the Kickstarter for this project. He had already created all of the Stardroids abilities in hopes that they would one day surface. Quint was released as part of the same set, since his official coloration was unearthed at the exact same time.

https://imgur.com/a/zkJlt2X

Maybe as far as they knew. These looked familiar, so I checked my copy of the "Robot Master Field Guide" book from 2012, and turns out they used the exact same sprites for the Stardroids & Quint. This is a closeup for Terra's sprite, just for reference since they're the same and cards scan easier than books
https://www.mediafire.com/view/zv1yc7y881lnctg/terra-book.jpg/file

[Balgar]

I teased this one after releasing Dr. Mario DX. Work on this has officially started today.

The game will become GBC exclusive, sorry, since I need the double speed mode. However, this means slowdowns will be gone.

Do not expect it before 2022.


Videos
WIP #1 - First teaser
WIP #2 - New features up to February 2021

Mega Man 5 DX - WIP #2

I just discovered this project. The videos show that the recolor process looks great. Hold on with this project marc_max.

[SuperStarFox]

Nice color design... sounds like extra work, but it'll be great!
Just imagine the look on Capcom's face when they see this hack only to see the Stardroids in their official color design.

[marc_max]

Please, don't get your hopes too high with colorization hacks, specially with this one.

DMG games and their sprites were designed for a monochrome screen. Colorizing the sprites trying to make it faithful to the original art is nearly impossible.
A lot of colors need to be sacrificed. There are no plans to add more colors as it's impossible. I had to add an additional sprite for faces for every Stardroid, this adds unavoidable flickering. Adding more sprites for adding more colors would make it unplayable.
This is how Neptune looks and will look, sorry:

[NiO]

It does look good considering all the limitations.

[PowerPanda]

It does look good considering all the limitations.

Agreed. I posted those sprite images just so you had a reference to the official colorization. I figured DMG wouldn't be able to display NES-level colors.

[marc_max]

Agreed. I posted those sprite images just so you had a reference to the official colorization. I figured DMG wouldn't be able to display NES-level colors.

Indeed, GBC has even less limitations than NES ;-) It has twice the palettes for both BG and OBJ. And it has access to 32768 colors as well (NES has a limited palette of only 56 colors!)

However, Robot Masters were designed for NES limitations, that's why they are so simple in both design and colors. Stardroids were designed without any color limit on mind, since they were going to be shown up in monochrome.

I am already fearing Terra's colorization...

[Vanya]

So 8 palettes for background tiles and 8 palettes for sprites?
Are the sprites limited to one palette for the entire sprite?
You can't, for example, use one palette on the upper half and another palette on the lower half?.

[wafflemonkey]

You can't, for example, use one palette on the upper half and another palette on the lower half?.

Short answer:  Not really.

A character in an NES or GB game is usually made of multiple sprites which can be 8x8 or 8x16.  The individual sprites are assigned their own palette, but they're basically going to share the same palette anyway.  The NES Megamans and Super Mario Bros. 2 use overlay sprites to give the characters' faces some extra color like this hack with the Stardroids.                         

Since GBC has 8 palettes for sprites, it's remotely possible to redraw a character using two or more palettes, but that creates the problem of ensuring your color choices are supported in all scenarios, regardless of what's being drawn on screen.

Megaman Xtreme 1 and 2 have gorgeous backdrops but their sprites are pretty meh.

[marc_max]

So 8 palettes for background tiles and 8 palettes for sprites?
Are the sprites limited to one palette for the entire sprite?
You can't, for example, use one palette on the upper half and another palette on the lower half?.

Yes. It's possible, and I'm indeed using that for Stardroids. But it's not as easy as it sounds. Palettes are assigned to every 8x8 sprite in a metasprite, so imagine your character original design has a different color for his fists and his chest and the tile shares both body parts: it's impossible to colorize the fists and the chest with different colors.
...unless you use overlay sprites, which is even a worse idea. Again, this game's sprites where designed thinking on the GB on-screen sprite limit. I've added the faces (just like the NES Mega Man games) so now Mega Man and the Stardroids have more than three colors. However, the more sprites you add, the more flickering will be noticeable.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Please, don't get your hopes too high with colorization hacks, specially with this one.

DMG games and their sprites were designed for a monochrome screen. Colorizing the sprites trying to make it faithful to the original art is nearly impossible.
A lot of colors need to be sacrificed. There are no plans to add more colors as it's impossible. I had to add an additional sprite for faces for every Stardroid, this adds unavoidable flickering. Adding more sprites for adding more colors would make it unplayable.
This is how Neptune looks and will look, sorry:

You really shouldn't be apologizing. The 3 colors per sprite is a hardware limit, and Megaman fans know this. Just making Megaman V/Rockman World 5 in color is already doing us a huge service. I just hope that you can tap into the GBC only mode to get rid of some of the worst slowdown, like found in Pluto's stage.

[ToHell]

It looks great and you can experience the game in a completely different way.

[SCD]

I think it looks great as well, I have no problem with how Neptune looks.

[Vanya]

Yes. It's possible, and I'm indeed using that for Stardroids. But it's not as easy as it sounds. Palettes are assigned to every 8x8 sprite in a metasprite, so imagine your character original design has a different color for his fists and his chest and the tile shares both body parts: it's impossible to colorize the fists and the chest with different colors.
...unless you use overlay sprites, which is even a worse idea. Again, this game's sprites where designed thinking on the GB on-screen sprite limit. I've added the faces (just like the NES Mega Man games) so now Mega Man and the Stardroids have more than three colors. However, the more sprites you add, the more flickering will be noticeable.

I figured this was the case.
It's mostly just a matter of examining the colors on the official sprites and looking for the best compromise.
Are the palettes set on a per room basis, or a per stage basis, or some other way?
Because if you could load palettes upon entering the boss room, then you should have free rain to use most of the palette space that isn't dedicated to Megaman and other "permanent" sprites. Just my two cents.

[marc_max]

I figured this was the case.
It's mostly just a matter of examining the colors on the official sprites and looking for the best compromise.
Are the palettes set on a per room basis, or a per stage basis, or some other way?
Because if you could load palettes upon entering the boss room, then you should have free rain to use most of the palette space that isn't dedicated to Megaman and other "permanent" sprites. Just my two cents.

I coded it on a per actor basis: everytime you change the room, it loads up the needed palettes for the enemies there. There was no other way to make this hack happen, as the game has lots of different enemies.
So yes: there are 6 OBJ additional palettes for boss battles. But I usually use two or three (not counting the faces' palette, which is shared for both Rockman and Stardroids), plus one or two for projectiles.



Venus :-)