[Archived] Hack ideas: for those without the skill but with all the ideas.

[Zero Dozer]

I would like to see a hack for both the regular & the All-Stars versions of Super Mario World that will make the game look more like Yoshi's Island.

I got the idea from these edited screenshots that a game artist named Eto made on his Twitter account:

Well, now this is Super Mario World with 50% more vibrancy! I'd even play the game one more time if someone had the nuts to put this off.

[tc]

Well, now this is Super Mario World with 50% more vibrancy! I'd even play the game one more time if someone had the nuts to put this off.

Impressive. Lately I've been starting to think, aesthetically, Super Mario World is missing something.
Maybe it's the shift from the first 3 games' (counting SMB2 US since SMB2J has minimal new art) wondrous overt fantasy lands, to more Earth-like.

[Morinis]

Here's an idea.

An updated version of Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest editor that is extremely flexible like reVamp and Editroid combined into one.

[Midna]

Impressive. Lately I've been starting to think, aesthetically, Super Mario World is missing something.Earth-like.

It might have something to do with how the color scheme of World leans more towards desaturated pastels, as opposed to the bright, bold color schemes used in the rest of the series. It's a launch title, of course, so maybe they were still getting used to the system's hardware, but compare its artwork with (say) Super Mario Kart and the All-Stars remakes and it really stands out.

[Tsukiyomaru0]

Old idea I'm bringing up but with a small twist:
Phantasy Star Zero has only ONE use for Select, and it is to switch between Chat and Map, but NOT between Stats, Chat and Map. So the idea is to modify whatever handles that to allow it to go cycle between Stats -> Map -> Chat -> <loop back>.

And maybe in the "Chat" screen, add a command via Select + Up, Left and Down to change battle plans between focus on a single target, spread our and heal, while Select + Right switch between Sync Photon Blast or not.

Though I really only worry for the first part, the second one could be for a future project.

[Malvin]

Hello guys, I am new to this forum so I hope I am not doing anything I shouldn't... 

I really like to game Yu Yu Hakusho Tournament Tactics Skills (SNES) but I did not see any hack ROM for this game and I think it would be very cool  . I think this game is awesome but the end is very frustrating because it is so easy compared to some other phases. It would be amazing if somebody that likes it too and knows how to make it more difficult or even insert more characters, or new item or fights I don`t know.

Thank you!

[ShadowOne333]

I would like to see a hack for both the regular & the All-Stars versions of Super Mario World that will make the game look more like Yoshi's Island.

I got the idea from these edited screenshots that a game artist named Eto made on his Twitter account:

There is already one Super Mario World hack which completely redoes the graphics:
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2919/

It does look like a more handdrawn style compared to vanilla Super Mario World.
It's been out for while, thought you already knew of it (if you didn't).

[PresidentLeever]

Nocturne is used in the saturn version.

Edit:
I'd like to request hacks that make the scrolling tighter for these games:
Popful Mail (Sega CD)
Exile II US ver. (PCE CD)
Wonder Boy III (GG version)
Aladdin (MD) - Here the loose scrolling happens only if you're jumping
Fantasy Zone II (SMS)
Contra 3 (SNES) - Top down levels and vertical sections
Sonic 1 (SMS)
DKC series (SNES)
Salamander 2 (ARC) - Sideways scrolling in top down levels
Valis III (MD) - Upwards and to the left
Earthworm Jim SE (Sega CD)
X-Men 2: Clone Wars (MD) - Mainly vertical. The game also has some serious camera problems at times in 2-player
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (MD) - Slow to adjust when turning
Phantasy Star II (MD) - Here it leads to more encounters since it's harder to navigate
Jackal (NES)
Toki (ARC) - Moving left/backwards
Phantom 2040 (SNES only) - When swinging from ceilings covered by conveyor belts

As it is, it's pretty hard to react to danger while moving forward in them, which kinda ruins the flow of otherwise cool games.

[FCandChill]

The Bowser fight is definitely not feasible on the SNES. Bowser and the Clown Car are actually background objects that are scaled and rotated around using Mode 7. With the way Mode 7 works, if the cloudy sky background were added, it would have to scroll, rotate, and scale with Bowser, which would look extremely weird. If we somehow hacked Super Mario World to have Super FX2 support, it would be a different story, though.

In vanilla Super Mario World, the backgrounds farthest to closest are as follows:
BG1: Bowser
BG2: Castle bricks (at the very top)
BG3: Castle bricks

However, it could theoretically be the following with ASM work:

BG1: Sky
BG2: Bowser
BG3: Castle bricks

Can Mode7 be applied to Bowser in this case while leaving the other layer unaffected?

[PresidentLeever]

Indeed it is.  But the point isn't to put "Nocturne" into the game.  It's to replace "I Am The Wind" - a breezy easy listening track with Kenny G style saxophone that clashes with the rest of the OST.  A hack that replaces it with anything else would be amazing.  Nocturne just seems like a good candidate since it's sitting on the disc - not being used.

http://hg101.proboards.com/thread/14093/wind

Don't say that around this guy. But I do agree.

[nesrocks]

http://hg101.proboards.com/thread/14093/wind

Don't say that around this guy. But I do agree.

He's talking about something that's very real: people just echo other people's opinions in order to fit in, instead of forming their own. This propagates wrong conclusions. That is not the case with the song in question, it was a joke the moment I heard it. It's like celine dion+titanic meets a game that should have nothing to do with that.

[FAST6191]

Edit:
I'd like to request hacks that make the scrolling tighter for these games:
Popful Mail (Sega CD)
Exile II US ver. (PCE CD)
Wonder Boy III (GG version)
Aladdin (MD) - Here the loose scrolling happens only if you're jumping
Fantasy Zone II (SMS)
Contra 3 (SNES) - Top down levels and vertical sections
Sonic 1 (SMS)
DKC series (SNES)
Salamander 2 (ARC) - Sideways scrolling in top down levels
Valis III (MD) - Upwards and to the left
Earthworm Jim SE (Sega CD)
X-Men 2: Clone Wars (MD) - Mainly vertical. The game also has some serious camera problems at times in 2-player
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure (MD) - Slow to adjust when turning
Phantasy Star II (MD) - Here it leads to more encounters since it's harder to navigate
Jackal (NES)
Toki (ARC) - Moving left/backwards
Phantom 2040 (SNES only) - When swinging from ceilings covered by conveyor belts

As it is, it's pretty hard to react to danger while moving forward in them, which kinda ruins the flow of otherwise cool games.

Not necessarily for the hacking but a choice link if this is going to something you are looking at
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iNSQIyNpVGHeak6isbP6AHdHD50gs8MNXF1GCf08efg/pub?embedded=true

Such hacks are then likely to be fairly involved if you want a real change. Might be less for a simpler offset tweak but it is still something you are going to want to have a fair command of assembly to attempt.

[caminopreacher]

Hello all,
I was kicking around the idea of rewriting the script for Harmony of Dissonance and increasing the difficulty. Would anyone be interested in that? I'm not sure if I want to put in the effort unless some other than myself would consider it worthwhile enough to play.
And by "rewriting script", I mean changing the dialogue to sound more... eh... Castlevania-ish. I don't know, to me the english translation seemed very rushed and sloppy.
Comments are appreciated!

[nesrocks]

I tried fixing Jackal's camera, but I couldn't for the life of me understand its code. I'm thinking it used bits and "ANDs" and "XORs" and it was a mess, which may explain why it is so bad. I think the code would need to be completely remwritten for that one.

[PresidentLeever]

Well it's cool that you've had a look at it, it's quite bad in that one.

Not necessarily for the hacking but a choice link if this is going to something you are looking at
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iNSQIyNpVGHeak6isbP6AHdHD50gs8MNXF1GCf08efg/pub?embedded=true

Such hacks are then likely to be fairly involved if you want a real change. Might be less for a simpler offset tweak but it is still something you are going to want to have a fair command of assembly to attempt.

Interesting, I'll check it out. I had the impression that it was usually fairly simple to change, since a code was made for the Mega Drive Double Dragon port.

[Midna]

That is not the case with the song in question, it was a joke the moment I heard it. It's like celine dion+titanic meets a game that should have nothing to do with that.

Funny story--it's in the game because the composer lost a bet. Look it up. (That might also be why it's missing from later releases.)

[nesrocks]

@goxor I thought you were going to say "hack sotn to replace every song with celine dion music"
@Mydna: I couldn't find any information about that.

[KingMike]

So The Heart Goes On even after it is prossessed?

[PresidentLeever]

You know...  That makes me think of the perfect hack for people arguing how "I Am The Wind" thematically fits in Symphony Of The Night. 

With the SNES MSU1 chip allowing CD quality audio in SNES ROMs, someone could replace Super Castlevania IV's soundtrack with Konami's Castlevania Hip Hop album from the early 90s.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPfsbGR1Foo)

Like "I Am The Wind", the music is terrible, but would thematically fit with the game.

Haha, I would play this actually.

[magictrufflez]

I'm closing in on finally finishing Ogre Battle for the first time ever and I'm struck by a few things--This game is ridiculously long, and the plot presentation seems to have suffered as a result.

I know there are a bunch of rebalancing hacks around (and as I get to the point where I have multiple Lich-led apocalypse squads, I see why those patches were made), but I would LOVE to see someone shorten the game and use the additional space to flesh out text and maybe create some quests to involve all these seemingly useless items I keep getting. Maybe in conjunction with one of the other difficulty hacks too (I know one of them removes the tribute system altogether, which seems like a fine idea considering you can always make more tons money and not really incur serious reputation costs by farming 4-5 days worth of tribute on every stage rather than through the paltry stage completion rewards).

Because really, Ogre Battle has a relatively decent (if straightforward) plot that I think gets a bit lost when you have so many stages that feel non-central-plot-related.