Project: FF7 NES Upgrade

[Vanya]

Sweet! I'm gonna do a play through of the game and write down some notes about what upgrades are needed including the music! ^_^

[FlamePurge]

Hey, I noticed that the mugshots of Barret, Tifa and Aerith could use some tweaking, so I went ahead and did that. I dunno if they're wanted or not though.

The ones on the left are the ones on the first page of this topic; the ones right are my edits.
[unwanted image removed]

Good luck on this project guys!

[Zeemis]

I liked the left ones the best. :s
Except the bottom right, I liked that as well.

[FlamePurge]

Oh...oh, I didn't clarify at all, did I.

The ones on the right are my edits.

Well, I guess I wasn't needed after all. Ah well, I just used this to waste a bit of time anyway.

[Nerd42]

Yes, it should be possible to add more music.  If I remember correctly we have a pretty large area of empty ROM space in the music bank.  We could use that for extra songs.  And Lindblum found the table that assigns song number to game area, so it should be easy to assign any new songs we add to the different areas in the game.

That's excellent. In that case, we definitely need the introduction, the main map theme, the main battle theme, the Aerith theme and One Winged Angel as a minimum.

[Vanya]

Thanks for the work on the mugs, vivify!

[BRPXQZME]

The Tifa on the right has serious droopy-eye ._.;;

[FlamePurge]

How's this then? I also made one that isn't smiling since she doesn't in her PS1 face pic...as far as I remember, anyhow.

[unwanted image removed]

[BRPXQZME]

It just doesn't work. The original facial structure (and placement of the hair!) is drawn specifically for the under-angle shot. If you want to make it look like a normal 3/4 shot, you're going to have to redraw significant portions, and at that point, it's just better to do it from scratch. I'm not too hot on the other mods, either.

I may sound like I'm being nitpicky, but this is Cartooning 101 stuff (drawing is of my many interests, even if I've got no talent for it), and I don't know how to make this not sound rude.

(so have 25% of the battle theme instead)

[FlamePurge]

Alrigty, fine, like I said it wasn't wanted. Again, good luck on the project, guys, I'll just be lurking from now on.

[tummai]

(so have 25% of the battle theme instead)

Great start!  Thanks!

[Nerd42]

LOL @ http://teamteamwork.bandcamp.com/album/vinyl-fantasy-7

As with most video game hip hop mashes, they picked the crappy mainstream artists. This one's nowhere near as awesome as mine but I thought it was notable to this thread because we're also doing an illegal ff7 project

[Killa B]

they picked the crappy mainstream artists

Other than Jay-Z and possibly Outkast I don't see how you could consider those mainstream artists. Maybe things are different in the alternate universe where Fort Minor doesn't suck. :V

[Nerd42]

they picked the crappy mainstream artists

Other than Jay-Z and possibly Outkast

OK, I admit, I just saw Jay-Z and Outkast and immediately assumed "same old, same old." But the beats have turned out to be pretty good.

I don't see how you could consider those mainstream artists. Maybe things are different in the alternate universe where Fort Minor doesn't suck. :V

The alternative universe is real - you just don't realize it cause you're living in the Matrix
February 04, 2010, 11:08:44 AM - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)
OMG IF YOU HAVE A PSP, CHECK THIS OUT http://www.qj.net/qjnet/psp/psp-homebrew-nesterj-112-plus-061-rm-rewind-mirror.html (It's supposed to support the Chinese mapper AND allow rewinding!)
February 05, 2010, 09:49:15 AM - (Auto Merged - Double Posts are not allowed before 7 days.)
Just tested the patched game out on the new PSP emulator. Appears to be running fine.

[Zeemis]

Can we get some updated screenshots of anything new? I'm very interested and want to see progress shots, however don't interpret it as me rushing you guys.

[BRPXQZME]

About 50% now. Stops right before it gets to the part of the song I actually like

[tummai]

About 50% now. Stops right before it gets to the part of the song I actually like

Very cool.  Sounds good.  The only thing I'd change would be to un-staccato the little fill part at 0:20, 0:33.  Looking forward to the 100% version

[BRPXQZME]

It actually comes from the piano version, which I know better off the top of my head than the actual score for practical reasons :V

I'll see what I can/should do about it (the original indeed uses strings... strings that aren't quite loud enough to count as melody). The reason for cribbing off the piano arrangement in some spots is that the song does not split into NES voices very well. Uematsu got to use a whole orchestra on the PSX hardware, and what does he do? He puts in a big-ass virtual trumpet section and tells everyone else but the virtual flutists, cellists, violists, violinists, and percussionists to go home! Okay, there's an electric guitar in there somewhere, but he only plays a couple of notes near the beginning. You can't hear him.

The boss music will be much easier to track in that regard (in case someone else is willing to do it before I get to it); there is a clear bass-line, a clear treble line, and a clear mid-section, and that will translate to the NES very well.

EDIT: Yeah, now I remember why I didn't do it. I did try making it accurate, but the more technically accurate options I tried sounded too muddy; not quite as energetic as making marcato chords. And that's what matters in this song the most: energy. I'd post comparison samples, but it's a bit tough to do and I've got homework and snow shoveling on the backlog.

[Vanya]

Update on current status at my end.
I'm playing through the game again taking notes about the changes that need to be made in comparison to the PSX version which I am also playing at the same time.

[Nerd42]

Anything going on with this? Both this and the translation patch thread seem to have gone dead, but I bet there's still interest in seeing a completed, polished FF7 on the NES