So Redhotsonic made a video testing out the various prototypes we got back during Sonic Month, and I noticed that the Jun 30th Chaos prototype doesn't work on actual hardware. (Well it works on a Mega Drive, but not a Master System.) I figured out why exactly it doesn't work and made a fix for those wanting to play the proto on an actual Master System or Master System emulator. There's a reference to a unused port, which I assume was probably used for Music development since the game looks for this port directly before accessing the PSG port. It's just called "Port $06" while running the game through Emulicious' debugger. I tried running the game prior to figuring out what was causing the game to hang directly after the title screen on Emulicious, and it of course didn't boot to the level select. So I disassembled the game, noticed "Port $06", changed it to access the PSG port, and now the game runs fine. I don't have an actual Master System to test this on, but if you're interested here's the ROM. Note: You can't press any buttons on the title card sequence, otherwise the game still hangs. I should probably figure out a fix for that, but at least now the game boots up past the title screen! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J4MWDGxK2Ej2Lq9GWJNk6-grRwB06qk7/view
Because I wanted to find more things I can do, I thought I'd have a try at making maps from the 1993-05-17 Game Gear prototype as a bit of a trial, and all I've done for the time being is ripping Turquoise Hill Zone, simply as I wanted to have both a raw rip and one with objects. There's only as much I can do using the in-game free movement function and a bunch of cutting and pasting from VDP viewers (the same thing I did with ripping Tails' Skypatrol maps): Spoiler: Act 1 (full) Spoiler: Act 1 (raw) Spoiler: Act 2 (full) Spoiler: Act 2 (raw) Spoiler: Act 3 (full) Spoiler: Act 3 (raw) While Turquoise Hill would be one of the most complete Zones in this prototype, it's got a good number of differences from the final game, such as different terrain in places. For instance, the second loop-de-loop in Act 2 was elevated by one block in the final game. Try comparing them to the final Game Gear maps here. I did notice that Chainspike was going to do it just as I checking here after having already finished Act 3's map, though it's been at least nearly 2 years since then. Then again, he has tools I don't have and can make potentially more accurate map rips than I can, and I don't want to be trodding on anyone's toes with what they want to do at the end of the day.
That's awesome work. Thank you for sharing! I feel like I'm really late to the party in realising just how similar those THZ maps are to condensed versions of EHZ, particularly Act 1. They were clearly taking some inspirations there.
Yes, I was working on maps but that came to a halt when I realized object layouts could not easily be visualized. I used an old program known as Aspect Edit to rip the layouts and poked around in a hex editor to find the correct data. Admittedly, I'm not very well-versed with the inner-workings of the 8-bit games, but if there is anything you need, I'd be willing to share what I remember.
I forgot that program was a thing, though I believe I remember seeing its page in passing while going about the wiki one day, at least. Feel free to share what you remember, and I might be able to do something with it.
