Sonic and Sega Retro Message Board: ExecByte - Viewing Profile - Sonic and Sega Retro Message Board

We can see that we have the Sonic 2 Betas 4 through 8 and the finals from the SOA archive. So it looks like there were 8 betas. Counting the other 2 betas we already had, that gives us 7. The Sega Solid Gold Guide shows the other beta which is obviously later than the Wai beta. We know this from the level select and, since it had a little difference in CNZ and supposedly still had WZ and HPZ.

So, it looks like the "Nick Arcade" / "Sega Visions" beta was Beta 1, the "Wai" beta was Beta 2, and the Sega Solid Gold Guide beta was Beta 3. The only thing is, the NA beta and the Wai beta look farther apart but then betas 4-8 were within just over a week. Does that make sense for the first few to be farther apart like that?

The only other build I remember hearing about is the alpha that "wasn't fun to play" and didn't have the rings fly out when you get hit.

So, what does everyone think about this?

A lot of people think Hill Top Zone sucks. It seems like that anyway. So, what do people think about it and why? If you hate it, is it just because it "looks like Emerald Hill," or something?

I think it was a good idea to use Emerald Hill and change the palette, change some graphics, make a new background, have different music, and put different badnicks in. Since they didn't have enough space to fit a new set of graphics, it was a good way to get another level in, instead of just adding more acts to some other levels.

Anyone agree?

We know the format for animated patterns frames but I didn't see the format for the mappings anywhere but I think I figured it out.

XX XX YY YY AB BB AB BB AB BB AB BB .....

X: 16x16 block where these mappings start, multiplied by 8.
Y: Number of 8x8 tiles to read for these mappings. Starts from 0.
A: Palette line for 8x8 tile, multiplied by 2.
B: 8x8 tile to read. Multiply this value by 0x20 for the VRAM location to read from.

These 8x8 and 16x16 tiles are refered to as if they were part of the main level load block in memory. So, placing a 16x16 block that these mappings are applied to in a 128x128 block will put the animated pattern there.

I'm working on a hack of Sonic 2 called "Sonic The Hedgehog: The Lost Worlds" which is basically a new game with all the zones that were cut from the final. So, this is kind of like what happened with Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles but it's in the Sonic 2 situation.

This hack has already been in development for awhile now. I started figuring out and testing things over a year ago but I officially started it a few months ago. I'm working mostly in hex and also with SonED for graphics and level layouts and TLP. Now, I've been on summer vacation for a few weeks already so I'm working on it more. I'm not sure when it's gonna be done but it could take awhile.

Here's the list of zones, in order:
Desert Zone
Rock Zone
Wood Zone
Winter Zone
Casino Night Zone (Beta style)
Cyber City Zone
Hidden Palace Zone

Here's what's done so far:
-Title Screen change (not done yet)
-Level select menu
-Level splash cards
-Signpost graphics from early proto added
-Sorted out various offset index's and stuff
-Badnicks
—ported the Dinosaur, Triceratops, Crocodile, Bat, & Snail from the beta
—ported the "sideways" piranha and the different octus from the early proto
-Music
—Ported WZ, CNZ, Level Select, Invincibility, & Boss music from the beta
—cleared out music that won't be used and reorganized all the rest
—level playlist, master playlist

Right now I'm working on graphics and mappings for the levels and then I'll do the layouts and anything else that needs finishing.

Now, the graphics and mappings for Hidden Palace Zone, Wood Zone, and Casino Night Zone are basically done since I just ported them from the beta. I'm doing the graphics and mappings for Desert Zone, Winter Zone, Rock Zone, & Cyber City Zone. I pretty much have the graphics and mappings for Desert Zone and Winter Zone done. Cyber City Zones graphics are done but I have to finish the 128x128 mappings. Rock Zone's graphics haven't been started yet.

So, here's some screen shots:

Desert Zone:



Winter Zone:



Piranha and different octus in Hidden Palace Zone:


Expect to see some Cyber City Zone shots before too long. That's it for now.

I wasn't looking for this but I found it, a few months ago actually. I didn't see this posted anywhere but I just checked the Sonic 2 disassembly and the data there is in byte form and not commented. So, I'm not sure how much is known about this.

In Sonic 2, an offset index at 87DC:
0000 8804 0000 819A 0000 88CE 0000 82FA 0000 8960
0000 8328 0000 8AA4 0000 83B0 0000 8B30 0000 8452

(8804, 88CE, 8960, 8AA4, 8B30)
These are addresses of enigma compressed mappings for text from the 2 player results screen. It uses the same format as the level select and options screen.

(819A, 82FA, 8328, 83B0, 8452)
These are addresses of code maybe having to do with displaying the text? Just a guess.