Big's Fishing Derby

Edit: new revision $21a is out, which has some minor fixes including a race condition in the art decoder.

Edit: revision $214 is out, fixing this bug.

Edit: revision $20E is out, fixing rare real-hardware DMA glitches.

Edit: Post-2015 Sonic Hacking Contest update: revision $20D is out.
Changes:

• Fixed controls screen;
• Playing a new song no longer kills SFX; this fixes the sucking-in sound in the starting cutscene being overridden by the emerald jingle (a bug that was added by accident to the contest versions, as previous builds worked fine...);
• Boss Fish timers are also slowed down by the effects of speed shoes used against him;
• Fixed a frame-perfect bomb use causing doubled badniks (found by Johnny on stream);
• Contest URL removed as the contest is over;
• Arcade Mode and Time Attack now increase music tempo progressively as time wears out;
• Stored powerups persist from one level to the next in arcade mode;
• Should you manage to rescue Froggy without destroying the Boss Fish, the ending cutscene will feature Super Froggy versus Boss Fish;
• Fixed bug causing an emerald graphic to appear if an invincible badnik is fished out (found by djohe on netplay)

In the 2015 Sonic Hacking Contest, the following trophies were won + - because Sonic 1: The Next Level was not eligible for them :v:/>/>/>/>  

Dust Hill Trophy: 3rd place
Tails Trophy: Most improved hack from last year's contest
Wing Fortress Trophy: Best cutscene in a hack submitted​

Edit: Here is the 2015 Sonic Hacking Contest version, revision $200. For more information, check the Wiki.

Edit (already): new revision $D9 which fixes input issue in real hardware. Grab it here.

The surprise hack that took last year's contest by storm and almost won the Big Trophy because everyone thought it was the trophy for having Big on a hack, Big's Fishing Derby is finally here. And with some hefty changes from the contest.

Grab revision $D8 here.

(amazing box cover art by themisterfalcon; see below for links for high res versions)​

Changes from hacking contest version:

• Amazing new title screen art by E-122-Psi (Big's new sprite still not done);
• Results screens for 1p mode (completion times, for time attack) and 2p mode (who won which stage, who won overall, how many wins each player has);
• Reworked introduction cutscene;
• Brand new ending cutscene in 1p mode;
• Destroying badniks now free imprisoned animals;
• Improved sound driver capable of 6 FM tracks in addition of 5 FM + 1 DAC track;
• Ported over SADX's Sega PCM with Big (with compliments to MainMemory);
• Correctly aligned credits, and fixed MainMemory's;
• Added an entropy pool that collects entropy from several sources and uses it to seed the RNG;
• Gameplay demos if you leave the game on long enough;
• "Press start button" flashes a few times then becomes invisible in 1p mode; p2 can still join at any moment, and will trigger boss music;
• Fixed several bugs in relations to powerups, including the infamous mine crash;
• Mines used for offense now cause the other player to lose rings, work even if he has nothing hooked (being a setback) and fails if the attacked opponent has active invincibility;
• Fixed TM symbol on Japanese MDs;
• Fixed several graphical oddities.

You can grab the box and cartridge art here:

High res JP cartridge art
High res JP box cover art​

(US versions being done)

Proud winner of the following 2014 Sonic Hacking Contest trophies:

Polygon Jim Trophy: Most unique hack submitted
Robotnik's Revenge Trophy: Best fresh concept using existing concepts as the backbone in a hack submitted
Froggy Trophy: Best implementation of Big the Cat in a hack submitted
Polygon Jim Community Trophy: Voted most unique hack submitted​

Are you having fun with Big's Fishing Derby? Do you wish there were more levels?

Well, you can help! Here is what a level needs:

• Background art for the above-water portion; this uses two palette lines at most, and needs a deformation routine, palette cycles, and maybe even dynamic art reloading;
• art for the platforms; these must use the third palette line (the first of the level's palette lines) and are limited to 16 tiles by 5 tiles;
• either background water for the underwater portion or a mention that the "default" underwater background should be used (needs at least one underwater palette line for the platforms, if they extend far down enough, and maybe one more underwater palette line if it has an unique underwater background);
• underwater ripple data or a specification of a default one (LZ, CPZ, ARZ);
• a preferably unique badnik design, possibly including a "charging" animation, with its own palette line (make sure the badnik fits the level in some sense);
• two music tracks for the level, a "primary" and an "alternate" track;
• water surface graphics and wave pattern, or specify a default one (LZ, CPZ, ARZ, TTZ);
• an emerald design (S1, S2, S3, SCD, or a brand new one) and base colors (the flashing I can generate automatically).

I prefer to add an even number of levels each time, so that the total number of levels is an odd number; this guarantees that competition mode can never end in a draw. So if you have suggested a cool new level I haven't added after some time, it is because I am still looking for another level to make a pair. Also, make note of how I edited several backgrounds (ICZ and QQZ are good examples) to change the parallax so a more complete background would be in view; don't just rip a background and discard most of it trying to fit the waterline, be creative.

+ - For added fun, set up a TeamPlayer and try monkeying around with the 3rd controller you set up. Make it a 6-button controller and try pressing mode. By the way, the first part worked on the hacking contest version too, but the second part is only on the new version.  

 

Update already: new revision $D9 which fixes input issue in real hardware. Grab it here.

 

As soon as he has time to finish them, they will be added.

 

Depending on how exactly the CPU is coded, it could either be very annoying or very easy to play against it; but I kind of like the idea.

Hm. Maybe an arcade mode with boss fights every now and then? Would need to think what else would have to differentiate it enough, though.

 

Hm, I like that idea; perhaps the big fish captures Froggy and you need to blast it to pieces using mines before you can catch Froggy? And have Eggman up there controlling the big fish using something like this:

Hm. Now that I think of it, instead of a fishing pole, it would suit Eggman better to fish using a contraption like this:

Edit: Or maybe this:

Edit 2: MainMemory suggested this for the boss fish:

I think it could work; anyone willing to sprite this for me? maybe with a side window where Froggy can be seen, but that would be optional.

 

Can you tell me if this build fixes this? You can force a track to be played by holding A or B when changing to a different level. I think I know what caused what you described, but as far as listening goes, I have no idea what I am looking for to see if it was fixed or not. This should also fix some issues with S1 and S2 songs which happened because I grabbed the SCH versions instead of the raw SMPS2ASM versions.

 

The hack has been featured on the Sonic Hack Showcase:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YaG0NnwU7M
MegaGWolf's reaction at the end was priceless :v:

Anyway, the new Eggman fishing devide has been implemented; I am just waiting confirmation from Shalpp (or anyone else) if the build I linked above fixes the issue with the music before posting a new one.

 

If someone does, I can edit it later with lots of information. But I have to ask — is it safe to add new pages to the wiki in its current state?

 

Thanks for the confirmation.

What happened is this: the noise channel usually (almost always) uses a maximum frequency PSG note. In S1/S2 drivers, it is note $C6, while in S3/S&K/S3D drivers (and mine, since it is based off the S&K driver), there are two such notes, $D3 and $D4 (both of which are used). The difference is due to 13 PSG notes that the S3+ drivers have (12 at the start, one at the end). Songs converted between these drivers need to account for the difference; the previous versions of SMPS2ASM did not account for that, leading to broken noise channels in songs that were converted either to S3+ drivers from S1/S2, or from S3+ drivers to S1/S2.