That's insane. Like I said, you could do a lot with the other bosses too.. especially with Big Icedus. He could home his swirling ice balls on you, then shoot them individually or in a rapid-fire assault.
I just whipped this up today when dsrb wanted to see (the under block thing) at least in action. Here is the rundown: -->The start thing (obvious) -->Both the boss and top home in on you (different stats/speeds) (the top has lower vertical gain) This solves my initial problem of it always being the same blocks breaking in the opening. So replay value I guess. It also creates a pit/cavern to the deadly bottom always based on where sonic is at first standing. -->the short timespan of the boss starting up again when hit by sonic but not hit by the top Searched for unused locations on S3K Retro Guide, found it, made a simple timer that counts down. Just this alone improves the boss greatly, as well as with it moving all over I was afraid of it being stuck in walls when hit so it is pretty much a failsafe. -->the "swoop" after the boss closes Another idea I had that I felt the boss originally needed, at least in some form. What is the best way to beat the original boss quickly and easily? That's right, bouncing on the top of it constantly until the top hits the boss, causing the boss to retract but can't move very far if not at all because you just hit it again because you are vertical hedgehog camping. In my version the boss swoops away from sonic downwards, out of the arena. Sonic has to land, and the boss has a chance to surprise Sonic. Also if Sonic is below the boss, why would he swoop towards Sonic's direction? Main character location detect subroutine saves the day by negating the direction and flies upwards. The top homes in you but not very fast vertically like I said above, causing it to stay near the blocks. In fact, once it gets up to the top of the blocks all it wants is to chip away at whatever blocks are directly under you via hop bouncing. It more or less can only go as high as you/Sonic can, so you have let it chase you into the boss. The only problem I have is this glitch that I can't seem to solve. The boss after a while stops right in its tracks, even if Sonic hasn't hit it or sometimes when it gets hit too much (like when the top was wedged between a breakable block and the boss, bounced like 3 times in a second and the boss stops). It is just...random. And I mean it stops period, stuck in extend position...though can still be hit and destroyed by the top. I think it has to be with all the extra code I added to the waiting portion make the boss do those crazy things. It is a blemish on an otherwise perfect edit.
Egads, I love it. The peril. I'm always wanting people to make these games more difficult, especially the bosses. I also appreciate the technical description of what you did. In short, I'm very interested to see what you come up with next. Keep it up!
Just bored, so I took your video and added the genesis version of the tune. Bad Future SSZ with TheLegendOfRenegade: http://youtubedoubler.com/56Tq Past SSZ with TheLegendOfRenegade: http://youtubedoubler.com/56SE I love all of this new hacks people =)
From a technical standpoint, I'm beyond amazed. From a practicality standpoint, I have a few questions. Is there any way to save changes you make permanently? It appears that this is being done in debug mode. Can this also be done during normal gameplay, possibly with the level timer turned off while this is active to remove the possibility of losing a life due to running out of time? Instant level testing would be rather useful. Other than in-game instant level desting, what are the advantages in doing things this way over using a pre-existing level editor? Don't get me wrong, this is one of the most impressive things that I've ever seen, and I applaud you for having thought of and being able to actually do it. However, I don't see the point of doing this beyond a simple "do it because I can" mindset. Not that there's anything wrong with that, and I'm guilty of doing the same thing (just not with programming). I guess what I'm trying to say is that I can't really find a way of asking the questions I wanted to without sounding dismissive of your accomplishment or sounding like I'm trying to be negative towards it, and that's not at all what I'm trying to do. I'm sorry if the way I word this comes across wrong, I just can't think of a better way to ask.
This is awesome. I'd love to see this added as a secondary "debug mode" in hacks. OR take it one step further... what if there was a way you could SAVE what you created as the level's layout, and be able to turn around and play it in a normal setting afterwards. Makes me think a lot of Forge from Halo 3. Hacking tools be damned... ^_^
No no, that is absolutely fine, criticism is where it's due and you bring up a good fair few points, one problem though is that judging by the context of your statements, you assume that this is built on top of a Sonic game, when in fact, it isn't at all, I haven't said what it's for, why I made it or who it's aimed at! This is a test ROM I've built for engine testing purposes, it is to show that map tiles can be written to the VDP quickly enough for redrawing before the end of the vertical blanking interval without causing graphical glitches, and that a level editor is just mearly an example of where redrawing could possibly be used effectively without noticing lag or glitches. Sonic levels were used because it's quicker than making my own. I will say though, that the purple blotchy square you see there would technically be the main character, and if it were, as you can see in that video, I was able to move the "player" with the first controller and perform level editing with the second controller, meaning that the character can be played in real time while level editing is done, that is also a benefit which "pre-existing level editor"s do not have, quick testing with the actual physics. All of the level data is stored in RAM, so there could be the posibility of making a savestate, and then writing some sort of program to extract the data from 68k RAM and the VDP's VRAM out of the save state and arranging/compressing them into individual files for immediate use. That is to say that I were to do this on a Sonic game and for you guys rather than on my own engine and for my own purposes. As I've given you a few reasons for its existence, get back to me on it, and if you'd be happy with having such a Sonic ROM with that ability, then I'll have a reason to actually make one.
I'd, again, say that I'd LOVE a ROM with this implemented. That said, best saved for a Hacking Contest. You'd kick 10 levels of ass on it... It would be so cool for 2 players to be able to mod layouts and play them together... again, similar to Forge. One thing though... would it be possible to switch between level tiles and objects when editing? Or are you not at that "junction" just yet?
I won't be doing object editing, the current debug mode seems fine enough (not that anyone uses it), but tile editing is a sure thing, the original game can be continued playing while level editing is done, hence the object placement that's already there can also be continued functioning while level editing is in process (if that's what you mean).
There is one problem with that however: the object placement mode cannot move/delete existing objects (this functionality was added in Sonic Adventure).
Yes, that was what I meant. Good stuff. Good point. This would be something good to implement, be it in this project, or in the original game, I think...
I always used to wish things we did in debug mode could actually last – didn't we all assume that initially as young'uns, only to be disappointed when we went back and shit was gone? – so I'd certainly be interested in this if you do decide to go ahead with it.
The problem with that, is there is no room in RAM to store the entire object list for the level. Maybe if you used uncompressed chunks in ROM...
More Updates For S3K A New Lease Of Life Uploaded with ImageShack.us WIP Hud and image showing LBZ lower background with foreground Uploaded with ImageShack.us A look at the start of the new MGZ 2 background Uploaded with ImageShack.us Carnival Night meets Sweet Mountain. Comments always welcome
Those are simply beautiful. I didn't know S3&K hacking had got so extensive that people could finally put custom art and stuff in it now. Keep up the good work.
