soniNeko, my hack of Sonic 1

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Emerald monitor.
Allows you to enter the Special Stage with less than 50 rings.

edit: added the second pic because my post wasn't clear. The monitor itself doesn't warp you to the Special Stage.

 

Gah, I hate to post important stuff at the bottom of a page.
This post has been moved to page 4. Thanks.

 

Alright guys, you all know that I fail at delaying releases, so I'm glad to present you

SONINEKO v1.0​

So what's new in this?

1. A new level, Good Morning Zone, which serves as introduction to the game. It is Star Light Zone with a morning palette. After that, the level order is the classic one. I know I said that I was going to change all the layouts, but I recently changed my mind. For this reason, it is unlikely that the existing layouts are going to be changed; instead, I'm considering to include more extra levels using the Act 4 slots like I did with Good Morning Zone (which is SLZ4);
2. 20 new songs, in the $EC to $FF slots, and a new emerald jingle ($93, which was the only tune I still had to change from the original Sonic 1). All the other songs are unaltered since version 0.9
   However, unlike the songs in soniNeko 0.9, not all of new songs are made with xm2smps or xm3smps: there are several conversions from Cube games (Snow Bros, Mean Bean Machine, Dino Land, Jewel Master). I still have 7 song slots free, from $E5 to $EB, so maybe I will put something there in the next release. I don't plan to port songs from other SMPS games, this is something soniNeko is still unique for. I ported two sound effects from Sonic 3 & Knuckles though.
   As a result of the extended playlist:
   • Each special stage has an individual music;
   • The Speed Shoes have a specific song rather than speeding up the background music;
   • When you collect the 6th Emerald a different jingle plays on the results screen;
   • If you beat the game with all the emeralds, a different song plays on the credits;
   • If you get both speed shoes and invincibility, a different song plays while both of them are active at the same time (this also applies to the "S" monitor, see below);
3. 6 additional monitors, 2 "old" and 4 completely new:
   • - "S" monitor - gives you invincibility and speed shoes at the same time. Lasts 20 seconds;
   • - Eggman monitor - harms you;
   • - Time monitor - gives you an extra minute to beat the level;
   • - Note monitor - changes the background music to $FC (Sleeping in my car);
   • - Emerald monitor - allows you to enter the special stage (via the big ring) with less than 50 rings;
   • - Feather monitor - directly from Super Mario Kart, allows you to do one ultra jump;
4. Some ASM work, namely:
   • fixed some bugs from the original Sonic 1;
   • a Special Stage Selector on the Level Select screen;
   • disabled the Sound Effects during the credits;
   • you jump slightly higher with Speed Shoes;
   • other minor improvements not worth mentioning.

Maybe there is something else, but this is what I can remember.
As my usual, I won't post the complete playlist for the new songs yet (also because I already spoiled many of them), I like to see your guesses first :P

A small note, since none of the original levels used the additional monitors, and having them only in Good Morning Zone wasn't a good idea, I changed some monitors in Ice Hill Zone to let you try out the new monitors. I'm not sure if this is going to stay, if I'm going to change the monitors also in the other zones, or if I will revert everything back to normal with the next release. Object placements, as layouts, are still a pending point right now. I'm looking forward to hear some opinions on this matter.

Now, to the credits.
A billion of thanks to Puto, for... well, everything. I think he helped with almost every point of the list above. Of course I did most of the job by myself, but his help and his tips are always priceless. A few tips came also from Tweaker and Hayate.
Soti and Oerg, two good beta testers, who gave me feedback even when I sent them 10 roms per day :P
If I forgot someone else, please remind me because I don't intend to offend anyone.

Now, please download my hack, and let the fun begin :D
Let me know what you think, please, I wait for your comments and your feedback.

edit: wiki'd soniNeko

 

<!--quoteo(post=197490:date=May 27 2008, 05:11 AM:name=InferiorPeonStarscream)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (InferiorPeonStarscream @ May 27 2008, 05:11 AM) :P

 

Woo I got feedback :D
Let's split it down... Warning: tl;dr

Glad that you like it
As for the button idea, dunno, I like the "use it wisely!" concept better. On the other hand, it did use a separate button in Super Mario Kart, so I will think about it.

You know I'm not that good at layouts, especially with those huge 256x256 tiles, sometimes there isn't much choice. I will see if I can find a way to improve it a bit.

Again, thanks for the positive comment :D
Inferno Zone 1 using a fun fair song is actually an inside joke, much like House's Lupus. The other songs should fit quite well instead.

Hehe, thanks, but I'm not joining the contest.

I will do my best!

That is because that song is one of my first conversions ever, I wasn't very skilled with smps yet. That was like the fifth song converted with xm2smps 0.1, back in september 2007.

Because you touch yourself at night. Sorry, but I had to say this at least once in this thread :P

I suck at palettes, I know :P
But I can't revert to regular GHZ's palette, since I renamed it to Ice Hill Zone, it has to be white and blue. And yes, I did blue rings by purpose.

Yes, it won't be easy for me to win a trophy in a contest I'm not going to join...

Thanks, this is what I'm aiming for: ultra high speed = lots of fun.

Guys, guys, the songs in the $81-$9F range didn't change since version 0.9 (with the exception of $93, the emerald jingle), and they have been listed in the first page of this thread. You only have to guess the songs in the $EC to $FF range now. I might give them away anyway, as some are from obscure Cube games like Jewel Master and Dino Land (both of which have an awesome soundtrack, though).

So:
93 Psycho Pinball - Cup Game [emerald jingle]
EC Dino Land - "Dinoland Boss" [unused] (*)
ED Jewel Master - "I Got It!" [SS result with 6 emeralds] (*)
EE Jewel Master - "Fish Out Of Water" [unused] (*)
EF Snow Bros - Stage 6 [unused] (*)
F0 Snow Bros - Stage 2 [unused] (*)
F1 POPEYE [unused]
F2 Jewel Master - "Spier Tiger" [speed shoes + invincibility] (*)
F3 Mean Bean - Staff Roll [good credits] (*)
F4 Super Mario Bros 2 - Character Select [level select]
F5 Mario Kart 64 - Yoshi Valley [SS 5]
F6 Snow Bros - Stage 7 [unused] (*)
F7 Sonic Chaos - Gigalopolis [SS 4]
F8 Castlevania [unused]
F9 Mario Kart 64 - Battle [SS 2]
FA Bomberman 64 - Green Garden [SS 6]
FB Happy Folk [speed shoes]
FC Roxette - Sleeping in My Car [note monitor]
FD Snow Bros - Stage 5 [SLZ 4] (*)
FE Sonic CD - Metallic Madness Past [unused]
FF Mean Bean - Exercise Mode [SS 3] (*)

(*) denotes a conversion from a Cube/Iwadare game

 

There is no space left in VRAM for other monitors, unless I get rid of the "static" frame, but that's not a good idea.
What would that monitor do anyway? Slows you down?