Author [EN] [PL] [ES] [PT] [IT] [DE] [FR] [NL] [TR] [SR] [AR] [RU] [ID] Topic: DSVania editor in-depth ROM analysis  (Read 6679 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Aceearly1993

  • Nothing absolute
  • Legendary Hunter
  • ****
  • Posts: 628
  • Gender: Male
  • Only at the Castle Gate...
    • 1993P Doubleguy at Youtube
    • Awards
  • Favorite Game: Castlevania Chronicles: Akumajo Dracula (X68k/PS1)
  • Likes:
DSVania editor in-depth ROM analysis
« on: January 10, 2018, 02:45:10 AM »
0
https://tcrf.net/Castlevania:_Portrait_of_Ruin

Thanks to DSVania editor I'm digging through the ROM of DS titles for a while and...
There're incredible amount of unused content in Portrait of Ruin, and even contains leftovers from certain preview videos - blockade from Dawn of Sorrow. So strange since the blockade could have some usage to block areas and set some unlock value by flags like DoS.
https://tcrf.net/File:CVPoR-Blocker-Frame_1.png

I'm curious if the preview build (s) still exist in the world :P

https://tcrf.net/File:CvPoR-RichterAxeLV-2.png

Axe Armor Soul level 2 from DoS can be activated in-game but external devices/hacks are needed. The game only load to level 2 so I wonder if level 3 can be activated in-game either.

https://tcrf.net/File:CVPoR-RichterAirDiveKick.png

Richter has an unused air dive kick motion that didn't make its debut until Harmony of Despair. I'm partially curious about it over most; the possibility of restoring the right graphic to the corresponding motion...(also is the case of Richter's knife item crash /flame whip activation since the whole animation is still in the ROM)


Also I'm wondering what could be the initial use of Beginning track in Order of Ecclesia before the point it was abandoned away from music test.
Speaking of OoE, I never know that a color edit mode of OoE was ever been mentioned in any mass media.
Correct me if one was ever found.

https://tcrf.net/Castlevania:_Order_of_Ecclesia#Animation_Leftover

Hell,  it's so cool to bring the Richter slide jump kick to Shanoa, the slide jump kick works well for her and it actually deals some damage compared to the so-pathetic power/damage of single slide we usually have in an unedited game.
« Last Edit: January 10, 2018, 03:11:21 PM by Aceearly1993 »
Quote
"Did you know when one's most desperation time is? It's when he was beaten up by someone critically...
And he can't find who caused this."

Offline Corpsecrank

  • XXX
  • Vampire Hunter
  • ***
  • Posts: 339
  • Gender: Male
  • Still uttering the same nonsense.
    • Awards
  • Favorite Game: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1/SS)
  • Likes:
Re: DSVania editor in-depth ROM analysis
« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2018, 08:05:08 AM »
0
You now have my attention lol.

Any chance you can post the richter frames? I am curious about what they look like in the DS title since I never played despair. Not to mention the fact I would love to add them to my richter sheet if it lacks them.

Aside from richter I am totally interested in learning more about what you find in these so please keep us updated on your findings man.
You can find all my projects here: https://thetilepile.blogspot.com/

Offline Aceearly1993

  • Nothing absolute
  • Legendary Hunter
  • ****
  • Posts: 628
  • Gender: Male
  • Only at the Castle Gate...
    • 1993P Doubleguy at Youtube
    • Awards
  • Favorite Game: Castlevania Chronicles: Akumajo Dracula (X68k/PS1)
  • Likes:
Re: DSVania editor in-depth ROM analysis
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2018, 02:30:40 PM »
0
complete sprite dump of PoR Richter through editor: https://tcrf.net/File:CVPoR-P_0s_ric.png

Richter has all of his animations from Rondo of Blood including Rondo go up/down stairs, and some of SotN animation but not 100% (some frames of taken thunder damage in SotN is not included, and I believe the hand animation used in one of his pose when he's talking to SotN prologue Drac is not here) most of SotN alternate palettes are inaccessible - possibly deleted.

Speaking to SotN prologue Drac, DoS Evil Soma 2nd form has the exact palette of Drac though in DoS he uses palette from Rondo.

https://tcrf.net/Castlevania:_Dawn_of_Sorrow#Unused.2FSymphony_of_the_Night_Palette

Also wanna show you some detailed DoS Alucard animation with Japanese developer messages (I believe) in between few blocks...it contains leftover sprites from SotN (the demon form stone statue and air dive kick in normal angles; in DoS his air dive kick uses SotN bare hand air diagonal attack instead which is a retarded choice of developers)
https://tcrf.net/File:CVDoS-P_aru_00.png

I'll make notes on the TCRF pages if more unused/leftover contents caught in my sight.
« Last Edit: January 10, 2018, 03:54:30 PM by Aceearly1993 »
Quote
"Did you know when one's most desperation time is? It's when he was beaten up by someone critically...
And he can't find who caused this."

Offline X

  • Xenocide
  • Master Hunter
  • *****
  • Posts: 9361
  • Gender: Male
  • Awards SuperOld Dungeonite: Members who have been around since the oldOLD days. The Unfazed: Never loses his/her calm, even in the most heated arguments. The Retro Gamer: Has a heated passion for the oldschool VG Titles.
    • Awards
  • Favorite Game: Super Castlevania IV (SNES)
  • Likes:
Re: DSVania editor in-depth ROM analysis
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2018, 06:59:16 PM »
0
Nifty stuff!  :D
"Spirituality is God's gift to humanity...
Religion is Man's flawed interpretation of Spirituality given back to humanity..."

Offline Aceearly1993

  • Nothing absolute
  • Legendary Hunter
  • ****
  • Posts: 628
  • Gender: Male
  • Only at the Castle Gate...
    • 1993P Doubleguy at Youtube
    • Awards
  • Favorite Game: Castlevania Chronicles: Akumajo Dracula (X68k/PS1)
  • Likes:
Re: DSVania editor in-depth ROM analysis
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2018, 06:49:36 PM »
0
https://tcrf.net/File:CVPoR-RazorBatSpawner.png

In the game Data of PoR, Razor Bat retains the spawner version (infinity amount of razor bats flying across the screen) from Rondo!

https://tcrf.net/File:CVPoR-UnusedBossRush.png

Also An early candidate of boss rush course 1 that got replaced, probably because It's TOO short

https://tcrf.net/File:CVOoE-RedAxeArmor.png

OoE Axe Armor retains Red palette intact and can even restored in game! so sad there's no undead value for him anymore...
Quote
"Did you know when one's most desperation time is? It's when he was beaten up by someone critically...
And he can't find who caused this."

Offline Aceearly1993

  • Nothing absolute
  • Legendary Hunter
  • ****
  • Posts: 628
  • Gender: Male
  • Only at the Castle Gate...
    • 1993P Doubleguy at Youtube
    • Awards
  • Favorite Game: Castlevania Chronicles: Akumajo Dracula (X68k/PS1)
  • Likes:
Re: DSVania editor in-depth ROM analysis
« Reply #5 on: January 18, 2018, 01:08:58 AM »
0
Dayuuummm!!


https://tcrf.net/File:CVPoR-F_ub01_palette_022C66BC-01.png

https://tcrf.net/File:CVOoE-F_ub03.png

https://tcrf.net/File:F_ub13_palette_022C67E4-00.png

https://tcrf.net/File:CVOoE-F_ub14.png

A whole set of Belmont sub-weapon was hidden in game data of OoE! Stored at
/sc2/f_ub01.dat, /sc2/f_ub03.dat, /sc2/f_ub13.dat, /sc2/f_ub14.dat

I have serious wonder. Yes, serious. What happened during the development of OoE? It almost looks like if the development team were actually developing an usual game with Belmont protagonist at first. Then at some point of development they probably scrapped all of them and turned to OoE project that was built directly at their old, abandoned project data because they ran out of time.

If they were builting the OoE project from the beginning to the end, the existence of these obscure pieces of Belmont sub-weapon cannot be explained. They should have time to delete all of them right before launch. Other PoR Jonathan sub-weapons except Cross and Bible were all deleted, why left these holy weapons? This is more than a coincidence. Or for me at least.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2018, 02:03:56 AM by Aceearly1993 »
Quote
"Did you know when one's most desperation time is? It's when he was beaten up by someone critically...
And he can't find who caused this."

Offline X

  • Xenocide
  • Master Hunter
  • *****
  • Posts: 9361
  • Gender: Male
  • Awards SuperOld Dungeonite: Members who have been around since the oldOLD days. The Unfazed: Never loses his/her calm, even in the most heated arguments. The Retro Gamer: Has a heated passion for the oldschool VG Titles.
    • Awards
  • Favorite Game: Super Castlevania IV (SNES)
  • Likes:
Re: DSVania editor in-depth ROM analysis
« Reply #6 on: January 18, 2018, 01:36:01 AM »
0
Quote
I have serious wonder. Yes, serious. What happened during the development of OoE? It almost looks like if the development team were actually developing an usual game with Belmont protagonist at first. Then at some point of development they probably scrapped all of them and turned to OoE project that was built directly at their old, abandoned project data because they ran out of time.

So Shanoa might have originally been planned as a Belmont? Interesting.
"Spirituality is God's gift to humanity...
Religion is Man's flawed interpretation of Spirituality given back to humanity..."

Offline theplottwist

  • Canon Literalist
  • Master Hunter
  • *****
  • Posts: 1848
  • プロットツイスト君
  • Awards 2018-06 Sprite Contest First Place 2017-07-Sprite Contest 2nd PLace 2016-09-Sprite Contest First Place 2015 - Christmas Award First Place 2015 - Halloween Sprite Contest - Second Place
    • Awards
  • Favorite Game: Castlevania Adventure Rebirth (Wii)
  • Likes:
Re: DSVania editor in-depth ROM analysis
« Reply #7 on: January 18, 2018, 02:02:37 AM »
0
I have serious wonder. Yes, serious. What happened during the development of OoE? It almost looks like if the development team were actually developing an usual game with Belmont protagonist at first. Then at some point of development they probably scrapped all of them and turned to OoE project that was built directly at their old, abandoned project data because they ran out of time.

If they were builting the OoE project from the beginning to the end, the existence of these obscure pieces of Belmont sub-weapon cannot be explained. They should have time to delete all of them right before launch.

It's the engine, man. It's not that they originally had a Belmont in mind. It's more that OoE was build on top of an existing game (Portrait) where Jonathan had ample access to subweapons. In fact, if you try ripping Shanoa via glIntercept, you can even find Jonathan frames amidst Shanoa data.

As to why they didn't delete it: It's simply more convenient. Building the game on top of an existing "Castlevania Maker" engine saves time and money.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2018, 02:06:30 AM by theplottwist »
The mastermind behind the "Umbra of Sorrow" project. But not the only one.

Offline Aceearly1993

  • Nothing absolute
  • Legendary Hunter
  • ****
  • Posts: 628
  • Gender: Male
  • Only at the Castle Gate...
    • 1993P Doubleguy at Youtube
    • Awards
  • Favorite Game: Castlevania Chronicles: Akumajo Dracula (X68k/PS1)
  • Likes:
Re: DSVania editor in-depth ROM analysis
« Reply #8 on: January 18, 2018, 03:38:40 PM »
0
It's the engine, man. It's not that they originally had a Belmont in mind. It's more that OoE was build on top of an existing game (Portrait) where Jonathan had ample access to subweapons. In fact, if you try ripping Shanoa via glIntercept, you can even find Jonathan frames amidst Shanoa data.

As to why they didn't delete it: It's simply more convenient. Building the game on top of an existing "Castlevania Maker" engine saves time and money.

Oh this makes sense bro, I've been aware of the specific portion of Jonathan's leg being a result of engine reuse; but I still hold my original opinon for about 40% of total rate in my mind, for some reason. Though there did exist lots of leftovers from previous games, the Belmont sub weapon case alone still could be anything before an estimate answer shows up.

Quote
Other PoR Jonathan sub-weapons except Cross and Bible were all deleted, why left these holy weapons?

Maybe only the development team members can possess a proper answer of this.

On a side note, it's extremely fun to see the DoS leftovers being restored in OoE through editing tools. Especially the redrawn DoS level 2 Axe sub weapon which is hella cool but overpowered if stick its image on level 1 Ascia.
« Last Edit: January 18, 2018, 04:17:49 PM by Aceearly1993 »
Quote
"Did you know when one's most desperation time is? It's when he was beaten up by someone critically...
And he can't find who caused this."

Offline theplottwist

  • Canon Literalist
  • Master Hunter
  • *****
  • Posts: 1848
  • プロットツイスト君
  • Awards 2018-06 Sprite Contest First Place 2017-07-Sprite Contest 2nd PLace 2016-09-Sprite Contest First Place 2015 - Christmas Award First Place 2015 - Halloween Sprite Contest - Second Place
    • Awards
  • Favorite Game: Castlevania Adventure Rebirth (Wii)
  • Likes:
Re: DSVania editor in-depth ROM analysis
« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2018, 04:17:09 PM »
0
Oh this makes sense bro, I've been aware of the specific portion of Jonathan's leg being a result of engine reuse; but I still hold my original opinon for about 40% of total rate in my mind, for some reason. Though there did exist lots of leftovers from previous games, the Belmont sub weapon case alone still could be anything before an estimate answer shows up.

OK let me put it another way. You know the files you found in /sc2/f_ub01.dat, /sc2/f_ub03.dat, /sc2/f_ub13.dat, /sc2/f_ub14.dat in Order of Ecclesia? Open Portrait on the editor and look for the same exact files.

(click to show/hide)

So you see, not only they are the same exact graphics, but they're also on the same exact files. And now, considering they're grouped more or less on Dawn of Sorrow space, I'd wager that they're actually Julius Belmont's leftovers, not Jonathan's. If you open Dawn of Sorrow and just remove the 2 from the sc, the same graphics surface on the same files again. The fact that they are in the "sc" folder in Dawn, but on the "sc2" folder in Portrait and Ecclesia merely proves that they got more organized as the engine got more robust with newer games. And, sure enough, Julius has exactly the same subweapons present on these files (Cross, Holy Water, Axe, Grand Cross).

Please, don't take this as me presuming to "speak for the developers", if that's what I come off as. But I think these files on Order of Ecclesia do not mean they were "developing one thing first, then scrapped everything and changed their ideas later". They appearing on all three DS games with the same graphics and same files, are pretty good evidence that they are simply leftovers, left there for convenience (and the funny thing is that Soma appears on Portrait data, and both Soma AND Jonathan appear on Ecclesia data, as if the devs were growing lazier with every new game heh).

And YES, it's awesome to see what this tool can do. I've already had quite a bit of fun with it lol
« Last Edit: January 18, 2018, 04:46:00 PM by theplottwist »
The mastermind behind the "Umbra of Sorrow" project. But not the only one.

Offline Inccubus

  • Wannabe Great Old One
  • Master Hunter
  • *****
  • Posts: 3265
  • Gender: Male
  • Warrior
  • Awards The Retro Gamer: Has a heated passion for the oldschool VG Titles. SuperOld Dungeonite: Members who have been around since the oldOLD days. Permanent Resident: Seems to always be around to post/reply.
    • Awards
  • Favorite Game: Vampire Killer (MSX)
  • Likes:
Re: DSVania editor in-depth ROM analysis
« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2018, 02:46:46 PM »
0
I thought it was pretty common knowledge that all the DS games were built on top of each other to save development costs.
"Stuff and things."

Offline X

  • Xenocide
  • Master Hunter
  • *****
  • Posts: 9361
  • Gender: Male
  • Awards SuperOld Dungeonite: Members who have been around since the oldOLD days. The Unfazed: Never loses his/her calm, even in the most heated arguments. The Retro Gamer: Has a heated passion for the oldschool VG Titles.
    • Awards
  • Favorite Game: Super Castlevania IV (SNES)
  • Likes:
Re: DSVania editor in-depth ROM analysis
« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2018, 06:13:16 PM »
0
It does make sense since Konami wanted IGA to do a CV game almost once per year  :P
"Spirituality is God's gift to humanity...
Religion is Man's flawed interpretation of Spirituality given back to humanity..."

Offline Pemburu Vampir

  • Nameless
  • Legendary Hunter
  • ****
  • Posts: 603
  • Gender: Male
  • I can speak Engrish fluently.
  • Awards Permanent Resident: Seems to always be around to post/reply.
    • Awards
  • Favorite Game: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1/SS)
  • Likes:
Re: DSVania editor in-depth ROM analysis
« Reply #12 on: January 22, 2018, 08:21:39 PM »
0
Nothing really new since I've been playing around with the DS Vanias since 2010. There is one weird creature with big round head which is unused in OoE.

Offline Corpsecrank

  • XXX
  • Vampire Hunter
  • ***
  • Posts: 339
  • Gender: Male
  • Still uttering the same nonsense.
    • Awards
  • Favorite Game: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1/SS)
  • Likes:
Re: DSVania editor in-depth ROM analysis
« Reply #13 on: March 03, 2018, 04:15:12 AM »
0
Well this has been somewhat enlightening. I love checking out odd bits of random assets that were left in games. That richter pull was also useful.
You can find all my projects here: https://thetilepile.blogspot.com/

Tags:
 

anything