Topic: That Awesome Castlevania II romhack that died's graphics

[theplottwist]

You all must remember an awesome romhack of Castlevania II that was started, but never finished, by a guy called Optomon, with the help of artist Thaddeus (Who one day simply vanished from the internet, taking everything he did with him).

You must also remember how Optomon uploaded songs with screenshots to the game on Youtube, and with terrible quality, it was almost useless for pixelers to study how it was done.

Well, I found this:


This is just to raise your awareness. Here is more:
http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=11134

I'm posting about this here because this art cannot be ignored. I looked for it YEARS to study the technique, and finally got to find it.

Do not rip, and do not claim as your own. I'm posting about it simply because as it looks like a goldmine of learning to me, it might to someone else here too.

[X]

I was seriously put out when I had heard this project was dropped. People who work this hard and make it this good should not let these gems disappear. Real life pressures and the like have killed off many a good rom hacks and fan projects as of late. The least they could do is hand over the project to someone else who'd be willing to finish it for them. I really wanted to try this hack as it looked very promising, but I guess that's just not going to happen.

[SabinFigaro]

Yes. I remember this. A real shame it got dropped. Like X said, these graphics are unbelievable. I remember some forests screenshots that almost looked 16-bitish. Wish someone would pick it up. A new unbroken CV2 would be amazing.

[darkmanx_429]

Not bad looking at all.

[Aridale]

Nice find! I wish Thadd hadnt disappeared he was the best pixel artist Ive ever seen. Ive still got a folder of his stuff he uploaded one time years ago. I also took the nsf for this project and made mp3s and still listen to it. It comes up on my huge mixed playlist atleast once a day

[eryson]

Optomon is a great artist indeed, but all your projects (this hack, Cadence of agony, and Pyron) goes on great Hiatus...
I hope he can finish Pyron someday....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YyvdxCaMIk&list=UUV2FeYNf_MmR_Dpn0KjmjwA&index=4

[theplottwist]

Optomon is a great artist indeed, but all your projects (this hack, Cadence of agony, and Pyron) goes on great Hiatus...
I hope he can finish Pyron someday....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YyvdxCaMIk&list=UUV2FeYNf_MmR_Dpn0KjmjwA&index=4

And this is quite a bad info I have for you, but Optomon is never finishing them. He already declared that he left the romhacking community, since romhacking in itself was alienating him from his personal life.

[zangetsu468]

Seriously? This game excites me more than I was for ALBW!! Such a bummer it will never see the light of day.

[X]

And this is quite a bad info I have for you, but Optomon is never finishing them. He already declared that he left the romhacking community, since romhacking in itself was alienating him from his personal life.

That is understandable. However he actually does not need to sacrifice one thing for another. All he has to do is moderate himself and he can have the best of both worlds. No-one should ever have to give what they love doing or give up their personal life either. As human beings we have the ability to do both if we take the time to work things out and plan ahead.

[Lelygax]

Thanks, it brings good memories from years ago.

[zangetsu468]

Why can't games like this actually exist?
They made Megaman 9 and 10, I don't see why a new 8 bit CV as a dlc title couldn't be successful

[Inccubus]

At the very least, now that I have Thaddeus' work I'm definitely going to looking into using his graphics in my personal copy of the CV2 retranslation and enhancement patch.
Along with a few other modifications of my own (like replacing the overworld skeletons with the unused zombie graphics) it will go a long way towards making a much better version of CV2.

[SabinFigaro]

Ur remaking CV2 Incubus? That is awesome. I always thought that CV2 is an ok game with potential to be great. I mean this game is dying for a nice makeover. At least some tweaks here and there. The bosses in this game (when they actually were some) were just pitiful. And of course...the terrible translation (as we all know) of the townpeople's clues. It's a shame really, cause I always loved the atmosphere and of course the soundtrack of this game. Dwelling of doom is probably one of my favorite piece in all of castlevania's musical history. Always wondered they never re-used it. Anyways, good luck man, and I'll be rooting for you.

[X]

So you're going to give it a go Incubus? Sweet    Do you have all assets from Thaddeus' work in order to help you make this hack?

[Inccubus]

Whoa there, guys.
I said I'm going to apply Thadd's graphics to the ROMHACK enhancement patch for CV2.
This one (which was just updated, BTW): Castlevania II - Multilingual Enhancement.

I do have a remake of CV2 on my bucket list, but I still have to go back and rebuild TheouAegis' GM8 engine demo into something usable for GM Studio.
And even then, I intend to do the remake of CV1 that I already have planned out first.
Plus, none of that is going to happen before I release at least one commercial game beforehand to help my income situation.