Topic: Castlevania Legends NES

[Sinis]

Figured that I would make a post in the Fan Section that surrounds my ROM hack as shocking it is to me that word spread this far of course too never thought it would get this much attention.

I do accept any and all criticism along with suggestions, ideas, and if anyone is interested donation sprite work for enemies and backgrounds.  I'm doing just fine by myself doing this stuff however if anyone wants to pitch in I'm all open for that.  The programmer on whoever I get in the future can see about having him/her make an extra section for credits in the game list those who helped or pitched in.  I don't plan on putting this on a cart so can have a lot of room for it however there are certain limitations so adjusting whatever it may be will have to be done.  If you do want to contribute please let them not be remakes of anything from Castlevania 3/Akumajou Densetsu as I'm changing a lot of things around to represent new enemies with hopes in the future of custom lessers and bosses (deeply crossing  my fingers for that one and will wait until doomsday for that to happen)


Now I know the first reaction to people is "Oh my gosh, its a ROM!  Why is that here?!?!"  Well, I've seen the old CoA float around on here ages ago and Sephrious, a gentleman that I'm doing ROM hacks with, posted the reboot (which I'm also part of for sprites) figured that there would be no harm in posting the progress that I'm going through to make this happen.  I was working on another Castlevania 3/Akumajou Densetsu hack, Vengeance on Hell 2, but there was a lot more calling towards Legends NES than anything else so I decided to halt stuff on VoH 2 (not cancelling) and focus entirely on Legends NES.

When this is 100% completed will I be posting the actual ROM up?  No I will not.  I will be posting an IPS patch link that can be followed to ROMhacking.net for everyone to download and enjoy.  The actual ROM of Akumajou Densetsu you will have to use your own abilities to find as I cannot tell nor show you on where to aquire them.  Since I'm posting outside of ROMhacking.net I will still follow their rules and guidelines alongside castlevaniadungeon.net so that way both sides of the spectrum are happy



So far on the project is:

Sinis: Sprites and Level Design
nesfan: Reference Track Composer
Sephirous: Simple Programming


Still trying to find someone in the future that knows all the in's and out's for ASM coding and 6502 assembly volunteer work to make changes happen without trying to hijack or steal the project.


I'd like to set the story in 1376, a hundred years prior to the events of Dracula's Curse.  I know this isn't exactly to how the GameBoy is but figured I'd set it in that giant black area where nothing was really going on for the Belmonts.  May change stuff around though originally had it as Sonia was the granddaughter of Simon Belmont then also felt that was too close to Juste.  Felt screw it and picked a year before Dracula's Curse.  I know this isn't canon nor do I want it to be official canon however still want to set it in an area that hasn't really been messed with



Info about the project

Early alpha testing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNjZMp2hPG8&t=60s

During a time when I was experimenting around with a Sonia sprite I accidentally created one night when tipsy on Angry Orchard.  Figured I'd roll with it while testing out boss sprites being made for the Cadence of Agony reboot.  Some time later someone asked me to post up a video in seeing of how Sonia is animated.  I was happy to show them in a private video now deleted however decided to show it off to the world alongside the Minotaur Boss for Cadence of Agony

Things took off from there in something that I didn't even remotely think about doing.  I joked about it here and there but then it became reality lol.



Stage 1, Abandoned Hillside Fortress https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjyyh5mUVnk&t=33s

Placed somewhere near the Deborah area.  I will adjust the location once I get, or find, a proper map that shows the entire area in detail so I can adjust things accordingly so that way people are not scratching their heads.



Stage 2, Deborah Cliff Mineshaft



No video yet but this is what I have so far.  Things are still being adjusted and sorted around to how I like it.  Seeing which things I like from what I make.  Colors are almost there as I'm trying to make things vibrant and pop out.  Stuff won't be plastered as to how you see the background from what it is right now.  Want to make it patchy with more stuff in the background with what limited space that is offered within the ROM itself via a program called reVamp.



Extra stuff

So far I have a new jump and death animation I'd like to have implemented in.  They still need to be adjusted but its something to go by right now.



More extra stuff will come later as right now I'm focusing on level design.



Sub Weapons

There will be the usual bit from Castlevania 3/Akumajou Densetsu however there will be a few extras added in.  I recently tossed the idea of having elemental attacks from Sypha's fire, ice and lightning converted over for Sonia to use as I felt there were too many sub weapons but seeing of how some close friends of mine want me to go for that aspect I'll keep the idea on the side.  The Vampire Killer whip fireball attack will be placed into the game but possibly as a sub weapon.  Depending on what the programmer knows I'll probably have it placed in as a third upgrade with the power of the dagger and if that is done the enemies will become stronger along with the bosses which was the original intention anyway as this won't be a walk in the park




This is about all that I have for now.  Stuff will definitely change in the future and I will keep this thread updated as much as possible alongside my other one back on romhacking.net forums

[X]

I see you got the thread started 

I look forwards to giving this game a play-through once it is finished. Although don't make it too hard. With everything there must be a balance. Good luck on your project, and even if it gets tough, don't give up 

[eryson]

Seems awesome.
Are these ropes planned to be added as an main feature? we'll be able to climb them?

[Sinis]

I see you got the thread started 

I look forwards to giving this game a play-through once it is finished. Although don't make it too hard. With everything there must be a balance. Good luck on your project, and even if it gets tough, don't give up 

Everything will be balanced accordingly so it won't feel impossible or a long stretch

Seems awesome.
Are these ropes planned to be added as an main feature? we'll be able to climb them?

Once I can get a programmer to implement them in they will function like those on the GameBoy.  I was going to keep the stairs in as well however the game recognizes only one feature to move up and down to access upper and lower sections of the rooms so the ropes will be the only function to move around alongside the doors.  The issue with the blocks won't be there like how the GameBoy is where you jump and get 'stuck' for a millisecond.  The biggest feature to add is the boss rooms and tie every level back to back by eliminating the forks in the road.  I still gotta talk and ask around for someone to add a save feature to that similar on Castlevania Chronicles.  That part will take the most out of everything as I don't want anyone skipping forward via the password screen

[Sinis]

Been very busy lately though slow progress is being made.  Still messing with Stage 2, Deborah Cliff Mine.  Its getting there







I'm not changing Sonia's look anymore.  Out of all my character sprites I've made she's the only one that's gone through the most changes so this is a final look for her.  No more

As for the stage, I have plenty of room left over and hit a creative point so I'll show that off when I get a video posted on YouTube.  Maybe another week or two, depending if real life still has a hold of me along with any future development for CoA and another hack called MetroidVania.  I know that I stated about posting up some sprites for the rope climbing in which I'll do that this weekend when I do make some time for it.  Started on it and its halfway done.  When I do want it implemented I'm going for 3 animation frames which extend into four like how the walk cycle does so it feels like an actual person climbing instead of it being mirrored however the attacks will share the same sprites from looking left to right which is fine as that's how Castlevania is anyway.


Someone asked if the pit arenas are going to be in the hack.  They aren't as that would cause things to overlap with other stuff.  Only thing that will be added at the end of each level is a boss room and that's about all for extra rooms.  Every time when I run into something I find space for more so this is going to be an interesting project once its done lol.

That's about the gist of things for now

[eryson]

Sonia's sprite is fairly good as it is.

[Sinis]

It is though people kept wanting me to change it constantly to their specifications in which I started to but then got tired of how it was beginning to become with all of the feedback so I redid it to an earlier concept and improved it a little.



Anyway, here's the rope climbing concept that I have.  Trying to make it fit into a certain area and dimensions as I'm going to utilize Grant's area for new animations or at least hope to since there will be no side characters.



I really could use feedback on any adjustments for this.  I'll get the rope attack sprites up either later tonight or tomorrow.



There is a ton of space that I can use for new stuff towards Sonia so going to take full advantage of it and seeing of how things are turning out the elemental stuff may actually be put in after all.  Gotta have something to turn on and use with the Select button 

[X]

Yeah you kinda get lost when you are trying to appease everyone's tastes. Stick to your guns and make the best damned Sonia sprite you can 

[Sinis]

Yeah you kinda get lost when you are trying to appease everyone's tastes. Stick to your guns and make the best damned Sonia sprite you can 

Will do



Not  much of an update but this is what is planned for now.





Really not sure if the game can handle some kind of special sub weapon attack though made the sprite for it anyway lol




On a side note.  I saw in the other post that people said there was a lot to edit in Castlevania 3/Akumajou Densetsu.  There's a lot of info and data to go through let alone sprites.  Been thinking about an idea for some time to show people on how to actually edit and go through Castlevania 3/Akumajou Densetsu for sprite, background and level editing.  I know you can do this for other ROM's as well but people seem to be so intimidated by all of the stuff in Castlevania 3 so I'll see about doing a tutorial series sometime to teach people about it.  Might make a personal discord channel for those that are interested as I don't know any wiki's to post that kind of stuff up on it





Unrelated to Legends NES.  Recently I decided to put my foot into Super Castlevania IV hacking that was suggested to me by a gentleman named bogaabogaa.  I looked and searched around online to the best of  my abilities to see if anyone was using the sprite for anything and found nothing so I'm going to use the Simon sprite in Portrait of Ruin for a base.  Never found an exact GIF size of it unless I looked in the wrong places though who knows.

Recreated it from a screenshot that I found.  I know it needs work and some redoing to go in appropriately (along with color adjustment for 16 bit) but this is what I have right now.  So if anyone knows if this is actual 16 bit please let me know and I'll adjust it accordingly with the appropriate amount of colors needed.  The whip colors are separate from the actual figure ones




Its going to be a long road as I need to teach  myself actual 16 bit spriting as freehand stuff isn't the same from what I know so I have to pay attention to everything more over than what 8 bit has.  Probably won't edit the levels until a better SC4 editor comes out but thanks to bogaabogaa I can actually do something with a SNES ROM

[theplottwist]

Unrelated to Legends NES.  Recently I decided to put my foot into Super Castlevania IV hacking that was suggested to me by a gentleman named bogaabogaa.  I looked and searched around online to the best of  my abilities to see if anyone was using the sprite for anything and found nothing so I'm going to use the Simon sprite in Portrait of Ruin for a base.

Actually yes, there is a fangame using this sprite:

http://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/index.php?topic=8201.msg182670#msg182670

This game looks unfinished, but I DID actually manage to find a link to a very complete version of it years ago. Anyway, I do think you'll be alright using it, dude Forget it, it wasn't this one. It was THIS one:

http://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/index.php?topic=7702.msg171575#msg171575

But I still think you'll be OK using it.

[Sinis]

I really should be fine using it since it is from Portrait of Ruin and the movements won't be exact to that one as this stuff has to coincide with Super Castlevania IV's Simon

[theplottwist]

Also, here is the sprite, if you still need it. I ripped it from the game.



I'd just urge you to change Simon's far arm. It's really badly done on this sprite, and animating with this EXACT pose makes for an awkward animation o_o

[Sinis]

Looks like I got some stuff wrong when I eyeballed it lol.  His arm is definitely going to be changed as once I got done with making mine I sat back and literally said "Huh..." about his posture.  Definitely going to keep his height normal though the SC4 one is a tad taller of about 6 pixels by the look of it though it will almost match up to the whip attack so that's a plus there.  A lot of trial and error is ahead of me that's for sure

[X]

I'd just urge you to change Simon's far arm. It's really badly done on this sprite, and animating with this EXACT pose makes for an awkward animation o_o

There is a bit more wrong with that sprite in general. I can see that not only is his arm a bit of a miss-match, it is also that his upper-body is too ridged and not bending forwards as we would normally see with someone who's throwing a forwards attack with all of their might. Plus I do believe this sprite was somewhat of a copy from Simon's original Castlevania cover pose and altered slightly which is why the arm looks off with the attack. IGA's team should've used the Chronicles Simon attack instead. It would have looked far less awkward.

[Sinis]

The torso I was going to scoot a tad forward at the waistline then make him look as if he's bending over slightly with the arm farthest out a little more.  Thought about trimming down the legs just a wee bit but not too thin like Richter's look.  I'll be messing around with it tomorrow as I'll be busy all day today lol.