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Sweet Home: OHR Ver.
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Welsh




Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 32

PostPosted: Tue Dec 31, 2013 6:52 pm    Post subject: Sweet Home: OHR Ver. Reply with quote

I've been toying around with the idea of an OHR version of Sweet Home for about 2 years. It's a Capcom horror game released only in Japan for the Famicom, and served as the base for Resident Evil.



OHRRPGCE in-development screen:



Anyone interested in helping out? Three people, myself included, are already working on the translation. We could use a hand with graphics, palette updating and scripting.
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TMC
On the Verge of Insanity




Joined: 05 Apr 2003
Posts: 3240
Location: Matakana

PostPosted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 6:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow, so you're doing a new translation rather than using the existing one(s)? How come?

Looks like you've done a good job converting the tiles to 20x20, but why not use the original palette*?

* Maybe someone will tell me that colours on the NES can not simply be converted to RGB triples? It's not a problem I'm familiar with, but I've heard of it. Still, colours in that screenshot looks significantly different from the screenshots I found on the web.
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Welsh




Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 32

PostPosted: Thu Jan 02, 2014 2:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Wow, so you're doing a new translation rather than using the existing one(s)? How come?


Because the scenario is incredibly detailed and the game system is a masterpiece. The Resident Evil team borrowed elements from it for the first four games. Moreover, the fan team responsible for patching the ROM were restricted by space, so they had to cut a lot of text and abbreviate. I also managed to obtain some notes on additional scenes, dialogue and events that got cut due to the limitations of the Famicom. I want to include those, as well.

Quote:
Looks like you've done a good job converting the tiles to 20x20, but why not use the original palette*?


Thanks, but not that good a job. I just stretched the 16x16 tiles. What I plan on doing is updating the 20x20 tiles with additional colors to match the artwork. And redesign most of the game based on artwork.







Quote:
* Maybe someone will tell me that colours on the NES can not simply be converted to RGB triples? It's not a problem I'm familiar with, but I've heard of it. Still, colours in that screenshot looks significantly different from the screenshots I found on the web.


That's right. I plan on updating the master palette with the original colors as a base, then adding additional colors later. Right now, we're just working on getting the game up and running on the OHR using placeholders for various things. So, if anyone is interested, please let me know. The project will probably take a year to finish.





EDIT/

Here are some screens with the original palette.









Last edited by Welsh on Fri Jan 03, 2014 10:22 am; edited 1 time in total
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TMC
On the Verge of Insanity




Joined: 05 Apr 2003
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 9:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You seem to be pretty dedicated, so I hope to play this some day.

Ah, right, now I see that the tiles are just stretched. I didn't look at the walls closely before so thought everything was stretched by hand.

So when you say "redesign most of the game based on artwork," you really mean redrawing much of the graphics, or at least adding details as possible? Is that largely just out of the necessity of converting to 20x20 tiles?
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Welsh




Joined: 17 Nov 2008
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 10:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
So when you say "redesign most of the game based on artwork," you really mean redrawing much of the graphics, or at least adding details as possible? Is that largely just out of the necessity of converting to 20x20 tiles?


Yeah. I started porting everything over about a year ago, then abandoned the project due to the 20x20 stretching. But now that I've obtained the artwork, the additional four pixels can be used to improve the quality. In addition, the OHR offers a wider variety of colors. Think of how the original Final Fantasy was ported over to various platforms.

The OHRRPGCE is a great engine, and I've been testing it every few years with ports like Resident Evil and Clocktower.

Prototype and V1



Here's an old V1 video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnLV214_Y08

V2








V3 before cancellation



Clocktower



I started an additional version of Resident Evil 2 with 40x40 isometric tiles and characters using 3D backgrounds scaled down, and it looked fantastic, but putting everything together was just too much. And I couldn't get the battle system right.

For Sweet Home, I'm looking for one or two pixel artists, someone to convert music to midi, and a programmer.
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TMC
On the Verge of Insanity




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PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 5:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ah yes, I remember that!

It might help to mention that nightly engine builds have the experimental, highly incomplete, and hidden option to change the resolution. Assuming an original resolution of 256x224, and since you're converting from 16x16 to 20x20 tiles, the corresponding scaled up resolution with the same number of tiles on-screen would be 320x280. Some day I would like to support tiles with sizes other than 20x20 too...

Personally I would avoid MIDI (since it sounds different on different computers/OSes/devices); I imagine module formats like .xm would work well for an adaptation of NES music.
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Welsh




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PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 12:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll avoid using midi then. Thanks. You seem to have a pretty good understanding of the engine. Do you mind if I ask you a few general questions about building maps?
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On the Verge of Insanity




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PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 7:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

James and I are the currently active programmers working on the OHRRPGCE; I guess I don't really make that obvious. I'm happy to answer any questions.
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Welsh




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PostPosted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 5:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's great. I'll send you a PM in a few days. Thanks.
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Bob the Hamster
OHRRPGCE Developer




Joined: 22 Feb 2003
Posts: 2526
Location: Hamster Republic (Southern California Enclave)

PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 7:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It wouldn't hurt to ask here in the thread, then maybe we can both help :)
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Welsh




Joined: 17 Nov 2008
Posts: 32

PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 12:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Perfect. You guys interested in signing up as advisers?

First, with plotscripting, what are the chances of being able to character zap. In other words, have the option in the menu to switch back and forth between 5 characters in different positions on different maps. I know it's probably difficult, but its a key feature in the game. Would a vehicle script work?

Second, is it possible to make a bridge that the player can pass under, and go over top without walking off the side?

Third, is there a way to increase the length of item names? Eight characters isn't enough. For example, the item "fire extinguisher" can't be abbreviated well. I might have to make a separate menu using plotscripting.

Fourth, the battle menu is first-person perspective. This can be accomplished using animated backdrops. I read somewhere that the battle menu is now customizable. Do you know the new features off hand? Can you adjust the position of the menu?

And fifth, the walkabout characters and some of the environments are animated with 3 frames. For example, lightning flashing and water. There are a few ways around this. I've been considering NPCs. Is there an better way?

Thanks.

EDIT/

In addition, I could never figure this one out. But I've heard there's a way to use multiple master palettes for various things. But every time I import one, it just copies over the previous palette. If it's true, this feature could greatly enhance any game. How does it work?
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Bob the Hamster
OHRRPGCE Developer




Joined: 22 Feb 2003
Posts: 2526
Location: Hamster Republic (Southern California Enclave)

PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 1:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Welsh wrote:
First, with plotscripting, what are the chances of being able to character zap. In other words, have the option in the menu to switch back and forth between 5 characters in different positions on different maps. I know it's probably difficult, but its a key feature in the game. Would a vehicle script work?


This is possible. JSH357 did it pretty nicely in Motrya Chapter 2

Do each of the 5 characters have to maintain separate inventories? That is the only hard part.

Welsh wrote:
Second, is it possible to make a bridge that the player can pass under, and go over top without walking off the side?


Yes, I did this in Wandering Hamster (although not in a place that is current reachable in-game). If it is a small bridge of just a few tiles then the easiest way will be with the "write map block" and "write pass block" commands.

If it is a big elaborate bridge, you might need a more complicated approach, maybe messing with hidden layers and using zones.

Welsh wrote:
Third, is there a way to increase the length of item names? Eight characters isn't enough. For example, the item "fire extinguisher" can't be abbreviated well. I might have to make a separate menu using plotscripting.


Longer item names is a feature I would like to implement eventually, but it will not happen soon.

You might have to script your own inventory with menus. Pepsi Ranger did this in Entrepreneur, and I feel like I have seen it in another game too, but I can't remember the name.

Welsh wrote:
Fourth, the battle menu is first-person perspective. This can be accomplished using animated backdrops. I read somewhere that the battle menu is now customizable. Do you know the new features off hand? Can you adjust the position of the menu?


The customization of the battle menu is still rather limited. You can do things like removing "item" or putting the weapon attack somewhere other than the first slot, or adding attacks directly to the menu. Unfortunately you cannot reposition the menu.

Welsh wrote:
And fifth, the walkabout characters and some of the environments are animated with 3 frames. For example, lightning flashing and water. There are a few ways around this. I've been considering NPCs. Is there an better way?


You can make 3-frame animations with animated maptiles.

Welsh wrote:
EDIT/

In addition, I could never figure this one out. But I've heard there's a way to use multiple master palettes for various things. But every time I import one, it just copies over the previous palette. If it's true, this feature could greatly enhance any game. How does it work?


I don't remember. It is not a feature I have ever used myself.
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Welsh




Joined: 17 Nov 2008
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 1:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks James. I'll look into that.

Quote:

This is possible. JSH357 did it pretty nicely in Motrya Chapter 2

Do each of the 5 characters have to maintain separate inventories? That is the only hard part.


They do in the Famicom version, but I'll worry about that later.
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TMC
On the Verge of Insanity




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PostPosted: Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bob the Hamster wrote:
Do each of the 5 characters have to maintain separate inventories? That is the only hard part.


Note that they can be saved and restored to an array of global variables with the 'iteminslot', 'setiteminslot', 'itemcountinslot' and 'setitemcountinslot' commands.

Welsh wrote:
And fifth, the walkabout characters and some of the environments are animated with 3 frames. For example, lightning flashing and water. There are a few ways around this. I've been considering NPCs. Is there an better way?


3 frame walking is possible and not too difficult, but I couldn't find any script to do so posted anywhere except for this one which I certainly don't recommend using.

Welsh wrote:
EDIT/

In addition, I could never figure this one out. But I've heard there's a way to use multiple master palettes for various things. But every time I import one, it just copies over the previous palette. If it's true, this feature could greatly enhance any game. How does it work?


You can only use one master palette at a time. Switching between palettes in-game (using 'loadpalette') affects everything. It's useful only if you want different scenes in the game to use different master palettes, or possibly for night and day sceens. Even then, it's not too practical for anything other than animations using backdrops, as otherwise you would have to create separate 16 color palettes for hero walkabouts and anything else that would appear in both scenes. It's really not a terribly useful feature.

From the Master Palette menu (in General Game Data) you can append a new master palette. (The "current active editing palette" is the active one in Custom; you would change between different active palettes to work on graphics for different scenes.) When you import and tileset or backdrop with a palette not matching the master palette you're also given the option to add it as a new master palette.
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Welsh




Joined: 17 Nov 2008
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 08, 2014 7:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
3 frame walking is possible and not too difficult, but I couldn't find any script to do so posted anywhere except for this one which I certainly don't recommend using.


Why not?

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll look into your suggestions.

I have an immediate issue. I redrew the box edges, but I can't get them to appear in game. This was never an issue with the previous version, so I'm probably doing something wrong. I need the new edge to appear as default on text boxes and the main menu. Any suggestions?











It should look like this.



Thanks.
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