Putting marks in the map shall be possible to remember the places which are of interest.
Well, if they're dots, some people would have a tendency to mistake those for items. Unless you put a "P" on the map for Points of Interest [and not items].
A simple idea that would make playing all the bigger hacks more beautiful:
Putting marks in the map shall be possible to remember the places which are of interest.
I... hmm. I like this idea, I'm just not sure how much work would have to be done to make it happen. Honestly I may take this on as an ASM project after Aegis--a reworking of the map system. If I do I'm sure it'll be done before, uh, 2020.
Of course Kejardon will probably start and finish one before I finish typing this post.
tomatobob: Why are you so limited? Is it that difficult to imagine a suitable text-edit feature which can be controlled by a SNES- controller?
Acheron86:
Well, that's the problem with Hack-makers. Such a simple feature seems to be to difficult to be implemented. That's why nothing innovative will come out (but nobody expects it to be, I suppose).
Simple marks without a text-feature would also do not bad job.
Anyway, I wish you fun and luck with your project as long as you love it.
An SNES controller is one thing the SNES is another. What you are suggesting would seem take a lot of work to get functioning properly on a Super Nintendo, people who make ROM hacks often have real life things to take care of and thus are not likely to have enough time to get through the necessary hacking before they lose interest.
As for why I'm "limited," maybe what I think the Super Nintendo's limits are is incorrect, I'm not a hacker and I haven't really looked into it so I wouldn't know for sure, but there's only so much one can make the system do.
I 'unno, all things come at a price, and the price of making the "dream game" is too steep for most of us. Desire and potential are always limited by time, something we never seem to have enough of...
Anyway, saying hacking isn't capable of innovation leaves me with little recourse. I'll admit the limits of using an outdated game engine can be frustrating at times, but to say that it's not going to be inventive or intriguing... that sort of argument is just opinion. I know that there's a lot of people just on this board who like SM hacks, I know people are excited about the one I'm making, I know that I'm doing things that weren't done in the old SM that haven't been done in any hacks yet. A lot of people are happy with that amount of innovation. Granted I could be making a whole game from scratch but like I said I don't have the time in my life to learn how to do all of that.
Anyway, maybe you aren't meaning to sound as harsh and judgmental as you are, it's probably a language barrier thing, so I'll leave it alone and just say the same the same thing to you as you've said to me: best of luck on your project. I look forward to the finished product; if you can deliver on the claim that it blows away the SM control scheme, I'll be the first to congratulate you on it.
Tomatobob: You've got the right idea about that kind of hack, it's doable but probably seriously time-consuming... would have to set up a cursor pointing system (maybe not too hard) for the map, would have to set up some sort of memory storage for a map marker (probably a pain in the neck). It'd require a fair amount of familiarity of ASM (the SNES' programming language) and that's something I only have basic knowledge of.
I wouldn't be surprised if one of the better SM hackers has already put this sort of function into one of their hacks-in-progress, it's probably not the hardest thing to do, but for most of us it's a beast.
To make one thing clear: Everything I say here, no matter how it sounds, is always meant friendly and constructive.
As for creating such a 2D dream-game. The only thing you need to know is basics in a programming-language like C++ and just how to draw sprites to your screen. It is just an illusion C++ is hard to learn. It is very easy and logical (of course it is).
The main thing is ideas and imagination and planning the game-design here. These things take the real time.
The thing about making a ROM hack or a new game entirely is you have to put the people into consideration, and trying to think what might be in their best interests, or else what might be good enough to reach them [in this case, it's the newly made graphics and sound]. Time on the other hand, well, it's not like you can do the job 24/7, and blow off nine hours of sleep on a job. There's always tomorrow to do it, and there's always at least a few people that can hold the patience for even months until it's out.
If I want to create a game then first for the sheer love for it, that may be the difference to the commercial products.
You don't waste your time thinking it might be out in a few months because you love your idea. Only after that you think others may love it or not. If you are really convinced the idea is great you will realise it anyway, no matter many others will play it then or not. Of course it will be better then if many people like the game because you want to share your game idea with fans.
Aegis has been at about a 80%-90% completion state for a while, with mostly just music and some tweaking needed. However some wise SM hackers/players have helped me decide to go ahead and re-tool a lot of the areas/tilesets to REALLY give the game some flavor. Moreover, I'm seriously contemplating adding a significant amount of new rooms into the hack.
As Aegis is now it is about 1.2 times the size of the original SM. However it is also much less linear, so it's not as hard to play through it quickly. I could restrict that linearity of course, but everyone knows my stance on SBs by now and I'm not going to change this late in the game. One of my favorite hacks is SM:Redesign, in large part because the game is just HUGE and you really feel like you're exploring an endless planet. I wasn't planning on making Aegis anywhere near its size since Aegis is my first full hack that will see completion and I thought I'd keep it simple, but in many ways I'm very pleased with the progress of this project and I think it's worthy of a more robust effort on my part.
In other words, I'm leaning strongly towards making several new tilesets/areas for Aegis, deep within the planet. Right now the game is mostly either above-ground or in ships, which has limited my design opportunities... this would allow me to both make the game much larger (let's say 2 times as big as the original SM) and get much more creative with item placement. At the same time I'll ensure there's multiple paths into the new areas (this is how things are in the rest of the hack anyway) and it won't be artificially longer if you're wanting to speedrun the game.
Anyway, I'm looking for input, as always. I can set the project back another few months and really flesh out the hack, or I can just tidy up this one and start anew. I think I'd be happier taking the long approach and making the hack as good as it can be, but I don't want to do so if you (the players) aren't going to enjoy that extra work enough to warrant it. I also don't want people to feel like I'm Duke-Nukemizing this project... I have no desire to postpone this forever, but it probably looks that way with the constant pushbacks and setbacks it's seen (some of which were of course out of my hands).
That seems to be a good update. For the first play, it shouldn't make players really map desperate, but Sequence Breaking, hell, you can probably make five different routes. GFX redesigning, if it's meant for the sole purpose to add to the environment and the gameplay itself, it's probably worth haggling off for another one or two weeks (depending on how fast it can go). 16-bit video engines aren't really hard to deal with anyway, so it should be a cakewalk.
And. . . can we see what the edited title screen looks like?
its a way to make aegis better (so imo thats good) and if you are happy doing so then just go ahead. one problem is that im gonna be driven insane by the longer wait
but yea go ahead with it its a good idea to make a game longer (as long as the tilesets arnet boring and that the planetary areas have a more structured look then thats fine )
I'd say you should take a bit longer and put more work into it if thats what you want. The only thing holding you back is fans that want to play it, but this is a project and it should be completed as saw fit. If it can be better, make it better, if you have ideas still worth making, make them.
I speak only for myself of course, but I say take your time if it means a better game. I'd gladly wait if it meant more surprises and coolness. It's not like my desire to play this hack is going to fade if I have to wait longer.
I speak only for myself of course, but I say take your time if it means a better game. I'd gladly wait if it meant more surprises and coolness. It's not like my desire to play this hack is going to fade if I have to wait longer.
Well, the more the merrier seems to be the fit phrase explaining it. If you decide to hold off to make it better, that's alright.
Yeah, Aegis is officially on a "done when it's done" schedule, meaning I'll release it when I feel like I can't make it any better. Thanks for the input and patience, guys.
Quote from J-SNAKE:
A small suggestion which might be fine:
If you could realise the stand-aiming system Contra3-like, may be players won't regret it once quickly accustomed to it.
Of course only if it meets your interest. :-)
I would probably be garroted if I tried this. Actually I'm a big fan of SM's physics/controls, although I've made one or two cool modifications with help from another hacker you all know. I wish I could tell you all but he/she swore me to secrecy. (Maybe.)
Anyway physics/control changes annoy me and I think most hack players here agree that you can't teach us old dogs new tricks, or at least we won't like it.
Quote from playerman1230:
And. . . can we see what the edited title screen looks like?
Heck, you don't need my permission. Go right ahead!
Oh, you want me to post it. Pfffffffft. Maybe when I'm not at work.
Quote from Gaius_4:
About the music. How much of it have you either replaced or added or (possibly) "tweaked"?
I use my sweet piano skills and a midi OUT to write the music. Don't worry, it's not all piano, I'm just using what's most convenient for me. Anyway it doesn't exist in a game format because of instrument limitations but I believe with some help I'll be able to remedy that eventually.
I leave in three days... the only thing I'm bringing is my laptop, so depending on how things go Aegis will be looking much better within the next four weeks. Maybe I'll make a teaser video again, maybe not. Bwahaha!
Acheron86: Ok, then not if you are that convinced. Is there a logical reason for it in your eyes or are you just accustomed to SM-controls? We can discuss it in my thread (if it is more suitable), if you are interested or just stop it right here. Like you wish of course.
Acheron86: Ok, then not if you are that convinced. Is there a logical reason for it in your eyes or are you just accustomed to SM-controls? We can discuss it in my thread (if it is more suitable), if you are interested or just stop it right here. Like you wish of course.
I figure, if you're playing an SM hack, it should either be mostly similar to the old game in gameplay or radically different. Minor changes to physics/controls aren't a bad idea... until you consider that your hack is one of like twenty different ones that people will want to play. Then, making the same game engine control differently in each hack becomes an annoyance. I'd likely feel different if I were developing my own engine but I have neither the time nor the knowhow to do that.
Anyway it's nothing personal but I think the controls have a certain old-school appeal and I'm not going to take that away from the other players who share that perspective with me. I won't argue that it could've been better in some ways (what couldn't be?) but it's what we've had and grown up with, so I don't feel a need to change horses this late in the race.
Oh look at that, a horse analogy, I bet m2k2 hasn't had one of those yet.
And of course if people reaaaaally want to try a different aiming schemata they're free to apply Kejardon's Control Freak patch on top of other hacks, I'm pretty sure that works for almost anything.
Ahh, I understand, just like I thought. I know the feeling to be fixed to the good old times. Then alright, progress seems to go well since some await a release soon, hope you still have fun developing it.
