/vr/ - Retro Games

>>5401383
>Are any of these worth it

Yes. The Castlevania Adventure hack is a must because otherwise it's too slow. The hacks of Simon's Quest are also quite welcome.

>>5401383
The 30th anniversary hack for Super Pitfall basically fixes everything wrong with the original and the graphic changes for once actually completely improves the game. it's the only time I've seen a complete overhaul hack ACTUALLY improve the game across the board.

OP here. Thanks for the replies. I'll go ahead and give these suggestions a try along with a few more I've been looking at. Been eyeing a few double XP/GP for a few RPG's as well as a lot of the bugfix patches.

>>5401383
Yeah some of them are fantastic. There are some really good fixes for 8 and 16 bit games, bug fixes and QOL improvements especially.
Often when games were released in the west the publishers made them 100 times harder and there are fixes for that kind of stuff too.

>>5401383

I have a bunch of silly shitty romhacks I downloaded back in 1997 that only work in nesticle that are fun to mess with like wheelchair mario

>>5401383
There are a few excellent ones but they get lost in the infinite sea of shit that is the rest.

>>5402658
Definitely leaning towards the left on that one. I want to avoid the right at all costs anon.

Super Mario 3mix is pretty amazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9rIGa9R9bE

OP here. Tried a hack that changes how Belmont jumps in Castlevania. It lets you control direction and eliminates the knockback when you get hit. Despite all the praise it gets, it seemed annoying to me. Having you jump height tied with how long you hold the button just throws the whole game off, because you'll never want to NOT do a full jump.

I agree with the above OP that hacks that change mechanics don't work or fit very well. Makes me wonder who has the authority there to say what is an "improvement" or not.

I play a lot of romhacks. I've never been into the "improvement" kind. I like things like platformers where people make their own levels etc.
I play a lot of kaizo mario etc.

>>5401383
The best ROM hacks are some of the best video games ever made. The freedom from traditional level design ideas allows them to present games that represent the "deep end" of video gaming and in my opinion are more satisfying to complete than mainstream games, and sometimes more so than the original game they are based on.

>>5401383
Check out the various romhacks at the v recommended page: https://vsrecommendedgames.fandom.com/wiki/NES/ROM_Hacks this exists for most systems.

The best romhack I've ever played is Mario Adventure. If you're a SMB3 fan you need this in your life. Pretty great game with 4 random states in each level (mid day, night, rain, snow with ice physics). It's a very well known romhack for a reason.

>>5403175
You're awesome anon! I'll check it out!

Jap CV3 is much less of a hassle to enjoy.

All thats needed are those 2 hacks:

Improved Controls https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/3596/

and

Akumajou Densetsu - Localization / Title Screen Redone
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1983/

guys pls help i downloaded mario maker 64 a few months ago and i think i made a really good level and would like to upload it somewhere and start making more but when i try to copy the file it doesnt let me. pic related is what the save folder looks like. idk why it has the lock on it since im the administrator. my only guess is since i did not run in administrator mode my save files are stuck in limbo (which would suck) until i can figure out how copy and paste them but its not letting me do that and its really annoying. i ran in admin mode once after all this happened and the locks arent there but when i open the folder the save files arent tere either, it acts as if its a totally new emulator.

>>5402981
pls help

>>5401383
Only one I ever did was Breath of Fire II, which honestly makes the game feel like a late SNES rpg with its fancy menus and VWFs and stuff. You can comprehend the plot too. It was always a shame how badly localised that game was so I don't see why you wouldn't use that hack nowadays.

Secret of Mana I always felt was decently localised but the translation's meant to be simplified from the Japanese version - intrigued by its retranslation, but it's probably autistic enough to get rid of fun stuff like 'Rabite gets whacked!' for crits.

A lot of Squaresoft games can be left alone, their retrospective translation quirks make them. The Enix/Quintet games might be worth a look - Terranigma is great in places but needs odd bits of script reworded as some stuff sounds weird, also Robotrek is a mess. Both could use new fonts. 7th Saga is another game worth looking at/restoring from the Japanese version - have played balance hacks that restore its values, so how about a translation/edits hack?

>>5403203
Why is that second patch needed?

Shameless self shilling

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjj6Nm17OZE

http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/3638/

Rom hacks are for real gamers

>>5403962
imagine creating this hack and someone stealing it and literally selling it as a repro...
hahaha- now that's comedy.

>>5404032
Not much of a comedy, since the guy took out the repro after a single gentle e-mail sent to him.

Not everyone lives in a world of trolling and rage like you do.

>>5404035
why are you defending repro guy?

>>5402660
If you upload them, I might be able to fix them for normal roms.

>>5403906
>Secret of Mana I always felt was decently localised but the translation's meant to be simplified from the Japanese version
It was only "meant to" be that in order to fit it into the tiny text boxes he had to work with. The translation was very rushed and pretty poorly worded.

The game has been properly retranslated for the remake now anyway.

>>5404032

I helped someone with a romhack and actually just bought the repro of it from aliexpress. pretty cool to have a cart of something I spend a lot of time on.

>>5403015
care to give some examples

>>5403203
OP here. Anon, I tried the control hack. Is it a pain for you to have to hold the jump button continuously to make a full jump instead of just tapping it? Or does the ability to change direction and limited knock back make it worth the hassle?

Hacks that add SRAM saving to a game, or replace passwords with SRAM saving, are usually direct improvements. While it can possibly be argued that the games weren't designed with saving originally are somewhat broken with the addition of a save feature, I feel more games would have had save features if it didn't add to the cost of a cart. I consider it a massive QoL improvement since I don't have to input those fucking passwords(looking at YOU Metroid), or find enough time to sit down and play through Ninja Gaiden or TMNT from beginning to end.

Hacks that remove slowdown are usually direct improvements. Be it changing a SNES game to use faster ROM chips like with Super GnG or Arcana, or changing a GB game to take advantage of the GBC's faster CPU like with Super Mario Land 2, or even hacking the game itself to make it more efficient like with Super Pitfall. In many cases, the end result is superior to the original.

Hacks that do proofread fixes are usually direct improvements, unless you really like some typo. A winnar is you I guess.

Hacks that seek to improve graphics are a mixed bag. Some are decent, some are acceptable, some are bad, some are garbage.

Hacks that seek to improve gameplay are a mixed bag. Removing excessive grind for example can be good, sometimes the changes trivialize the difficulty of the game.

Hacks that seek to improve the colors of games are a matter of opinion most of the time.

>>5404534
Official hacks that remove disk saves and replace them with password are usually direct uninprovements.

>>5404037
>>5404035
Personally, there's a lot of ROM hackers and most are insufferable. Since there's only around 5-10 repro-douches any really knows of, seeing the former screwed over is more entertaining than the amount of energy spent on repro-douches.

>>5404832
There are many assholes in the ROM hacking community, but repro sellers are scumbags by definition. It doesn't even compare.

>>5404832
Are those the guys who replace Mario's sprite with a phallus or something?

>>5405817
Nah it's usually Princess Peach nude edits.

>>5404534
SMB3 really could have used a save game feature but it was too fucking expensive.

>>5405817
>>5405827
>using ROM hacks from South American or Eastern European guys
You deserve what you get.

>>5402658
You haven't seen proper hacks anon.

Pretty interesting one is Binary City, hack of Battle City + mechanics of Binary Land. Masterfully done!
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/569/

Is there a better program than Lunar out there for rom patching?

>>5401383
SMW Kaizo hacks are pretty good.

>>5406408
gpw is just twitch content supported by other circlejerk streamers

>>5406416
I suppose you're right, Personally I'm a fan of Super Ryu World but GPW is so popular i decided to make a webm of that instead..

>>5406150
Yes.

>>5406150
Why?

>>5404215
nah it would start shit flinging that I don't want to bring into this thread, find them on your own

>>5403015
>The freedom from traditional level design ideas allows them to present games that represent the "deep end" of video gaming and in my opinion are more satisfying to complete than mainstream games, and sometimes more so than the original game they are based on.
>>5404215
He's obviously talking about Kaizo Mario hacks. Hence why he backed off real fast when you asked for specifics.

>>5406886
I would say it's not so much about the hack being better but it's the idea behind an amateur modifying a game and creating something that's fun to play. For instance you expect the developers to create something somewhat fun but when your expectations are low like with a hack and it actually exceeds those expectations it creates "more" enjoyment for a game you already like simply because of the shock. What's more impressive "Cristiano Ronaldo taking a soccer ball from a 12 year old and scoring" or "12 year old taking a soccer ball from Cristiano Ronaldo and scoring" you get what i mean?

>>5402660
>nesticle
Oh man I really miss that one, first emulator I ever played. The best thing about it was it had a built in tile editor, you could play around with changing the sprites on the fly as you were playing.

Anons, anyone tried to use this hack?
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4386/
I patched my no-intro rom, and tried to run on multiple cores on Retroarch and even higan but it doesn't work, you chose Story or Arcade Mode and it simply plays the intro cut scene again...

if wish there were more cut content restoration hacks since some games desperately need it

>>5406886
>He's obviously talking about Kaizo Mario hacks.
I am not. However, there are several very good Super Mario World hacks that are better than or equal to the original game depending on your point of view. Yes, some of them are quite challenging and I would expect you to be a seasoned platformer player before tackling them, but when you are at this level the satisfaction gained from completing said hacks, particularly if done on real hardware via flash cart with no save states, is much greater than completing vanilla SMW (which I did as a child and considered an achievement at the time, hacks bring back some of that feeling).

Is there a place where I can download a pack with prepatched SMW hacks? I want to try out a bunch but can't be bothered.

>>5408483
oh nononono
ABSOLUTELY NOT

you may possess such hacks, you may discuss such hacks, you may play such hacks publicly on twitch for moneys without any worry, but share hacks? no NO NO!!!!!!!!!! unless of course you play our ips game haha

>>5401383
I would gladly play a romhack that "hacks" out the stupidity of the American version of ninja gaiden and castlevanias last level no continue silliness.

Ok guys name your top 5 hacks

Only just thought about playing ROM hacks this weekend
>Super Mario Land 2 DX
>Pokemon Crystal Clear
Got these 2 already
Either give us your top hacks or at least top games you would want hacked
Then we can see if theres anything available

>>5402978
>who has the authority there to say what is an "improvement" or not
the player

Why..

>>5408571
Sounds broken as fuck.

>>5408483
Yeah, the depot or smokemonster's rom packs. One you can easily find through google, the other you can easily find by following links in the sticky.

>>5408552
this.

The player is already the one who decides whether a game's mechanic is fine or needs improvement. I personally use quality of life fixes on a game, the ones that don't modify gameplay mechanics, unless it's a game I'm really familiar with.

>playing a rom hack billed as an enhancement
>aw yes, nice balance changes to make the difficulty harder
>also added more content that was removed from the base content, sweet
>but then the plot has been altered to be about some character no one heard of
>and then you see the hacker's self-insert
>tfw

I WISH THEY WOULD FUCKING STOP WITH THIS SHIT, IT WOULD HAVE LITERALLY COST THEM $0.00 TO KEEP THE GAME AS IT WAS WITH NO FANFICTION SHIT BUT THEY DID IT ANYWAY

>>5408862
I just wish they could make a hard mode Final Fatasy Tactics hack without fucking shit up

>>5408749
I always wondered, is it a straightforward process to make color hacks of GB games? Of course colorizing sprites would be trickier than the backgrounds, since then you'd need to define a specific 8*8 sprite to have one color, or worse yet you need to draw a new sprite to overlay over the character and then program it. I'm sure the hack you shared does quite a bit of sprite overlaying, the GBC was quite similar to the NES in how it handled colors, only difference was that you had more colors to choose from and background tiles could be colored in 8*8 increments instead of 16*16.

>>5408594
Thanks I'm downloading one of these. Then I realized I still have this old pic which includes a working link with prepatched hacks.

>>5402658
most romhacks are shit, though Rockman 4 Minus Infinity is a fucking masterpiece

>>5408862
>>5408870
make your own
thats part of the whole idea

>>5408928
is it easy? I'm a full brainlet

>>5408896
if you like minus infinity, you should try out Rockman 4 BCAS as well. It's a fantastic hack all around.

>>5408495
That "hack" is called the save state function of your emulator.

>>5409008
>he doesn't play romhacks on his EverdriveN8

>>5406416
I mean, yeah, it is. But when you're learning kaizo it's nice to have a wide array to play.

>>5409023
some flashcarts also support save states

>>5408884
It's not. The author of Super Mario Land 2 DX was a frequent poster in /rhg/ before it died off and basically said that he had to reprogram large swaths of the game. Said the same thing about For the Frog the Bell Tolls which he is also working on colorizing.
It makes sense. GameBoy games had only two palettes. One for sprites, one for everything else, so getting the various shades of brown, blue, and green in the third screenshot of SML2DX wouldn't be possible without reprogramming.

>>5402658
Depends. 90% are shit like everything, but there's at least one out there that will click for someone.

>>5410885
oh sure 90% are bad, but 90% of nes games are bad

>>5410903
Like everything, as stated.

>>5402658
Translations belong on the right.

>>5402658
Hey now, sometimes overhaul hacks can turn out to be pretty amazing. Hyper Metroid is an excellent example.
But for the most part you're right.