/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.940415]

What games have the potential for being hacked into even greater versions?

pic related

I've always thought SOTN was just far too easy. It's such a great looking and sounding, with a great variety of items and enemies, but it all ends up feeling a bit empty because there's no real platforming challenges, and the bosses can be defeated so quickly you never even have to learn their patterns. Even when trying to artificially increase the difficulty by playing through in luck mode, or "naked alucard" mode it gets easy again after 30 minutes.

If PlayStation hacking gets more common in the future I dream about someone doing a complete overhaul of this game, and making it so that the player has to really work to get the good items, and puzzle out where to go next. Something like the hacks of Super Metroid known as Redesign and Eris.

[Anonymous No.940419]

>>940415

I agree. I've thought about the same thing too. It could be entirely done through just changing stats. Curve Alucard's absurd stat growth. Increase damage and enemy HP. Provide a nice balance to it.

[Anonymous No.940423]

basically any game can be improved

[Anonymous No.940430]

You know what I'd like to see changed in SotN? I'd love it if the magic and hearts system were unified like in later Metroidvania games. I always thought managing two sets of consumables was a bit cumbersome.

Also, why the fuck could Alucard not use a normal boomerang cross?

[Anonymous No.941781]

>>940430
>Also, why the fuck could Alucard not use a normal boomerang cross?

That's just his playstyle. Belmonts can use it as a boomerang or an item crush. Alucard don't play that.

[Anonymous No.941802]

Just so I don't have to start a new thread about this, what's /vr/'s opinion about the Saturn remake?

I happen to get it off a lot of saturn games, but is it worth hunting down the PS1 version instead? I hear Saturn has a little slowdown, but some extra features.

[Anonymous No.941809]

>>941802

>"I understand why fans who've never played the Saturn version would be interested in those features, but I really, really don't feel good about them. I couldn't put my name on that stuff and present it to Castlevania fans." – Koji Igarashi, June 2007, on the Saturn port.[40]

I agree fully. The new areas, sprites are mostly half assed and not worth it. They were made by a b-team and not the main team that made the game. look up the new areas on youtube. The new enemy sprites look cartoonish.

Slowdown, technical limitations of the saturn, etc. Bad port. Don't bother with it. Best versions are:

>JP Konami the Best re-release. PS1 version with bug fixes and very minor differences
>PSP port: Most complete package.

[Anonymous No.941818]

>>941802
The Saturn version is not a remake, it's a port of the Jap version with two added locations and a Maria mode based on Richter mode.

The Western version lacks familiars and some items. The definitive SotN is Nocturne in the Moonlight, i.e. the Japanese original. New locations in the Saturn version are qutie worthless, Maria mode is silly, and, most importantly, visuals in the Saturn port are inferior and loadings are longer.

The PSP update has badly scaled sprites, and retranslation is dumber than "What is a man", because it takes itself sos eriously. Maria mode is O.K., but nothing special.

[Anonymous No.941829]

>>940415
I already wrote in one of SotN threads about how I play it: I hack Alucard's stats early on so that he'd die in 2-3 hits, or 1-2 strong hits. I also hack his MP so that he'd only have enough for 1-2 spells. Use any memory editor you want, catch the max HP variable and change it to, like, 5 at level 1. You will have to adjust it a few more times, though, because level progression in SotN is so retardedly quick.

When played this way, SotN actually has you dodge enemy attacks, learn patterns - as opposed to rushing everything, including bosses. Bosses in particular become challenging, becuase 2-3 hits and you're toast, and bosses in SotN are designed to land, like, dozens of hits (with you still surviving normally, for fuck's sake).

[Anonymous No.941832]

>>941818
>The definitive SotN is Nocturne in the Moonlight, i.e. the Japanese original

Actually the definitive version is the JP PS1 re-release under the Konami the Best brand. I've read that it includes bug-fixes, and very, very minor new things. I can never find an iso rip of this though. I don't know if the later PS1 JP releases are based on this version, but I presume they are.

http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps/196885-castlevania-symphony-of-the-night/data

For some reason gamefaqs removed the code data, which sucks.

[Anonymous No.941872]

- Make enemies stronger, especially their attacks.
- Stronger bosses, they're usually quite easy.
- Increase enemy quantity in some areas.
- Make Alucard a little weaker, or some items a little stronger. I never use those javelins, magic arrows, etc. I would like to use those, but there's never a good reason.

Those could be easily made into a simple patch by someone with enough skill. And it would make the game a lot better.

[Anonymous No.941875]

>>941872
Making enemies strong is the same as making Alucard weaker, you know. The exact same thing.

[Anonymous No.941887]

>>940415
Wasn't there someone who is doing just that? I remember having seen a thread somewhere where this one guy remade all the boss fights to be harder, as well as some other stuff. Progress was understandably slow so after some following I did not bother to check for updates.

It seems he has found some help and updates this blog every now and then: http://sotnhacked.wordpress.com/

[Anonymous No.941897]

>>941887
Well, for now he seems to have changed his plans from romhacking to recreating the game in gamemaker...

[Anonymous No.941904]

ahh you might be interested in a permanent level 1 run. this code makes your starting level 99 with level 1 stats, so you can't level up. it makes equipment actually mater, but doesn't make the game stupid hard either. you'll never have enough mp for soul steal. it also saves.

[Anonymous No.941909]

>>941897
>>941887

His whole thing is too much. It's not legal since he's remaking and porting the game to PC. All the game needs is some stat tweaks for balance issues.

>Reduce Alucard's stats and stat growth
>Tweak weapons to fix
>Fix the broken weapons and equipment

[Anonymous No.941914]

>>941904

Very interesting. I wonder however if it would make it too hard. Has anyone done a full playthrough with that? I wonder if his damage output would just be too low.

[Anonymous No.941923]

SOTN was born to be easy simply because of how many different ways to power yourself up there are. Even if you make it fuckballs hard there will always be some overly-useful ability that makes it cake or, if all else fails, just level up until you're powerful enough to kill anything.

If you were going to make a hack to make it harder but still make the game fun and playable, you'd need to reduce the number of abilities in the game and perhaps take out the leveling system altogether.

[Anonymous No.941929]

>>941914
i have. the whole game felt legit almost like it was intended to be the default difficulty. its so strange to have leveling+equipment in sotn. killing bosses still increases your max health too. the only catch is that you have to be decent with richter in the demo fight to start with 25 mp (to pass the mist barriers)

[Anonymous No.941949]

>>941929
>. the only catch is that you have to be decent with richter in the demo fight to start with 25 mp (to pass the mist barriers)

And there's no way of increasing MP? No item that reduces MP usage?

[Anonymous No.941952]

>>940415
Play through it with the HP-showing-thingy off and all Alucart equipment.

[Anonymous No.941953]

>>941875
There's a difference between "Increase their stats" and "Make them smarter".

[Anonymous No.941957]

>>941929
Wouldn't it be smarter to just shark Alucard's max MP to what it needs to be?

[Anonymous No.941964]

>>941949
I don't think so? Theres one that increases the mp regain rate.
>Alucard's starting MP is affected by which Special Weapon you are
holding when Dracula dies. No weapon is worth 20 MP, a Holy Water is worth
25 MP, and a Cross is worth 30 MP.
yay

>>941957
no that sounds pretty lame

[Anonymous No.941969]

>>941887
the guy got a job and quit that project. the castlevania dungeon has quite a few people passionate and reasonably talented game makers/hackers. though the site mirrors the franchise and atrophying to the point only the hardcore maintain the slightest interest anymore.

[Anonymous No.941979]

>>941964
also im bored enough right now to do the run again

[Anonymous No.941992]

>>941875
It is similar, but it is NOT the same thing. One basic but huge difference is that making one enemy stronger makes that one enemy stronger. Making Alucard weaker will make EVERY enemy stronger by the same rate.

[Anonymous No.942068]

>>941979
>>941964

Is it possible for someone to just upload a save with that? I don't know how to work PS1 cheats.

[Anonymous No.942078]

>>941904
Could I patch this into an ISO, burn it onto a disk and play it on my Playstation? If so, how? Haven't dealth with anything like this before.

[Anonymous No.942090]

>>942078

It''s not a special patch. It's a code. It would use something like Action Replay or game shark on a real console. You can do this in emulation too.

Someone COULD make a patch that automatically turned this code on though. That you could burn.

[Anonymous No.942498]

bumping.

[Anonymous No.942527]

>>941904

Can you make a save with that and then upload it? Would that work? I don't know how to get cheats to work in ps1 emulators.

[Anonymous No.942563]

>>940415
if i were to hack the ps1 SOTN, i'd add the saturn map, items, familiars, playable characters, etc. and also, give the other 2 playable characters a storyline.
i dont care if its too easy or not.
i'd play it like i play saints row or gta: its not about the mission, just goin around doin other stuff, listenin to some tunes

[Anonymous No.942765]

>>941929
>i have. the whole game felt legit almost like it was intended to be the default difficulty. its so strange to have leveling+equipment in sotn. killing bosses still increases your max health too. the only catch is that you have to be decent with richter in the demo fight to start with 25 mp (to pass the mist barriers)

I just tried it. I get zero exp, and I'm level 1. However, when I killed the first two bosses I "leveled up". But it still shows my Level as 1. Is this supposed to happen?

[Anonymous No.942828]

>>942765

Here's my stats. This is very curious.

Most enemies don't seem to give me EXP as it should. But bosses and certain larger enemies always level me up. But I get like 1 HP bonus. Bosses give me more. Somehow I'm doing something wrong.

[Anonymous No.942837]

I actually have the sprites, music, ... ripped from the game. I program for a living and my dream is to develop a game. Spent much time learning the ins and outs of it, but never can quite find the time to start a full-fledged project. I would do this, but I just can't find the time right now. If anybody's interested, I can zip it up and dump it onto my Dropbox.

[Anonymous No.942848]

Playing SotN on Richter mode adds a bit of a challenge, although obviously it strips away a lot of what makes the game great.

[Anonymous No.942850]

>>941904

More details on how to get this and set it up, please.

[Anonymous No.942971]

>>942850

30097BE8 0063
80097BEC 0000

Try that code. PCSXR has a built in cheat funcition. No bothering with ePSXe.

Level 99 with level 1 stats.

Use the Cross for + 5 MP in intro so you can later use mist. You need 25 or the game can't be properly beaten.

[Anonymous No.943090]

>>941887

The guy running that project was a massive faggot whose inability to take criticism ruined it from the start. He insisted on making the game his way, maintaining that SotN needed to be improved by sticking to the "true Castlevania" style of linearity and minimal special items. He refused to allow anyone else to write code, QA, design, contribute anything besides sprite rips, etc, etc, etc. Just read the blog, the autism is overwhelming.

Anytime a member of the community contradicted or disagreed with him, he'd spend two hours concocting a massive wall of text and immediately ban them.

Predictably, he gave up on the project and now masturbates to gay furry porn full time.

[Anonymous No.943102]

>>941802
Already been said but it's junk. It's like 2 new areas (one is actually a hallway connecting two old areas), tacked on music and technical problems. I borrowed it form a friend after he imported it, and ended up returning it to him the same afternoon (ripped the music cd though).

[Anonymous No.943113]

I would love to see a really fleshed out version of SotN with *dun dun* reverse versions (mirrored) of the castle and inverse castle. Palette swap the areas and enemies, boost their stats and have some creative names. Give it 15-20 hours of additional gameplay and I'd throw cash at it.

[Anonymous No.943125]

>>943090

The whole premise was wrong. Too much work, too much stuff to do. Not even legal. All SoTN needs is some stat tweaks. Not a full remake.

[Anonymous No.943212]

>>942971

Using this code.

But each time I beat Dracula I have 20 MP. You say 25 is needed to activate Mist? What do I have to do to get 25 MP?

[Anonymous No.943213]

>>941964
>No weapon is worth 20 MP, a Holy Water is worth
>25 MP, and a Cross is worth 30 MP.

That seems wrong though. Regardless of what I use, I get 20 MP.

[Anonymous No.943218]

>>940415
There's documentation about SotN on romhacking.net, as well as a viewer started by one guy. But it's doubtful he'll ever finish a full editor, so someone else will have to do it.

[Anonymous No.943227]

>>943125
The premise of remaking SotN is not wrong, because now that Castlevania is dead, people need to take it upon themselves to make new games of that style. Just like when 2D Metroids died, the Super Metroid hacking scene exploded.

[Anonymous No.943297]

Currently using this code. Gives me these stats. Level 99 and can't earn exp. Some other anon said that you need 25 MP to pass barriers with mist, but I don't know about that. If I keep going like this then it means the game will become unwinnable. Normally what you do during the Dracula fight determines yoru stats, but this doesn't seem to be the case anymore. I can't find anything online that confirms Mist usage.

http://www.mediafire.com/?pa3le5l7936f53j

Here is a link to the memory card. First save. You can use it in emulators that don't have cheats. Be warned that the game may become unwinnable. Someone should upload a version with 25MP.

[Anonymous No.943337]

Remember when CV Metroidvanias got made? That was a pretty fun time.

[Anonymous No.943351]

>>943337
And probably never again after Mirror of Fate bombed. My hope would've been Konami seeing the success of Shadow Complex and even recently Rogue Legacy that they would get a clue and have Iga do a proper 2D Castlevania and put it up on PSN/XBL for download.

[Anonymous No.943376]

>>943337
By "metroidvanias", did you mean aciton/rpgs or something?

[Anonymous No.943380]

>>943125
>All SoTN needs is some stat tweaks.
True. But SotN is so dull yet so full of potential that a simple controlled difficulty increase can actually make it into an entire new game.

[Anonymous No.943382]

>>943380
>But SotN is so dull

[Anonymous No.943390]

>>943380
>SotN is so dull

[Anonymous No.943393]

>>943382
Shush, grownups are talking.

[Anonymous No.943414]

>>943297
im the guy that originally posted the code, but i might as well. would have helped all you guys but i slept.

>>942828
only tried it on usa copy. uploading a 25 mp save anyways

[Anonymous No.943420]

>>943414
heres the level 99 with level 1 stats, and 25 mp save.
http://www.mediafire.com/download/s4jo7fo8szfy3d9/sotn_lv1.mcr

[Anonymous No.943431]

>>943420

Thanks.The only thing is whether the 25 MP is needed. I tried using Mist on a few "Mist could pass" doors in another save, and it didn't use 25 MP.

[Anonymous No.943437]

>>943420
How does it play? Is it Contra-like after a while, i.e. everything 1hks you? Does it end up in bosses taking hours to beat or does the equipment fix that?

[Anonymous No.943441]

>>943420
Crap, it doesn't work on the jap version.

[Anonymous No.943443]

>>943437
>How does it play? Is it Contra-like after a while, i.e. everything 1hks you? Does it end up in bosses taking hours to beat or does the equipment fix that?

I beat the first set of bosses. So far really easy. I'm only missing out on maybe 2-3 levels, so I doubt it makes that much of a difference. I am waring full equipment (leather/cloth quality) and enemies can do 8-ish attack. Most aren't a hassle Cthlulu can kill me really easily.

Sub weapons are still over powered. Holy Water or Saint ashes will demolish most enemies who stand still.

It will probably get harder as the game goes.

>>943441

Yes, I also tested that. Likely a completely different code is needed. Would have been really nice to use with the Konami The Best version.

[Anonymous No.943448]

>>943437
think of it as "normal" difficulty. equipment plus still getting the hp ups from defeated bosses keeps it from being silly. you could choose to not use equipment if you want legit hardmode.

also another fun note, alucard being level 99 means your familiars will never get stronger than level 1.

[Anonymous No.943898]

>>943393
Complaining about the lack of difficulty in a game is actually not a very grown up thing to do.

[Anonymous No.943951]

>>940415
if you want reduced stats just use the X-X!V''Q code seriously

[Anonymous No.943967]

>>943951
That's only harder at the start. Once you get the Baselard you'll be dishing out critical hits pretty often, and you'll have good chances at good stuff with the 129 luck.

[Anonymous No.943992]

>>940415
Well I'd say Super Metroid but its ALREADY been hacked into superior versions.

[Anonymous No.944007]

>>943951
This and no armor fist only run.

[Anonymous No.944084]

>>943951
>>944007

I'm OP.

These are both cakewalks, and I specifically mentioned them in my original post.

>lrn2read

[Anonymous No.944260]

Funny how everyone seems to love SotN but there's no viable editor for it (just a viewer). Usually 2D platformers which are highly venerated tend to get them, but part of it may be the PS1 platform.

[Anonymous No.944561]

Not to hijack the thread but what's the best set up of emulators/settings to play SotN?

[Anonymous No.944578]

>>944561
>Not to hijack the thread but what's the best set up of emulators/settings to play SotN?

http://emulation-general.wikia.com/wiki/PlayStation_Emulators

The emualtor you use doesn't need to have cheats as well. The saves posted above are stats hard coded to the save, and can be transfered to any emulator.

[Anonymous No.944579]

>>944561
It's 2d,so it works fine on anything.

[Anonymous No.944609]

>>944579

Mednafen, or PCSX-R with GPUbladesoft is recommended.

[Anonymous No.944908]

>>944578
Oh great, /v/ and /vr/ are always recommending PCSX-R and yet it's only mid-high on accuracy and some others are high accuracy.

[Anonymous No.944915]

>>944908

PCSX-R (latest svn) is fine for casual play. The accuracy rating is dependent on the plugin too. GPUbladesoft is high accuracy. People also like enhancements, which it gives. Although that page lists the drawbacks of that.

[Anonymous No.945543]

>>940415
I would love to see more ocarina of time/majoras mask hacks.

[Anonymous No.945553]

>>945543
Maybe some megaman legends hacks, that game has a lot of potential for that.

[Anonymous No.947940]

The hearts are still TOO big for this game even with the level 1 hack.

You start with 50 and can collect more hearts. Should probably start MUCH lower.

[Anonymous No.948009]

Currently my equips.

I am going to remove these though. This weapon and armor is just TOO powerful. I got a crit on the Doppleganger for 41 points, and it took a third of his health. Everything else goes down too fast too.

[Anonymous No.948309]

>>948009

Still breezing through things. Bosses can't stand a chance. I'm even thinking I'm holding back, since I'm not using knuckles or knives.

[Anonymous No.948335]

>>948309
>>948009

Hearts is one thing I'd change. Starting level should be 10-15. Sub weapons need to be less powerful too.

I'm using Alucart sword right now and loving it.

[Anonymous No.948367]

>>948335
>I'm using Alucart sword right now and loving it.

Adding Alucart sword to list of weapons that are OP.

Got to the Werewolf and Minotaur. First game over. Going to rethink this equipment layout.

[Anonymous No.948382]

>>948367

Beat them. Spammed Summon Spirit to win.

Got the shield rod.

confirmed that you need 25 MP to pass barriers. Sigh. Going to restart.

[Anonymous No.948474]

if you never use sub weapons, you'll have an empty icon spot instead. I don't think theres a way to empty it once you get one, so at least there's proof of that type of run.

outside of permanent level 1 and no sub weapons, the only way to balance the game would be no equipment or possibly editing the all equipment's stats to similar.

[Anonymous No.948490]

also something else worth mentioning, we should find out exactly how the starting stats work, and how to get the lowest while still starting with 25mp.

[Anonymous No.948556]

>>948474
>if you never use sub weapons, you'll have an empty icon spot instead. I don't think theres a way to empty it once you get one, so at least there's proof of that type of run.

green axe armours can drop the axe sub-weapon, and i think those huge liquid-filled vials still contain subweapons even without the cube of zoe, but dont hold me to that, its been a while.

[Anonymous No.949763]

Replayed. Got past that, almost done the first castle. Just on "cleanup" duty. Here's my stats.

[Anonymous No.949769]

>>949763

Here's my equipment.

I specifically did not pick up any Heart bonuses, as a means of limiting myself. Even still, I can just demolish bosses. The low HP is the only thing.

Wait, when did my HP become 185? I don't remember that. Is there really that many Health vials? Or did something get screwed up? Before, by casting shield rod spells I somehow made my attack much higher. I had to reset.

[Anonymous No.949935]

>>949769

[Anonymous No.949958]

>>949935
seems normal. I actually died once to richter the first time on my level 1 run because I was so used to killing him fast.

keep in mind that memorization will still make the game easy, regardless of the type of run you're going. even nude alucard's moveset can be too good in my opinion

[Anonymous No.949972]

>>949958
>seems normal. I actually died once to richter the first time on my level 1 run because I was so used to killing him fast.

My fairy had to use a Life Apple on me in that fight. Richter dishes out a ton of damage. Switching to Holy Mail helped. But the bosses still don't have enough HP.

The low HP is the only challenge. I've died a few times to bosses. In the inverted castle now. Medusa was a cake walk. That +10 Con really helps. I remember on previous playthroughs that the inverted castle will kick my ASS hard, and I needed to level up several times to be able to deal with it. I'll see how ti goes.

[Anonymous No.950430]

>>941809

The Saturn could run the game fine, it was just programmed a bit clunky that prevented it to be good, REMEMBER the Saturn is a 2d Console

[Anonymous No.950437]

>>950430

>could

Yeah. It's just a shitty port.

[Anonymous No.951239]

>>950437
Its got some graphic issues and all around its just not as pretty, but I wouldn't say saturn version is shit or anything. That run ability itself was a great addition.

[Anonymous No.951240]

>>951239
>That run ability itself was a great addition.

I'm curious. What is that?

[Anonymous No.951253]

>>951240
relic that lets you run when you double tap forward, so you don't have to backdash everywhere. although now that I just booted up the game, i forgot that in order to use the map you have to hit the menu and then press L to load it. kinda sucks

[Anonymous No.951258]

>>951253

Is the animation any good? The port seemed rushed. Is there a video demonstrating the animation?

[Anonymous No.951261]

>>951258
its a faster walking animation

[Anonymous No.951263]

>>951261
>its a faster walking animation

I knew it! I knew they wouldn't make a proper new animation.

[NESfag No.951473]

>What games have the potential for being hacked into even greater versions?

I think Mega Man V on NES is the weakest NES MM game; yet the stages had the potential to have really great level design possibilities but which remained un-used (just think of what could be done with Gravity Man's stage for example).

That is one of the reasons why I decided to make a romhack of MMV. Progress has been going steadily recently (slowly, but surely), I'm about to finish the 10th stage (out of 16 including 2 very small ones).

Pic related, my Napalm Man's stage.
Had to resize the picture so here is a link for full size pic : http://postimg.org/image/tstbkf153/full/

[Anonymous No.951508]

>>951263

Well Alucard is kinda already running in his walk animation...

[Anonymous No.951649]

>>951473
Looks good except for the lowest, leftmost room. The spikes are ass.

[NESfag No.951674]

>>951649
Considering you have to slide either from the left or the from right to go down that screen it's almost impossible to fall directly into the spikes; and in case you're going into their directions you have enough time to see them coming and change your direction while falling.

and the following spikes during the scroll with the rockets going towards you are fine and make avoiding the rockets more interesting

[Anonymous No.951714]

>>943898
That makes no sense at all, congratulations on being the epitome of child-retardation.

[Anonymous No.951720]

>>951473
>That is one of the reasons why I decided to make a romhack of MMV. Progress has been going steadily recently (slowly, but surely), I'm about to finish the 10th stage (out of 16 including 2 very small ones).

I'm going to make repros of your rom hack and sell them for maximum profits while including manuals for MM2 and box art with screen grabs from the MM NT anime.

[NESfag No.951793]

>>951720
Expect that I was already planning on making repros of them and sell them for the prices they cost to make+shipping without a single cent of profit

which also includes versions with a manual and box if the people want them

you tried that trolling in that other thread and it already didn't work