Megaman PCE thread

[BigusSchmuck]

Good Job. Glad to see you back.

Thanks Good to be back

I wonder...there's tons of very capable Megaman hacking utilities out there...would it be possible to patch the internal nes binary with one of the hacks? I know you had to reorient a fair amount of things in the nes binary, is that correct? Or is the nes code fairly untouched?

I just think the possibilities to port over the better Megaman hacks to pce (not to mention the ability to create new ones) with remixed music and/or graphics has TONS of potential.

Yeah, using existing hacks is very doable. I don't hack much of the rom to begin with (less than 0.01% or so if you compare it against just the code of the rom, i.e. excluding graphics/maps/sound/data/etc), but if the rom hack someone made was above and beyond what the editors do.. that is to say they did ASM hacking to the rom and not just graphics/sprite/maps, then I'd have to do a little more port opcode hunting down. But with my tool I made, it makes that much easier. And so yeah, even with an ASM hack it's doable. But traditional hacks are cake (usually no modifications needed). I have Dragon Warrior running on PCE CD (it was the very first nes2pce game I did) and after it was up and running, I took Sliver-X's hack of Dragoon Omega and applied it to the rom. It worked perfectly.

Even though I've never been a huge fan of Megaman (not that they're bad games though), I'd love to see a clone game, especially so if it's two player. 

As for an original game, I've though about two player mode. A four player mode would be hilarious, but complicated for balancing. Anyway, I thinking that maybe the two players could share the same life and weapon energy bar, and if either player dies they have to restart. Something along those lines.

Dragon Warrior? You are my hero, I always wondered if someone was going to port that over to the pce/turbo eventually.

[Keranu]

Even though I've never been a huge fan of Megaman (not that they're bad games though), I'd love to see a clone game, especially so if it's two player. 

Likewise. Hell I like the clones more than Megaman itself!

[FraGMarE]

Likewise. Hell I like the clones more than Megaman itself!

I'm sorry, but I must disagree.  Shockman couldn't shine Megaman's shoes.  The best thing they ever did with the Shubibinman series is turn into a hack-n-slash platformer with Shubibinman 3... now *THAT* was an awesome game.  Shubibinman2/Shockman just seemed... subpar in comparison to the enjoyment and overall style of the Megaman games.  Especially Megaman 1-3 on the NES... those games are the stuff of legend.

The music for the first Wily's Castle level is quite possibly the most spine tinglingly nostalgia inducing 8-bit music track ever created:

(Mega Man 2 OST, T17: Wily Fortress).

[VestCunt]

Shockman is an average game with big pluses for music and two players. What killed it are the slow, boring stretches of auto scrolling and the half-assed shooter segments. It feels like they had a good game in the works and then someone jammed the Gradius demo from Blades of Steel in the middle of it.

[Arjak]

The music for the first Wily's Castle level is quite possibly the most spine tinglingly nostalgia inducing 8-bit music track ever created: https://youtu.be/aTbfpkByIM8

*Shivers* Damn, that song kicks ass! Capcom's early work is the stuff of legends!

[BlueBMW]

I listen to a lot of video game music but the only stuff I regularly listen to from the NES era is the soundtracks to the original Mega Man games.... some fantastic stuff they did with so little to work with.

Of all mega man music, this one is one of my favorites.  I just love it at about 6 or 7 seconds... (Mega Man 5 OST, T12: Napalm)

[TheClash603]

It feels like they had a good game in the works and then someone jammed the Gradius demo from Blades of Steel in the middle of it.

Now that's what we call metaphor folks.  Hah.

[TurboXray]

The music for the first Wily's Castle level is quite possibly the most spine tinglingly nostalgia inducing 8-bit music track ever created: https://youtu.be/aTbfpkByIM8

*Shivers* Damn, that song kicks ass! Capcom's early work is the stuff of legends!

It's a great track (check out the remix

.. ignore the second song in that video).

[ParanoiaDragon]

Shockman is an average game with big pluses for music and two players. What killed it are the slow, boring stretches of auto scrolling and the half-assed shooter segments. It feels like they had a good game in the works and then someone jammed the Gradius demo from Blades of Steel in the middle of it.

Exactly, it's gotta be one of my favorite chip soundtracks ever.  There's really not alot you can do in the game though.  They really should've either made it more Contra'ish, by adding weapons  you can switch out, or Mega Manish by earning new weapons as you proceed.  It's a very subpar game in general unfortunately.

[Drakon]

I donated 30$ usd to the author so far.  It would have been more but me and my girlfriend literally just bought our first house.  Once we're more settled I'm sure I'll pump some more money into this.  2 player megaman would be so awesome.  However I'm not going to start making requests I'm just happy that this even exists, the idea of megaman 2 with cd audio makes me giddy enough already.

I think I'd rather have the cd audio be synths and computer generated instruments rather than live stuff.

[Marll]

The music for the first Wily's Castle level is quite possibly the most spine tinglingly nostalgia inducing 8-bit music track ever created:

I can listen to that track over and over, such a good tune.

A debate that friends and I have had about game music is how as the music got better in games over time (subjective I know) it has lost something, feels almost soul-less while the older 8 and 16 bit stuff is just awesome and inspiring. Early CD games also have that quality I think, I can easily conjure up tunes from 8 and 16bit games in my head, as well as music from games like Ys I&II, while a modern game I couldn't tell you what the music sounds like at all to be quite frank.

[esteban]

So with that in mind, I was thinking about making a megaman type of game (clone) for the PCE. Feedback?

This makes a lot of sense to me. I am sure there would be a lot of support for this (from us, at least).

SO, YES, DO IT!





Now, I know that it is difficult for folks to agree on what artistic direction a MM-clone for PCE should take (it's your baby, after all). So, I'll give my 2 cents, but you don't have to humor me (I won't be offended).

2 cents
You should make a clone, but with a twist. I wouldn't change the mechanics (since they are the essence of MM), but I would love for the PCE clone to exist in a TOTALLY DIFFERENT cosmos. Again, I'm talking aesthetics only. Stage design and enemy behaviors can mimic the original game. I hate to be lame, and I know there is the very real fear of "turning off" fans of the orginal, but would a cute medieval reboot of MM be interesting? Take MM's sterile high-technology and make it crude, gritty, and rusty. Iron, canvas, dirt, sand, leather, stone, timber...

Oh crap, I don't like this idea.

Just make sure our hero is a kick-ass lady (a young witch?) instead of a generic dude in a blue suit and I'll be happy. Yes, I'll trade one cliche for another.

IGNORE ALL THIS CRAP I WROTE. What I really want is Mega Man set in the Bonk Universe. Bonk has the organic cute world I love, but it mixes in some technology. Crude prehistoric technology. Awesome. But that doesn't solve your IP (intellectual property) dilemma. OH WELL.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Just because it's set in the Bonk universe, doesn't mean that Bonk or the Chikkun's have to exist, it could be a Bonkish styled world.

[esteban]

Just because it's set in the Bonk universe, doesn't mean that Bonk or the Chikkun's have to exist, it could be a Bonkish styled world.

You are absolutely correct. I don't need the Chikkuns.

BONK-STYLEE* IT IS!

ASIDE: Does anyone here remember Musical Youth and Yard Stylee? I was just listening to my old singles (33's & 45's). Good times. In my defense, I was only 8 when I bought the damn thing.



BACK ON TOPIC: Bonk-stylee.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Ofcoarse, another way to go, would be to use Zonk in Bonk's world, since he's a bot like Megs.

[Sadler]

Ofcoarse, another way to go, would be to use Zonk in Bonk's world, since he's a bot like Megs.

I was just thinking the same thing! Without walking sprites that's probably a pain in the ass though. Actually probably a pain in the ass either way. But damn it'd be cool!

[SamIAm]

What about Zonk in Zonk's world? That makes the most sense to me.

Hey Bonknuts, I'm very excited about Mega Man 2. Your port of the MM1 was the first time I ever properly played that game, and the same will hopefully be true of MM2 soon.

[Sadler]

MASSIVELY OFF TOPIC: The more I think about this, the more I think this would be the perfect homebrew hommage to TG fans. We got jacked late in the system's life. Air Zonk was amazing, but SAZ and Bonk 3 (including the CD) were such a let down. Just imagine a platforming Zonk game Megaman style. You could have shooting stages like Air Zonk, throw back stages in the Bonk universe, etc. It could be so, so awesome!

[TurboXray]

MASSIVELY OFF TOPIC: The more I think about this, the more I think this would be the perfect homebrew hommage to TG fans. We got jacked late in the system's life. Air Zonk was amazing, but SAZ and Bonk 3 (including the CD) were such a let down. Just imagine a platforming Zonk game Megaman style. You could have shooting stages like Air Zonk, throw back stages in the Bonk universe, etc. It could be so, so awesome!

I admit, I also thought of Zonk when Bonk was mentioned in this thread. Especially when you consider the different weapons you get in Air Zonk. It's like a Megaman Shmup, in a way. Zonk in a megaman platform style universe sounds decent.

 So, I've been kicking around the idea of multiplayer mode some more. 1-4 player modes; 2 player co-op, 2 player competitive, 3 player competitive, 4 player competitive, 4 player as two 2player teams competitive. In competitive mode, you compete for score. More enemies come out and you don't share resources (life or weapon energy). You're given a fixed amount of lives and no continues. But you can purchase additional lives using your 'score' points (at the time of death) and rejoin right back in. At first, I thought doing a mutiplayer mode would be hard to balance the original game design, but if the focus of the goals relative to the game are fairly different - then I don't have to worry about balancing 1 player design with multiplayer design. Matter of fact, I could add additional changes to the stages and such for multiplayer mode.

 4 player mode would be taxing on the sprite scanline limit ( four 32x32 sprites is half the bandwidth for the scanline and then add in bullets and enemies - ugh). I could limit the bullets to one at a time, per player. That would be 12 out of 16 cells per scanline. Or alternate the bullets between two frames (some games do this) so you can shoot two at a time. There's definitely gonna be some flicker though in some instances.

[BigusSchmuck]

MASSIVELY OFF TOPIC: The more I think about this, the more I think this would be the perfect homebrew hommage to TG fans. We got jacked late in the system's life. Air Zonk was amazing, but SAZ and Bonk 3 (including the CD) were such a let down. Just imagine a platforming Zonk game Megaman style. You could have shooting stages like Air Zonk, throw back stages in the Bonk universe, etc. It could be so, so awesome!

I admit, I also thought of Zonk when Bonk was mentioned in this thread. Especially when you consider the different weapons you get in Air Zonk. It's like a Megaman Shmup, in a way. Zonk in a megaman platform style universe sounds decent.

 So, I've been kicking around the idea of multiplayer mode some more. 1-4 player modes; 2 player co-op, 2 player competitive, 3 player competitive, 4 player competitive, 4 player as two 2player teams competitive. In competitive mode, you compete for score. More enemies come out and you don't share resources (life or weapon energy). You're given a fixed amount of lives and no continues. But you can purchase additional lives using your 'score' points (at the time of death) and rejoin right back in. At first, I thought doing a mutiplayer mode would be hard to balance the original game design, but if the focus of the goals relative to the game are fairly different - then I don't have to worry about balancing 1 player design with multiplayer design. Matter of fact, I could add additional changes to the stages and such for multiplayer mode.

 4 player mode would be taxing on the sprite scanline limit ( four 32x32 sprites is half the bandwidth for the scanline and then add in bullets and enemies - ugh). I could limit the bullets to one at a time, per player. That would be 12 out of 16 cells per scanline. Or alternate the bullets between two frames (some games do this) so you can shoot two at a time. There's definitely gonna be some flicker though in some instances.

What if you went the Arcade card route? Would that help with the flickering?

[Sadler]

I'll take a stab at this. The arcade card is basically huge amounts of memory. It doesn't do anything for the VDC, so the flicker would remain even with an arcade card.

[CrackTiger]

MASSIVELY OFF TOPIC: The more I think about this, the more I think this would be the perfect homebrew hommage to TG fans. We got jacked late in the system's life. Air Zonk was amazing, but SAZ and Bonk 3 (including the CD) were such a let down. Just imagine a platforming Zonk game Megaman style. You could have shooting stages like Air Zonk, throw back stages in the Bonk universe, etc. It could be so, so awesome!

I admit, I also thought of Zonk when Bonk was mentioned in this thread. Especially when you consider the different weapons you get in Air Zonk. It's like a Megaman Shmup, in a way. Zonk in a megaman platform style universe sounds decent.

 So, I've been kicking around the idea of multiplayer mode some more. 1-4 player modes; 2 player co-op, 2 player competitive, 3 player competitive, 4 player competitive, 4 player as two 2player teams competitive. In competitive mode, you compete for score. More enemies come out and you don't share resources (life or weapon energy). You're given a fixed amount of lives and no continues. But you can purchase additional lives using your 'score' points (at the time of death) and rejoin right back in. At first, I thought doing a mutiplayer mode would be hard to balance the original game design, but if the focus of the goals relative to the game are fairly different - then I don't have to worry about balancing 1 player design with multiplayer design. Matter of fact, I could add additional changes to the stages and such for multiplayer mode.

 4 player mode would be taxing on the sprite scanline limit ( four 32x32 sprites is half the bandwidth for the scanline and then add in bullets and enemies - ugh). I could limit the bullets to one at a time, per player. That would be 12 out of 16 cells per scanline. Or alternate the bullets between two frames (some games do this) so you can shoot two at a time. There's definitely gonna be some flicker though in some instances.

What if you went the Arcade card route? Would that help with the flickering?

It can help for animating parallax instead of using sprites in places, but the raw sprite limit cannot be surpassed by anything short of moving to SuperGrafx.

[CrackTiger]

Although I'm not so sure about a Zonk themed Megaman clone, I threw this together for fun.

[ParanoiaDragon]

Cool!  I feel like his head needs to be bigger, though quite as big as Bonk's.  I don't recall if either game ever has him standing on one side or the other.

Other Turbots we could include are Bravoman & Veigues

[TailChao]

If it's four player and going to borrow characters why not Mega Marny, Run Marny, Jump Marny, and Suck Marny.

[hoobs88]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Turbo-Duo-Rockman-100-Complete-RARE-PC-Engine-Megaman-Capcom-/321014077843?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item4abdee1993

What's up with this?

[BlueBMW]

That is some gougers trying to make a buck off of the bootleg copies that were made without permission.

All in all.... fuckery

[VestCunt]

That is some gougers trying to make a buck off of the bootleg copies that were made without permission.

All in all.... fuckery

Nay - SKULLfuckery.

All the more reason to set up a donation fund for a Bonknut's Mega Man clone.

[BigusSchmuck]

That is some gougers trying to make a buck off of the bootleg copies that were made without permission.

All in all.... fuckery

Nay - SKULLfuckery.

All the more reason to set up a donation fund for a Bonknut's Mega Man clone.

I second that motion.

[Bernie]

Well well well.....  Look at what we have here..  As for the above eBay item for that insane asking price, I messaged the seller..  Here is what I sent..

You do realize, that I sold this very game to you a few months back, with a very detailed description letting the buyer know is was not a legit release, AND was a CDr game, not a pressed CD.  If you do not remove this listing or at the very least give a more detailed description, I will be reporting this to eBay.  It is unfair for you to try and take advantage of someone that is ignorant of the item in question.  Also, this is not a RARE game, the item can be bought for WAY less than your insane Buy It Now price.  http://sapphire.anime4ever.de/ 

I thought the name sounded familiar when I clicked on the auction, he just bought this from me towards the end of the summer, and paid about what I paid for it.

[hoobs88]

Well well well.....  Look at what we have here..  As for the above eBay item for that insane asking price, I messaged the seller..  Here is what I sent..

You do realize, that I sold this very game to you a few months back, with a very detailed description letting the buyer know is was not a legit release, AND was a CDr game, not a pressed CD.  If you do not remove this listing or at the very least give a more detailed description, I will be reporting this to eBay.  It is unfair for you to try and take advantage of someone that is ignorant of the item in question.  Also, this is not a RARE game, the item can be bought for WAY less than your insane Buy It Now price.  http://sapphire.anime4ever.de/ 

I thought the name sounded familiar when I clicked on the auction, he just bought this from me towards the end of the summer, and paid about what I paid for it. 

Are there more of these available at a reasonable price?

[Keith Courage]

Download it here wayback://pcedev.wordpress.com/downloads-and-links/.

But if you really want to buy one and support a con artist then this guy has them  http://sapphire.anime4ever.de/

[hoobs88]

Download it here wayback://pcedev.wordpress.com/downloads-and-links/.


But if you really want to buy one and support a con artist then this guy has them  http://sapphire.anime4ever.de/

I tried to contact him but kept getting an error message (something about default client setting) so I googled that error and still wasn't able to fix it.

[Bernie]

hoobs, try another browser.  I just tried it and was able to download it fine with FireFox.

[hoobs88]

Find PC Engine Homebrew on Facebook.

RELEASED
CRASH : Mindrec : Action
HUMPBALL : Mindrec : Action
IMPLODE : Mindrec : Puzzle
INSANITY : Aetherbutt : Action
LOOP : Mindrec : Puzzle
METEOR BLASTER/DX : Mindrec : Action
MYSTERIOUS SONG : Frozen Utopia : RPG
PROTOCADE : Aetherbutt : Action/Compilation
TONGUEMAN'S LOGIC : Chris Covell : Puzzle
ULTIMATE RALLY CLUB : Orion : Driving

UNDER DEVELOPMENT
ATLANTEAN : Aetherbutt : Action/Shooting
BILLY BOY : Touko : Action/Platformer
DOWNLAND : Chris Covell : Action
ELANSAR : Orion : Adventure/Puzzle CANCELLED
JUNGLE BROS : Frozen Utopia : Action/Platformer
KARATE : Touko : Action/Fighting
LOCK N' CHASE : BFG : Action
METRO BLASTER : Eponasoft : Shooting
MONOLITH : Eponasoft : Action RPG
NEUTOPIA III : Frozen Utopia : Action RPG
PYRAMID PLUNDER : Aetherbutt : Action
ULTIMA ][ : RPG
XYMATI : Mindrec/Eponasoft : Shooting

There's no mention of Rockman in the list of homebrews. Can we have it added?

[TurboXray]

There's no mention of Rockman in the list of homebrews. Can we have added?

I don't think homebrew would be the right category/label for it? Even if I hacked the crap out of it and upgraded it, the core is the original NES binary. It's not like I disassembled it into source code and reassembled it. I honestly not sure what category to put it in (it's more than just a hack though and it's more than just emulation too).

 If it's any help, Sonic for the Genesis was disassembled and the reassembled (and modified) binaries are labeled as homebrew.

 I also have a shmup homebrew in the works (it's a playable alpha state), but I'm fine with it not being on a list. I mean, it doesn't even have a name yet (well, technically two shmups are planned. One for hucard and one for SCD/ACD bicompatible).

[esteban]

Although I'm not so sure about a Zonk themed Megaman clone, I threw this together for fun.

Ha! Awesome.

Now, if only we had a Bonk-styled pre-modern world to run around in .

[TurboXray]

Megaman 2 public release is up on my blog/site (see my sig for site/links). Hucard/rom only version for now.

[Todd Gill]

woooo bad ass.

Will have to check this out later.

[touko]

Megaman 2 public release is up on my blog/site (see my sig for site/links). Hucard/rom only version for now.

Excellent tom, they are also some requests on necstasy forum, for a GnG port ..
I have linked your nes2pce topic .

PS: I'm glad to see you're again very active..

[Bardoly]

Great news!

Now I just need to find someone who can put this on a HuCard for me, or I need to go ahead and get an Everdrive.

[T2KFreeker]

Megaman 2 public release is up on my blog/site (see my sig for site/links). Hucard/rom only version for now.

Awesome man. I'll be waitiing for the hopeful release of this on a CD iso. I wants to play and am very happy you are doing this. Oh, and Castlevania too!

[TurboXray]

Yeah, CD version of MM2 is gonna take a bit of time. It's not like the other smaller games, so this needs a good amount of hacking and separate loading for levels, etc. Speaking of CV, I need to check the new APU lib to see if it sounds better in game.

Excellent tom, they are also some requests on necstasy forum, for a GnG port ..
I have linked your nes2pce topic .

How many people are requesting GnG? I could do it (it appears I can reuse my lib without writing new code/support). If a handful of people want this, I'll do it. The only thing I request in return is for testers.

[sirhcman]

Yeah, CD version of MM2 is gonna take a bit of time. It's not like the other smaller games, so this needs a good amount of hacking and separate loading for levels, etc. Speaking of CV, I need to check the new APU lib to see if it sounds better in game.

Excellent tom, they are also some requests on necstasy forum, for a GnG port ..
I have linked your nes2pce topic .

How many people are requesting GnG? I could do it (it appears I can reuse my lib without writing new code/support). If a handful of people want this, I'll do it. The only thing I request in return is for testers.

I would love to see it!

[BigusSchmuck]

Yeah, CD version of MM2 is gonna take a bit of time. It's not like the other smaller games, so this needs a good amount of hacking and separate loading for levels, etc. Speaking of CV, I need to check the new APU lib to see if it sounds better in game.

Excellent tom, they are also some requests on necstasy forum, for a GnG port ..
I have linked your nes2pce topic .

How many people are requesting GnG? I could do it (it appears I can reuse my lib without writing new code/support). If a handful of people want this, I'll do it. The only thing I request in return is for testers.

I second this motion. I would love to beta test but I'm afraid I got too much on my plate as is and I think Arkhan will kill me if I don't get Ultima ][ ported over.

[VestCunt]

and I think Arkhan VestCunt will kill me if I don't get Ultima ][ ported over.

Fixed

[touko]

If a handful of people want this, I'll do it. The only thing I request in return is for testers.

Yeah, i understand..

[esteban]

Excellent tom, they are also some requests on necstasy forum, for a GnG port ..
I have linked your nes2pce topic .

How many people are requesting GnG? I could do it (it appears I can reuse my lib without writing new code/support). If a handful of people want this, I'll do it. The only thing I request in return is for testers.

Well, of course I would love to see GnG. LOVE.

And...no, I have not yet tried out the MM2 Public Release, but I am drooling just thinking about it. THANK YOU FOR WORKING ON THIS.

As someone already said: it is truly great to see you back and kicking ass.

[T2KFreeker]

Yeah, CD version of MM2 is gonna take a bit of time. It's not like the other smaller games, so this needs a good amount of hacking and separate loading for levels, etc. Speaking of CV, I need to check the new APU lib to see if it sounds better in game.

Excellent tom, they are also some requests on necstasy forum, for a GnG port ..
I have linked your nes2pce topic .

How many people are requesting GnG? I could do it (it appears I can reuse my lib without writing new code/support). If a handful of people want this, I'll do it. The only thing I request in return is for testers.

Well, here is my monthly Knock for Castlevania CD . . . . I keep checking the download sirte in anticipation with no luck! 

As for Ghouls N' Ghosts, I'd be down for testing a CD version. If I had a flash card, I'd love to test the card versions, but alas, I do not, sadly.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I was originally working on redbook tunes for the Castlevania CD, did the opening theme, mash up of the boss theme(Poison Mind), & a half finished Vampire Killer(as well as started working on the 2nd level tune, whose name eludes me at the moment).  I haven't had time for anything else lately though, so Tom'll prolly have to use other renditions.  I did have some neat ideas that I'd eventually like to work on, but it's gonna be awhile.