Shadow of the Beast Legacy semi-project

[Qube]

Darkfalzx - Looking good! As for the PCE version, did you consider using the CD music from that for SOTB1, or are you going to keep it with the original Amiga soundtrack?

Will be good to see your remake of the SOTB2 maps when that is included, the MegaCD version of that game had completely different music.

Q;

[capehorn]

Originally Posted by darkfalzx

Also - it might be a good time to ask if someone maybe has un-watermarked SOTB2 maps?

In the zone.

[demoniac]

Originally Posted by darkfalzx

The only thing worse than this TG16 intro is the FM Towns "joke" ending. I respect the original games, and so will keep it as close to the Amiga versions as possible, as I feel most other ports just "didn't get it" or something.

It's been a while since I passed the FM-Towns version. I don't remember the differences. What didn't you like about it?

[darkfalzx]

Originally Posted by demoniac

It's been a while since I passed the FM-Towns version. I don't remember the differences. What didn't you like about it?

Probably the ugliest 16-bit version of the game in existence - only SNES one is worse but not by much. The art looks like it's been passed through a Blur More photoshop filter, robbing it of all detail. The painterly palette of the game has been replaced by standard straight-ramp-VGA hideousness. The beautiful and moody transition art has been replaced with cheesy mix of CG and pixel animation. The CD music is alright, but it's less tribal-sounding, and more mid-90s easy-listening-and-synth now.

Oh - and the ending - it basically plays the transformation animation in reverse, and then has Arbraan smile a cheesy-ass grin, whereupon you see he's missing a tooth... and then he winks at you suggestively, or some shit like that.

In the zone.

Grabbed it. Thank you! Already started on stripping out the watermarked ones though - have to get rid of all objects and leave only tiles.

Darkfalzx - Looking good! As for the PCE version, did you consider using the CD music from that for SOTB1, or are you going to keep it with the original Amiga soundtrack?
Will be good to see your remake of the SOTB2 maps when that is included, the MegaCD version of that game had completely different music.

Q;

Nahh - as I mentioned above - I find the PCE soundtrack missing the mark on the mood. Too much easy-listening, not enough tribal-badass.
Sega/MegaCD's SOTB2 is best left forgotten - what a terrible game. The music in there was quite awful as well. I WILL include the Sega Genesis ending for SOTB2 though - I thought that one was very cool. Liked Arbraan in the Genesis version as well, but he'll be out of place among the Amiga art. I might re-animate the 4-color Amiga character though. Eventually. Gotta get it all in there first.

[punkrulesok]

Thank you for this.

If I was doing it, I would like to have an "extended" version of Beast 1 - maybe a few more colors, few more layers of trees, things like that. Just to see what it looks like slightly "beefed up".

[darkfalzx]

Originally Posted by punkrulesok

Thank you for this.

If I was doing it, I would like to have an "extended" version of Beast 1 - maybe a few more colors, few more layers of trees, things like that. Just to see what it looks like slightly "beefed up".

Gotta get it all in there first as it is - will worry about extending things once that's done. Moreover - I am basing my port/remake on the Amiga versions - the only ones that had a consistent art direction. All the other ports focused too much on the technical aspects and completely botched the artistic integrity. Even the Sega Megadrive version which was very close to the Amiga original has ruined the atmosphere by lightening the palette and adding detail where it wasn't needed.

BTW - the build has been updated. SOTB2 now has a lot of elements and puzzles implemented, but still no scripting. SOTB1's overworld is fully mapped out and populated (though somewhat untested) all the way to the beast fortress. You can even grab a torch and enter the blank room that is the fortress itself. Next up - will have to map out the fortress - unless someone else has done it already?

[Djemps]

Beautiful work so far. I've lurked here for ages, but this recent project forced to me register!

By the way, is there any chance anyone has a link to sound effect files of SOTB1? Also, the quick little 'death knell' song that is played before switching to the prolonged death scene?

[darkfalzx]

The map is in the game minus the enemies.
You still need a torch to explore the place, as it will get really dark without it.
Next up - implement all the items and "puzzles", so the stage is "beatable". DONE
Will do the enemies last.
Also have to expand the background image.

Edit: If anyone feels like posting these to Hall of Light - you are more than welcome. Just give proper credit.

[punkrulesok]

Originally Posted by darkfalzx

Gotta get it all in there first as it is - will worry about extending things once that's done. Moreover - I am basing my port/remake on the Amiga versions - the only ones that had a consistent art direction. All the other ports focused too much on the technical aspects and completely botched the artistic integrity. Even the Sega Megadrive version which was very close to the Amiga original has ruined the atmosphere by lightening the palette and adding detail where it wasn't needed.

BTW - the build has been updated. SOTB2 now has a lot of elements and puzzles implemented, but still no scripting. SOTB1's overworld is fully mapped out and populated (though somewhat untested) all the way to the beast fortress. You can even grab a torch and enter the blank room that is the fortress itself. Next up - will have to map out the fortress - unless someone else has done it already?

Yes, a lot of people don't get the atmosphere in the game, the dark setting and art style makes it some kind of immersive game / movie in a way. Even to this day, with your Battlefield 4's, and latest Wolfenstein's, I still think that the atmosphere can't be beaten in this game.

I love the way in Beast 2, that you see the silhouette of Karamoon in the background - almost like you are in a different place to Beast 1 - a slightly more distant place, but the outline of it makes your imagination go wild.

On another note - I am slightly confused about the downloads. All your links seem to point to the same EXE, in the same URL. For instance, one time I downloaded it, and it was Beast 3 - but the next time it was Beast 1. I have had to download them as different file names to not overwrite.

[Qube]

Punkrulesok - On the title screen, press Up/Down keys to change game, X to start. I think the differences are just down to the builds etc.

Darkfalzx - Excellent progress as always, just had a bash through SOTB2, will you be implementing the talk system and Ten Pints? ;-)

Q;

[capehorn]

The talk system will be interesting, there were several things you could say to each character and they would all give a different answer, like asking the goblins about pygmies, and asking Ishran and Barloom about each other. You could ask most characters about Karamoon, Zelek, Maletoth and 'Sister' and they'd all have something different to say about all of those things. The snail gave funny answers to most of them.

Has anyone ever looked at the code and made a list of all the possible questions you can ask and answers they can give?

[darkfalzx]

Originally Posted by Qube

Punkrulesok - On the title screen, press Up/Down keys to change game, X to start. I think the differences are just down to the builds etc.

Darkfalzx - Excellent progress as always, just had a bash through SOTB2, will you be implementing the talk system and Ten Pints? ;-)

Q;

Yeah - I have to make the game selection screen more self-explanatory, which might just be a couple of wobbling arrows signifying the fact you can switch the game.

I was thinking of making the talk system simpler - like a dialogue tree rather than a text parser, as that will be much easier translated to mobile and consoles.
Anyone tried "beating" SOTB1 all the way to the fortress? I think a few glitches aside I have the difficulty about right. As in the original game - I usually make it there with only 5-6 health remaining.

In the current build you can reach the Hydra boss (though the fortress is pretty empty), collect the wrench and remove the lightning gate as well as get and use the gun. Exiting the area with the gun will NOT break the game unlike in the original: )

OH - and I'm using language files for all three games, so technically I could make the whole package multilingual. And if someone wants to compile the list of text in SOTB2 - that would be appreciated: )

[capehorn]

If you want I could post all the text I know of, but I wonder if someone smarter than me could find them all by looking at the code?

[darkfalzx]

Originally Posted by capehorn

If you want I could post all the text I know of, but I wonder if someone smarter than me could find them all by looking at the code?

I wouldn't know where to start... well - maybe I would, but not going to get into it - at least for now. I've been doing these ports in the most low-fi way possible - by ripping art and building maps via screenshot function and eyeballing enemy patterns, speeds and locations by playing the games endlessly and studying the videos. Not gonna go all high-tech hackery now: )

BTW - SOTB1 has a bunch of sound effects implemented. Not all - there were some I couldn't find in the saved file that I suspect are synthesized. I have re-created a few of them rather shittily in SFXR. Also - the castle's boss is killable, but is far too easy due to the increased play window size. I suspect I'll have to introduce a cut-off range to the gun, or start spawning enemies during that fight - all just to make it challenging.

[Djemps]

Originally Posted by darkfalzx

BTW - SOTB1 has a bunch of sound effects implemented. Not all - there were some I couldn't find in the saved file that I suspect are synthesized. I have re-created a few of them rather shittily in SFXR. Also - the castle's boss is killable, but is far too easy due to the increased play window size. I suspect I'll have to introduce a cut-off range to the gun, or start spawning enemies during that fight - all just to make it challenging.

Hey Dark. Is it possible to share your current collection of SOTB1 sound effect files? I've got own silly little project going (not a game reprise) and getting as much of the game sounds as possible would be a treat.

EDIT: Also, depending on what's missing from Beast1's SFX, maybe it would work to take similar sounds from Beast 2 and 3 and use them as place holders until all the sounds can be obtained.

And as always… Fantastic job on the gameplay so far!!

[darkfalzx]

Originally Posted by Djemps

Hey Dark. Is it possible to share your current collection of SOTB1 sound effect files? I've got own silly little project going (not a game reprise) and getting as much of the game sounds as possible would be a treat.

EDIT: Also, depending on what's missing from Beast1's SFX, maybe it would work to take similar sounds from Beast 2 and 3 and use them as place holders until all the sounds can be obtained.

And as always… Fantastic job on the gameplay so far!!

Please check The Zone - I upped the zip with SOTB1 sounds there. I'm sure it's not complete, but to get that I'll have to save the game at different times.

[Qube]

Darkfalzx - I ripped some text from the very start of SOTB2 to see what was possible, just used memory snapshot and extracted the text using Strings (free Win Sysinternals tool), but I'm wondering if the game loads more text as it goes along? So it would probably require multiple rip jobs if so.

Was there a CD32/filed/uncrunched version which could be easier to extract the text from perhaps?

Q;

[darkfalzx]

Originally Posted by Qube

Darkfalzx - I ripped some text from the very start of SOTB2 to see what was possible, just used memory snapshot and extracted the text using Strings (free Win Sysinternals tool), but I'm wondering if the game loads more text as it goes along? So it would probably require multiple rip jobs if so.

Was there a CD32/filed/uncrunched version which could be easier to extract the text from perhaps?

Q;

Thanks man! It's cool to see the variety of things the dialogue system of the original game had hidden in it. When I'll get around to doing it - I'll end up having to rip all of that text and make it into a visual dialogue-branch interface where Arbraan learns of new things to ask as he comes across new characters.
Ultimately - the system in SOTB2 was a huge disappointment, as it served very little purpose, and I'm a bit sad that I'll have to keep it this way. If I was to redesign it - I'd make the player choices matter more - like being able to talk the tree pygmies into letting you pass unharmed, or haggling the Snail down to a lesser fee.

By the way - is there something you can tell the vendor at Karamoon Oasis to make the area to the left of the building matter? In the Megadrive version there are platforms across the marsh with a chest at the end. In the MegaCD version there is nothing there initially, but you can talk to one of the drunk patrons at the Oasis who will tell you about a treasure - causing the above platforms and a chest to appear.
All these years later - SOTB games are still full of mysteries: )

[Djemps]

Originally Posted by darkfalzx

Please check The Zone - I upped the zip with SOTB1 sounds there. I'm sure it's not complete, but to get that I'll have to save the game at different times.

Thanks for sharing your current collection of sound effects. I think the big ticket files that are still missing are the collection sounds for potions and keys.

In the mean time; I've got song files for the Well, Power Orb, and Castle Mini-Boss that I ripped from Youtube. So they may not be perfect quality, but something is better than nothing. Let me know what sound format you want them in and I can add the files to the Zone. :-)

[darkfalzx]

Originally Posted by Djemps

Thanks for sharing your current collection of sound effects. I think the big ticket files that are still missing are the collection sounds for potions and keys.

In the mean time; I've got song files for the Well, Power Orb, and Castle Mini-Boss that I ripped from Youtube. So they may not be perfect quality, but something is better than nothing. Let me know what sound format you want them in and I can add the files to the Zone. :-)

Yeah - those collection sounds - it looks like they are synthesized or something. I had to make my own in SFXR.
And for the music files - I usually feed in the WAVs that I later convert into OGG. So pretty much either WAV or MP3 would do.

Oh - and the castle is somewhat populated now. Still missing a bunch of enemies though.