Hello, I'm Kroc Camen, Sonic Hacker

Hello SSRG people! This post is to highlight the things I am working on to demonstrate my 'worthiness' as a Member Post any questions in the replies, thank you.

I am already a tech-member at SonicRetro, if that means anything here.

I discovered the unused Marble Zone music in Sonic 1 for the Master System:

http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=32298



I am creating the first complete level-editor for Master System Sonic 1,  "MaSS1VE: The Master System Sonic 1 Visual Editor".

Screenshots speak for themselves. GitHub project here: https://github.com/Kroc/MaSS1VE
 

 

 
This has been made possible by the complete disassembly of the game I am working on:
https://github.com/Kroc/Sonic1-Z80-ASM (in WLA DX format)

WLA DX is not syntactically able to cope with the scope of the disassembly I am doing, so I'm producing a brand new assembler and modern assembler syntax that makes development on the SMS a whole lot more flexible.

https://github.com/Kroc/OZ80MANDIAS

I'm hoping to release a basic version able to assemble Sonic 1 by the end of the year.

The Sonic 1 disassembly in this new format is temporarily here https://github.com/Kroc/OZ80MANDIAS/tree/master/Sonic1-sms-oz80

Outside of these Sonic-related things, I have created a database-less web forum (just RSS throughout)

http://camendesign.com/nononsense_forum

Kind regards,

Kroc Camen.

 

This is the kind of stuff that gets you insta-member status. Only one post, and you've already blown my mind

 

Pacguy, you're late, I secretly recommended him for Member status a few hours ago when he had zero posts, actually

 

Welcome aboard, enjoy your stay.

 

I was almost backseat modding like "WHY DO YOU CREATE TOPIC INSTEAD OF POSTIN' IN INTRODUCTION THREAD U IDOIT!" until I saw these screenshots... You sir, have made me want to hack 8-bit Sonic 1 in this awesome tool. Welcome to SSRG, Kroc Camen, Hope you enjoy!

 

I feel like having a crack at thee ol' 8-bit now too!

 

Nice to see you've joined SSRG Kroc! Your work is simply amazing and I admire the fact that you chose to hack Sonic 1 over the Aspect 8-bit Sonic games. Back when I first started hacking the 8-bit games I actually started with Sonic 1 but I moved to Sonic 2 and well I kind of like Aspect's engine a bit more than Ancient's.

 

This is honestly nothing short of amazing. Something tells me this will bring about a boom in S1 SMS hacks soon enough, which means I'll have even MOAR Green Hill Zones to run through

Nah, I kid. But seriously, looking forward to future S1 SMS hacks as I try to make my own...

Spoiler

...and on that note, any tips on how to set up MaSS1VE?

 

Thanks all!

@Ravenfreak: I can't speak for Aspect's engine, as I haven't examined the code, but to me the first game is better due to a greater artistic elegance and simplicity that the sequels lack. The Aspect games are too "muddy" to me, in sound and graphics. I think Ancient did an amazing job, especially with having to cut the game back in size and probably rush things too. I'm hoping that I can fix all of the slowdown issues in time.

@ThomasSpeedrunner: You will need VB6 and a knowledge of how to use it to run MaSS1VE at the moment, it is just a prototype / proof-of-concept and a public alpha will not be avaailable until 2016 due to this being a one-man-band and the need to complete the new assembler and disassembly first before I can implement everything into the editor. If you can code VB6 or know Z80 you can always contribute.

Also, the reason this editor is taking time is that I am busting the game apart completely. My goal is nothing short of understanding (and being able to manipulate) every byte of the ROM. I already have close to a basic editor that could allow people to do palette hacks and rehash the same old stages over and over, but I'm not going to limit myself to that. MaSS1VE will allow for total conversions with all new graphics and stages from scratch, with no hard-coded limits restricting you to the same types of levels and level order. My very long-term goal is to make an entirely new platform game "Kroc the Crocodile" using this approach.