Sonic Maxidrive - Help Request Thread

Discussion in 'Discussion & Q&A' started by Speems, Feb 5, 2021.

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  1. Speems

    Speems Well-Known Member Member

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    Rochester Hills, MI
    Hello, I'm not quite sure if this is an acceptable thing to post but I can delete it if unsuited. But anyway, I'm kinda needing some help with some areas of Sonic Maxidrive, a S1 rom hack I've been working on since late April last year. The level art and layouts are what's holding me back from making progress. Maybe also properly looping music tracks since the FL Studio loop method from this tutorial never works for me. Also a fancy HUD like the following:
    [​IMG]

    So basically, these three areas mentioned are the big key areas for help:

    1. Level Artwork
    The names and general idea are laid out but nothing else has come up.

    Rust Hill (bad future kinda thing of GHZ)
    Sunken Pit (hybrid of Haunted Ship from Rush Adventure, Aquatic Ruin and Wood)
    Frost Palace (maybe a combo of Robotnik Winter and Marble Garden?)
    Nega Street (combo of prototype Casino Night BG and Sonic Movie credits' Green Hills art)
    Funky Circus (Carnival Night and Sunset Park mashup)
    Omega Factory (hybrid of Wacky Workbench and Iron Fortress from Forces)

    They are the currently implemented zones, but they're nothing but minor edits and palette changes. It won't cut it these days. Palettes for the zones are an area you can play around with until you find something that clicks. Use whatever art program you're familiar with.

    2. Level Layouts
    Since the extended camera is implemented, levels will need a focus of speed and platforming. And since the level order is GHZ - LZ - MZ - SYZ - SLZ - SBZ for this, difficulty is also a thing to watch out for in the right spots. Otherwise, it's kind of an area you can experiment with to see what works out. I recommend SonLVL with the S1 Hivebrain INI files.

    3. Properly Looping Music
    Half of the music index doesn't loop properly (81, 82, 84, 87, 89, 8D, 91, 94) and resorts to the cheap method of making its compositions 11 or so minutes. As mentioned, the FL Studio midi loop trick fails every time. Even Nineko's MIDI Event Editor app doesn't work for me. What I can do is send the normal length midi to see if a contributor can make it loop.

    4. Custom HUD
    The display posted earlier may seem like a breeze for some, but a nightmare for me. So if that manages to be possible in your end, then awesome.

    If you're interested in helping out, I can be contacted on Discord (SPM1#6031). I can send over the current state of my disassembly (Hivebrain ASM68K) as a backbone to make sure your progress goes well. When your part of the help is finished, the needed files would be sent over Discord. WIP updates of your stuff can be posted either here or in Discord DMs.

    When the hack gets released, credit will be upfront on the hack's release thread and in its credits sequence. Thanks in advance!
     
  2. Deactivated Account

    Deactivated Account Well-Known Member Exiled

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    Use a midi event editor, Winjammer pro or like that for put loops in your SMPS.
     
  3. Nat The Porcupine

    Nat The Porcupine Point & Click Funny Man Member

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    Alright, so a couple of things here that I'd like to gently address before I lock the topic. I'll do my best to address these things in order.

    Right off the bat, I will say I appreciate the admission that you weren't necessarily sure if this kind of thread was acceptable as well as the acknowledgment that the topic may have to be locked if it wasn't. It makes it clear upfront that your intentions upfront aren't necessarily to beg for help, even if the structure of the rest of the post gives off that vibe, which I'll touch on in a little bit. However, in the future, if you are unsure whether or not a thread topic is acceptable, PM one of the staff members (the ones with a red name tag like myself) before you post it to make absolutely sure. We'll try to get back to you in a timely manner, we won't bite, and it saves both you & us some hassle in the end. If you had, I or a fellow staff member would have been able to point you to this line in the Additional Guidelines section of the rules:

    ...and this post almost certainly falls under the umbrella of being "half-baked" as this line states.

    For one, the only tangible means of progress shown on this ROM hack that you say you've been working on since April of last year is a hud mockup, so even if these types of threads were totally acceptable, it wouldn't really give people a whole lot of confidence to step forward and offer a hand by virtue of that alone. You gotta show more of what's done when trying to recruit people, even if you aren't all that proud of what you have.

    Secondly, most of the post is simply describing what you need help with instead of touching on what you already have, and it sounds like you need help on a lot of stuff... to the point that the post can be read as "do everything for me" anyway, even though I don't think that's what you're trying to do here. If you're asking for this much help upfront, chances are that your scope is too big for the skill level you have. I would definitely recommend trying to hone your skills & get to an intermediate skill level with at least one particular area of ROM hacking (anything you choose) before trying to bring people on to help with the project in areas where you feel less familiar.

    Lastly, there's the fact that help-wanted threads, in general, are just kinda frowned upon when it's the only topic of said thread. We would much rather you make a thread for your project where you show what's done, provide a demo if you desire, and include a recruitment section maybe near the bottom of the post where you simply say something like "positions are open for art & level design if anyone is interested. contact me here: <contact info here>" This way there's no perception of begging & a proper discussion of constructive critique can follow the initial post instead of a bunch of "I can help!" or "This is how you do such & such" messages clogging the thread... & that would be a best-case scenario for a thread of this variety; most threads like this just sit empty.

    I hope this helps guide your posts in the future & that you can both build the skills necessary as well as find an appropriate amount of assistance to bring your vision to life. I wish you the best of luck & have a good day.
     
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