Spoiler: Introduction Knuckles' Clackers is the first major Knuckles Chaotix game mod for the poor, ill-fated, underrated Sega Genesis 32x addon. It is meant to be an unofficial fan-made sequel (like a "Sonic 5") to Knuckles' Chaotix for the 25th anniversary of the US release of the game (in May 2020). Its main focus is to create harder levels, less empty zones, and to create new content for the powerful Knuckles Chaotix game engine, as well as to implement proper loop chunk and pathswapping sections. (The original game had very empty zones with respect to placement of ring, badnik, gimmick, and other objects types compared to its predecessors.) Its other focus is to research and to document how the Chaotix engine works with a more annotated disassembly, and to tinker around with its Sega 32x engine features. High-color Sega 32x sprite artwork SMPS32x music with 4-channel PWM Level data paging system for tiles, blocks, and chunks; Near-entirety of Genesis VRAM available for level assets Design levels with its 2 palettes lines each for both Plane A and Plane B FG/BG tilemap data The mod aims to be the first fully-fledged modification of the game, featuring: New levels Ports and edits of beta Techno Tower and Speed Slider Zones layouts and assets from Sonic Crackers Other new zones New music New artwork Genesis tilemaps, sprites 32x sprite artwork Genesis/32x palettes and palette cycling Genesis animated level art Assembly code edits where possible/necessary Some restored/recreated Chaotix beta content Spoiler: Features New Zones Sonic Factory Zone (SFZ) Based on Sonic Advance 3's transporter area Replaces Tutorial Zone Techno Tower Classic Zone (TTZC), Speed Slider Classic Zone (SSZC) Ports of the beta Techno Tower and Speed Slider Zones and assets from Sonic Crackers to the Knuckles Chaotix game engine 1st act is a port of the only level from each zone from Crackers (act 1), with finished object layouts and other minor edits. Other acts (2-5) are original acts using the zone's chunks/and new assets Think act 3 levels from my Socket the Hegdeduck Sonic 1 mod Robo Ruins Zone (RRZ, replaces AAZ) [TBD] Zones, replacements for Botanic Base Zone (BBZ) Marina Madness Zone (MMZ) Isolated Island Zone (IIZ) World Entrance/Newtrogic High Zone (WE) The other new zones contain original artwork and assets New SMPS32x audio edits Various conversions of music (6 FM+3 PSG+4 PWM channels) Video game music (from MIDI and module files) Hyperdimension Neptunia music Other music New PWM sample slots Restored Crackers DAC samples Backwards compatiblity for Crackers music ports) New art Genesis tilemaps, sprites 32x sprite artwork Genesis/32x palettes and palette cycling Genesis animated level art ASM edits Basic ASM edits to get the new levels/mod to work Modified Dynamic Level Events Level Animated Art Palette cycling Etc. Restored/recreated beta and enhanced/edited game content Restored Sega Screen Jingle Restored beta Character Select menu (Heavy & Bomb characters) Restored Electoria beta song (Crackers) for Techno Tower Zone Classic Restored/edited beta Speed Slider Zone 32x loop chunk spritemasker objects Unrestricted level select menu Unrestricted sound test menu (for SFX coordination flags $F0-$FF) Unrestricted Training mode time-of-day cheat Undocumented cheat code, extended to all 4 Times of Day Hold combinations of X,Y,Z buttons on a 6-button joypad to select a specific Time-of-Day in Training Menu, while in the Play Style submenu Extended to allow forcing of morning (with Amazing Arena lit flag) and other lit variant times-of-day (via Z-button) XYZ button bitfield Edited Level Select/Debug code $19950421 (Knuckles Chaotix Jap release date) RGB 32x Vector3 values 06 $0C $15 AND $01 $01 $01 Edited Amy Soundtest code Amy now replaced with Neptune (from HyperDimension Neptunia) $19940421 (Sega 32x US release date) RGB 32x Vector3 values $06 $0C $14 AND $01 $01 $01 New game features and game objects Combi Breaker Monitor subtype Temporarily removes the Combi tether system (until partner is called) Properly working Sonic 2-styled loop and path swapper segments! Spoiler: Media Development YouTube playlist Research YouTube playlist Spoiler: Download/Known bugs Knuckles Clackers (v0.1a Demo, 10/29/21) Demo v0.1a is an early demo, with just Techno Tower Zones Acts 1-3 available, and gameplay progress limited to just those zones through the World Entrance. Sonic Factory Zone (for the Tutorial Zone in Isolated Island Zone) is also available. Most new music is available too. Known Bugs/demo restrictions: Emulator Compatibility with Modified Game (Kega Fusion) To quote Stealth from the SonED2/ROMulan Chaotix project notes: Gameplay Gameplay progression restricted to only Techno Tower Classic Zone (Acts 1-3, Morning to Night) Some Autodemos break/crash Graphics issues Sega/Gameover space BG temporarily disabled Bad Ending tilemap broken TTZ Classic parallax incomplete Uses AAZ parallax Research needed into how Chaotix parallax works Audio issues Some music slots NOPd out (Z80 bank mgmt) Some music needs mastered before finalization Volume control mixing FM patches/channels and PSG channels for volume control "Break out (XMVSF)" song incomplete Channel synchronization Invin song needs better volume mixing Spoiler: Credits Spoiler: Utilities/Research Various people from Sonic Retro Chaotix hacking guide Music Hacking Guide Varion Icaria Chaotix Disasm research Technical information Other assistance Notes on how to expand to another 1MB ROM Data bank for 32x sprite data Heran Bago Lots of Chaotix research Notes on GBA<->32x color conversion JJFTails Chaotix Stats Editor notes Chaotix Art Format notes Aurora Fields MDMusicPlayer 1.1 Chaotix music to SMPS ASM Sonic 1 to SMPS ASM Z80 Type 2 basic driver information for Sonic Crackers ChaotixCompressor For handling Chaotix 32x sprite art compression MainMemory ChaotixSpriteEdit tool from SonLVL suite For encoding unpacked 32x artwork and later conversion Flamewing (et. al.) S3K SMPS2ASM, used as a base for Sonic 1 to KC SMPS2ASM conversion base script Flamewing Sonic 3K driver, used for easier SMPS conversion Oerg & Puto XM3SMPS Oerg XM4SMPS 4.1 ValleyBell Utilities MID2SMPS SMPSPlay (Sonic 1 and Chaotix data) MIDSplit SMPSOpt DPCM2PCM (PWM sample creation) Technical information Info on PWM features and coordination flags Runtime PWM volume control Runtime PWM channel panning control Info on VGI->TFI instrument conversion MarkeyJester Sonic Crackers disassembly Game Z80 Sound Driver AkumaYin More Sonic Crackers disassembly, annotation and information New Sonic Crackers technical findings Andlabs Initial Chaotix disassembly Info on PWM sample table Chaotix32XSideArtAndPaletteViewer For researching 32x sprite artwork banks Verification of 32x art edits 32x Bitcycler art compression format notes Stealth Initial Chaotix SonED2 and ROMulan project files/scripts KCPosFix.exe objyadj.exe fixheadr.exe HiveBrain HivePal utility (VDP palette searching) Shiru VGM Music Maker and command line utils FM instrument creation/sampling Various/misc people Irfanview JRepl.bat Regex find & replace text batch scripts bytepatch.exe Binary file patcher tool for ASM opcode patching fart.exe Simpler find & replace text tool filesize.bat Riffstrip.exe Remove RIFF header from wave files For PWM sample data creation Sox.exe Command-line wave audio resampler/editor For PWM sample data creation EvalBat_vbs.vbs Batch file helper for computing more complex mathematical expressions Spoiler: Artwork/assets Various people for video game asset rips and edits Sonic the Hedgehog series Other series See hack's readme for full details Sega "Welcome to the Next Level" PWM sample Various games and assets Knuckles Chaotix Sonic the Hedgehog 1 Sonic CD Sonic 3 & Knuckles Sonic Crackers beta Music LukeeGD Elegy MIDI (HyperDimension Neptunia V) Used for new Bonus Stage song ValleyBell Technical Notes on Chaotix PWM driver SMPS coordination flag features PWM panning PWM volume control Written permission explicitly given to use instrument patches from Sonic 2 Recreation's Sonic Factory SMPS port For my own SMPS32x conversion/remix Original MIDI Spoiler: Beta testers Jakob Varion Icaria ProjectFM The public/Indie gamedev friends at the BitBridge Halloween Showcase 2021
It seems absurd to me that no one has commented. We are talking about a complex Chaotix rom hack, the first ever. Anyway, I think the 32x was so underestimated, as a child I would have liked to see a Sonic 4 in that console, with that music and those colors ... It would have been a dream! I especially wish I could have seen more complete Chaotix hacks, and here it is! I know it's a demo, but I have high expectations for this project, great job guys
This looks really cool. I like the fact that you've taken such an obscure title and modified it in this way. Having working loop-de-loops in Chaotix is just crazy, but it looks like it's always been there. I will say though, that some of the music ports have questionable instrument choices that make the song a little difficult to listen to. Also, while your loop-de-loops work, they don't consider the change in perspective you would expect, where one of the paths is in front of the other, and so you loop from a path in front to a path behind. I understand that might not be possible, but it's a little weird seeing an enclosed 360 degree circle like that. I'll also note that I haven't downloaded the hack yet (as I refuse to click random mediafire links) and I'm just going by the screenshots and previous material posted, but from what I've seen so far, it looks promising.
I was going to mention the Mediafire thing before, but I forgot; do you mind mirroring the file here or something? I'm not a huge fan of Mediafire myself either.
To those who want the hack, I downloaded the ROM myself and uploaded it here. Just a tip to anyone who considers sending links to ROM hacks, I recommend uploading it here, Google Drive or OneDrive. As for the hack, from a technical standpoint, it's very impressive to see someone making a Chaotix hack. And it's charming to see a lost zone from a prototype of the game showing its light. The art is ported well alongside some custom art in the sound test. My only gripe is the music. It sounds fine with a few songs however I feel like some instruments don't sound as clear, the songs don't sound clear or the DACs are in the way. Some songs sound alright but if you understand which songs I'm referring to, then you should hopefully find a way to tweak them to the best you can. So far, a promising hack and something that I should check out when a new update comes by. I do hope more people get a chance to hack Chaotix, it's an annoying game but it's technically interesting once we get the chance to dig deep into the code.
Apologies for bumping this thread, I just wanted to get my overall thoughts of this hack out there since it was just sitting in the back of my head for months now. As one of the first extensive ROM hacks of Knuckles Chaotix, I have to say that I am really impressed with the new additions to the game (especially with the reintroduction of the loop system, which surprised me) as well as several other extras that I have notice throughout this hack. On a side note, I had the chance to test this out for myself on real hardware and it worked like a charm! However, there is one thing within this hack that needs to be improved, and that is the music. As a close listener when it comes to hearing Genesis/Mega Drive compositions, I feel like some of these music tracks in the demo are just a bit off or just did not sound right to me at least when listening to some of these compositions (especially when it comes to the SA3 Sonic Factory music port). Other than that, this hack looks pretty promising to me, and I look forward into this project in the future! Oh, and one last thing before I go, this is my last post that I will make as a Trialist. I will be put into Prospect for an undetermined amount of time since making this post. I hope to return here soon when the time comes! Bye!
The hack demo was recently showcased by Razor & Zenon in a quick playthrough . I made a particular effort to make sure it does work on real hardware via regular tests on my setup (EDMD v3, NTSC Sega Model 2 Sega Genesis+VA0 32x), considering 32x emulation is flaky and hardware quirks. Apparently Chaotix has a memory limit to the size of 32x sprites that can be pre-loaded into DRAM work memory. On Gens, the emulator application itself would crash if the limit was broken; on real hardware the 32x machine would crash and couldn't be soft reset. Some of the music is demo/WIP, considering the ROM hack was a little rushed in terms of getting it ready for the Halloween Expo I showcased it at, and I need to tweak some instruments and note data. Same with creating new artwork for the perspective changes of loops so it's not a 360 degree circle. Things to improve and work on in the next builds.
