Topic: Kid Chameleon (Genesis)

[DarkWolf]

This one I didn't map with the usual "take 150 screenshots and put them together" method.  A few months ago I wanted to see if it were possible to make a level editor for this game.  Well I found where the level data was stored in memory (when dumped to a savestate), but in the ROM the level data is compressed. =(



However, I decided to use this knowledge of where the levels were stored to make a script in PHP that pieces the individual tiles together to make an image of the level.  Of course it took some time to rip 256 tiles, but the game uses this tileset for several levels.



Also, it isn't quite done.  If you look at the previews, you'll see what look like odd placed tiles.  These are the special blocks that appear in the levels and I haven't written them into the script yet.



http://garoux.net/vgmaps/lev01p.png

http://garoux.net/vgmaps/lev02p.png

[Dan]

That's pretty cool.  Good luck putting in all the hidden warps and whatnot though  I recall there being a ton of levels in this game and a ton of ways to get to them.  If you can get your script working though, that's definitely a big accomplishment.  Good luck, again.

[TerraEsperZ]

I'm always impressed by people who manage to get the map data straigth from the original roms. I hope you manage to perfect your script for all the special blocks and events



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"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

[Grizzly]

I am also impressed by programs like that. x_to has written a program that seems to work for many Amiga games when knowing where the level data is saved and  having ripped the sprites earlier (I think). It's still on my to-do list to test that program. Maybe it's working for other platforms, too?

(Link:http://www.webwood.de/lvlrip.html, Tutorial:http://xto.xt.funpic.de/lvlrip_tutorial_1.htm

[TerraEsperZ]

And Grizzly, didn't you make all those awesome hand-drawn Lemmings 3D maps with all the isometric sprites? I find that just as impressive as it requires very good artistic skills I wish I had.



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

[Grizzly]

yes, I did those. Of the 3D Winterland demo, that is (it only has got six levels ). But with that game I already encountered many difficulties due to the lesser dimensions. Where platforms/pathways would have been beneath others or behind walls it didn't work too well to make all of them visible on the same map.

[JonLeung]

Is "Kid" an '80s/early '90s term?



Kid Chameleon

Kid Klown

Kid Niki

Kid Radd

Kid Ying (or was it Yang?)



I'm sure there were more...



And I'm sure some of those could've been "Kidd"...

[TerraEsperZ]

Let's not forget Kidd Video, whose second season had very good animation for a Saturday morning cartoon.



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

[DarkWolf]

I've gotten a handful of the forest levels done.  The script works pretty well, there are a few things I have to put in by hand, but it still saves time.



http://garoux.net/vgmaps/

[TerraEsperZ]

Those look very good!



---

"With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably." [...] The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged. - Captain Jean-Luc Picard



B*tch, meet reality. Reality, meet b*tch. - Me

[Grizzly]

Those forest levels look great. Did you insert the backgrounds manually?

[DarkWolf]

Yeah, as with most games the background scrolls slower than the foreground, so I had to extend them vertically.

[DarkWolf]

I'm now about half-way done with all the maps.



http://garoux.net/vgmaps/

[JonLeung]

They're up.  They took a while (my being sick didn't help), but they're up!



It's always nice to see completely mapped Sega Genesis games.  This is, what, only our fourth - after Mega Man: The Wily Wars, Granada, and Castlevania: Bloodlines?

[DarkWolf]

Well, like I said in a previous post, I'll probably stick to doing Genesis maps for a while.  I'm making good progress on Desert Strike, so you'll have another one up there soon.