Paraemon's Comprehensive Ripping Project Thread [Expansion Station]

[Paraemon]

Flying Battery Zone Act 1 from earlier in the week, and Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 finished today!

Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 (Summer, 1/4)

Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 (Summer, 2/4)

Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 (Summer, 3/4)

Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 (Summer, Boss/4)

Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 (Autumn, 1/4)

Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 (Autumn, 2/4)

Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 (Autumn, 3/4)

Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 (Autumn, Boss/4)

Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 (Winter, 1/4)

Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 (Winter, 2/4)

Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 (Winter, 3/4)

Mushroom Hill Zone Act 2 (Winter, Boss/4)

Flying Battery Zone Act 1 (Exterior Pieces, 1/2)

Flying Battery Zone Act 1 (Exterior Pieces, 2/2))

Flying Battery Zone Act 1 (Interior Pieces, 1/2)

Flying Battery Zone Act 1 (Interior Pieces, 2/2)

[Paraemon]

Kept you waiting, huh?

It's been well over a year since this was started, but Death Egg Zone is half-complete now. Without looking, Sonic 2's version is also coming along steadily, albeit it being a few weeks since I last took a look at it.

[Barack Obama]

Fantastic stuff, keep these rips coming =)

[Paraemon]

Thanks, and that's the plan! I have a ton planned to dump at some point in the future, I just need to work them up first so they can all come in together.

In the meantime, a full and intensive rip of Sonic CD's Title Screen - revision submitted.

[Paraemon]

But, what is this? Another thing to rip?

Some frames have also been ripped from this too, but spoilers and stuff so giving the teaser right now. I'll release it along with the rest of the CD content I'm working on.

[darkd04]

Why is there so much unnecessary bloat on sonic's TSR?? like there's no need for map rips while we have Sonic Retro level maps, 10000 different sprite sheets for different palettes and theres no need for stuff like how spindash animation would look like with every dust frames or for every frame of mode 7 frame. You just create unnecessary bloat for no reason and i really have no idea why is staff is allowing this. I am genuinely confused

[Petie]

Why is there so much unnecessary bloat on sonic's TSR?? like there's no need for map rips while we have Sonic Retro level maps, 10000 different sprite sheets for different palettes and theres no need for stuff like how spindash animation would look like with every dust frames or for every frame of mode 7 frame. You just create unnecessary bloat for no reason and i really have no idea why is staff is allowing this. I am genuinely confused

Perhaps because we are not Sonic Retro and what content they and other sites have does not at all affect what we should or should not have? What you find to be bloat or unnecessary may be critically important to someone else. I'm genuinely confused why you're being so negative about an abundance of content.

[darkd04]

Okay so, i understand the fact that other websites do not dictate what TSR has or hasn't, however what im trying to say is i don't see a point in having level maps be present on TSR, it doesn't even have any objects, if people wanna recreate level maps they are going to go the the source where level maps are well documented or just use tools like SonLVL for example. Sonic 1
and Sonic 2 maps i can understand their use since they are small but for Sonic 3 it's very disorganized and very inconvenient because they are split into multiple sprite sheets.

It is also weird that tiles[Specifically 8x8 tiles] are not ripped even tho blocks and chunks are created with code(or specifically loading binary data) to place the tiles in the blocks and the chunks.

Now on the topic of the bloat.

While i do understand the purpose of showing every possible palette difference(including the ones that last for singular frame) for the tileset wouldn't be easier to just make a palette table with description on what it is instead of making it a different sheet[e.g Ice Cap background having multiple sheets]? Also, why are fade palettes included if it's done thru code? This website to my knowledge is supposed to rip sprites that are in the files and not things that are rendered in real time thru code[e.g Mode 7 effect].

[Barack Obama]

There are people who love / need these kind of high-quality rips, especially Sonic fans.
Paraemon's stuff has thousands of views on the site and not one comment about them is negative, because they're comprehensive rips which are very easy to use and understand.

After all, TSR is also a place for artists to get references on how sprites, tiles, effects & animations are done.

This website to my knowledge is supposed

Most stuff here is from the files, but we also have sheets which have things rendered through code (keyhole effect in SWM, for example).
I think we also have 3D monster animations from a Dragon Quest game, put on a 2D sheet because the view for them in the almanac is static.

[Paraemon]

There's not really much I can add to what Petie and Barack Obama have said previously but it seems there's some misunderstandings.

i don't see a point in having level maps be present on TSR, it doesn't even have any objects

Not having the objects is the point. The objects, Badniks etc are entirely separate entities to the map layout and thus including them is unnecessary for the purposes of them being ripped, as they are not for walkthrough purposes, just layout design. They're ripped because perhaps there is someone out there who is in want of a section of the actual map instead of compiling chunks together, which is the purpose of their existence.

if people wanna recreate level maps they are going to go the the source where level maps are well documented or just use tools like SonLVL for example

Nothing to stop them. However the point above still applies, and the maps are extracted in the manner as I have done as they can be exported without the objects etc included.

or example. Sonic 1
and Sonic 2 maps i can understand their use since they are small but for Sonic 3 it's very disorganized and very inconvenient because they are split into multiple sprite sheets.

If they're not to your liking, then respectfully that's your decision. It is up to the staff alone to approach me to resolve this, and after having done this for the past few years without complaint from them, I can only reasonably conclude that they are fine with this. I'm not apologising for simplifying my rip-and-compile process in my own way.

It is also weird that tiles[Specifically 8x8 tiles] are not ripped even tho blocks and chunks are created with code(or specifically loading binary data) to place the tiles in the blocks and the chunks.

I've remarked on it previously with the blocks but overall it takes a lot more time to work out smaller content irrespective of how little the target content is, especially on the scale of a stage/background, as blocks can take about twice or so time to sort out than chunks. And be that as it may for blocks and chunks, tiles are my final priority.

While i do understand the purpose of showing every possible palette difference(including the ones that last for singular frame) for the tileset wouldn't be easier to just make a palette table with description on what it is instead of making it a different sheet[e.g Ice Cap background having multiple sheets]?

Also said before regarding Ice Cap is that inevitably if all the palettes were on a singular sheet and adjusted blindly from that, it'll end in an user making mistakes and constant questions about where things are going wrong, this is why they're split as there's only so much handholding I can do for explaining the way things works in the rips, and this by far was the "best" conclusion I reached. Each individual palette that adjusts in-game is treated on a case-by-case basis anyway.

Also, why are fade palettes included if it's done thru code?

If you mean the flash cycle from S3K and that one instance in CD, then it's purely because it's a simple technical/aesthetic element and something I personally feel is fun to include, should people also want to learn how to apply it to where it doesn't occur.

rip sprites that are in the files and not things that are rendered in real time thru code[e.g Mode 7 effect].

Mode 7, as you suggest, is something I consider hands off - parallax breakdowns are to showcase the dynamic of a background where applicable, but Mode 7, at least where CD's special stage is concerned, is a mess to observe in tile form and so dynamically changeable on a variety of player control circumstances and positionings that I feel there is not enough time in a human lifespan to have at them all - example, it took eight days solid for the Carnival Night maps, I can only reasonably calculate it would be orders of magnitude longer to compile all 360 angles from a single point at the floor level from a CD Special Stage. If other effects can be ripped, though, I will do that, as it is on relatively simple hardware.

theres no need for stuff like how spindash animation would look like with every dust frames

Like the maps, they're there for the purposes of quickly getting them in a form together should the user want to.

[Paraemon]

Announcement regarding the Status of this Project

This was going to happen sooner or later, and after a bit of soul-searching in recent weeks, there's no better or worse time than to say what I need to.

I am retiring from ripping content.

There are a number of factors involved in this decision:

1. I am currently in (admittedly quite stressful) full-time employment, in which I am sat at a desk, working at a computer, 8 hours a day. It is, and has become, simply non-viable to go from that to proceeding to extract missing and/or incomplete graphics up until bedtime, or similarly try to fit in any such extraction work in the morning and then go to work.

2. Without getting into specifics (a handful of people I trust know), I am currently pursuing other and more engaging activities which involve a form of social networking and wish to pursue these, if just to escape from the work hell above. While this could eventually give leeway towards having the necessary time to work on extraction later, I simply don't want to give false hope in this regard, and want to make it clear that should my pursuits work out as I am hoping, I will not spare time solely so I can focus on these other activities.

3. I personally feel I have reached a limit with the work. I'm not saying I'm overwhelmed, the literal and sheer number of sheets I've churned out, by myself or with the assistance of others, is testament enough to quite the opposite of overwhelming. It is more that I came into a project truly blind to what to the scope of it initially, arbitrarily expanded it without having cleared the whole of the first hurdle, and dug myself more and more into a hole, as circumstances in real life shifted as they did.

4. I can't babysit other users or chase non-contactable individuals any further. It's too exhausting trying to keep up with comments among 97 sheets, never mind 970, and where mistakes/unfortunate omissions are remarked upon in which I cannot clarify with the private message sender due to their settings, it ultimately becomes a waste of my time - and to make it clear, I detest saying that. That's before addressing the "naysayers", but I'm not giving them time of day anymore than already has been these past few years.

5. I believe that other people can and are competent enough to pick up this torch. Obviously my method has evolved since I first started posting here and there's a lot of criteria to match to, such as extent of the ripped content and palettes, but there is more than enough from the past seven years of work with which to learn and adapt from. Show me with your own power what you can do with the light I have left behind to guide.

There are still some incomplete pieces here and there, and I will be working with Ton in the coming weeks to get these out into the open in whatever form they have been left in. Anything after that, as in Point 5, is no longer in my hands or my concern, and to this end, my private messaging on this website is henceforth disabled as of this post. I will try to answer any questions in this thread regarding this notice or content compilation until the end of this month.

Otherwise, I kindly thank you for allowing me to proceed with these for the better part of a decade and a little under a fifth of my life. It has been quite an experience, sometimes great, sometimes frustrating, but it's time for me to move on to other things.

[Ton]

Sad to see you go, but I totally understand the need to get fulfillment from your own work. I hope it's an enormous success, and thanks for all the work you put in here.

[Yawackhary]

As Ton says, sad to see you go but completely understand.

Your rips were very in depth. Whether it is a part of wanting to document how things work (backgrounds, etc) or the pleasing the obsession that some people expect especially when it comes to Sonic. I considered you to be one of the gold standard rippers of the site, one where when you look at a sheet you can appreciate the effort and know it's good. Sometimes you don't get enough praise for what you do.

Personally you have done the right thing retiring. It is better to do something that you can enjoy rather than getting stressed out and... well you have been stressed out. You will be missed but I give you the best of luck for whatever you decide to do in life.