11-07-2015, 03:42 PM
Hey guys, just a brief update to say that I just finished with my midterms and will hopefully now have time to finish up Middens as quickly as possible. I'm sure that given the obscure nature of these games nobody is really waiting with eagerly chewed thumbnails for this project to be completed, but when I set out to finish a major project I like to keep folks updated.
One difficulty of ripping this game is the nature of the character graphics. Characters are portrayed inconsistently and often use redundant sprites. For example: Genie is a pistol with eyes and a mouth, but the pistol itself is shown to look very different depending on where in the game you see Genie (sometimes the handle is striped, sometimes it is white, sometimes it is black; sometimes the gun's barrel is snub nose, sometimes it is full length) and some of the sprites associated are reused for later characters (for example, eyes and legs sometimes attached to Genie may appear later attached to another character). To maximize the confusion, even editing the map source files does not always reveal every part of the segmented sprites, causing me to have to run the following process to ensure each character is ripped fully:
-Open a map
-Find a character within
-Rip all sprites directly associated with the map file
-Open the character script to determine what monster party they cause (the monster rarely looks like the overworld sprite at all)
-Determine from the monster party what sprite is used and how it is recolored
-Rip the monster sprite and apply recoloration
-Change map to include player start position
-Launch game to see if any other sprites had been included but were hidden in the map file proper
-If sprites are present, they must be hunted down in the extensive resources folder
This process does cause some redundant sprites to appear, but I feel that for the most organized and proper archival of Middens' sprites this is a necessary evil. At the very least, no two sprite sheets are exactly the same, and when monsters appear in the same map I do what I can to ensure that they are sorted to the same sheet. Because I appreciate the art style of Middens so much I intend for this to be a VERY thorough rip, and I will hold myself to similar obsession with quality when moving forward to Gingiva (which includes some more consistency but a lot more complex sprites and animated battle characters).
Anyway, that's all for my attempt at transparency into the process I have undertaken. I generally like to say, "It should only take a week or so" but given the busy nature of life and the constant surprises while sleuthing Middens' game files I would feel dishonest making promises at this point. When I have finished with the characters and am ready to move on to the tile sets I should have much more ease in predicting the full submission to the game.
And on that note, I'd like to conclude with a preemptive apology to whoever is going to be tasked with approving these sheets upon submission. There's already well over 200 sheets for Middens and there will certainly be many more before this rip is complete.
Thank you all for your patience and I can't wait to finish so I can submit.
One difficulty of ripping this game is the nature of the character graphics. Characters are portrayed inconsistently and often use redundant sprites. For example: Genie is a pistol with eyes and a mouth, but the pistol itself is shown to look very different depending on where in the game you see Genie (sometimes the handle is striped, sometimes it is white, sometimes it is black; sometimes the gun's barrel is snub nose, sometimes it is full length) and some of the sprites associated are reused for later characters (for example, eyes and legs sometimes attached to Genie may appear later attached to another character). To maximize the confusion, even editing the map source files does not always reveal every part of the segmented sprites, causing me to have to run the following process to ensure each character is ripped fully:
-Open a map
-Find a character within
-Rip all sprites directly associated with the map file
-Open the character script to determine what monster party they cause (the monster rarely looks like the overworld sprite at all)
-Determine from the monster party what sprite is used and how it is recolored
-Rip the monster sprite and apply recoloration
-Change map to include player start position
-Launch game to see if any other sprites had been included but were hidden in the map file proper
-If sprites are present, they must be hunted down in the extensive resources folder
This process does cause some redundant sprites to appear, but I feel that for the most organized and proper archival of Middens' sprites this is a necessary evil. At the very least, no two sprite sheets are exactly the same, and when monsters appear in the same map I do what I can to ensure that they are sorted to the same sheet. Because I appreciate the art style of Middens so much I intend for this to be a VERY thorough rip, and I will hold myself to similar obsession with quality when moving forward to Gingiva (which includes some more consistency but a lot more complex sprites and animated battle characters).
Anyway, that's all for my attempt at transparency into the process I have undertaken. I generally like to say, "It should only take a week or so" but given the busy nature of life and the constant surprises while sleuthing Middens' game files I would feel dishonest making promises at this point. When I have finished with the characters and am ready to move on to the tile sets I should have much more ease in predicting the full submission to the game.
And on that note, I'd like to conclude with a preemptive apology to whoever is going to be tasked with approving these sheets upon submission. There's already well over 200 sheets for Middens and there will certainly be many more before this rip is complete.
Thank you all for your patience and I can't wait to finish so I can submit.