Updates:

Fans are welcome!

Play this substantially Modified NES Guardian LEgend

Started by optomon, March 11, 2010, 06:55:09 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

RubyC42

#120
Hai guys what did I miss? *slurps some slurpees*


[Could give this one a go sometime - I am replaying the original TGL (with recording for Youtube, lol) to refamiliarise myself with the game, ha]


More update: Got up to Corridor 1 complete, video link in the video share forum  :redlander:
My YouTube channel for gameplay videos [includes TGL: Secret gameplays!]

Are you a Text Role-player? We have a TGL-themed RP going on, feel free to join!

Ratix

i logged in just to say fuck yeah optomon you rock. i am going to update this as soon as i have time and play through it again

Quoise Games

Thanks Opto.  I'm definitely going to check this out!!!!

I've been thinking of making a full blown TGL editor.  Once I get done with my other projects, I think I'll take a crack at it.  Unless someone else beats me to it (hint hint)

optomon

Guardian Legend is tough to hack without an editor; it is just about impossible to add something to game without taking something away. This is the only hack I've done without an editor of any kind, and an editor, especially for GRAPHICS, would be very useful. I think someone actually found out TGL's graphics compression scheme. (Tummai?)

On a side note, the game is very compact, and yet, it runs at high speeds and tons of sprites with almost no slowdown. This game was quite a technical feat for its time.

Anyway, let me know if there are any issues with this version. I might have left a miniboss out. This game's final boss has a glitch from time to time where you can shoot him when you're not supposed to, making him really easy to kill. I might have to dither with it a little more before I submit to RHDN.

RubyC42

I was  bored earlier and tried messing with the passwords and realised that the passwords that work in the original TGL works in the Mod as well  :bluelander:

But with a special twist that it makes some previously impossible passwords theoretically playable again

Example: this is how the infamous JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ password look like under TGL Secret


My YouTube channel for gameplay videos [includes TGL: Secret gameplays!]

Are you a Text Role-player? We have a TGL-themed RP going on, feel free to join!

arseniy

Hrm, what is that dot in the middle of the map? Tho I think later the path will be opened later with other key.
Also does the JJJJ in the original makes map open around?

RubyC42

#126
Which dot? If you're referring to the missing square above the red dot for Corridor 19, then i guess it's the same "blank" as it appears in the original's 1, 1

And in the original, the JJJJ password throws you into the same place, but it's Area 8 and you cannot exit the area because you don't have the needed key.  (The same keys are available, but since in this remake the areas have been shuffled around)
My YouTube channel for gameplay videos [includes TGL: Secret gameplays!]

Are you a Text Role-player? We have a TGL-themed RP going on, feel free to join!

optomon

The dot is a room where the triangle key is needed, but you don't have the other keys for the surrounding area.

phubans

#128
This is really great! Unfortunately I took a break and now I seem to be stuck on not knowing how to open corridor 6 ??? The computer in the area just says that it's unwilling to help me and I should go away. I tried leaving and re-entering, attacking the display, and I've cleared out everything else in the area... So I'm not sure what I'm missing. I would like to proceed though this hack, though!

EDIT: Nevermind, I found the hint that "he doesn't like light" and figured it out :P That was pretty obscure. Just beat the gold optomon... I thought that fight would never end! :o Now the only thing left to do is beat that damn red grim grin so I can get into corridor 8... Ugh... This is so hard! But good... It's like the TGL version of Super Mario Bros: Lost Levels!

I used to hack roms, too, back in 1999-2000. These days I develop my own games; if you check my posting history here you will see a TGL-inspired fan game I made. I've done lots of pixel art, even in a professional capacity on a commercial release that was NES-spec. The game is called Dark Void Zero on the DSi. If you need a spriter/tiler for anything TGL-hack related, let me know. I'm pretty busy but I'd be happy to make some time for making sprites for your hack.

EDIT 2: I beat it. Holy CRAP that was HARD!! I started out playing it normally, but towards the end I would always save state before a corridor or a boss. It still took me multiple tries, but saved me the time of backtracking, which allowed me to play through the entire game in one day. For that nasty red grim grin that was "contained" I basically did this super cheap move of putting myself into the wall, shooting out at him, and only coming out to refill my health. I pretty much used every exploit in the book to beat this hack; the adjacent chip refill, the no-clip through red pyramids, etc. I found myself grinding a LOT in this game to farm EEs, which came in handy for a lot of late-game stuff. Fighting the ultra-high HP bosses actually forced me into using new strategies. It wasn't just about spraying them with shots + fireballs while dodging their attacks anymore; that was still an element, but now I found myself switching to EEs and dodging their attacks while killing their shots and hoping for health drops... Crazy meta-strategies were all over the place in your hack that didn't really exist in the original game, which is AWESOME! I hope you don't feel disrespected that I resorted to cheesing a lot of the bosses, but I really did give it my best shot several times before resorting to any sort of trickery. For the last boss I was so low on health and chips from running the gauntlet that I actually had to employ the cheapest trick of all; I slowed down the emulation speed just so I could survive :S Regardless of this, the action and stimulation in this hack was OVER THE TOP!! Totally white-knuckle, pulse racing action. In the end I was surprised at my stats. They went beyond anything I've ever achieved before in TGL: 27 HP, 6000 chips, and a final score of 4,781,640. You level up and gain +1 HP per 1 million points after you hit your first million, so I actually wasn't too far away from 28 if I would have grinded more (or not used save states and had to go back and forth). Another interesting thing I noticed with the HP is that the bar stops going up after 24, and you visually cap there but your HP total can actually go beyond this value, which I found interesting. Was that something you patched in or is that part of the original game? Anyways, fantastic hack. Probably the best rom hack I've ever played. Thank you :)

RubyC42

#129
Sounds like i'll never get this recorded in full, then XD [which means i can't use save states unless i "pause" the game when viewing  the map, but i doubted anyone would've wanted to watch me going into map mode every 3 rooms just so i can pause the recording, save state, and come back on it :P not to mention all the grinding... but i guess i can just cut that eventhough it means the score will "jump"]

I'm still working my way through Area 2, that's how SLOW i am ><


Any useful tips, though? just incase
My YouTube channel for gameplay videos [includes TGL: Secret gameplays!]

Are you a Text Role-player? We have a TGL-themed RP going on, feel free to join!

optomon

Nice to see someone has played through it. I'll admit, especially later in the game, a pretty tough, but tough enough where it was nearly impossible, and that someone was able to beat it. And figure out the Corridor 6 puzzle. The corridor 7 & 8 bosses I thought would give more difficulty than the dungeon Red Grimgrin.

I'll have to check out that TGL  spiritual sequel game later.  :redlander:

arseniy

Phubans - it's in the original game. Health bar has limit but you can get more HP points. I remember playing the game in childhood I got 33 HP when I first beat the game. Later times I wasn't need that much to beat the game ^_^.

arseniy

Anegoramy made his map plugin work with the game ROM itself!
Guys you should use it to play this ROM modification! I so recommend this!
http://theguardianlegend.com/forum/index.php/topic,1815.0.html

Optomon, maybe you put the link to this FCEUX plugin in your head post in this topic?

arseniy

Is this the boss supposed to be here really?
In this sector he puts 2 starfished. That's soooo easy.
BTW look on the right - this is the MaPs plugin I using to play this MODed version. It draws the map now based on RAM!

optomon

Meh, that guy is always a pushover. He kind of just gets put where I dont have any other bosses to put there. I think theres one in the final area that makes like only 6 or something sad, I might make an update on that. Each miniboss is fight in 3.0 is different, btw.