↧
MegaMan Final Smash again!
↧
Team BattleNet Stuff
So a few weeks ago, those of you who follow TeamBN on Twitter and Twitch may have noticed some new graphics. TeamBN is a group that speed runs the Battle Network and Star Force games for the sakes of charity. As it's been mentioned, I created the new TeamBN logo and banner for the amazing price of free. After the break, I'll explain some of the work.
![]()
First, it's not too fair, but here is what TeamBN started with.
![]()
It's important that they make their cause known, and of course it's the best that could have been done at the time. I understand what they do, what they will do, and the games referenced. This banner just can't be used for Twitter and everything. The distortion and auto-cropping of Twitter really hurts it. However, the message is still something that must be on the new banner.
Another problem I had personally with that art was the stigma attached to it. It's nice and pretty and properly represents TeamBN's cause, but after seeing this image at one point, it made me want to see it less. And besides, one way to let people know something has really changed is to make it really different.
Before I could even start on the banner, TeamBN needed a logo - a proper identity and look they could call their own. And more importantly, the logo had to fit inside a square pretty well. After all, it would most likely appear as avatars.
Any good logo starts off in black-and-white. It is said you're not always supposed to follow your first idea, but I insisted the "T" in Team extend downward. The BN part was a little more difficult.
![]()
The one on the right was just too boring and I fell in the same trap of using the generic "BN font". It helps it feel more like BN since I knew the special effects would be very different.
![]()
When the better logo was picked, the next step was to stylize it. It might be a little obvious which one has more effort in it. The left one's defining characteristic is the sharp reflection in "TEAM". That may be similar to a popular related mobile game people are playing.
However, the sharp line will stand out when reduced, which is also how people on Twitter will often see it. Then of course, I almost forgot the emblem on it which definitely makes it belong with Battle Network fandom. The extra dot pattern behind it simply gives the logo a fine glow presence without being overwhelming.
As for the concept on the right, maybe it wasn't executed as well as I thought it could have. The symmetrical, bold font lent its use to a stylistic element I wanted to try. The pattern from the MegaMan emblem is embedded into the word TEAM. With a slight bevel treatment, the pattern is almost engraved. Aside from being a tad too busy, it gave it a nice mechanical look that feels closer to the MegaMan Legends series. Maybe the red is too much, but at least it was different.
Onto the banner, its communication was most important above all.
![]()
To avoid the issue with Twitter cropping off info, the info was fit into the center and reduced. It may also reduce excessive editing of the image. In the background, many screenshots of the games the Team has play can be seen. It includes: BN1, BN2, BN3, BN4, BN5, BN6, EXEWS, SF1, SF3.
I felt that the Teams achievements had to have a part in the banner. Their moments is what people keep watching it for. Some speed lines had to show up for a sense of speed as they are speedrunners. I imagined more lines, but those didn't end up prominent when I was done. I was also going to just use one of the many stock backgrounds I created but ended up removing it at the end since it wasn't needed.
![]()
Here is the banner cropped to reveal all the layers, showing how it's made.
So to wrap things up, the TeamBN people are great people. Help them out when you can and it's great that they're keeping Battle Network going - nearly 10 years after any of those games came out.
First, it's not too fair, but here is what TeamBN started with.
Another problem I had personally with that art was the stigma attached to it. It's nice and pretty and properly represents TeamBN's cause, but after seeing this image at one point, it made me want to see it less. And besides, one way to let people know something has really changed is to make it really different.
Before I could even start on the banner, TeamBN needed a logo - a proper identity and look they could call their own. And more importantly, the logo had to fit inside a square pretty well. After all, it would most likely appear as avatars.
Any good logo starts off in black-and-white. It is said you're not always supposed to follow your first idea, but I insisted the "T" in Team extend downward. The BN part was a little more difficult.
However, the sharp line will stand out when reduced, which is also how people on Twitter will often see it. Then of course, I almost forgot the emblem on it which definitely makes it belong with Battle Network fandom. The extra dot pattern behind it simply gives the logo a fine glow presence without being overwhelming.
 |
| Close-up of logo. |
Onto the banner, its communication was most important above all.
To avoid the issue with Twitter cropping off info, the info was fit into the center and reduced. It may also reduce excessive editing of the image. In the background, many screenshots of the games the Team has play can be seen. It includes: BN1, BN2, BN3, BN4, BN5, BN6, EXEWS, SF1, SF3.
I felt that the Teams achievements had to have a part in the banner. Their moments is what people keep watching it for. Some speed lines had to show up for a sense of speed as they are speedrunners. I imagined more lines, but those didn't end up prominent when I was done. I was also going to just use one of the many stock backgrounds I created but ended up removing it at the end since it wasn't needed.
So to wrap things up, the TeamBN people are great people. Help them out when you can and it's great that they're keeping Battle Network going - nearly 10 years after any of those games came out.
↧
↧
DS Navi Colors for BN6
That's one way to waste a day. What if every Navi that was new to 6 and did not have a proper DS Navi version, actually had that color? I doubt it's the only attempt at it but here are all 13 Navis with new dark colors.
SP colors are ugly. I will not do those.
 |
| Click it! |
↧
Beast SparkMan Sprite
Remember the Rockman EXE anime that aired about 9 years ago? Well at some point, there were "Beast" versions of past Navis. There are a couple of sketches for these in the Official Complete Works, one fairly detailed sketch is for SparkMan.
Here is my take on Beast SparkMan, in the Gregar form. The only different between this one and the Falzar form is the symbol and wings. Maybe later.
![]()
"Oh, but what's different? Didn't SparkMan always look like that?"
Here is a comparison.
![]()
Here is my take on Beast SparkMan, in the Gregar form. The only different between this one and the Falzar form is the symbol and wings. Maybe later.
"Oh, but what's different? Didn't SparkMan always look like that?"
Here is a comparison.
↧
Bass Can't Fly
What if Bass didn't float in-battle like, all the time? Here is my attempt and putting him on the ground like a normal fighter.
![]()
He's never had a very believable fighting position due to almost always being concealed. It's more subtle like Rogue from the Star Force series. He is big, or at least any needlessly floating character like ShadowMan or Roll look gigantic.
He's never had a very believable fighting position due to almost always being concealed. It's more subtle like Rogue from the Star Force series. He is big, or at least any needlessly floating character like ShadowMan or Roll look gigantic.
↧
↧
TREZ is 8
http://www.therockmanexezone.com/general/2014/08/12/the-rockman-exe-zone-is-8-years-old/
Wow! TREZ launched back in August 12, 2006. Back then, we were competing with other forums because everyone thought they could all make a forum but they were all the same. We are still alive and possibly kicking it.
There are things going on behind the scenes. More announcements to come.
Check out that radnomizer too.
Wow! TREZ launched back in August 12, 2006. Back then, we were competing with other forums because everyone thought they could all make a forum but they were all the same. We are still alive and possibly kicking it.
There are things going on behind the scenes. More announcements to come.
Check out that radnomizer too.
↧
Look! Xover!
↧
Guys, I got Smash 3DS!
Add me. I bought the 3DS XL just for this game.
4141-4389-8328
4141-4389-8328
↧
Wow BN4 Translation Are Awful
Can you believe this game came out over 10 years ago? Let's look over again at how vague, bad, or outright wrong a lot of the BN4 chip descriptions were.
![]()
![]()
This list looks so bare and unintelligible. TopM, hmm? Like, just spell out the whole name. There's clearly room. It doesn't matter if two name lists have to be maintained. There's room! Ah, yes. VideM. Did you fight VideM today? What time did you get? Rumor is you can get VideSoul, guys!
![]()
"Explosion by Wide attack"
Why is Wide capitalized? It has nothing to do with this. It's like Heat/Bubble Side distracted the translators and it somehow ended up in the description. Maybe anything about the 3x3 range you get after hitting something would have been at all useful.
![]()
"The burning flame in cross!"
You can't make this stuff up. This sounds like what you get when you put the Japanese description in Google Translate. China-knockoff-tier. The... The!
![]()
"Assassin who sneak into enmy"
Oh really? Who? Where? This just sounds like an incomplete thought. You can imagine this as an assassin sneaking into the enemy field, but this fragmented mess on its own means nothing. What is even happening? Does it go literally in the enemy? It means stage, but you wouldn't get that from here. Or better yet, just forget the elaborate language you can't fit and just describe how it's a long-lasting shuriken trap.
![]()
"Sets a TimeBom"
So one TimeBomb, plus one TimeBomb, plus one TimeBomb, equals just setting another one? And why is the 'b' missing? There's clearly room as it's consistently spelled out "TimeBomb" everywhere else! What makes this different? It's really lacking in detail. In fact, it shouldn't even be TimeBomb+ as it is spoken GigaTimeBomb in Battle Network 5 DS. The spoken word is canon as is the Japanese version since it coincides. But oh well...
![]()
"3 boomerang atk enemies"
Can you even grammatically correct when there actually is room? Piling small oversights really start to stink up the game. All that had to be written was "3 boomerangs atk enemies", and it makes more sense and reads better. The full name for the PA should also be PitRange, I think, so there's no reason they couldn't fit an 'e' after the 'g'. It wouldn't try to read like "Ring" or "Rang" or some other word that might not belong. QA must have been asleep on this one.
![]()
"The ricocheting Hockey"
Oh man, this is right up there with FlameCross for being absolutely awful. Fortunately, 5 and 6 fixed this one but it started out so bad. Why is Hockey arbitrarily capitalized? How is this any different from the regular "the Hockey"? How about how it's stronger and lasts longer? No?
![]()
"Numerous Fangs are continued"
Such long words for little effect. Looks like someone can't quite grasp the English language in a limited text space. To get to the point faster and clearer, how about mentioning how it fires many fangs rapidly? Remember at the batting cages how many balls are continued at you? Yeah.
![]()
"3-shot ball atk reduce HP"
Something something 3-ball something HP. Someone completely missed the point. They got lost among how it's a 3-shot attack and it involves your HP becoming its damage. Like PitHockey, this description also got improved in BN5 and 6. There, it's actually useful. Of course an attack chip will reduce HP. Did nobody even read this? Playtesters? QA?
![]()
"Creates 8 whirlwind ahead"
Whirlwind, 8 times, yeah okay. Oh! Wait a minute! Ha, good going proofreaders and/or anyone else who should have caught this one. Like NumberBall, the true meaning is mixed in a blender and what you see is what you get. Yeah, it hits 8 times, but that is not the place to say so. Even replacing the number 8 with an 'a' would make it read better. Again, 5 and 6 rewrote this better so it actually makes sense. Whirlwind is such a long word you can't afford here.
![]()
"Fires a sonic blast"
Nothing in the entire series even comes close to being so flat out wrong and misleading. Even when I first encountered this description, I had to actually use it in battle to see what it did. When that happens, translators, QA, PT, they all failed to catch this day 1 flaw. A sonic blast? What game are they even translating? Maybe some random other game ended up getting the correct description for this chip. And why "Binder"? That confusing name only helps in generating more confusion. For those who don't know, all this does is throw that Melody enemy and has them bounce on an enemy. Bounce. Do you see the word bounce anywhere? But no, watch out for those level 3 Melody enemies in the Undernet! They'll shoot their sonic blast at you!
![]()
"Appears Hole in front"
Ugh, doesn't this just hurt to read? It really makes you wonder if anyone even proofread this game. Their word randomizer looks to have failed at creating a coherent English sentence. Is "Makes a Hole appear in front" really that hard to describe? The Hole chips were all bad, so it's not like anyone should have bothered with these anyways. This is coming from BN3 that had an identical chip, but not an ass of a description. Curiously, the DarkLine chip is not the grammar crime this one is.
![]()
"Fire atk damages you"
Even though the chip icon gives away this chip's function, the description could at least be more correct. You mean me using Fire chips damage me? The point of view changes the context of this. I suppose if you like reading out your chip descriptions to your friend in a battle, then this would make sense. Otherwise, this just had to be rewritten to mention how these are elemental traps and hurt the opponent, not yourself. No other chip refers to your opponent as "you" because that's dumb.
![]()
"Makes enmy's HP same"
HP same. You can really see the effort in this one. The direction this one was going in is a tad more accurate than what BN5 and 6 got, but all they had to do was add the word 'the' before 'same'! And look! There is even room for it. "Makes enmy's HP the same" But sure, if you just read it quickly once, you would never even know anything was wrong. But it is wrong.
![]()
"WoodTowr pierce in enmy area"
Third time's the charm, right? You wouldn't know it just by looking at this, but this is the only version of the chip that switches the word 'on' for 'in'. No, the effect isn't different. I hope they weren't actually typing out the duplicated descriptions manually. Because then, bad mistakes should have happened less.
![]()
"Ices over all and slides!"
Something with ice, and slides! This nonsense roughly translates to ColdMan pushing an Ice Cube and other objects on the field. "Ices over all"? Did anyone even understand the original Japanese description? This makes it sound like an Ice Stage chip. And I'm pretty sure the verb "slide" is not the same as "push".
![]()
"A laser pierces 1 thru!"
Pierces one through? One does not use the number 1 to say that in the English language. The psychology of chip descriptions is that when the player sees numbers, it's most likely referring to range or targets. So saying "1 thru" is just another confusing output of randomly removing words from a longer, detailed description. It fires over 1 column, yes. But 1 thru sounds like it stops on the second target or something.
![]()
"Attack tape slam 2.5 in"
What am I even reading? When I first encountered this, and subsequently every time since, it's always frustrated me that this description is just so devoid of meaning and incoherent. This reads like words literally randomly generated. I could probably randomly generate my own meaningless description and it would still be better. "2.5 in"? In? Inches? Why is there a period between the numbers? There's no half panel so it can't mean panels. This description might as well have been in Japanese because I can't understand it. I might have actually seen a useful number at least. Just like the aptly-named Binder chip, I had to use it in battle to see what it did. In people-speak, the VideoMan chip spawns two 2x2 tape rolls two panels away. They spin and hit 3 times. There are many ways to say that, in less words, that don't start with "Attack tape".
And this is what makes BN4 look shoddier overall when compared to the other Battle Network games. I'm sure there are numerous mistakes in the story as well that I haven't nitpicked, but I can't dig those up now. Since the player would be seeing these so often, they really dropped the ball.
_03.png)
_02.png)
Why is Wide capitalized? It has nothing to do with this. It's like Heat/Bubble Side distracted the translators and it somehow ended up in the description. Maybe anything about the 3x3 range you get after hitting something would have been at all useful.
You can't make this stuff up. This sounds like what you get when you put the Japanese description in Google Translate. China-knockoff-tier. The... The!
Oh really? Who? Where? This just sounds like an incomplete thought. You can imagine this as an assassin sneaking into the enemy field, but this fragmented mess on its own means nothing. What is even happening? Does it go literally in the enemy? It means stage, but you wouldn't get that from here. Or better yet, just forget the elaborate language you can't fit and just describe how it's a long-lasting shuriken trap.
So one TimeBomb, plus one TimeBomb, plus one TimeBomb, equals just setting another one? And why is the 'b' missing? There's clearly room as it's consistently spelled out "TimeBomb" everywhere else! What makes this different? It's really lacking in detail. In fact, it shouldn't even be TimeBomb+ as it is spoken GigaTimeBomb in Battle Network 5 DS. The spoken word is canon as is the Japanese version since it coincides. But oh well...
Can you even grammatically correct when there actually is room? Piling small oversights really start to stink up the game. All that had to be written was "3 boomerangs atk enemies", and it makes more sense and reads better. The full name for the PA should also be PitRange, I think, so there's no reason they couldn't fit an 'e' after the 'g'. It wouldn't try to read like "Ring" or "Rang" or some other word that might not belong. QA must have been asleep on this one.
Oh man, this is right up there with FlameCross for being absolutely awful. Fortunately, 5 and 6 fixed this one but it started out so bad. Why is Hockey arbitrarily capitalized? How is this any different from the regular "the Hockey"? How about how it's stronger and lasts longer? No?
Such long words for little effect. Looks like someone can't quite grasp the English language in a limited text space. To get to the point faster and clearer, how about mentioning how it fires many fangs rapidly? Remember at the batting cages how many balls are continued at you? Yeah.
Something something 3-ball something HP. Someone completely missed the point. They got lost among how it's a 3-shot attack and it involves your HP becoming its damage. Like PitHockey, this description also got improved in BN5 and 6. There, it's actually useful. Of course an attack chip will reduce HP. Did nobody even read this? Playtesters? QA?
Whirlwind, 8 times, yeah okay. Oh! Wait a minute! Ha, good going proofreaders and/or anyone else who should have caught this one. Like NumberBall, the true meaning is mixed in a blender and what you see is what you get. Yeah, it hits 8 times, but that is not the place to say so. Even replacing the number 8 with an 'a' would make it read better. Again, 5 and 6 rewrote this better so it actually makes sense. Whirlwind is such a long word you can't afford here.
Nothing in the entire series even comes close to being so flat out wrong and misleading. Even when I first encountered this description, I had to actually use it in battle to see what it did. When that happens, translators, QA, PT, they all failed to catch this day 1 flaw. A sonic blast? What game are they even translating? Maybe some random other game ended up getting the correct description for this chip. And why "Binder"? That confusing name only helps in generating more confusion. For those who don't know, all this does is throw that Melody enemy and has them bounce on an enemy. Bounce. Do you see the word bounce anywhere? But no, watch out for those level 3 Melody enemies in the Undernet! They'll shoot their sonic blast at you!
Ugh, doesn't this just hurt to read? It really makes you wonder if anyone even proofread this game. Their word randomizer looks to have failed at creating a coherent English sentence. Is "Makes a Hole appear in front" really that hard to describe? The Hole chips were all bad, so it's not like anyone should have bothered with these anyways. This is coming from BN3 that had an identical chip, but not an ass of a description. Curiously, the DarkLine chip is not the grammar crime this one is.
Even though the chip icon gives away this chip's function, the description could at least be more correct. You mean me using Fire chips damage me? The point of view changes the context of this. I suppose if you like reading out your chip descriptions to your friend in a battle, then this would make sense. Otherwise, this just had to be rewritten to mention how these are elemental traps and hurt the opponent, not yourself. No other chip refers to your opponent as "you" because that's dumb.
HP same. You can really see the effort in this one. The direction this one was going in is a tad more accurate than what BN5 and 6 got, but all they had to do was add the word 'the' before 'same'! And look! There is even room for it. "Makes enmy's HP the same" But sure, if you just read it quickly once, you would never even know anything was wrong. But it is wrong.
Third time's the charm, right? You wouldn't know it just by looking at this, but this is the only version of the chip that switches the word 'on' for 'in'. No, the effect isn't different. I hope they weren't actually typing out the duplicated descriptions manually. Because then, bad mistakes should have happened less.
Something with ice, and slides! This nonsense roughly translates to ColdMan pushing an Ice Cube and other objects on the field. "Ices over all"? Did anyone even understand the original Japanese description? This makes it sound like an Ice Stage chip. And I'm pretty sure the verb "slide" is not the same as "push".
Pierces one through? One does not use the number 1 to say that in the English language. The psychology of chip descriptions is that when the player sees numbers, it's most likely referring to range or targets. So saying "1 thru" is just another confusing output of randomly removing words from a longer, detailed description. It fires over 1 column, yes. But 1 thru sounds like it stops on the second target or something.
What am I even reading? When I first encountered this, and subsequently every time since, it's always frustrated me that this description is just so devoid of meaning and incoherent. This reads like words literally randomly generated. I could probably randomly generate my own meaningless description and it would still be better. "2.5 in"? In? Inches? Why is there a period between the numbers? There's no half panel so it can't mean panels. This description might as well have been in Japanese because I can't understand it. I might have actually seen a useful number at least. Just like the aptly-named Binder chip, I had to use it in battle to see what it did. In people-speak, the VideoMan chip spawns two 2x2 tape rolls two panels away. They spin and hit 3 times. There are many ways to say that, in less words, that don't start with "Attack tape".
And this is what makes BN4 look shoddier overall when compared to the other Battle Network games. I'm sure there are numerous mistakes in the story as well that I haven't nitpicked, but I can't dig those up now. Since the player would be seeing these so often, they really dropped the ball.
↧
↧
No more Xover. Yay? Nay?
So, now that Rockman Xover is dead...
Expect the latest and last archive update. I'll keep the link in the sidebar, but there will be no need to ever re-download it. Oh, but we had some fun times. The sprites. The music. That's about it. I would be lying if I said I ever played it, much less watched any gameplay for more than 5 seconds.
Let's just hope that if/when there is another MegaMan/Rockman game to ever look forward to, that we can all do so together again. Because those times are fun.
Update: The newest and last archive is now available for download. Not much new to add, but complete your collection now.
Expect the latest and last archive update. I'll keep the link in the sidebar, but there will be no need to ever re-download it. Oh, but we had some fun times. The sprites. The music. That's about it. I would be lying if I said I ever played it, much less watched any gameplay for more than 5 seconds.
Let's just hope that if/when there is another MegaMan/Rockman game to ever look forward to, that we can all do so together again. Because those times are fun.
Update: The newest and last archive is now available for download. Not much new to add, but complete your collection now.
↧
Debug Strings in Battle Network
Let's look at a more interesting topic. Some of you may remember last time I went over this image.
![]()
Gamekyo, formerly JeuxFrance, got an exclusive hands-on look at an in-progress build of the then-upcoming MegaMan Battle Network 5 DS, for the EU region, way back in 2006 or so. This particular build of the game, and European of all things, has debug info on the screen! These strings still exist in their plain text for the most part, and it matches the debug font that every Battle Network game has had.
These strings show information about the player coordinates, possibly, as well as other things. This feature can be found as far back as the first Battle Network, in slightly different forms.
This font set no doubt was used to display the on-screen debug info in development builds of the games. They are always loaded into memory even on the release versions of the game, but are never used. What sets these apart from the in-game font is the fact that it is in ASCII order, which is something that's not done on the GBA Battle Network games.
This means they can be searched with ease!
Here are a list of probable strings I found in all the BN games. The percent symbols were used to indicate certain types of variables that would update on-screen.
Battle Network 1
I want to say AT V refers to attack value, so those might be battle debug coordinates. PL usually means player, so some of those values may refer to the panel coordinates.
Battle Network 2
A lot of the same strings are used from the previous game so I'll only include the new ones from here on out.
Battle Network 4
Battle Network 5
This game doesn't seem to have any new strings, but the MESS one now appears two more times. Here are some plain text swear words you're not allowed to use in some case where you can only use 3 letters in all caps. I could have sworn this was supposed to be in BN4.
Battle Network 6
Those are all the interesting strings I could find. You can only imagine what it would have looked like actually functioning in-game. Since their presence suggests the relevant ASM is nearby, it's possible to trace the routine a bit. This reveals that even though it tries to gather the necessary values, the code that parses the strings is nowhere to be found. And this is in each and every case. Even in BN5DS and OSS. Even the OSS demo!
The only way to ever see these in action would be on an actual debug or pre-release build of the game. They're unfortunately very rare or may not even exist anymore. Who knows what other gems are waiting to be discovered in those.
Much thanks to GM for looking into these.
These strings show information about the player coordinates, possibly, as well as other things. This feature can be found as far back as the first Battle Network, in slightly different forms.
 |
| BN1 debug font, as seen in the above screenshot. |
 |
| BN6 debug font |
This means they can be searched with ease!
Here are a list of probable strings I found in all the BN games. The percent symbols were used to indicate certain types of variables that would update on-screen.
Battle Network 1
UNCOMP %8xThis is found in all the games. It's relating to LZ77 decompression. The relevant ASM is directly below and anything that has to decompress passes near it.
POS X:%D Y:%D Z:%D A:%DPosition and coordinates. It would have shown X, Y, Z, and A. I don't know what A could have been. CELNO might refer to the current animation, but I don't know what the term typically refers to in game development. C NUM might be the index of the sprite.
CELNO:%4X
C NUM:%D
X:%8X Y:%8X
AT V %3D
PL %8x %8x %8x
I want to say AT V refers to attack value, so those might be battle debug coordinates. PL usually means player, so some of those values may refer to the panel coordinates.
00 X:%8X Y:%8XSince these have little context, they could have been for almost anything. The game does support 4 enemies, so it could have been used for their coordinates, but I doubt it. Since this appears in later games, it could show info for up to 3 NPCs on the map.
01 X:%8X Y:%8X
02 X:%8X Y:%8X
03 X:%8X Y:%8X
X:%xMore unknown coordinates. Now D might refer to direction, but unclear on H.
Y:%x
Z:%x
D:%x
H:%8x
X:%X Y:%X OX:%X OY:%X TM:%DMore coordinates, but this time with OX and OY. That O may mean Overworld, if that's the terminology they were actually using. TM might be tilemap, but for what and why?
Battle Network 2
A lot of the same strings are used from the previous game so I'll only include the new ones from here on out.
RND=%XThis could be anything. RND might be the random seed, which could have been displayed on screen for some reason.
SEQ=%X
PL=%X
X%D,%D,%D,%D
SIO=%D,%DWell, more link cable stuff started appearing, so it might be related to that.
PL X:%D Y:%D Z:%DSince CAM is most certainly camera coordinates, these two might relate to how the player and camera coordinates can differ.
CAM X:%D Y:%D Z:%D
Battle Network 4
ID(%D) PL NUM(%D) SIO WAIT SIO OFF SIO ON SIO ERROR SIO ERROR2 ST:0x%X RNO:0x%X RECV:%X RECV:%X RECV:%X S:%D,R:%DThese are most likely link cable things.
MESS %DHere is where MESS starts appearing, just like in the screenshot above! Most likely "message" and would probably display information about the dialog. Two of these appear close to each other, with no clear indication if one does something different than the other.
MOVE MAP JAPANBonus! Some other internal plain text names. These are found right above the relevant area that sets the graphics for the world map in the game. The "Japan" map must refer to "Den City" as it's called in localization. "World" is obviously the world map where you can go to other countries that look like real-world countries. "Japan" is in the middle and looks like Japan. But this find is a bit interesting considering this is a rare case where an unused earlier graphic for ACDC Town exists but is not used. Maybe they let too much make its way in the build.
MOVE MAP WORLD
Battle Network 5
This game doesn't seem to have any new strings, but the MESS one now appears two more times. Here are some plain text swear words you're not allowed to use in some case where you can only use 3 letters in all caps. I could have sworn this was supposed to be in BN4.
--- ASS COK FUK FVK GAY DRE JAP JIZ KOC KUM LSD POT SEX TIT WOP 666 KKK HIV AUM SIT ASZ CUM DIK FAG KOK KVM AVM CVM A55 C0K J1Z K0C P0T 5EX T1T L5D W0P D1K K0K A5Z S1T H1VPretty clever, some of them. This list is also in BN6.
Battle Network 6
UNCOMP STR:%8x END:%8x SIZ:%X/%XThe UNCOMP stuff from BN1 is extended a bit to show some relevant parameters. The X and Y have a slash this time and a slash was seen in the image at the top. They don't look like they're for the same purpose though.
M%DYeah, that's a thing. Apparently MESS was just shortened to M this time around. 4 of them, just like in BN5.
Those are all the interesting strings I could find. You can only imagine what it would have looked like actually functioning in-game. Since their presence suggests the relevant ASM is nearby, it's possible to trace the routine a bit. This reveals that even though it tries to gather the necessary values, the code that parses the strings is nowhere to be found. And this is in each and every case. Even in BN5DS and OSS. Even the OSS demo!
The only way to ever see these in action would be on an actual debug or pre-release build of the game. They're unfortunately very rare or may not even exist anymore. Who knows what other gems are waiting to be discovered in those.
Much thanks to GM for looking into these.
↧
DAE Final Smash?
Yeah, this again. But look how pretty it is on the Wii U!
![]()
Truly the definitive 3D models for all of them.
↧
Unused Models Revisited
Remember those unused 3D models found in the first Star Force game that had nothing to do with the game? The Battle Network ones? It's one of my top posts.
Well anyways, thanks to a regular visitor of this blog named "Black Ace", I've taken the models and resources and tried opening them in the now abandoned Mario Kart DS Course Modifier. It's amazing what people can do when they want to modify their favorite game. Such tremendous progress!
So with that, it brings nearly flawless support for viewing NSBMD models, exporting them, and even viewing its animations! Take a peek below for the full scoop.
Here's a recap on the whole thing.
In every copy of MegaMan Star Force, the first game, the models.bin, motions.bin, and stages.bin all have content relating to this. Unpacking models and motions, here are the ones I used:
462.BMD0 = MegaMan
463.BMD0 = Lan
464.BMD0 = Generic Kid
465.BMD0 = Normal Navi
466.BMD0 = Buster
467.BMD0 = Foot
846.BCA0 = MegaMan animations
847.BCA0 = Lan Animations
848.BCA0 = Generic Kid animations
849.BCA0 = Normal Navi animations
At last, MegaMan can walk and run! As the video shows, everyone could walk. Aside from the model quality being very rudimentary, even for a DS game, the animations are fairly crude too.
Curiously, MegaMan's animation file is larger than the others to include animations named "bpl00". This might mean "battle player" and it makes sense seeing as how they are a battle pose, shooting, and getting hurt. Also unusual is that these don't actually fit MegaMan's model at all. They fit the other 3 characters though. However, the stray buster and foot models still don't seem to be for anything. The foot is not accurate but the buster might have gone over MegaMan's hand in-battle since the shooting animation seems to animate correctly.
Here are some of the animations in GIF form.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
Yes, they're neat but crude. The blue tip on Lan's hair from the bad texture. Lan's giant hands. Excusable actual running and not skating as the games did. The stripe on both of them are overused. MegaMan doesn't have a backpack. The emblem is way out of proportion.
After seeing all this, it's become very obvious to me that this was probably never meant to be a game or even imply one was being made. I mean, sure, there were plans for a Battle Network game on the DS sometime in 2004-2005, but this was all most likely just a tech demo. Something to showcase the Nintendo DS, possibly internally, or as a demo like the Yoshi's Story GBA demo was to the GBA.
It seems all this would be possible: You can play as Lan in the real world. Walk around ACDC Town and talk to apparently only the generic kid who would just be walking in whatever direction. Run around and inspect buildings maybe. Lan can enter his room and jack in to the Net. You can also play as MegaMan. Walk and run and interact with a Normal Navi who just walks around. You may possibly be able to enter a battle where you can shoot and get hit by the enemy. The battlefield is fixed to the area and panel types you get. Also on the Net, you can follow warps to explore the various levels of the map.
And that's it.
Then for whatever reason, they accidentally ended up in the Star Force games for all regions when it wasn't supposed to. Even if gameplay-wise this wouldn't be very fun, I would still like to see it in action someday. A Battle Network game made today would likely feel close to this. With a MegaMan Legends-style overworld, it would be great and that's what I'm getting out of these. And if the 3D perspective is handled well in battle, that would also look fantastic.
We can always hope for a new game, right? Right?
Here are some more screenshots of the whole batch again since this viewer is so much better.
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
Well anyways, thanks to a regular visitor of this blog named "Black Ace", I've taken the models and resources and tried opening them in the now abandoned Mario Kart DS Course Modifier. It's amazing what people can do when they want to modify their favorite game. Such tremendous progress!
So with that, it brings nearly flawless support for viewing NSBMD models, exporting them, and even viewing its animations! Take a peek below for the full scoop.
Here's a recap on the whole thing.
In every copy of MegaMan Star Force, the first game, the models.bin, motions.bin, and stages.bin all have content relating to this. Unpacking models and motions, here are the ones I used:
462.BMD0 = MegaMan
463.BMD0 = Lan
464.BMD0 = Generic Kid
465.BMD0 = Normal Navi
466.BMD0 = Buster
467.BMD0 = Foot
846.BCA0 = MegaMan animations
847.BCA0 = Lan Animations
848.BCA0 = Generic Kid animations
849.BCA0 = Normal Navi animations
At last, MegaMan can walk and run! As the video shows, everyone could walk. Aside from the model quality being very rudimentary, even for a DS game, the animations are fairly crude too.
Curiously, MegaMan's animation file is larger than the others to include animations named "bpl00". This might mean "battle player" and it makes sense seeing as how they are a battle pose, shooting, and getting hurt. Also unusual is that these don't actually fit MegaMan's model at all. They fit the other 3 characters though. However, the stray buster and foot models still don't seem to be for anything. The foot is not accurate but the buster might have gone over MegaMan's hand in-battle since the shooting animation seems to animate correctly.
Here are some of the animations in GIF form.
After seeing all this, it's become very obvious to me that this was probably never meant to be a game or even imply one was being made. I mean, sure, there were plans for a Battle Network game on the DS sometime in 2004-2005, but this was all most likely just a tech demo. Something to showcase the Nintendo DS, possibly internally, or as a demo like the Yoshi's Story GBA demo was to the GBA.
It seems all this would be possible: You can play as Lan in the real world. Walk around ACDC Town and talk to apparently only the generic kid who would just be walking in whatever direction. Run around and inspect buildings maybe. Lan can enter his room and jack in to the Net. You can also play as MegaMan. Walk and run and interact with a Normal Navi who just walks around. You may possibly be able to enter a battle where you can shoot and get hit by the enemy. The battlefield is fixed to the area and panel types you get. Also on the Net, you can follow warps to explore the various levels of the map.
And that's it.
Then for whatever reason, they accidentally ended up in the Star Force games for all regions when it wasn't supposed to. Even if gameplay-wise this wouldn't be very fun, I would still like to see it in action someday. A Battle Network game made today would likely feel close to this. With a MegaMan Legends-style overworld, it would be great and that's what I'm getting out of these. And if the 3D perspective is handled well in battle, that would also look fantastic.
We can always hope for a new game, right? Right?
Here are some more screenshots of the whole batch again since this viewer is so much better.
↧
↧
2015 huh?
Well, it's 2015. Doesn't it just sound like the future? Here are some various things on my mind.
This year will mark 10 years since the release of EXE6 in Japan and Battle Network 5 in the US.
Last month's 4 day video upload streak was fun. I uploaded my first 60fps video. I can't find enough content to upload like that though.
On the topic of videos, it's impossible to deny how terribly out of date VirtualDub is. I don't want to save a hacked up AVI file with it because it's really, really slow and the editing features leave much to be desired. Avidemux seems to work well, at least in aligning audio. The save time is in seconds since it supports a copy video save. That means I'm not waiting 30 minutes to set a new video start. For GBA videos though, I can't recommend it as I can't find the nearest neighbor resize option.
It saddens me the state TREZ is in. It seems no one has even the slightest ambition to do anything except GM since I'm always aware of what he's up to. The squirrel-minded chatbox is a double edged sword and I just cannot be interested in that aspect of it. I am still looking forward to working on the site and forum more, but at a later date.
I miss communities. That's why I am more active on NeoGAF and reddit now because it is always so alive. I may not be into all the latest games, but it's nice to know what's going on gaming-wise and in general.
I like participating. 2013, I joined the Customs Creators Collective and I've been in a Skype group with the staff since. They even have an important member that goes by Nemo as well. They make Rock Band customs for the small remaining fanbase and it reminds me of the early days of TREZ where we'd cater to a diminishing, eager fanbase. I'm the Wii guy and most recently, I've actually gotten around to creating some interesting Gecko codes for Rock Band 3. Only one person ever made a code for the series, so I'm glad to be number 2. It's a shame the WiiRD forums shut down days before I could post them to the database.
Speaking of codes, I've dabbled in programming now. It's very difficult for someone like me, but now I've created 2 programs and know my way around a bit when it comes to C# code. I don't know what practical use this could have though. I'm practically obligated to create something Battle Network out of it though, so I hope I can get something done soon.
If you don't know, I'm a big fan of Microsoft. So GM suggested to recreate the BN6 menu to something you'd see on Windows. This is sort of old news now, but we came up with this tile grid view that he was able to hack into the game. That really makes me want to come up with another "future PET" concept, but the last time I did that, it didn't really turn out too well. My head is in the right place though. We all know the PET of "today" would have a curved screen with a flat UI and an emphasis on wireless features as opposed to "jack-in."
![]()
Here's an unreleased screenshot of a concept I've come up with for the custom screen based on the changes in GM's patch. Inspired by Windows Phone and Windows 10, it's a flat, minimalist and/or reduction of the original screen. The excess chrome is removed for an equally functional and contemporary look. Smash Bros for 3DS also has some nice flat dialog boxes and since flat is hot and trendy now, I really want to apply this in more areas while I still can.
Oh, and I'll make another post this month about bad/scary ideas I came up with for a freemium Battle Network game. It's a shame to see Capcom waste all their Monster Hunter money on mobile games. This many years into the 3DS's lifespan, we certainly should have had an original MegaMan game of some sort by now. Right?
This year will mark 10 years since the release of EXE6 in Japan and Battle Network 5 in the US.
Last month's 4 day video upload streak was fun. I uploaded my first 60fps video. I can't find enough content to upload like that though.
On the topic of videos, it's impossible to deny how terribly out of date VirtualDub is. I don't want to save a hacked up AVI file with it because it's really, really slow and the editing features leave much to be desired. Avidemux seems to work well, at least in aligning audio. The save time is in seconds since it supports a copy video save. That means I'm not waiting 30 minutes to set a new video start. For GBA videos though, I can't recommend it as I can't find the nearest neighbor resize option.
It saddens me the state TREZ is in. It seems no one has even the slightest ambition to do anything except GM since I'm always aware of what he's up to. The squirrel-minded chatbox is a double edged sword and I just cannot be interested in that aspect of it. I am still looking forward to working on the site and forum more, but at a later date.
I miss communities. That's why I am more active on NeoGAF and reddit now because it is always so alive. I may not be into all the latest games, but it's nice to know what's going on gaming-wise and in general.
I like participating. 2013, I joined the Customs Creators Collective and I've been in a Skype group with the staff since. They even have an important member that goes by Nemo as well. They make Rock Band customs for the small remaining fanbase and it reminds me of the early days of TREZ where we'd cater to a diminishing, eager fanbase. I'm the Wii guy and most recently, I've actually gotten around to creating some interesting Gecko codes for Rock Band 3. Only one person ever made a code for the series, so I'm glad to be number 2. It's a shame the WiiRD forums shut down days before I could post them to the database.
Speaking of codes, I've dabbled in programming now. It's very difficult for someone like me, but now I've created 2 programs and know my way around a bit when it comes to C# code. I don't know what practical use this could have though. I'm practically obligated to create something Battle Network out of it though, so I hope I can get something done soon.
If you don't know, I'm a big fan of Microsoft. So GM suggested to recreate the BN6 menu to something you'd see on Windows. This is sort of old news now, but we came up with this tile grid view that he was able to hack into the game. That really makes me want to come up with another "future PET" concept, but the last time I did that, it didn't really turn out too well. My head is in the right place though. We all know the PET of "today" would have a curved screen with a flat UI and an emphasis on wireless features as opposed to "jack-in."
Oh, and I'll make another post this month about bad/scary ideas I came up with for a freemium Battle Network game. It's a shame to see Capcom waste all their Monster Hunter money on mobile games. This many years into the 3DS's lifespan, we certainly should have had an original MegaMan game of some sort by now. Right?
↧
Getting GBA/NDS Music Multitracks
So some months back, I found out about GBA Mus Riper and how it was possible to rip high-quality GBA music with its easy-to-use tools. Later on, though, I realized midis could store each channel's parts separately and that it should be possible to just listen to certain channels in the midi. My search for this led to mostly installing bloated trialware/crippleware that just wasn't what I was looking for.
The NDS side wasn't looking too bright either since the mini2sf format wasn't as workable. I even found a YouTube video that claimed foobar could output multitrack files, but I never found out how (because that would still be faster).
And now, even after being more-or-less familiar with Reaper, there still wasn't a fast enough way to rip each midi channel efficiently. And of course with no installs. My search led me to midicut, a program so old, even modern Windows won't run it. Combined with the light msdos.exe tool which allows midicut to run, I knew it was now possible to rip GBA/NDS multitracks by the batch load.
Keep reading to find out how!
Download all the tools here!
Inside the Tools folder, you'll find a version of VGMTrans where someone finally had the brilliant idea to add an export to midi and SF2 option instead of that DLS nonsense. The other 3 tools are links to the website so you can always have the latest version. You'll need Audacity to listen to the audio more efficiently at the end. Foobar will be necessary to convert the midis and I believe it has a portable install option. Get GBA Mus if you haven't already. I hear the January 2014 version is even better than the old one.
It should have made a folder by the same name as the rom. Inside, there should be a bunch of midi files and a SF2 file. Copy all of this and paste it into the input folder provided in my download. Finally, run InputSplitter.bat. The midicut program isn't very fast, but it's still much faster than doing this manually. It's best to just let it split music and not sound effects.
When the operation finishes, check the output folder. It should be full of folders now. Make sure there are 16 midi files named by number inside. The next step is the best part. When you're in the output folder, do a search for .mid. All the midis you just made should come up. Drag and drop all of the midis with numbers in them into Foobar. Right-click on them and go to Convert > ...
In the Converter Setup window, click on Destination. Next, set Output Path to Source Track Folder. Choose an output format of preference too. FLAC will sound the best and compress better than WAV, but something like OGG or MP3 is fine too. Save this configuration so you can use it later. Finally, run the converter. It should be processing all the midis at about 500x speed. Now, check your output folders and if it worked correctly, there should be audio files! (usually less than 16)
You can select all the output audio files and open them in Audacity. Playing them all back at once is how the music should sound like, but you can mute or solo certain audio channels you imported. Now that's kind of cool
Take all of the files it exported and drop them into the input folder. You should have a folder full of midi and SF2 files all named the same thing. Run MakeTrees.bat and let it prepare those files in the tree folder for you.
After that, run TreeSplitter.bat to let it split all your midi files inside. This is just like the GBA part now. Run a search for .mid and drag all the numbered .mid files into Foobar. Convert all the selected files and you should have audio files for every track it extracted!
Check out some samples I converted.
I hope this works for others. It worked really efficiently for me and I've enjoyed it.
The NDS side wasn't looking too bright either since the mini2sf format wasn't as workable. I even found a YouTube video that claimed foobar could output multitrack files, but I never found out how (because that would still be faster).
And now, even after being more-or-less familiar with Reaper, there still wasn't a fast enough way to rip each midi channel efficiently. And of course with no installs. My search led me to midicut, a program so old, even modern Windows won't run it. Combined with the light msdos.exe tool which allows midicut to run, I knew it was now possible to rip GBA/NDS multitracks by the batch load.
Keep reading to find out how!
Download all the tools here!
Inside the Tools folder, you'll find a version of VGMTrans where someone finally had the brilliant idea to add an export to midi and SF2 option instead of that DLS nonsense. The other 3 tools are links to the website so you can always have the latest version. You'll need Audacity to listen to the audio more efficiently at the end. Foobar will be necessary to convert the midis and I believe it has a portable install option. Get GBA Mus if you haven't already. I hear the January 2014 version is even better than the old one.
Ripping GBA
Ripping music from the GBA has never been easier! Just open gba_mus_riper.exe (that's with the typo) in Command Prompt. Type out the name of the executable, then drag and drop the GBA rom you want to rip from. Hit enter and it should perform all its work. Some games may requires the -sb option to rip to a separate sound bank, but not many require this.It should have made a folder by the same name as the rom. Inside, there should be a bunch of midi files and a SF2 file. Copy all of this and paste it into the input folder provided in my download. Finally, run InputSplitter.bat. The midicut program isn't very fast, but it's still much faster than doing this manually. It's best to just let it split music and not sound effects.
When the operation finishes, check the output folder. It should be full of folders now. Make sure there are 16 midi files named by number inside. The next step is the best part. When you're in the output folder, do a search for .mid. All the midis you just made should come up. Drag and drop all of the midis with numbers in them into Foobar. Right-click on them and go to Convert > ...
In the Converter Setup window, click on Destination. Next, set Output Path to Source Track Folder. Choose an output format of preference too. FLAC will sound the best and compress better than WAV, but something like OGG or MP3 is fine too. Save this configuration so you can use it later. Finally, run the converter. It should be processing all the midis at about 500x speed. Now, check your output folders and if it worked correctly, there should be audio files! (usually less than 16)
You can select all the output audio files and open them in Audacity. Playing them all back at once is how the music should sound like, but you can mute or solo certain audio channels you imported. Now that's kind of cool
Ripping NDS
Fortunately, NDS is a similar procedure. Using the included VGMTrans, you can drag-and-drop into it either an SDAT file, or the NDS rom directly. It should load all the music and list it across the bottom. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a way to batch export everything to midi and SF2. You'll just have to right-click each of the items and export them one by one.Take all of the files it exported and drop them into the input folder. You should have a folder full of midi and SF2 files all named the same thing. Run MakeTrees.bat and let it prepare those files in the tree folder for you.
After that, run TreeSplitter.bat to let it split all your midi files inside. This is just like the GBA part now. Run a search for .mid and drag all the numbered .mid files into Foobar. Convert all the selected files and you should have audio files for every track it extracted!
Check out some samples I converted.
I hope this works for others. It worked really efficiently for me and I've enjoyed it.
↧
Roll vs StarMan Freefight (Real BN Gameplay)
↧
Updated Archive Again
New year, new stuff or whatever. I think the X-Over download stuff was really out of date since I switched the link. Well the new one is back up, and back with more stuff than ever! X-Over seems to have slowed down on updates, so it's looking like if there was anything you wanted from it, it's already delivered. So I've added that new All Capcom card game stuff in it. There's lots of neat little graphics in there and this looks like the game that will keep on giving.
You can find it here.
You can find it here.
↧
↧
Wow
I've never seen this before! Xover continues to deliver.
![]()
↧
Getting GBA/NDS Music Multitracks
So some months back, I found out about GBA Mus Riper and how it was possible to rip high-quality GBA music with its easy-to-use tools. Later on, though, I realized midis could store each channel's parts separately and that it should be possible to just listen to certain channels in the midi. My search for this led to mostly installing bloated trialware/crippleware that just wasn't what I was looking for.
The NDS side wasn't looking too bright either since the mini2sf format wasn't as workable. I even found a YouTube video that claimed foobar could output multitrack files, but I never found out how (because that would still be faster).
And now, even after being more-or-less familiar with Reaper, there still wasn't a fast enough way to rip each midi channel efficiently. And of course with no installs. My search led me to midicut, a program so old, even modern Windows won't run it. Combined with the light msdos.exe tool which allows midicut to run, I knew it was now possible to rip GBA/NDS multitracks by the batch load.
Keep reading to find out how!
Download all the tools here!
Inside the Tools folder, you'll find a version of VGMTrans where someone finally had the brilliant idea to add an export to midi and SF2 option instead of that DLS nonsense. The other 3 tools are links to the website so you can always have the latest version. You'll need Audacity to listen to the audio more efficiently at the end. Foobar will be necessary to convert the midis and I believe it has a portable install option. Get GBA Mus if you haven't already. I hear the January 2014 version is even better than the old one.
It should have made a folder by the same name as the rom. Inside, there should be a bunch of midi files and a SF2 file. Copy all of this and paste it into the input folder provided in my download. Finally, run InputSplitter.bat. The midicut program isn't very fast, but it's still much faster than doing this manually. It's best to just let it split music and not sound effects.
When the operation finishes, check the output folder. It should be full of folders now. Make sure there are 16 midi files named by number inside. The next step is the best part. When you're in the output folder, do a search for .mid. All the midis you just made should come up. Drag and drop all of the midis with numbers in them into Foobar. Right-click on them and go to Convert > ...
In the Converter Setup window, click on Destination. Next, set Output Path to Source Track Folder. Choose an output format of preference too. FLAC will sound the best and compress better than WAV, but something like OGG or MP3 is fine too. Save this configuration so you can use it later. Finally, run the converter. It should be processing all the midis at about 500x speed. Now, check your output folders and if it worked correctly, there should be audio files! (usually less than 16)
You can select all the output audio files and open them in Audacity. Playing them all back at once is how the music should sound like, but you can mute or solo certain audio channels you imported. Now that's kind of cool
Take all of the files it exported and drop them into the input folder. You should have a folder full of midi and SF2 files all named the same thing. Run MakeTrees.bat and let it prepare those files in the tree folder for you.
After that, run TreeSplitter.bat to let it split all your midi files inside. This is just like the GBA part now. Run a search for .mid and drag all the numbered .mid files into Foobar. Convert all the selected files and you should have audio files for every track it extracted!
Check out some samples I converted.
I hope this works for others. It worked really efficiently for me and I've enjoyed it.
The NDS side wasn't looking too bright either since the mini2sf format wasn't as workable. I even found a YouTube video that claimed foobar could output multitrack files, but I never found out how (because that would still be faster).
And now, even after being more-or-less familiar with Reaper, there still wasn't a fast enough way to rip each midi channel efficiently. And of course with no installs. My search led me to midicut, a program so old, even modern Windows won't run it. Combined with the light msdos.exe tool which allows midicut to run, I knew it was now possible to rip GBA/NDS multitracks by the batch load.
Keep reading to find out how!
Download all the tools here!
Inside the Tools folder, you'll find a version of VGMTrans where someone finally had the brilliant idea to add an export to midi and SF2 option instead of that DLS nonsense. The other 3 tools are links to the website so you can always have the latest version. You'll need Audacity to listen to the audio more efficiently at the end. Foobar will be necessary to convert the midis and I believe it has a portable install option. Get GBA Mus if you haven't already. I hear the January 2014 version is even better than the old one.
Ripping GBA
Ripping music from the GBA has never been easier! Just open gba_mus_riper.exe (that's with the typo) in Command Prompt. Type out the name of the executable, then drag and drop the GBA rom you want to rip from. Hit enter and it should perform all its work. Some games may requires the -sb option to rip to a separate sound bank, but not many require this.It should have made a folder by the same name as the rom. Inside, there should be a bunch of midi files and a SF2 file. Copy all of this and paste it into the input folder provided in my download. Finally, run InputSplitter.bat. The midicut program isn't very fast, but it's still much faster than doing this manually. It's best to just let it split music and not sound effects.
When the operation finishes, check the output folder. It should be full of folders now. Make sure there are 16 midi files named by number inside. The next step is the best part. When you're in the output folder, do a search for .mid. All the midis you just made should come up. Drag and drop all of the midis with numbers in them into Foobar. Right-click on them and go to Convert > ...
In the Converter Setup window, click on Destination. Next, set Output Path to Source Track Folder. Choose an output format of preference too. FLAC will sound the best and compress better than WAV, but something like OGG or MP3 is fine too. Save this configuration so you can use it later. Finally, run the converter. It should be processing all the midis at about 500x speed. Now, check your output folders and if it worked correctly, there should be audio files! (usually less than 16)
You can select all the output audio files and open them in Audacity. Playing them all back at once is how the music should sound like, but you can mute or solo certain audio channels you imported. Now that's kind of cool
Ripping NDS
Fortunately, NDS is a similar procedure. Using the included VGMTrans, you can drag-and-drop into it either an SDAT file, or the NDS rom directly. It should load all the music and list it across the bottom. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a way to batch export everything to midi and SF2. You'll just have to right-click each of the items and export them one by one.Take all of the files it exported and drop them into the input folder. You should have a folder full of midi and SF2 files all named the same thing. Run MakeTrees.bat and let it prepare those files in the tree folder for you.
After that, run TreeSplitter.bat to let it split all your midi files inside. This is just like the GBA part now. Run a search for .mid and drag all the numbered .mid files into Foobar. Convert all the selected files and you should have audio files for every track it extracted!
Check out some samples I converted.
I hope this works for others. It worked really efficiently for me and I've enjoyed it.
↧
Unused 3D models: Picture Gallery
I've compiled some pictures of the newly-seen unused MMBN5DS 3D models. This should be more insightful than the previous, faceless pictures from nsbmd. I also explain the pictures and details.
__
First up, ACDC Town.
![]()
The Honda building seems like the most out of place building in the town. Its design is based on the containers found at the SciLab dock. No idea why it would look like that which leads me to suggest that the name was merely added for no apparent reason. The doors and windows also look similar to the exterior design of Higsby's shop.
For some reason, when wireframes are on and transparency is off, strange shapes can be seen in front of the building as seen below.
![]()
__
Next up is the 7-Eleven and metro.
![]()
The 7-Eleven is probably there as a filler, but it seems so accurately designed. Also, remember I pointed out that the texture for the front of the 7-11 is the same image from the 7-Eleven Japanese site with some modifications. Unfortunately, it seems they removed or relocated the image from the site. It can still be seen in the archive.
__
Here is Higsby's shop and Mayl's house.
![]()
While Higsby's shop doesn't have its name visible, it still resembles the GBA version very accurately. In fact, the texture calls it "Higsby's" despite it originating from Japan. Mayl's house is also fairly accurate. The size of the buildings makes the player's size questionable. They would have to be quite large; much bigger than the scale used in the GBA games.
__
Now here is Dex and Lan's house.
![]()
Again, they're fairly accurate. However, Lan's doghouse is much bigger than in the original. The doghouse is almost as big as the door. This person-to-building scale would have to be way off for this. Also, the stairs in the back don't actually have steps. It's just a slope with a texture. It's also rockier which suggest the park may have been past the stairs.
__
Here is Yai's house and boat.
![]()
Unfortunately, even in the 3D model, the rest of the house is lost. It just never felt like a big house ever since they started using the front gate as the house. Below the house, the boat sinks conveniently. The water shows through because transparency is on. It would look strange with black, too. Also, I have no idea why the water is that shallow. There is a cave or tunnel in the back so it makes no sense how the sip could go in our out without going in reverse. It may not be visible, but the boat is also labeled "Yai". Unusual since the Japanese GBA game has the boat labeled "Yaito". The hills are also notably low-poly. I'm sure if this was completed, the map would be more detailed.
__
The town map has joints, which is apparently unusual. These joints, however they may have been used, provide clues about how the map functioned.
![]()
I doubt the map has animations, especially those involving the movement of buildings. All visible buildings and objects are all connected to the center for some reason. The Honda nameplate is connected to the invisible shapes in front of it. Who knows what that might have done. The park entrance also connects to the steps.
__
This is the 3D model for the battlefield.
![]()
It's nothing special, really. When the model is opened, the blue side is on the left, but I don't know if that's significant. The stage doesn't have complex joints or individual polygons and materials either. The stage was made like this and the panels can't be changed individually. Obvious signs of halted or preliminary progress. The texture has an orange-brown panel which isn't seen here. It is also very similar to the GBA version except that it is influenced by perspective. In order for the panels to be perfectly square here, the camera would have to be directly on top of it as seen below.
![]()
Still, the idea of 3D Battle Network battles is still fascinating.
__
The Net map also has joints.
![]()
Like last time, all the lines come from a center. They seem to connect to starting points on all the levels and the floating platforms. I don't know if those flying platforms are supposed to be like that, but they are linked somehow. There is also a red line for some reason. It doesn't go to a start of a platform.
__
This is the platform from which the lines are generated.
![]()
You can also see a small, floating cube with a dash arrow on it. Could jumping have been possible? The warp also has an arrow, something the GBA game didn't do despite the texture being VERY accurate. Also, the platform from which the lines originate has a name. It is called "saka". I couldn't find a definition, but maybe it has some relevant meaning.
__
Here is the entire map seen from above.
![]()
The map, like the previous map, bears little resemblance to the GBA version. I suppose with a 3D map, the second area could have just been a second level. It looks incomplete and there are no arrows or sub-roads. There are only 3 warps which means it could have been used instead of arrows. The arrow panels seem to suggest the warp on the left may have been the starting point. This map just lacks the qualities of a completed map and this seems like a bad start.
__
Here is Lan's room.
![]()
For some reason, I always have a hard time exploring this model. It is very similar to the GBA one with the exception of the soccer mats, though those could have been separate objects that loaded independently from the map. The poster of Otenko is surprisingly lo-res. I think the GBA one is more distinguishable. There is also no picture frame and the strange blue curtain is hanging over Lan's computer. In fact, it's not even hanging over, it's just a flat texture.
__
For some reason, there is a backside.
![]()
For the first time, Lan's closet can be accessed and there are PET boxes for some reason. They resemble the boxes found in Higsby's backroom. Also, there is no wall from the direction the camera is facing. If this were on purpose, I would imaging the camera would shift to a fixed location depending on where the player was. Also, the porch is designed. This is contradictory to the fact that the texture for the door shows cast shadows of the rails. I think this room gives a better idea on what the player-to-map scale was. On the previous picture, the size of the bed can directly be related to Lan's height. It means he would barely be able to move through that door.
__
Finally, here are the character models.
![]()
This model's internal name is"pl00_kage". I know for a fact the term "pl" refers to player which makes this model, player model 00. I hadn't seen the term kage before, so I looked it up and apparently it means "shadow". But what makes more sense is that this model was probably used as the overworld model for Megaman. Lan's model also uses the same naming convention and obviously he doesn't battle. That could also explain why this model uses different texture. I always knew there was something wrong with this model. It isn't based on the finished 3D model used in the retail release of Megaman Battle Network 5 DS, and I can prove it.
![]()
![]()
On the top is the unused overworld model. On the bottom is the final model used in the released DS game. The differences should be VERY obvious. The top one is notable low-poly and fairly inaccurate. This isn't the first time using low-poly models for overworld has been done. In Final Fantasy IV DS, Kainazzo had a very obvious overworld 3D model which was low-res/low-poly.
In this case, the character model is very distorted. The head is much larger than it should be and the shoulder pads are stretched. The emblem is also much larger than it should be. And the legs are very scrawny. Still, these are the features which were most exaggerated in the GBA sprite version. The head is probably in the same proportion as the sprite and the body is probably that small. But compared to the final version, the overworld one is really short. When the models are compared to the concept art, the bottom one seems more accurate. Also, this is the only model to have a shadow attached to the 3D model. I have transparency off so the round shape can't be seen.
If I were to theorize, though. I would say the one on the bottom would have been used for battle. The other models seem to support that theory.
![]()
The back of the overworld model also has no pack. This could be a program error, but I can't be too sure. The pack is still present in the texture.
But can you see? The rings on the arms are cubes!
__
Here is Lan's overworld model.
![]()
Its internal name is "pl01_kage", which suggests the second playable character. However, this doesn't follow standard MMBN ordering conventions. If this model suffers from the same distortions as the Megaman model, then the head should be slightly smaller and the height could be higher. At least the model looks complete this time.
Well...almost.
![]()
The 3D model doesn't have roller skates. If this isn't a program error, then Lan could have ran! Maybe if animations can be found, Lan can be seen running.
__
There are NPCs as well. One for each world.
![]()
This is the generic boy's 3D model. His textures are surprisingly complicated compared to the rest of the textures. It also uses a different name; its internal name is "sb01". I don't know what "sb" means. But seeing how low-poly the model is, it most likely was an overworld model. The eyes are really blurry, and for an obvious reason. It seems that only for this model, the one with the more complicated textures, they decided to rip from their own sprites to make the face texture.
![MMBN5DS Boy Texture]()
They took it all from the mugshot. They took a small piece from the already small sprite, enlarged it with some upscaling algorithm, the used it as part of the face texture. If you zoom into the face, you can even notice there is a skin color difference. This is likely because the mouth and the rest of the skin is based off Lan's texture and the sprite uses a different color. Also, the eye was drawn in perspective for the sprite. Using the sprite's eye as a texture was a bad idea, and it is exactly why the eyes look irregular.
__
This is the Net's NPC.
![]()
This model has always shown up incorrectly for some reason. But then again, Protoman's 3D model also has similar errors, so it is likely a program error. This model also has the smallest texture. Its internal name is "sb04" which means there are 3 models missing in between. The feet may look stuck together South Park style, but there are joints there meaning they are separate. What's even stranger about this model is that its materials aren't called "material". Instead, its naming it "Scene_Material", a name used for the PET effects in the final version of BN5DS. The only other models to use that name are the blue squares, the white box, and the green hexagon from the PET screen. The green hexagon is also likely unused. It still seems sloppy for the names to just change like that.
__
Here are the last two 3D models: parts of Megaman.
![]()
This model only contains the Mega Buster and there isn't too much to go on, either. Obviously it would have been used in battle. The internal name is "pl00_Larm" which is a match to the BN5DS model named "pl00". However, it says it's a left buster. I thought Megaman was right-handed? It would have made more sense to leave the right arm. The texture for the buster is also VERY similar to the BN5DS model's texture. It's the same texture with the exception of the hand part. That box floating above the buster could have been used for positioning. The buster only has one joint and it is called "joint". If there are even any animations for, it would probably match an animation from the model where the buster is pulled out.
This is the last and final model in the Megaman Star Force 1 models.bin archive: a foot.
![]()
I left the joint on this one which seems to connect to part of the upper thigh. Its internal name is "pl00_Lleg" which means its a left leg. The texture used on this leg is an exact match to the BN5DS model. The model, however, is not. The small blue square is too low on the leg. And where it should have been, is a strange blue line. The upper part of the leg is also really inaccurate. Instead of a circular shape, there is a V-shape. I kind of don't want to say this, but it looks kind of like the Star Force Megaman leg shape-wise. There is one joint and it is called "hidariasi". I couldn't find a definition for this. When they feel like using Japanese, they do and when they don't, they don't. Any animations for this would probably resemble the battle stance and other attack animations, if any.
__
That is all I have. I hope that has provided some more insight on this mystery. I will do anything to know the truth behind this scrapped project.
Before I conclude, I would like to give thanks to ReploidOf20XX from SpritesINC. I think he deserves more credit than he has been receiving from all this. After all, he found the textures first. I only explored it. Thanks a lot for the support and I hope one day there will be answers.
__
First up, ACDC Town.
For some reason, when wireframes are on and transparency is off, strange shapes can be seen in front of the building as seen below.
Next up is the 7-Eleven and metro.
__
Here is Higsby's shop and Mayl's house.
__
Now here is Dex and Lan's house.
__
Here is Yai's house and boat.
__
The town map has joints, which is apparently unusual. These joints, however they may have been used, provide clues about how the map functioned.
I doubt the map has animations, especially those involving the movement of buildings. All visible buildings and objects are all connected to the center for some reason. The Honda nameplate is connected to the invisible shapes in front of it. Who knows what that might have done. The park entrance also connects to the steps.
__
This is the 3D model for the battlefield.
__
The Net map also has joints.
__
This is the platform from which the lines are generated.
You can also see a small, floating cube with a dash arrow on it. Could jumping have been possible? The warp also has an arrow, something the GBA game didn't do despite the texture being VERY accurate. Also, the platform from which the lines originate has a name. It is called "saka". I couldn't find a definition, but maybe it has some relevant meaning.
__
Here is the entire map seen from above.
__
Here is Lan's room.
__
For some reason, there is a backside.
__
Finally, here are the character models.
On the top is the unused overworld model. On the bottom is the final model used in the released DS game. The differences should be VERY obvious. The top one is notable low-poly and fairly inaccurate. This isn't the first time using low-poly models for overworld has been done. In Final Fantasy IV DS, Kainazzo had a very obvious overworld 3D model which was low-res/low-poly.
In this case, the character model is very distorted. The head is much larger than it should be and the shoulder pads are stretched. The emblem is also much larger than it should be. And the legs are very scrawny. Still, these are the features which were most exaggerated in the GBA sprite version. The head is probably in the same proportion as the sprite and the body is probably that small. But compared to the final version, the overworld one is really short. When the models are compared to the concept art, the bottom one seems more accurate. Also, this is the only model to have a shadow attached to the 3D model. I have transparency off so the round shape can't be seen.
If I were to theorize, though. I would say the one on the bottom would have been used for battle. The other models seem to support that theory.
But can you see? The rings on the arms are cubes!
__
Here is Lan's overworld model.
Its internal name is "pl01_kage", which suggests the second playable character. However, this doesn't follow standard MMBN ordering conventions. If this model suffers from the same distortions as the Megaman model, then the head should be slightly smaller and the height could be higher. At least the model looks complete this time.
Well...almost.
__
There are NPCs as well. One for each world.
This is the generic boy's 3D model. His textures are surprisingly complicated compared to the rest of the textures. It also uses a different name; its internal name is "sb01". I don't know what "sb" means. But seeing how low-poly the model is, it most likely was an overworld model. The eyes are really blurry, and for an obvious reason. It seems that only for this model, the one with the more complicated textures, they decided to rip from their own sprites to make the face texture.
They took it all from the mugshot. They took a small piece from the already small sprite, enlarged it with some upscaling algorithm, the used it as part of the face texture. If you zoom into the face, you can even notice there is a skin color difference. This is likely because the mouth and the rest of the skin is based off Lan's texture and the sprite uses a different color. Also, the eye was drawn in perspective for the sprite. Using the sprite's eye as a texture was a bad idea, and it is exactly why the eyes look irregular.
__
This is the Net's NPC.
__
Here are the last two 3D models: parts of Megaman.
This is the last and final model in the Megaman Star Force 1 models.bin archive: a foot.
__
That is all I have. I hope that has provided some more insight on this mystery. I will do anything to know the truth behind this scrapped project.
Before I conclude, I would like to give thanks to ReploidOf20XX from SpritesINC. I think he deserves more credit than he has been receiving from all this. After all, he found the textures first. I only explored it. Thanks a lot for the support and I hope one day there will be answers.
↧