My Castlevania III Remake :)

[WarMachine]

Hi guys and gals!  Im new to the forums so first off let me say hello to you all and thanks for having me!  I have recently start working on a remake of Castlevania III and wanted to share it with you all As of now,I have the following completed:

Village - Complete
Clocktower I and II - 99% complete ( i still need to implement the swinging pendulum's)
Mad Forest I and II - Complete
Ghost Ship - Complete
Marsh - Complete
Alucard's Cave I and II - Complete

So as it stands now i have 9 stages finished.  I was working with my partner a while back on a project meshing Contra with Castlevania, called Vamprotector.  (not sure if any of you heard of it).  But basically the reason why i started this project is because 1 i have ALWAYS wanted to do this title ever since i started game designing and 2 my partner is completely buried with work at the moment so i dont want to continue with the project in his absence.  I have taken a slightly different approach to how this game is being created.  This time around i am focusing on level design first, then after all the stages are completed i will start adding the enemies, etc.  I want to make this in the style of RoB so that when you complete a stage you have the option to return back to it and find hidden routes (as well as finding all the characters) and using your characters abilities to find these new routes i.e. to reach a new route, alucard takes bat form and flies upward.  That sort of thing.  Also i will be remixing the entire OST with my own take on the music with a heavy metal touch   But anyways, lol here are the shots for you all to check out, i'll keep everyone posted with the updates and i hope you all enjoy!  http://www.flickr.com/photos/84061551@N08/with/7690498462/#photo_7690498462

[Tapewolf]

What game engine are you using to do this?

[WarMachine]

Multimedia Fusion 2

[Tapewolf]

Multimedia Fusion 2

Ah, interesting.  I'd not heard of that one.  Looks like it's a distant descendant of STOS, though.
Which targets are you planning to build for?

[WarMachine]

Im not sure i follow lol.  What do you mean by STOS? And also by targets, do you mean platforms? if so its just PC, but with MMF2 there are different export engines so i may be able to work something out when its completed.  MMF2 is a GREAT programming tool! I dont have ANY experience with C++ and MMF2 takes the guess work out for you.  Its VERY logic based programming, for example, say i set an event that says "trevor collides with wooden door" (which is actually in my game lmao) then the end result is, Door opens.  That sort of thing.  Hope that answers your question (sorry for the confusion if any )

[Tapewolf]

Im not sure i follow lol.  What do you mean by STOS?

20 years ago, when all the cool kids had a Commodore Amiga or Atari ST, there was a game construction toolkit called 'STOS' (It was for the ST, there was a later port for the Amiga called 'AMOS').  The company that made that product later went on to make the one you're using for this.

And also by targets, do you mean platforms? if so its just PC, but with MMF2 there are different export engines so i may be able to work something out when its completed.

Yeah, that's what I meant.  It seems to support everything except the ones I use ;-)

MMF2 is a GREAT programming tool! I dont have ANY experience with C++ and MMF2 takes the guess work out for you.  Its VERY logic based programming, for example, say i set an event that says "trevor collides with wooden door" (which is actually in my game lmao) then the end result is, Door opens.  That sort of thing.  Hope that answers your question (sorry for the confusion if any )

Well, for me, part of the fun is writing the game engine, but yes, they can be very handy.

[WarMachine]

Ah! i got ya!  I'ver never even seen the Amiga or Atari ST, but i've heard of them lol.  (no offense meant of course ) MMF2 seems to work pretty well cross platform, at least from what i've read.  Are you on a Mac?  I believe part of the exports includes Mac along with iOs for Iphone, which i thought would be really awesome to port this to work with iphone/ipad/ipod!  And i agree, the writing of the engine is where its at!  The sprite work can be fun but making it come to life and adding all the little goodies is awesome!  I dont have them available now, but when i get home later i will post some audio that may be used in the game, to give you an idea of what they OST is going to sound like.  I dont have the wife and kids home till late this evening so if i dont mess around with some more stages i will turn out some jams 

[WarMachine]

Actually, check this out.  I found this in my C Drive lol, buried! This was just a test track using a different recording method than what i do now.  Its a cover of Dont Wait Till Night from Haunted Castle.  While i dont plan on using it in my game, this will give you an idea of how i plan on making the tunes also i've just recently got some outside help from another musician that does symphony based music so i also talked with him about blending my heavy style with his symphony based style to have sort of a CV Judgment feel to the OST.  Not sure which tunes or how many we will do this with just yet, but i will keep everyone updated.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6q5c99xbiy0qkbp/Dont%20Wait%20Until%20Night%20%28rocktron%20preamp%20test%29.mp3

Actually, now that i listen to it, i may go back to recording the OST this way! lol, doesnt sound that much different than i do know and its easier!  Hope you enjoy!

[Darkmoon]

Two comments:

1) I'm surprised you're using the "Zombie Trio" version of Trevor. I would think a re-edit of SCV4 Simon or Rondo-Richter would give you better, more "Belmont-y" poses. His standing with his arms at a weird angle (like Zombie Trevor or Bloodletting "Richter") just looks off.

2) On your musical track, you might want to up the base a little (it was getting lost in the mix). Also, the drums sound like they were done with a drum machine. There's not a lot of variety to the hits, noticeable enough that I felt an otherwise pretty good cover was brought down by the "flat" drumming.

Edit: Also, Jorge D. Fuentes was, at one time, working on a remake of CVIII, CVIII: Chronicles, that I think had to get scrapped. He might have some advice at the minimum for ya ( I know he redrew just about all the levels, and had new sprites made for all the characters -- so he might have some insight for ya).

And welcome to the forum. Good to have some Castlevania love in here.

[WarMachine]

Darkmoon, thanks for the reply!  As for the sprites, i just used what was available man, that would be GREAT if if could get ahold of some custom trevor sprites!  Im not a sprite artist (to say the least!) but as far as outside help i would greatly appreciate it if you guys know of anyone that may be interested!  As for the tunes, yeah the drums weren't really the strong point in that, it was more or less a test track.  I recorded "Dead Beat" last night and it craps all over the tune in the last post by far!  I was running a guitar preamp direct for the guitars and bass for that track, just a guinea pig but have since scrapped it and moved on to what i use now.  And i know about Jorge's project, im actually a member of his forum as well and i've thrown this around there too and although i havent came out and asked him for his works, he did mention that he was considering picking it back up so that's the main reason i havent asked yet lol.  And thanks for the welcome to the forum!   

[WarMachine]

Hey guys! its been a minute lol, i finally have a demo of the 1st stage for you guys to try out   right now, i have someone that is almost completely finished with making custom sprites for sypha, all that is left is Grant's animations, so if anyone would be interested in helping out with my project please get at me ASAP.  I hope you all dig it, and be sure to give me any feedback that you feel is necessary lol

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sc2mm7lq0s5bbbo/Castlevania%20Chronicles%20-%20Dracula%27s%20Curse%20Demo%20and%20MotionJoy%20PS3%20Remote%20Files.zip

This file is bundled with MotionJoy for those of you that have a PS3 controller and would rather use it than the keyboard as well  

EDIT: A good bud of mine hooked me up with a vid of the demo
http://youtu.be/LYr7qc36fHY