SorR project

New and last update about the game progress in this blog (there will be further small updates on the forum but not here). The next update in the blog will be to announce the confirmed release date for the game and then the download link the next week. The game content is detailed below; I hope you understand we are taking the necessary time so everything is perfect for the launch, taking into account the free time that each one of us can manage to put into the game.

GAME CONTENT

GAME ENGINE

• Version 5.0
• 70% of the code has been reprogrammed since the last version
• New engines for physics, collision, interaction, scroll et al.
• New AI (important)

112 STAGES
All of the stages have been slightly remastered, with bigger resolution, new effects and new layers.

• 8 stages from SOR
• 26 stages from SOR2
• 37 stages from SOR3
• 41 original stages (approximately, there could be less since some stages from v4 won’t make it in)

18 PLAYABLE CHARACTERS

• More than 1500 custom sprites created for the Remake (250 per set)
• All of the characters from the saga
• All of the SOR versions remastered
• All of the special moves from SOR3 available for all of the characters versions
• New moves for all of the characters

64 ENEMIES

• All of the SOR enemies remastered
• All of the SOR2 enemies with their full movesets
• All of the SOR3 / BKIII enemies with their full movesets, including both censored/uncensored versions except for Break
• Selected enemies from the SMS / GG versions
• New enemies (Truckman, Slash, Rudra et al.)

16 SPECIAL ENEMIES

• Bulldozer et al.
• New special enemies

66 REMIXES

• Remixes from most of the saga soundtrack. Many of the ones in v4 have been replaced with new ones. There are still some remixes to come so the number could go up.

MISC CONTENT

• High degree of customization through options for the combat system and other variables
• 10 game modes
• 34 unlockable features, including editors, artworks, cheats et al.
• Sormaker 1.0 (tools included)
• Online play (some features still undetermined)

EXPECTED DOWNLOAD SIZE:
About 175 MB compressed (depends on the final number of remixes).

STAGE REDESIGN

(This stage replaces the blue lab used in v4)

3 NEW VIDEOS
(Recorded while testing, will probably have some differences in the final version)

BULLDOZER

BATTLE MODE

POLICE (beta)

This time I wanted to do a full update, because it’s one of the last few there will be.
The game progresses very well and the game release, if there are no setbacks, is near. The exact date will be announced in this blog a week before the release, so you can subscribe to the RSS feed to get it as soon as it’s published.

New and last set of remixes, from Duke:
Ready funk
Back to the industry
Fuze
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BSTNIGC9

HARDNESS MAP

Implementing this into the engine took an entire week. In beat ‘em ups vectors are commonly used, but it’s essential for making SORMaker mods easily.

• Wall collisions are controlled by the map.
• Characters can slide along some walls just by pressing up or down (SOR3).
• Pits have been added, now they work as they should.
• Unlike the original games, different pit types have been added:
  • Fall and die (SOR1)
  • Fall and come up again (SOR3)
• The enemy IA has been improved to avoid jumping right into a pit.
  • When creating a SORMaker mod you have to take into account that some enemies’ way of moving is jumping, so these ones will likely end falling into pits; people will need to use the hardness map and enemy placement wisely.

PORTS
This is the definitive list of official ports for the game:

• Windows
• Linux (x86)
• Wiz

Alongside the game, information about how to port it to other platforms will be provided as well as minimal requirements. In fact, if someone is interested in porting I can give them the information since the port is actually done for the language the game is programmed in and not of the game itself.

There’s a high chance of getting it ported to Wii and XBox, but unless the ports are already done they will not be there for the game launch and/or they might not be official or adapted independently like the Wiz one.

WIZ
100% done, there are some things adapted from the PC versions.

• Redesigned menu so options meant for 2 players are not shown.
• Added touchscreen controls for the name and palette editors.
• Some options are blocked (specially video related ones). The optimal ones have been chosen and can’t be modified.
• 60 FPS using a 1 or 2 frameskip in some places. I will try to improve this point.

Controls

The controls map is predefined.

Virtual keyboard

A virtual keyboard has been added for all versions, so in any port the editors will stay functional.

ENEMIES (43/64)

Video of Vehelits in an early stage of development:

Some snapshots:

To read in depth about enemies’ improvements:
http://www.bombergames.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1934&start=375

CHARACTERS

There are still 5 characters to be completed. 2 of them are quite advanced, like Adam here batting Big-Ben.

ENEMIES

Characters and enemies are two of the basic pillars for the game. While I get the rest of the material to finish the characters this will be the bulk of the next updates.

SCENES

At the same time we’re working on remaking some stages, so there’s no point on using the step list anymore since everything is being worked simultaneously.
New scroll planes and different textures have been added to the stage, but I don’t discard making some changes (JPG blurs the image a bit).

PROFILES

Every playable character will have a profile. Characters without portraits will have now their own personal ones just like Shiva here. (The info shown in the image is WIP).

IMPLEMENTATIONS AND CORRECTIONS

+ Vsync added.
+ “Collision type” option added:

• Sor2 : Hits are shown wherever the character collision box is.
• Sor3 : Hits are shown on the clash point between two characters.
• Pixel : Hits work like in SOR3 and collisions work at pixel-level precision.
  (although this last option is more realistic it can affect gameplay, since SOR is based on collision boxes that don’t have to necessarily be in contact with the player).

** We’re studying the way to add 16:9 and 3x zoom support.

Complete list of corrections :
1. Menu scroll bug after playing a game and going back to the menu. (fixed)
2. Having Caps Lock on won’t let you type in the profile editor. (fixed)
3. The enemy lifebar doesn’t show up when that enemy burns you. (fixed)
4. A stage selected with the stage selection cheat is left marked if you go back to the menu and choose any other game mode. (fixed)
5. Improved the position for some holds in fast moves. (+)
6. Barrels on the conveyor belt could be passed through. (fixed)
7. Debugging holds on the conveyor belts. (done)
8. SOR1/2 characters will be able to do the → + A special move while holding an enemy. (+)
9. Walking over an item when there’s a nearby enemy, pressing the attack button will make the player attack the enemy instead of stopping to get the item. (+)
10. Even when you die there could be enemy lifebars on your scoreboard (specially because of cheats). (fixed).
11. When there are bikers and a player loses a continue, those die one after another. (fixed)
12. When a player holds a weapon in SOR3 mode and is thrown by another player, the weapon will appear sticked on the fall (TN. What?). (fixed)
13. You can pause a battle before the Round 1 Start message appears, but the proper message doesn’t pause. (fixed)
14. Firearms counter blinks when there are no bullets left. (fixed)
15. Like in SOR3, characters leave their weapons before going to a new stage. It’s not available in the SOR2 weapons mode or if there’s a cheat activated. (+)
16. Different flying heights for enemies after being hit are not used when they die. (fixed)
17. Characters don’t have different fall height levels when another character hits them. (fixed)
18. Player 2 in volleyball mode never ran out of hits. (fixed)
19. Added momentum for the SOR3 jump type. If a character doesn’t run sufficiently the momentum will be reduced. (fixed)
20. Added lag when Y is pressed so the player can’t spam the combo finishing move (like in SOR3). (+)
21. Several bugs on Bongo’s flame. (fixed)
22. Added a recovery time span after a fall, where the character can’t be hit or held (SOR3). (+)
23. Same walking and running speed as in the original games. (+)
24. Only SOR3 Axel can throw a knife while walking. (+)
25. Characters can enter a stage running now (SOR3). (+)
26. Removed the stage’s initial lag, where characters didn’t react for an moment. (+)
27. Enemies have a strange way to hit characters in the air. (fixed)
28. There were some death bugs that caused a Time Over. (fixed)

REVIEWS SECTION UPDATED
http://www.bombergames.net/sorr_project/?page_id=277

New lot of remixes. This time they’re 3 new remixes by Duke1401. They’re still in WIP state:

• In the Bar
• Expander
• My Little Baby

Get it at http://www.megaupload.com/?d=JAZWZHCQ.

Working on characters

This video basically shows the level of character recreation for the next version. It doesn’t try to show something exact or synchronized but the level of fidelity, because they’re different apps that respond differently to input.

Besides recreating all of the original moves, there will be new ones as well:

 Max powerbomb

SOR3 sunset

• Colours are swapped very fast in the example. The game will show it slower and smoother.
• There are no predefined palettes. A time of the day is assigned and the colours adapt to it (it could be used for battle mode rounds).
• Still WIP. I have to add more colour variety and fix some strange ones, like those at the end of the video.

GP2X WIZ port done

First of all I want to thank Gamepark Holdings for sending me a console to make this happen.

Although the game already works, the port will have the 2P code erased and the rest optimized to work at full 60fps, use of the touch screen for the palette editor et al.

The Wiz.