Requests Center - January/2021

Hi! It's now time for the monthly "Request Center" post, where we talk about the current projects and you can comment or suggest new works under the comments section.

For who missed the first requests center (you can view the previous post here), this monthly post has the purpose of discussing the current requests and it's also an opportunity to anyone make requests directly on this post -- it can be anything, within my skills.

How it works

• I'll post current requests, the status of them (if it's planned, if it's work in progress, if it's complete, if it's not possible for some reason, etc.)

• Any patron will be able to make a request on the comments or include a support message (such as "I support this", "I like the AAA idea", etc.)

• Each request will be commented by me, such as how feasible is the request, the complexity, if I already had such idea, if it would take too much or not such much time, etc.

• Next month I'll include all commented requests and adds to the current one, plus comment about their progresses. This post will normally be made around day 20-30 of the month.

Current requests/projects

• SA-1 Pack for Super Mario World v1.40 - Status: DONE!MaxTile was released during SMW Central's C3 event last week and it's considered a success. The reception was great and a number of people started using the MaxTile system and I heard feedback about the system already being explored for custom powerups, dynamic sprites system and even some custom bosses that weren't previously possible. You can view the C3 release thread here.

• SA-1 Root for Super R-Type - Status: DONE! Super R-Type SA-1 was released on December 31, including a revision (v1.1) that fixes some RAM remapping flaws. Works on real hardware and you can make your own customized SA-1 carts. Super R-Type for SA-1 is considered stable and a great success. You can download the lastest version of patch here. Don't forget that if you're on the Hyper Supporter tier, you can check out Vitor Vilela's Laboratory Discord server and download the speed pack including all releases ready-to-be-patched.

• FastROM for Super Castlevania IV - Status: DONE! For who don't remember, I initially thought the FastROM patch wasn't that effective and it wasn't worth releasing. However, after the feedback I received on the last requests center, I decided releasing it to the public and the feedback overall was pretty great! The FastROM patch didn't remove all of the slowdown, but it game the overall gameplay better. You can download the latest version of the patch here.

• SA-1 Root for Gradius III v1.6 - Status: blocked. Months ago, I got a bug report on the Gradius III SA-1 version that the vertical bonus areas weren't working properly and the player was dying out of sudden on some spots. However, after analyzing the report, including save states and screenshots, I could not reproduce the bug. I'm awaiting to the reporter find new evidences of the issue and submit it to me.

• SA-1 Root for Contra III v1.2 - Status: planned. Unlike Super Mario World, Gradius III and Super R-Type, Contra III for SA-1 doesn't work on hardware currently. It's under my plans to revise the RAM remapping code and likely the boot code to figure it out why the game doesn't seem to work correctly. Since this involves testing directly to the hardware and I just moved to a new house recently, I still need to do some renovations on the house since I don't currently have a proper space for developing my projects and hobbies. Currently I'm using my laptop on a chair the on bedroom and the TV is on the kitchen table, which makes it difficulty to work with many hardware accessories. Hopefully, in the next 1-2 months I will have everything set up correctly again.

• SA-1 Root for Axelay - Status: work in progress. After getting 96% code coverage, the game is ready to be converted. The remaining 4% I'll do manually (with hopes that I won't get into RAM remap issues). People requested me to make a time-lapse video of the conversion and I'll be doing it for the remaining process until I get the complete conversion done. Stay tuned in for updates. I might release a FastROM version on the next weeks for experiments.

• SA-1 Root for U.N. Squadron Area 88 - Status: planned. I still didn't get any trace log of the game but I already saw some of the prerequisites needed for a FastROM and SA-1 conversion.

• Super FX GSU-2 for Star Fox - Status: researching. Many people requested me to add Super FX 2 (runs at 21.48 MHz instead of 10.74 MHz) support to Star Fox, but without speeding up the game. Since I don't have much background on the Super FX nor how the game does the things behind scenes, I'm still studying the game, checking disassembly and how the internal frame buffers works for figuring out how to make it run smoother without changing the internal speed at all. I mentioned more details on the Super FX article I made here.

• Widescreen 16:9 for Super Mario World - Status: planned. It's a request some people made it to me long time ago and I got some of the game bits already working with 16:9 bsnes-hd mod, by using the knowledge I acquired when I worked together FuSoYa on Lunar Magic 3.00.  However, much work is still needed and I will be doing in parallel while bsnes-hd receives some needed updates which involves windowing and custom PPU registers for dealing with the higher resolution.

Have any requests? Comment below!