The Castlevania thread...

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 12:10 pm

It needed to happen.

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 12:18 pm

I found the first alternate path in Rondo of Blood. When I read about these, I was thinking, oh, you probably go off for a level or so, and go right back to the main path. I was oh so wrong. I must have played about 4 levels with bosses before I got back to an area I recognized from the first time through! Completely insane. There are more path branches too. You also rescue two people, Maria (who shows up in Symphony of the Night,) and some other related girl. I rescued one of them the first time through, but I haven't see the other one yet. I may actually have to get a walkthrough or something. Or a big map. There is another big branch that I can take, but so far I don't know if I can take it after taking the first one I took, or if I have to play the normal path, then take it before the other two meet up. (Hmm, there goes another one of my Speed Racer runons.) I wonder if their runons have anything to do with the amount of speed they ingest. That must be why they speak so fast.

Anyway, this is THE Castlevania game to play. For those who don't have it, let me know, and I'll see if I can put the CCD up somewhere accessible by all.

Now, if Choki would finish up on SotN, we can trade. (Though I still have a bit left to do on RoB.)

Who else is "Vanianizing" right now? If you aren't, you should be. I'm this close to buying a PS2, just so I can say I have ALL of the Castlevania games.

When they drop to $99 I'll pick up one of the new slim ones, just to play Castlevania, Maximo, Rygar, and all my old favorite franchises that somehow exclusively came out for that piece of crap.

spidermonkey · Post by **spidermonkey** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 1:52 pm

So... More playing for the weekend perhaps...?

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 2:15 pm

Yes, this Friday is the 1st, so it is game day with Seth and such. Much Castlevania Dericiousness. If chilled before drinking. Oh, and you're coming by tomorrow or so, are you not?

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 2:26 pm

My flash cart is being dropped off at 4:00, so I shall be digging my way back into Aria of Sorrow shortly after. Maybe this would be a good weekend to get a long S-Video cable and a wireless gamepad. We could play on the tele like the other folks what frequent this forum. Only us-folk can play N64 games and Dreamcast games as well.

I'm having trouble finding an Alucard sprite rip for my avatar. I found one, but it's one big image with all the anim-frames, so I'd have to compile it myself. (I have no tools for such.) I found a Soma Cruz rip, but since it's from the GBA, he's a bit pixely.

All things are Castlevania-centric at the moment. I'm even going to play the mediocre N64 3D ones. I actually liked the first one a bit, though not for the same reasons that I like the 2D ones.

Now who needs Rondo of Blood copies?

If you're not using Magic Engine, then does HugoX play CD games properly? If not, you'll have to use your PCs. New Magic Engine is out in 53 days! It sounds like it's going to be the best emu ever. Whether it emulates your favorite system or not is another story. It looks like it's going to be the best emulator, just for how cool the emu itself is.

McNevin · Post by **McNevin** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 2:52 pm

I played some Drac X last night (on the xbox, w/o music). I also fired up the SNES one just to see how crappy it was compaired to the Duo.

Played some super castlevania as well but didnt really like it.

McNevin · Post by **McNevin** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 2:55 pm

The HugoX will play it with music, but you have to rip the music to mp3.

I cant rip the music to mp3, because i cant get ASPI to work on XP.

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 2:57 pm

I don't know how you could not like Super Castlevania. I mean, it is classic CVania with extra bits. It is extremely hard. In fact for the last couple of levels I used cheats. (ZSNES lets you put in cheatfiles with toggles for whatever you want to freeze (like life, lives, etc.)) I just downloaded the cheat file and finished it off. I think I played the last 3 or 4 levels that way. (Just got tired of being dead all the time.)

The SNES version of RoB sucks. Well, it doesn't suck if you don't compare it to the PC Engine version. It also doesn't have the alternate paths. It's not a bad game, but if you haven't played the PC Engine one, don't play the SNES one. Play the real one first, then try that one out for comparison. No music huh? That game has some really good music. You must play it with Magic Engine. The next version of ME supports digital CD audio, but to hear the music on the current version, hook up the little analog CD cable in your PC. It's worth it. This game is the only reason I have an analog cable in the PC.

Won't need it in 53 days though.

McNevin · Post by **McNevin** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 3:07 pm

By didnt like, i meant died alot, and couldnt get past some guy. And was frustrated by slow belmont.

probably just need to get used to the super castlevania controls. Its a little "slower" than Aria. I'll recalibrate.

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 5:58 pm

No, I use a cloned copy of the original disc. No MP3s involved. Yes, Super Castlevania is more like the old ones. It took some getting used to after playing the other ones. Silly slow Belmont.

You'll like some of the later levels though. The one I think is excessively difficult is Bloodlines for the Genesis. It's a good game though.

McNevin · Post by **McNevin** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 7:02 pm

I think there is a better chance in me getting Aspi to work, then for me to install an analog audio cable.

Post by **enderzero** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 7:04 pm

Actually that is not exactly true. In Dracula X (for the SNES) there are a few alternate paths. In one level if you fall down you skip to a sewer level and then on to a slightly different path. It seems to have no bearing on the game though. There are also other places where if you don't fall you can finish a level quicker.

The big mystery of DracX was there was some strange thing you could pick up (bone, mushroom?? I can't remember) that took your special weapon slot (and did nothing). I beat the entire game holding it because I figured it was super special... but it did nothing. Oh maybe it was a key... yeah. But never found what to put it in. Maybe I was supposed to put it in the PCE.

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Mon Sep 27, 2004 9:31 pm

Always put it in the PCE

McNevin · Post by **McNevin** » Tue Sep 28, 2004 8:12 am

I got Drac X workn with music. I was able to get aspi installed, but only for my daemon tools drive. so i had to make an image of the cd, and then rip it to mp3.

word

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Tue Sep 28, 2004 9:11 am

Silly MP3 boy. I'm telling you, the analog audio cable is the way to go. You may get audio with MP3s, but now they won't be synchronized. I experimented with the MP3 builds for a couple of years, because that was all that was available. There were about a million people trying to perfect a CUE sheet for it, but nobody ever got closer than a couple seconds to sync. The intro looks pretty funny when the audio isn't synced. The game music is annoying when it doesn't come in when it is supposed to. You don't have to use the cable for anything but that anyway. I actually ran mine into the Aux input on the Audigy2, so that it was further removed from my idea of CD volume.

I still use digital only for any other CD application/audio. Oh well, you're not going to do it anyway. For the proper DXRoB experience though, you should. If you see the Saturn version of SotN, grab it please. I'm out of Giganews transfer, so I can't grab it. It's actually supposed to be a bit better than the Playstation one, so I NEED it. (Besides the fact that I'm trying to own every CVania.

Post by **enderzero** » Tue Sep 28, 2004 12:38 pm

I checked Hu-Go X out K3v and it does indeed work with a freshly unzipped copy of version 10. I tried it with Alien Crush and Devil's Crush bith from zip files.

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Tue Sep 28, 2004 12:44 pm

Hugo-Schmugo!!!

spidermonkey · Post by **spidermonkey** » Tue Sep 28, 2004 1:09 pm

I just played some Diablo-crush last night in wonderful Magic Engine....

Post by **enderzero** » Tue Sep 28, 2004 1:34 pm

Hey I'm not talking smack about your precious GBA thingamajig. Just because I am not into it and don't think I would use it doesn't mean I automatically dislike it. Actually, I can fully respect it as being a cool technology even though I am not particularly fond of handheld gaming.

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Tue Sep 28, 2004 2:14 pm

Not the same thing at all. I'm sorry, are you taking offense from me poking a little fun at something you had no part in creating? Interesting. I never liked Hugo, I didn't like it when it was called FPCE either. I've seen it get built from the ground up to what it is now. It's not terrible. In fact as emulators go, it's quite good. It is no match for Magic Engine though, and since the PCEngine is one of my all-time favorite consoles, I'm a bit picky with how I want it to look, sound, play, act, etc. If Magic Engine did not exist, I'd use Hugo. I was under the impression that this "

" denoted a certain lack of seriousness. Now, whether or not you'd actually use a GBA Flash cart, it is inherently cool. It's rather like your X-Box, its mod-chip, and the larger HDD. You think that's the cat's pajammas. I think it's cool, though for me it would be redundant and an unnecessary expense. I still think it's cool, though I poke some fun at that too. (Mostly because you guys have PCs that do the same thing that are lightyears beyond what the X-Box can do.) Yes, a modded X-Box is pretty cool, but it's not the fantastic Swiss Army Knife you guys make it out to be. It is simply a cool, and novel convenience. Nothing wrong with that at all. In fact, if that slight added convenience was important to me, I'd have one myself. The reason I think the GBA cart is cooler, is that it does something that I can't already do. Which is take a ton of games wherever I want in a pocket sized enclosure with no cart swapping. I also get to use several emulators while I'm out and about, without the need for something heavier. The modded X-Box just provides a redundant function to your PC which can do it better. Doesn't make it bad, or any less cool, just not the coolest thing in the world. If the X-Box was as powerful as my PC, and as flexible, I'd have one instead of my PC. Now if I'm not mistaken, there is no tangible reason for you to be upset that I make fun of Hugo. Rondo of Blood is one of my all time favorite console games, so if you have to rip the music to MP3s to get it to work with Hugo, then I think Hugo is far too limited. (Though I did see something on their site about it being compatible with PCE CD games, so wouldn't that include the audio tracks? I'm having trouble understanding why it wouldn't work with the redbook audio, if it supposedly supports it. Hence some poking of fun. I can play PCE games on my GBA without sound, so that's not a very impressive emu. (Unless it DOES work, and Admiral McNevin just hasn't figured it out.)

On a side note, I think someone just compiled a version of Unix for GBA.

I have no clue what purpose that could possibly serve, but it's funny. (I suppose the GBA is more powerful than some of the original systems that ran Unix, but it is lacking in input interfaces.)

Why don't I give you one to grow on?

And that one's for tiny Rutherford B. Hayes!!

Post by **enderzero** » Tue Sep 28, 2004 10:09 pm

Append a

to my last post. It wasn't meant in the tone it seems to have set.

But Hu-go or Magic Engine, it seems to be more of a PC vs Xbox thing. I don't have the Rondo of Blood rip so I can't try it myself. I have a PC and I love my PC, but the Xbox is the swiss army knife console that we do think it is. Just think for a moment abut the price difference. It does not replace the PC. I will never write a forum message like this or play PC games on an xbox, but it can do pretty much everything else and as a perfect compliment to the PC. I copy files back and forth between my PC and xbox(s) like it is another drive in my computer. All video files, toons go there immediately. Then when I want to watch something I just turn on the TV. Xbox games... the advantage is obvious. Console emulators? Hell these games were made to be played from a couch, and I bet you can't switch between emulators without touching your mouse. Not that touching your mouse is a big problem, but the convenience, price and future promise of such a thriving developer scene is just too cool to not be excited by.

I don't know why I am still pushing this issue. I guess just to hear you excited about such a similar technology when for the last almost 2 years you have been so stubbornly ignoring something I thought you would be excited by (hell look at all of us) makes me want to hear you excited about this. But yeah, if you aren't into it thas it and thas all.

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 9:40 am

The cartoon thing is the big plus for me, if I wanted to do that. On the other hand, a mini or possibly even a nano ITX system at 1/5th the size, would handle that for me. In order for me to get an X-Box, there would have to be a lot more games for IT that I'd want to play. So far, the only thing I could think of that interests me is Azurik. Any other type of game I want to play is done better on the Gamecube and PC. I am thinking I'd like to have a couple X-Box "S" controllers for my PC though. I'm just not that excited about it, because it's not something that I need at all. It's cool, but very unnecessary for me. I just need more power and flexibility, which is why I keep my PC as up to date as it is. If my PC wasn't in my living room, then I'd most likely have a modded X-Box there. But really, for me, what's the point? I've got better sound on my PC (which is the reverse of most people I know,) a big enough screen for the amount of space around it, etc. etc. The only thing missing is a couch in front of it.

Which is why I'm making preparations for when I'm feeling to lazy to sit at the computer. (Wireless devices and such.)

McNevin · Post by **McNevin** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:04 am

I checked Hu-Go X out K3v and it does indeed work with a freshly unzipped copy of version 10. I tried it with Alien Crush and Devil's Crush bith from zip files.

Well now i can finally ftp to my xbox, with the recent avalaunch patch. So i'll just "reinstall" hugo-x.

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:42 am

The clouds on the rooftop levels of Aria of Sorrow are quite nice!! (The twisting ones with the faces in them.)

McNevin · Post by **McNevin** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:53 am

Yes, the clouds are very nice.

RoB is HARD! Oh so very hard, but very cool. I think i'm almost back to where i was before when i stopped playing (when you gave it to me the first time)

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 12:17 pm

I use SaveStates on RoB, but I refuse to do any actual cheating on it. Same with the GBA ones. The only ones I can bring myself to cheat on are Super Castlevania and Bloodlines. Those ones are ridiculously hard for some reason or other. The earlier ones and newer ones aren't really that hard. I hear Circle of the Moon is extremely difficult, but I haven't played it for more than a few seconds yet. I don't think Rondo of Blood is THAT hard. It's difficult at times, but I managed to beat it 1.5 times so far, with medium SaveState usage. It's well worth beating though. I love the select button uber-powers

How far in are you?

McNevin · Post by **McNevin** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 12:22 pm

Library type area...

With stairs galore, and flea men.

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 12:28 pm

I think I may have bypassed that area this time around. Have you been to the pirate ship area yet?

spidermonkey · Post by **spidermonkey** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 12:40 pm

I like Flea Man and armored Flea Man...

R3C · Post by **R3C** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 1:26 pm

AoS has flea men that throw knives at you!

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teh Forum

The Castlevania thread...

The Castlevania thread...